Varian Galaxie

[modonovan]

I currently use Galaxie v1.9 (client/server over citrix) and once you learn where the major problems in it are it's actually not that bad. We use it to control a 6890A GC, 5890A GC and a dozen 1100 LCs with UV/PDA.

The main problems that I have with it are the remote sequence managers "catastrophic errors" if you make the mistake of pausing/stopping a GC sequence during pre/postrun. Also it can take up to a few minutes for your method/sequence file to appear in a folder when you try to re-open them.

I have prevously used Atlas CDS but you can't beat Galaxies intrument control (with a big enough stick )

[MJ]

Hi Sdegrace,

chromstograms are stored in folders automatically created for the year and month run, so I think what you want might be possible.

How do you get the chromatograms to be stored in folders automoatically created in year and month?

MJ

[sdegrace]

Sorry I didn't check the topic before this morning. Let me get back to you on that on Monday - I'm heading to the wilds of New Brunswick for the holiday weekend here shortly .

Stephen

[dpr]

Currently using Galaxie 1.9 and Scheduler
Mirrored servers with full redundancy backup.

We have full bi-directional data transfer between the LIMS and the CDS.
Handling some 2500 samples per month.

The main issues we have are around windows and network stability.

The system runs around 25 instrument, both analogue and digital.
Agilent 5890, 6890 GC (liquid and gas inj) plus Dionex IC.

Overall performance of the system is good to excellent.
We do get occasional corrupted method files on calibration and there are one or two functions that could be user rather than admin.

We had the client PCs' upgraded last year and the re-installation was handled by ourselves with remote support, for the registery entries, from Varian. DCOM setting etc can all be configured/checked using a self diagnosis program. Making notes as we went along this would all be handled locally in the future.

[sdegrace]

Hi Sdegrace,

chromstograms are stored in folders automatically created for the year and month run, so I think what you want might be possible.

How do you get the chromatograms to be stored in folders automoatically created in year and month?

MJ

To save your data in directories with the year and month as the directory name automatically, you actually have to edit the user profile... go through until it says Define Token Directory Mask. If you use variables, e.g., $YEAR4_$MONTH2, you will get directories created over time with the pattern you specify. You have to do this for every user profile that you want to have this behaviour. Note that it is the user profile you are editing, not the users or projects. I'm pretty sure this is the only thing you have to do, let me know how that works out.

One thing I find quite striking: everyone so far who is OK to happy with Galaxie seems to be using it for GC. We have no experience with Galaxie for GC; we only use Galaxie to run mostly fairly new Varian LCs. We have recently had the Varian service rep in to try another round of fixes including software upgrades and we're hopeful that many of our issues might finally be resolved. Given our experience with using Varian software to run Varian LCs, I was really surprised to hear of it performing all right with various manufacturers GCs in other labs. Maybe it is not quite the Devil after all .

Stephen

[Chris0000]

Thats a lot of feedback!

Thanks to all!
Chris

[MJ]

Thanks all. I think i have worked out the data paths etc but now i have another question.

How can i get the software to calculate the signal to noise ratio and the drift value for a HPLC run? I had a bit of a play with it in the intergration paramaters but it didnt seem to work and there were no results on my print out.

Cheers

MJ

[modonovan]

For signal to noise ratio create a user variable called SNR with the scope as peak and enter HEIGHT/(NOISE*0.5) or HEIGHT/NOISESD (Look in the manual for the description of the noise & noisesd variables). Define an area of the baseline with the compute noise on/off events. Select formats section of the method, peak report and move the new SNR variable to the left column. This should show you the signal to noise ratio in a column under the results section of your chromatogram.

I think there is a variable called DRIFT but I've never used it.

[chichibabin]

Does anyone know how to extract publication quality chromatograms from Galaxie?
They only way I can figure out is to copy the chromatogram and paste into a Word document, for example, which gives a horribly aliased curve.
There must be a way of extracting the x,y coordinate data but I have not figured out how this can be done.
Has anyone managed to get nice looking chromatograms out of Galaxie and into Word?

I agree, Galaixe is a terrible piece of software. I don't use the majority of its features which seem to benefit multiple users and those working in a QC industrial environment. It doesn't work well with my detector and consequently I have to reboot the system as it will occasionally hang. And yes, the report manager is seriously lacking features. For example, if you have used a fraction collector, there is no way of switching off the separators when printing a report so you can't see the trace clearly. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot barge poll if I had the choice. It's a shame because the solvent delivery module, detector and fraction collector are first class.
Sat

[Bob Lott]

The copy/paste functionality in Galaxie is OLE compliant. That means you will get a faithfully reproduced object in Word or PowerPoint. Indeed in PowerPoint the pasted Chromatogram object may be "ungrouped" and manipulated as you see fit.

Alternatively you could export the image via an available plug-in (ask your local representative about his). This will capture the Chromatogram and export it as either a jpeg, wmf, or tiff file.

Finally if it is the raw data you want you can do this easily. Just use the Export section of the method to define an ASCII containing the raw data.

As always with Galaxie there is normally several ways to skin a cat

[chichibabin]

Thanks for the help. The ungrouping option is very helpful but it is a bit fiddly due to the sheer number of individual groups that make up the image. But I still have the problem with the jagged trace. I would like to import the ascii into some other software and see if i can get better results.
I tried Exporting the data but i cannot figure how to do this, I can't find the Export button anywhere. It is mentioned in the Help pages so i assume my version of Galaxie can do this (1.8.5xxx)
Could you please explain in a bit more detail how i can get the ASCII/Excel compatible data please?
Thanks,
Sat

EDIT: I have looked at some some screenshots I've found in a Galaxie brochure, and it seems as though I am missing options in my Method section. The only options I have in my method section are: Control, Acquisition, Integration events, Peak indentification, Formats and Report style.

Sat

[Bob Lott]

You describe the user profile feature of Galaxie.
As a user you are given a profile determining what you can and can't do. Your administrator has removed your right to edit the export section of a method. You should speak to them to enable it. Once enabled the process is self evident.

I'm still puzzled by your issue though. I routinely copy and paste Chromatograms for customer presentations, proposals and the like. I have never seen any issue with the quality reproduced in Word.

Bob

[chichibabin]

Thanks for the fast reply Bob,
I just want to try and get a smoother trace, which should be possible as the acquisition is sampled at something like 20 times a second.
I am the administrator and I have been looking in the Configuration editor but can't figure out how to enable it. Could you please walk me through this process?
For the record I'm using a Prostar 325 detector. There aren't any restrictions when using this model with Galaxie which may be causing the problem?
Thanks,
Sat

[chichibabin]

In the user profile section of the Configuration Editor, the Edit export parameters option in the Method sub-section is checked. Is this what needs to be selected? I think "Galaxie DB" and "column aging" are the only options that are not checked.
I also seem to be missing other options from the method. In the browser, Calibration, Suitability test, Export and Post processing are all missing. If I go to the Method drop down menu on the toolbar, these options are also greyed out and inactive.
Cheers,
Sat

[Bob Lott]

Hi Sat

Are you sure you are looking at the profile that is being applied to you?
Remember the use of "All Project" log-in can apply a different profile.

Bob