The LVis user interface has four major parts:

1. Tool bar
2. Menu bar
3. Configuration bar
4. Desktop

The tool bar provides quick access per mouse click to different actions within the application. The actions are represented using icons. These actions are not always possible in the current program status. In such cases, the icon is highlighted in gray (no colors).

The following actions can be initiated via the tool bar.

Clicking the folder icon in the tool bar automatically opens the basic directory of all measurements, which is defined under Settings. Then you can open a .LVM file stored there.

This action is identical to the “Open file” menu item in the menu bar under “File”. As LVis can in general manage several instances at the same time (several detectors can measure at the same time, several spectra can be opened at the same time), this action is always possible, independent of the actual program status.

Via the floppy disc icon, you can save an open project (spectrum, spectrum with adjusted analysis parameters or spectrum with analysis parameters, etc.) can be saved as an .LVM file

If no name is entered, you must define via a dialog where and under which name the project should be saved (corresponds to the Windows action “Save as”). The possibility to save a project is of course only available, if a spectrum or a measurement is open.

Using this icon, an active spectrum (hence a spectrum, which is shown on the desktop and is active and was started parameterized, can be evaluated using the parameters defined at the beginning of the measurement.

If for an active spectrum on the desktop the analysis parameters are not available (since it was started manually) you will have to define all parameters manually as well.

Normally this icon can be used to check a running measurement by a preliminary analysis (e.g., if the limit of detection is reached) or to analyze a finished measurement.

In order to start spectra acquisition without parameters, click on “Start spectra acquisition”. This is possible if the detector (or the memory content of the corresponding electronic measurement equipment) is active and shown on the desktop. In addition, it is possible to continue a stopped spectra acquisition.

If the memory content is not shown on the desktop, then you can only start spectra acquisition from the context menu of a detector in the configuration bar.

Using this action, you can stop a spectrum acquisition started without parameters (not parameterized). Parameterized started measurements can only be stopped via the context menu of a detector in the configuration bar (Choose “Analyze” — after saving the measurement you will be asked if the acquisitions shall be stopped). This action is only available for spectra, which are currently shown on the desktop and are active.

This command clears the detector memory (hence, the spectrum) corresponding to the currently active spectrum window on the desktop. This only applies to spectra acquisition started without parameters. It does not matter whether data acquisition is currently underway place or not.

Click on the green “Open lock icon” to unlock protected functions of the application. This requires the administrator password. If the administrator is logged in, this icon is highlighted in gray.

If the “Closed lock icon” is active (red) this indicates that the application is currently unlocked. Clicking this icon locks the program.

Using this icon, you can start a peak search in the currently active spectrum window. The results of a peak search started via the tool bar are subsequently shown in the spectrum. However, they will not be saved and cannot be used for a report. They are only used for a quick verification of the energy calibration. In order to distinguish between analysis results, the peak description always displays a question mark next to the nuclide name. The illustration of the peak search results can be hidden by repeated clicking on the icon in the tool bar.

The peak search basically corresponds to a GammaVision WAN32 analysis without library (or a library without content), hence to a pure Mariscotti peak search.

All other peak search parameters required for peak search are different, depending if it is a manually or a parameterized started data acquisition.

If the measurement was started using a parameter set, then the parameters defined in the Spectrum section of the Analysis tab apply:

The results of the peak search are subsequently compared with the entries in the Analysis library defined in the parameter set. The nuclide, whose peak energy is closest to a found centroid and which is inside the specified match width, will be assigned to the peak.

If data acquisition was started manually, the parameters adjusted in the Default.sdf file apply and the comparison is performed using the suspect library defined in the global settings.

This button is only active, when a sample changer controlled by the ORTEC hardware I/O is defined for the currently selected detector. Clicking this button changes the output level on the “CHANGE SAMPLE” output of your ORTEC MCB.

This button is only active when a sample changer is defined for the currently selected detector. Clicking this button opens the editor for the definition of a set of samples (sample batches), the LVis SampleSetEditor.

Clicking this button opens the LVis LabJournal.

