User-defined Columns (UDC)

Various tables with different meanings appear throughout Chromeleon. For example:

• The different tables in the Report and in the Printer Layout

• The sample list in the Browser (For more information, refer to Data Management  The Browser.)

• The peak table in the QNT Editor (see Data Representation and Reprocessing  The QNT Editor).

While the appearance of the sample list and the peak table is mainly default, you can define the Report and the Printer Layout according to your own requirements. You can also define your own columns in all tables mentioned above.

In the Report and the Printer Layout, use the Report Publisher to create new columns and thus, to display special aspects of your data. For more information, refer to Creating and Using Report Tables  Entering User-defined Formulas.

In the sample list and in the peak table, user-defined columns

• Allow input of user-specific data, which can then be used as additional variables for report generation. In addition, they allow data to be imported via SDK (Software Development Kit) or Worklist (WLE file).

• Provide additional key words for a Query.

• Allow you to define the fraction collection period in the PGM Wizard. (This is only possible if the Fraction Collection driver has been installed in the Server Configuration Program. This only refers to user-defined columns in the peak table.)

On the Samples page of the Query Wizard, select the user-defined columns for the Sample field type. Click the arrow next to the Data Field input box to display the selection list. An asterisk ('*') in front of the column name marks the user-defined columns created in the sample list of the Browser.

For the Results field type, it is not possible to directly access the user-defined columns by clicking the '...' button. Thus, to use a user-defined column that has been created in the peak table of the QNT Editor, type the formula directly in the Formula field. The syntax is as follows:

  peak_tab.user_x

where x is the name of the user-defined column.

For more information, refer to Creating and Managing Files and Data  Creating User-defined Columns.

 Tips:

Be careful when creating user-defined columns in the sample list of the Browser. For columns having identical names in different Datasources or on different computers that may communicate with each other, make sure that the column definition is identical, too. If the column definitions are different, problems may occur when you copy sequences or restore backup files. To make sure that the columns are identical in both datasources, select Import Columns (select the datasource, click Properties on the context menu and then click the User-defined Columns tab). This command imports all existing user-defined columns from another datasource to the current datasource.

To use the new and/or changed columns in the PGM File, shut down and restart the Server after you have entered or changed the columns in the sample list. Only then can the server access the user-defined columns.

However, access is restricted to the user-defined columns of the Standard Datasource. It is not possible to access user-defined columns for which the Value type is Time or Date and time.

For more information about user-defined columns, refer to Creating and Modifying Programs  Using User-defined Columns in a Program.