Chemstation Data Path Problem

[Peter Skelton]

Hello

I have two identical Agilent 1200 systems with associated Chemstation installs. On one system, in the Offline application all my run seqeuences and associated data folders appear in the bar on the left. However these are not displayed on the other system which makes data processing almost impossible.

I've checked the paths in the software preferences, and everything ties up correctly (ie. the data is where the software is told it is).

Googling has revealed nothing useful, is this a bug in the software or something that can be fixed?

Thanks
Peter

[nimbi63]

When you open Preferences, what does it show for Data Path on both systems? Also, has the sequence had data analysis processed? The navigation table used the batch file (*.B) in the sequence container (the sequence data folder) to display the sequence. The batch file is created when the sequence data analysis is processed.

[Peter Skelton]

Both paths are C:\Chem32\1\Data

You can navigate to that path and open data files individually, or into the sequence folders and open the batches with no problems.

It is only that nothing is displayed in the Data tab of the Data Processing/Analysis pane in the Offline session

[Peter Skelton]

http://www.imageupload.org/share.php?id=5529_4C73BC2D

Like that. The bar on the left should contain all my run sequences as it does on the other PC

[Nernst79]

Peter,

I realize that this post is nearly a year old, but I am currently having the same issue with our Agilent 1100 using Chemstation Rev.B.03.02[341]. Were you able to resolve the issue? I have "C:\Chem32\1\Data\ as a file path, yet the Navigation bar won't display it after a run or sequence has completed. It should also be noted that this hasn't always been the case, but only began to occurr after 1.5-2 months of operation. I'm sure the the reason for this happening is due to a mistake that I made along the way; I just don't know what it is that I did, nor how to fix it. Any input you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[lmh]

Really silly suggestion, please forgive me for this:
Have you got a tiny tab written sideways towards the top of the left side of the screen, saying "Data Analysis"? If so, hovering the mouse over it will make the data-folder bar (sequence and data-file selection part of the screen) zip inwards from the left. You'll see that there's a drawing-pin symbol at the top of the data-folder bar. If you click on it, it toggles between fixing the data-folder bar as permanently visible, and making the data-folder bar disappear from view except when brought up by hovering on the "Data Analysis" tab thing.

[Nernst79]

lmh,

Thanks for the input. I do have the "tack" icon selected so that the data analysis window is always displayed. What I am seeing is the icon for the hard drive and the file path "C:\Chem32\1\Data"; however there is not "plus/minus" icon next to the file path to collapse/expand the data list. If I select the "methods" tab at the bottom of the window then I can see a list of method files. This is only happening with the "data" tab. It seems that there is simply an issue with the software not following the proper path to the data files. I've checked several times over in "preferences" and the file path for data acquisition/logging is "C:\Chem32\1\Data", so nothing seems out of sorts there. I think the issue really is a simple one, unfortunately none of my simple solutions are resolving the matter. Thanks again for you input. If you have any other ideas I'm all ears!

[Consumer Products Guy]

In the ChemStations we have (older), one can simply open the Win.ini file, and type in a new Datapath in there, in the PCS section. Can one not do similar with the newer revisions?

[Nernst79]

I just wanted to update my situation with the file path for posterity. While I didn't find the cause of the problem, I was able to work around it. I simply created another data folder and transferred the files to it. Then after selecting this new file path under preferences, the data analysis tab presented all single runs and sequences in the folder. Just to satisfy my curiosity I went ahead and renamed the original data folder and entered it into the file path in preferences. This did not resolve the issue. It appears that there is something corrupt with the oringal folder and/or its contents and the Chemstation software can't navigate the path (Most certainly something that I unknowingly did). Again while this isn't a true solution to the original problem it is at least one way to work around it if it is ever encountered by another user on this forum.

[enticed]

Nernst79,
Thanks for posting your solution. Our lab just had the same problem (Rev. B.03.02(341) on WinXP SP3) and your posting led us eventually to a different solution.
At first, I created another data folder as you instructed and transferred a few data files into it. I updated the path configuration and started up Chemstation and the folder showed correctly (yeah!). I happily copied ALL the files in the old folder to the new folder, but then the problem came back. The new data folder could not be expanded in the Data Analysis view.
I checked the size of the folder and it appeared like it had recently surpassed 2.0 GB, so I removed a few subfolders in case that was a limit. It didn't work.
I then happened to notice that there were a couple single files (*.B and *.S) directly within the parent data folder. These two files did not seem to be associated (by name) to any other subfolder so I removed them. This finally fixed the problem! When Chemstation was restarted, the data folder was fully expanded showing all existing subfolders.

[Nernst79]

I'm glad to hear that you were able to resolve the issue. I would also like to add that I was able to get the original file path to work. I looked in the recycle bin on the computer and found that a few data files had been deleted. When I restored these files to the original location, the file path appeared in Chemstation software again. It turns out the solution was in fact simple...I just wish I would have tried it sooner!

[Klaus I.]

The older Chemstation-Installation work only in english Windows-setups probably. Also be carefull for .cdf-exports from Chemstation. If you have the wrong language-setup, things work fine during 8 month, but then a problem may occur due to the different abraviations of the month.