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MS Sensor 3.0 End of Life

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A recent Windows 10 update introduced an incompatibility with the MS Sensor 3.0 software that caused certain controls to display and function incorrectly and also caused the program to crash when starting an acquisition.  We were able to identify and update the incompatible software library (an older version of the Microsoft Common Controls library) and compile a new version of the software.  If you are affected by this issue, please contact Diablo Analytical Support and we can send you a link to download this new version of MS Sensor 3.0.

However, MS Sensor 3.0 is at its end of life and will become increaingly susceptible to Windows updates introducing these kinds of incompatiblities.  Users who are dependent on MS Sensor 3.0 to control their 5000A Real-Time Gas Analyzer (RTGA) should be planning for a transition to MS Sensor 4.0.  Here are some suggestions to help you during this transition period:

  1. Be very cautious allowing Windows 10 updates to be installed on the computer running the MS Sensor 3.0 software or transferring MS Sensor 3.0 to a computer running a recent version of Windows 10.  If there are concerns about computer security, disconnect the computer from the LAN and use it only to control the RTGA.
  2. Contact Diablo Analytical for information on upgrading to MS Sensor 4.0.  If your system is currently running the Agilent MSD ChemStation data system to control the Agilent Technologies Mass Spectrometer (Agilent 5973/5975/5977 MSD), then you will also need to upgrade to the Agilent MassHunter GC/MS data system.

MS Sensor 4.0 was a complete re-write of the software to address the compatibility issues we anticipated would become increasingly probable.  In addition, it has significantly enhanced functionality compared to MS Sensor 3.0.  See our MS Sensor 4.0 product page for more information.

Resources

Diablo Analytical Support Resources

Diablo MS Sensor 4.0 Information

EZReporter 4.0.14.4 Released

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Diablo Analytical has released Version 4.0.14.4 of the EZReporter Software.

This is a major release that includes a number of enhancements and fixes.   The significant enhancements are listed below.  A complete list of fixes and enhancements is provided in the release notes.

Enhancements to All Editions

[+] [ALL] Added options to the Report Control and Export Contol to report/export null (blank) values instead of “0” for component amounts that have not been measured. EZReporter determines if a component has been measured if it is included in the results from the GC (even if the amount is 0), entered manually in the manual data entry window (even if the amount is 0), or is the result of a calculated result. Some regulatory agencies only want a numeric value of 0 reported for the component amount if it was actually measured.

[+] [ALL] ABB PCCU Connector: Added an option to watch for, read, and process the standard PCCU RunReport files instead of using the Spreadsheet Output Automation – Option 3 format files (ezrpt.txt). Also added a new context menu option to the PCCU connector to open and process existing PCCU Run Report text files directly.

[+] [ALL] INFICON Micro GC Fusion Connector: Added a new “Archive Micro GC Fusion data files” context menu option to the instrument context menu. This option allows you to retrieve all samples that were run on or before a specific date and either save them to the local hard drive and/or delete them from the Fusion.

[+] [ALL] Agilent ChemStation Connector: Multi-instrument support is now handled through the ChemStation connector settings. A new “Enable ChemStation multi-instrument processing” checkbox has been added to the connector settings. When this is checked by the user, instrument subfolders, 1-4, are created in the export folder if they don’t already exist. Then, the file, “EnableCSMultiInstProcessing.txt” is created in the export folder, which is read by the ezrptx.mac macro to determine where to save results. When the checkbox is unchecked the file is deleted and the macro will revert to “legacy” behavior and read the “ezrpt.ini” file to determine the folder. This helps address issues with the ezpt.ini file and newer versions of ChemStation that are installed under the \ProgramFiles(x86) folder.

[+] [ALL] Added new “Sample Information Rules” to the Sample Information settings. This option allows certain raw sample information results reported by the instrument/connector to be replaced with alternate text based on a set of rules. For example, if the Sample Name Equals “CAL” it can be replaced with “Calibration Sample”. You can also use sample tags and some variables in the replacement text. So in the previous example, if the replacement text is “Calibration Sample {Now}”, the Sample Name of “Cal” will be replaced with “Calibration Sample 12/21/2020 12:36 PM” in the report.

NGA and NGL Edition Enhancements

[+] [NGA] Added support for multiple standards to be defined and selected in the “Edit Standard Amounts” window, which has been relabeled, “Edit and Select Standards”.