The menu bar consists of the following menu items:

Similar to all Windows applications, existing program files (.LVM files) can be opened here. Furthermore, a list of recently used files is provided and you can exit the program. In addition the Crystal Reports Designer Report Editor can be started from here. However this is just possible when no other measurement is active on the LVis desktop (see left screenshot). If an acquisition is currently being acquired or an existing .LVM file is displayed on the LVis desktop the menu is somewhat different because it is now possible to save the active document or save it as a different file (see right screenshot).

LVis has a built in Report Editor based on the Crystal Reports Designer. The Report Editor can be used to modify existing report templates. Typically all your report templates are located in your LVis database subfolder \Reports10xx (xx = 31 German; xx=33 English; xx= 36 French). Select the *.rpt file that you would like to modify and click open.

The selected file will be opened in the LVis Report Editor.

Here you can modify your reports. Since the Report Editor is part of the Business Objects Crystal Reports 2011 Developer software that we use for designing the reporting we included the designer in LVis. It works the same way as Crystal Reports itself but offers some limited functionality. Because of the complexity of this software package it is not possible to describe all its features in this manual. The Report Editor is more intended to be used to do minor changes like new headings or activation/suppression of individual subreports.

You can preview your modifications and save your new report templates by using the buttons on the bottom bar of the editor.

If you want a completely new, customized report, contact your local ORTEC representative.

In the “View” menu you can select, whether you would like to display the tool bar and the “status bar”. By default both are active. The status bars is used to display error messages and can be deactivated.

Here you can define how windows should be arranged on the desktop. You can select between “overlapping” (Cascade) and “side-by-side” (Tiled).

If more than one window is opened on the desktop, all windows are displayed in a list. They can be directly selected and displayed in the foreground as the active window. See Spectra windows for more information on arranging the windows on the desktop. In addition you have the possibility to show all detectors that are configured in LVis “side-by-side” on the desktop with a single click

The Settings window allows you to define global parameters for the entire LVis system.

The fields on the Settings dialog are defined as follows:

1. Path to the base directory of all measurement data. Unless differently defined by additional program functions, all measurement data is filed in this directory.
2. Here the path to the GammaVision application is defined. This information is crucial for LVis operation.
3. If your LVis is supposed to import sample data from a LIMS you can specify here the path to the respective directory where the sample information files are located. Importing sample data via automated file exchange requires some customization. If you would like to use this feature contact your local ORTEC sales representative.
4. If your LVis is supposed to export analysis results to a LIMS you can specify here the path to the directory where LVis will save the analysis results files that are to be imported by the LIMS. Exporting sample data via automated file exchange requires some customization. If you would like to use this feature contact your local ORTEC sales representative.
5. Default value of max. half-life correction. If a decay correction is activated in a parameter set, this value defines from which time no correction should be applied. The value defined here is a default value only. You can adjust the value to be used for measurement analysis in the respective parameter set.
6. Besides saving spectra in LVis’ .LVM files, it is also possible to save them in the GammaVision .SPC spectrum file format. If this is a general request, this setting can be enabled by activating “Automatic SPC file creation after analysis”. SPC files receive the same names as .LVM files and are stored in the same directory (See Item 1).
7. LVis can export the entire measurement data and analysis results into a MS Access database. For this purpose activate “Automatic database file creation after analysis”. The database created receives the same name and is stored in the same directory as the .LVM file (See Item 1). This is useful, if you would like to perform further calculations based on the results of an analysis (dose rate calculation, etc.), or if you would like to transfer selected data to a different database (LIMS systems). The structure of this database is explained under “Analysis database structure“ in this manual.
8. Analysis algorithm selection Here you can select which GammaVision analysis algorithm you would like to use for the analysis of your spectra. The algorithms differ in general, if it has been specified earlier to receive false positive or false negative results and if the focus is on library-based or mathematical (Mariscotti) peak search. More detailed information regarding the individual analysis algorithms can be found in the GammaVision manual. We recommend either using ENV32 or NPP32 for LVis operation.

