Scripts for T-App are text files containing a series of simple commands for T-App to send to the QNW temperature controller. Commands are also included that are handled within the application to generate delays and loops to be used to repeat a sequence of commands. In addition there are commands to present dialogs with information to help the user coordinate running of the script with data acquisition by an SCP (Spectrophotometer Control Program).
For dual sample holder systems based on the TC 1 controller, the controller can be configured by a script command to operate in a linked mode (so that each control command for the sample will result in an identical change for both sample and reference). Script commands are also available for using the sample and reference holders independently.
For systems with multiple cuvette positions there are script commands for controlling the position.
The simple example script below was designed to automate part of the example manual procedure for coordinating T-App with a Spectrophotometer.
Each script command is enclosed within square brackets, [command]. Except for the first two lines of the script, any text outside the brackets is treated as a comment; in the example comments are used to annotate each script command with a brief description of what it does.
Commands that start with [* are instructions for T-App (they are not sent to the temperature controller).
The first two lines of the script file are not script commands but provide information required by T-App.
The first line must begin with “Controller Script” – T-App will refuse to use the contents of a file lacking this header. Anything additional on the same line with this required text will be ignored.
The second line must be “Interval = #” – The number (#) is a time interval in units of seconds that controls timing in the script. For example, the value 0.6 corresponds to 0.01 minutes. After T-App processes a command, it will wait 0.6 seconds before processing the next command. The interval is also used as the unit for delay commands such as [*D 500] which instructs T-App to wait or delay 5 minutes before processing the next command in the script.
Controller Script
Interval = 0.6 0.6 seconds
[F1 TT S 10] set TT (target temperature) to 10 ⁰C
[F1 TC +] turn temperature control on
[F1 CT +3] report CT every 3 seconds
[F1 HT +30] report HT every 30 seconds
[*WT 1000 2] tells T-App to wait until CT is stable
(but no more than 20 min)
[*D 1000] wait (delay) another 10 min (0.01×1000)
for sample to “catch up”
[F1 HT -] stop reporting HT
[F1 CT -] stop reporting CT
[*MSG + Close this dialog to stop the beeping then set up the SCP to collect at 30 second intervals.]
this command presents a dialog containing the text shown
while beeping (+) at 1 second intervals. For long
messages, the command will not work if the “Enter”
key is used in the message
[*CTD] clears the time/temperature plot, deletes the data in the
plot and restarts the time at 0 with the next
temperature report
[F1 RR S 2.0] set the ramp rate to 2.0 ⁰C/min
[*MSG + When the SCP is ready, start its data collection and immediately close this dialog.]
[F1 TT S 60] sets TT to 60 ⁰C which also starts the ramping process
[F1 CT +30] begin reporting CT every 30 seconds (the first report
will be sent immediately and correspond to time = 0)
[F1 HT +30] begin reporting HT every 30 seconds
[*WCT>=60.0] wait until CT is equal to or greater than 60 ⁰C
[F1 CT -] stop reporting CT
[*MSG + The temperature ramp has stopped at 60 ⁰C.]
notifies user with beeping