[+] [NGA] Added support for the GPA 2261-20 Performance Evaluation Acceptance Criteria to the “Compare With Standard” window. The Performance Evaluation Acceptance Criteria are used to compare the analysis of a certified reference blend to the certified component amounts for that blend. A new “Blend Uncertainty” field has been added to the Edit Standard Amounts window. The actual blend uncertainty must be known for the reference blend and entered into this field in order to enable the Performance Evaluation Acceptance Criteria option in Compare With Standard window. The comparison table for the Performance Evaluation Acceptance Criteria Report will include “Ub” (the component blend uncertainty) and “PE” (the component perfermonce evaluation acceptance criteria) used to calculate the limits.

[+] [NGA] The “Units” in the raw component amount table of the manual data entry window can now be switched between Mole%/Wt%/Vol% and PPM or Lb/MMCF (for water). When the switch between % and PPM or Lb/MMCF is made the entered amount will be converted automatically to the selected units. When the “Process” button is pressed, if the units are PPM for any of the components or Lb/MMCF for water, then the amount will also be converted to % prior to normalization. To enable this option, check the “Enable selection of amount units in manual data entry” option of the NGA Settings. This allows the H2S concentration measured by a Draeger tube in units of PPM to be entered without having to do the conversion to Mole% first. The default water content units can be set to Lbs/MMCF in the Water Calculations settings. However, this enhancement allows you to switch easily between % and Lbs/MMCF in the manual data entry window.

Results Database Enhancements

[+] [RDB] The Sample Name listbox in the Results Database Find Results window now allows incremental search/autocomplete to find samples.

Installing this Release

If you are running version 4.0.4.1 or later, you can download and install the correct version of the software using the “Check for Updates” option of the “Help” menu.

Otherwise, simply download and run the installation program from the download page.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you download the installer that includes support for the chromatography data system you are using.

NOTE: The “web” version of the installer can be used to upgrade an existing installation even if the computer doesn’t have Internet access.

Your current version of EZReporter will be uninstalled and the new version installed automatically.  Your license status will be preserved.

Software Support/Maintenance Subscription

This is a free upgrade if your software support subscription has not expired.  You can view the status of software support in the License Status window (click “Help > License Status”).  If software support has expired then you will need to renew your support subscription before upgrading to this version.  Contact Diablo Analytical for information on renewing software support.

About Diablo EZReporter Software

The Diablo EZReporter software is a flexible, advanced, post-run data analysis and reporting solution for any instrument that can be controlled by a supported chromatography data system. The EZReporter Natural Gas Analysis and Natural Gas Liquids Editions are state-of-art solutions for natural gas analysis and natural gas liquids/extended reporting.

For more information:  Diablo EZReporter Software

Upgrading

The price to upgrade to EZReporter 4.0 from earlier versions of EZReporter and BTU Calculator will depend on 1) the number of licenses, 2) the edition you are upgrading from and upgrading to, and 3) the number of instruments you want to license.

For Additional Information:

Contact Diablo Analytical if you have any questions about EZReporter 4.0.

EZReporter 4.0.13.1 Released

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Diablo Analytical has released Version 4.0.13.1 of the EZReporter Software.

This release adds support for the GPA 2261-20 Standard and is recommended if you use the GPA 2261 repeatability or reproducbility limits or if one one of the enhancements or fixes applies to your application.  The significant enhancements are listed below.  A complete list of fixes and enhancements is provided in the release notes.

See the post linked below for information on updating the GPA 2261 repeatability and reproducibility formulas in your configuration files:

GPA 2261-20 Update

Enhancements

[+] [NGA] Added GPA 2261-20 Support: Updated the GPA 2145-16 (FPS), GPA 2145-16 (SI) and GPA 2145-09 physical property data sources and associated configuration templates to use the new GPA 2261-20 Reproducibility formulas for Carbon Dioxide and Ethane. End user configuration files will need to be updated to use the new formulas.

[+] [ALL] Added a “lightweight” password protection option for the configuration editor, instrument/sample processing settings, and Modbus configuration. You can enable and configure password protection using a new “Tools > Configure password protection” menu option. Once you have enabled password protection and set an administrator password, a password will be required to access the configuration editor, etc.