1. Activation of library-based peak stripping. More detailed information can be found in the GammaVision manual. We generally recommend activating this function.
2. Definition of the suspected nuclide library Here the path to a library is defined, which is used to retroactively compare unidentified peaks of an analysis in order to propose in the report a nuclide for these peaks. This library is not used for the actual analysis and thus can contain significantly more nuclides.
3. Simultaneous measurement support activation with several detectors using parameters sets of the same names (multi-detector configuration). Here you can define the storage location of these multi-detector measurement data as well as the automatic file name generation. For further information, please refer to Multi-Detector Configuration.
4. It is also possible to adjust several input field labels in order to better correspond to the actual laboratory setup. The labels proposed here are default values only. You can adjust the names to be used for measurement analysis in the respective parameter set.
5. Automatically open geometry list of a detector in the configuration bar (in case of many geometries or detectors, it is expedient to suppress this functionality!)
6. Parameters for automatic file name indexing. Here you can define number of digits, start value and validity period of indexes. Automatic indexing in file names can be used in the parameter set by adding $i$ in the name field (seeEdit parameter set).
7. Activating PDF Support can be done by ticking this box. If ticked, the analysis reports will automatically be saved as pdf files and displayed in the default pdf viewer.

1. When the use of the LVis user management “Uli” is desired, it can be activated here by entering a valid IP address. In cases when the user management configuration is supposed to be on the local pc, enter 127.0.0.1.
2. If LVis shall automatically log out a user after a certain idle time, simply enter a time in seconds here.
3. If measurements shall be approved before being published (eg. results exported to a LIMS or QA measurements being transferred to the LVis detector QA database), tick this box. (see Approval of Measurements and Analysis Results for more details)
4. In case you are using the free software EFFTRAN by Tim Vidmar (www.efftran.com) for the calculation of true coincidence summing factors or efficiency transfer, it is possible to automatically have LVis combine all necessary information about the geometrical setup and trigger the calculation. To do this simply enter here the EFFTRAN and MEFFTRAN file locations. More information can be found in chapter Using EFFTRAN with LVis
5. Clicking on the “Units” and “Labels” buttons takes you to the respective menus, where you can define default values for the pull down menus available in the parameter set. (for further information refer to the following chapters)
6. Under “Peak search” you can define peak search parameters that will be applied if no other respective parameters were defined (if e.g., spectrum acquisition was not started parameterized). The adjustment options correspond to the options in parameter sets.

LVis lets you choose sample size units offers the option the select the different units in a parameter set (activity unit, sample weight, reference quantity) via the pull-down menu.

For this purpose, several commonly used units are predefined. However, you can add any number of units, which can then be selected in a parameter set.

You reach the respective menu by clicking on the “Units” button in the global Settings window.

A factor is displayed next to each unit. This factor defines the ratio between this unit and already existing or basis units (which has a factor 1).

In order to add a new unit, simply click on “New”. The following window opens:

Enter the respective unit description as well as the corresponding factor, then click on “OK”

In LVis you can provide a number of descriptions per measurement. Some of these descriptions can be predefined, so that you do not have to enter them over and over again, but can simply select them from a pull-down menu. To do this, click on the “Names” button in the global Settings window to open the following dialog.

LVis lets you pre-define, or add to pre-defined, lists of user names, sample categories, and sampling locations from pull-down menus used in the parameter set window. “Category” helps to summarize different measurements into individual groups. “User” indicates the person who measured the sample. This input field can however be named differently by clicking in the field above the table. The same is true for the last category whose default label is sample Location (or sample origin). In the above picture, this was changed to “Sample Type”. Note that for parameter sets that are linked to an external database, the Location field will be used for the selection of a dataset and will hence not display the entries listed here!

In addition, you can specify, for each type of entry, whether it is a mandatory, “Required” field that must be entered into the parameter set by the user prior to any measurement analysis. You can also assign each name or description with an alias (Shortcut), which can be used in the parameter set for automatic file name generation using the dollar commands $U$ for user, $C$ for sample category, and $L$ for the sample location. For further information, refer to Edit parameter set and the table of dollar commands. In order to add a new name or description, click on “New” beneath the respective table. The following window opens:

Enter the name or description with its corresponding abbreviation, then click on “OK”.