Chromatography Forum

The Agilent ChemStation that runs their GC, HPLC, and LCMS instruments has always had a macro language for customization and data analysis. The current revision is C.01.07 SR3. There is a new product from Agilent referred to as OpenLAB CDS, which can be considered as the ChemStation replacement. It can control instruments and process data. Does anyone in this forum use it yet? What do you think about it? My main question is this: Can you customize it and perform custom data analysis functions? Is there some type of programming language or interface. Waters and Bruker for example allow you to use programming kits such as a VBA script to do all sorts of things. I need to know how to customize this new product. Why? Our methods are so complicated and custom that no data system out there can perform as we need it to "out of the box." I admit that I am not too optimistic, but I hope there is some good news out there. If for example someone reading this may work at Agilent, then can you give me a reasonable answer? Please do not ask me why I need to customize it; we do. Trust me.

For instance our UniChrom http://www.unichrom.com/dle.php can:
1. Load Agilent/HP files *.D or NetCDF *.cdf or other http://www.unichrom.com/chrom/uc-ffe.shtml
2. Has plenty of built-in processing methods that can be applied in specified time range an in user-defined sequence multiple times. I.e. the same range can be integrated with different parameters retaining previously found peaks. Sequence of processing steps can be applied to all chromatograms in workbook simultaneously.
3. Built-in single-page spreadsheet provides functional access to ALL chromatograms in work book and every peak attribute in single chromatogram. So averaging of two responses looks like =(PeakParam(1,PeakIndex(1;"benzene";4096))+PeakParam(2;PeakIndex(2;"benzene";4096)))/2
where 1 and 2 are number of chromatograms respectively. Obviously instead of 1, 2 and "benzene" can be used cell references.
4. We provide DDK to build your own processing modules, file filters and instrument drivers http://www.unichrom.com/chrom/ucddke.shtml.
5. We expose OLE-Automation interface, so rawdata and peak attributes can be obtained either using VBScript or JavaScript or any programming language capable of creating COM objects.
6. We provide MS Excel Add-in (*.xla) which gives the same peak access directly in new empty spread-sheet and can be live-updated from opened chromatogram by pressing single button. This way is implemented oxygenates in petrol method with heart-cut column switch.
No File/Export to Excel - open your Excel calculator you have carefully designed and press [UNICHROM] in toolbar.
7. No report designer - you know Excel - use it http://www.unichrom.com/chrom/reportse.shtml

data processing is free

I find openlab CDS very slow and buggy, Chromeolon is much more powerful

Hi, OpenLAB CDS 2 is indeed a new product that in the long run will replace the aging ChemStation and EZChrom products.
Customization is often done to add functionality in ChemStation. However, OpenLAB 2 has a Custom Calculator for customization and also in the reporting calculations can be done.
We replaced the VB scripting and macro languages in the older software by the custom calculator.
BTW, performance should not hold you back. On average OpenLAB 2 is 40 times faster than OpenLAB ChemStation.