[+] [ALL] You can now enter calculated result formulas that evaluate to “True” (-1) or “False” (0) and then use the calculated result as the source for a parameter alarm. This provides for more complex alarming than is possible with the current high and low limits.

[+] [ALL] Added new options to the text variable alignment/formatting string to control whether the text is trimmed from the start or end when the alignment length is less than the length of the text. The “<” token trims the charaters from the start of the text, while “>” trims from the end of the text (and is equivalent to “!”). Example: {SampleName,,6>} and {SampleName,,6!} will trim characters from the end of the text if the length of the text result is > 6, while {SampleName,,6<} will trim characters from the start of the text result.

[+] [RDB] Added a new option to the results database “Batch Process” window that allows you to use the export file from the first result for all subsequent results during a batch export. This allows date and time stamps to be included in the export file name without creating new export files for subsequent results as the time changes during the batch export.

Installing this Release

If you are running version 4.0.4.1 or later, you can download and install the correct version of the software using the “Check for Updates” option of the “Help” menu.

Otherwise, simply download and run the installation program from the download page.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you download the installer that includes support for the chromatography data system you are using.

NOTE: The “web” version of the installer can be used to upgrade an existing installation even if the computer doesn’t have Internet access.

Your current version of EZReporter will be uninstalled and the new version installed automatically.  Your license status will be preserved.

Software Support/Maintenance Subscription

This is a free upgrade if your software support subscription has not expired.  You can view the status of software support in the License Status window (click “Help > License Status”).  If software support has expired then you will either need to extend your support subscription or upgrade depending on when your support subscription expired.  Contact Diablo Analytical for information on extending software support, or upgrading your license.

About Diablo EZReporter Software

The Diablo EZReporter software is a flexible, advanced, post-run data analysis and reporting solution for any instrument that can be controlled by a supported chromatography data system. The EZReporter Natural Gas Analysis and Natural Gas Liquids Editions are state-of-art solutions for natural gas analysis and natural gas liquids/extended reporting.

For more information:  Diablo EZReporter Software

Upgrading

The price to upgrade to EZReporter 4.0 from earlier versions of EZReporter and BTU Calculator will depend on 1) the number of licenses, 2) the edition you are upgrading from and upgrading to, and 3) the number of instruments you want to license.

For Additional Information:

Contact Diablo Analytical if you have any questions about EZReporter 4.0.

GPA 2261-20 Update

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GPA Midstream has released a new version of the GPA 2261 Standard:  GPA 2261-20.  The only change from GPA 2261-19 is that the reproducibility formulas for Carbon Dioxide and Ethane were updated.  We have released a new release of EZReporter 4.0 (4.0.13.1) that incorporates these changes.  See the following post for information on this new release and how to upgrade:

EZReporter 4.0.13.1 Released

Please Note:

  1. IMPORTANT:  In order to install this new release your software support subscription needs to be active.  Please contact us for information on how to renew software support if your’s has expired.  If you are unable to renew software support for some reason, see the instructions below to update the reproducibility formulas manually.
  2. Once you have installed the new version of EZReporter, you will need to transfer the new reproducibility formulas to each of your configuration files.  See the instructions below on how to do this.
  3. We will not be updating EZReporter 3.0.  So, if you are still running EZReporter 3.0 (or an earlier version), this would be a good time to consider upgrading to EZReporter 4.0. Please contact us for information on upgrading.

There are instructions below for updating the reproducibility formulas in your configuration files after you have upgraded EZReporter or if you are updating your configuration files manually.

Updating the GPA 2261-20 Reproducibility Fomulas After Upgrading EZReporter

After upgrading to EZReporter version 4.0.13.1 or later, you will need to transfer the updated GPA 2261-20 reproducibility formulas to each of your configuration files as follows:

1) Open the configuration editor and click the “Std. Components” button below the component table.  Then, check the components you want to update.  In this particular case, only the CO2 and Ethane reproducibility formulas have changed.  Finally, click the “Transfer” button at the bottom.

2)  Since only the reproducibility formula is being updated, click “Select None” and then scroll down and just check the GPA 2261-20 reproducibility.  Then click “Transfer” again:

3) You can then scroll the component table to the right and confirm the new constants:

4) Click the “Save” button when you are finished.

