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Importing .ch file

I have a customer interested in analyzing gas chromatograph data; the default data format is a .ch file. Anyone have experience bringing this data format directly into JMP? Example data file is here.

Re: Importing .ch file

Looks like it's binary. If you have the data dictionary, it could be scripted. That said, it wouldn't be unusual if quite a bit of flexibility was built into the data dictionary and scripting it would be a chore. A good example of this is with LabView and STDF files. I know there has been talk about adding connectors to JMP so more binary files could be opened natively. Could this be a good candidate?

Re: Importing .ch file

Might be worth taking a look here. Also worth drawing this to the attention of Product Management since it might be within the scope of our 'data connector' efforts. Not sure how much extra business we would drive if we could actually do this, but it looks like an add-in might be possible for someone with the time and inclination.

Re: Importing .ch file

It looks like .ch is a data format from Chemstation - the software provided with HP/Agilent chromatography hardware. Chemstation is very well known in the world of chromatography. I would be interested in why they want to bring the chromatography data directly into JMP. As it stands, JMP does not have great tools for the kind of analysis that you would want to do with raw chromatograms. People tend to use Chemstation to do the raw data processing (baseline subtraction, peak picking, peak integration), which would be difficult in JMP.

Re: Importing .ch file

Regarding "JMP does not have great tools for the kind of analysis that you would want to do with raw chromatograms" then it's worth saying there have been discussions to perhaps fix this. So that's even more reason to know more about the use cases involved.

Re: Importing .ch file

Hi Peter.  Is it not possible to output the chromatogram as csv? This is possible if they are using Agilent's OpenLab software: https://community.agilent.com/technical/software/m/videos/722?CommentId=c1e4cb78-1831-43c9-8cb5-84e28934148b

Re: Importing .ch file

@JeremyAshJMP the only information the customer would offer up was that they would prefer directly loading .ch files. Given the type of work these folks do (analyzing produced water, oil, and frac fluids) they are probably a high volume operation and they would like to not have to take the iterative step of exporting every file to a .csv. @Phil_Kay  and @ian_jmp I don't know explicitly why they want to open .ch files directly into JMP rather than a post processed data file (is it possible to have a post-processed .ch file? I don't know) but I've always felt that the more we can get our customers working in the JMP environment they more sticky JMP will be. I would not be surprised if they use a proprietary method to process their raw data anyway, so the post-processing tools in ChemStation may be moot. Regardless, I will continue trying to pump them for information. 

Regardless, they are trying to solve a problem that plagues every production company  and the solution they seek will vary by geography and geology so this problem and the process they are using to solve for it is reproducible across nearly all companies in the industry.   

Any savvy scripters want to collaborate on an Add-in?  I'll get the first drink/bite/coffee the next time we're all together.

Re: Importing .ch file

If you look at a tool like Open Babel, which supports importing 84 chemical formats, you can see that it becomes impractical for JMP to do all of these (http://openbabel.org/docs/2.3.0/FileFormats/Overview.html). And, BTW, Open Babel does not even support .ch files.  There is a tool out there that does, https://lablicate.com/platform/openchrom, and that is really experimental.  

Much as I don't like suggesting alternative products and tools, there is just no way for us to address all of the scientific tool formats out there in a meaningful way without hiring lots of people to do that.  Right now, that is not an option.  So, you might want to suggest something like Lablicate. 

Almost all forums end up advising users to dump out .CSV files in the end.  I know your customer doesn't like this option, but it is often a requirement to use the data in more mainstream tools like JMP.

 

Brian Corcoran

Re: Importing .ch file

I appreciate your candor @briancorcoran and I agree we can't do it all. 

Re: Importing .ch file

I do like the line of the Open Babel link that @briancorcoran shared:

"Chemists are a very imaginative group. They keep thinking of new file formats."

I think it is more about the instrument manufacturers than the chemists that are imaginative. By having their own file format, they too can keep their product "sticky" with their customers.

Anybody know why there are so many different file formats other than instrument manufactures want to keep customers and competitors out?

Doesn't hurt to put this on the wish list, external and internal.