Updating the GPA 2261-20 Reproducibility Fomulas Manually

The changes made in GPA 2261-20 are relatively minor, so you can also update the reproducbility formulas yourself.  Here are instructions:

1) Open the configuration editor by clicking the “Edit Configuration” button in the toolbar.  The configuration editor should open to the Component Settings.  Scroll the component table to the right until you find the column labeled, “GPA 2261-19 Reproducibility Formula”.

Note: the screen captures below are from the pre-release version of EZReporter, so the column header refers to “GPA 2261-20”.  Your column will still be labeled, “GPA 2261-19”.

2) The only formulas that were changed were for Carbon Dioxide and Ethane.  Here are the new values that you can copy and paste into the table:

Carbon Dioxide: 0.12×0.3333
Ethane: 0.0315×0.3333

3) Click the “Save” button when you are finished.

EZReporter 4.0.12.18 Released

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Diablo Analytical has released Version 4.0.12.18 of the EZReporter Software.  This is a minor release that includes updates for two component constants used in Natural Gas Analysis calculations.  For details see the release notes.

Installing this Release

If you are running version 4.0.4.1 or later, you can download and install the correct version of the software using the “Check for Updates” option of the “Help” menu.

Otherwise, simply download and run the installation program from the download page.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you download the installer that includes support for the chromatography data system you are using.

NOTE: The “web” version of the installer can be used to upgrade an existing installation even if the computer doesn’t have Internet access.

Your current version of EZReporter will be uninstalled and the new version installed automatically.  Your license status will be preserved.

Software Support/Maintenance Subscription

This is a free upgrade if your software support subscription has not expired.  You can view the status of software support in the License Status window (click “Help > License Status”).  If software support has expired then you will either need to extend your support subscription or upgrade depending on when your support subscription expired.  Contact Diablo Analytical for information on extending software support, or upgrading your license.

About Diablo EZReporter Software

The Diablo EZReporter software is a flexible, advanced, post-run data analysis and reporting solution for any instrument that can be controlled by a supported chromatography data system. The EZReporter Natural Gas Analysis and Natural Gas Liquids Editions are state-of-art solutions for natural gas analysis and natural gas liquids/extended reporting.

For more information:  Diablo EZReporter Software

Upgrading

The price to upgrade to EZReporter 4.0 from earlier versions of EZReporter and BTU Calculator will depend on 1) the number of licenses, 2) the edition you are upgrading from and upgrading to, and 3) the number of instruments you want to license.

For Additional Information:

Contact Diablo Analytical if you have any questions about EZReporter 4.0.

Root Element is Missing Error

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If you experience a “Root Element is Missing” error when starting EZReporter, it is most likely generated when the “ezreporter.xml” initialization file that holds the last settings has become corrupted.  However, it is also possible that your configuration file has become corrupted.

Note:  This error is now addressed automatically as of EZReporter version 4.0.11.9 or later.

Here are the troubleshooting steps to recover from this error:

First try deleting or renaming the following file:

C:\ProgramData\Diablo Analytical\EZReporter\ezreporter.xml

Note that the ProgramData folder is usually hidden by Windows, so you may have to type the path into the Windows file browser manually.

After deleting this file, restart EZReporter.

If EZReporter starts without the error and you are prompted with the New Configuration File Wizard, select any of the configuration templates and continue.

Finally try reloading your configuration file.  If you get the error again, then it is your configuration file that is corrupt, and you will need to restore from backup.  If no error occurs, then the ezreporter.xml file was corrupted, in which case you are good to go.

Update:  Although much less common, this error has also been generated when starting EZReporter if the following file has been corrupted:

C:\ProgramData\Diablo Analytical\EZReporter\samplecount.xml

If the troubleshooting steps described above don’t solve the problem, then try renaming or deleting this file as well.

Similarly, the error can be generated when the Manual Data Entry window is displayed if the “.sampleinfo” file for the current configuration file has been corrupted.  The sample information file is located in the EZReporter “Settings” folder and has the same base name as the configuration file that is currently loaded.  For example, if the configuration file is named, “C6+ Default.cfgx”, the corresponding sample information file will be named, “C6+ Default.sampleinfo.xml”.  You can safely delete or rename this file if you are experiencing the “Root Element is Missing” error when the Manual Data Entry window is displayed.