CrysTBox - News in CrysTBox 2.0

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News in CrysTBox 2.0

After 7 years, new CrysTBox will be released. Here you can find what features will be newly offered and which plans will be available once CrysTBox e-shop is launched.

New features - Faster, easier and more friendly

General layout and philosphy of individual tools remain as you are used to them, but many things got significantly easier and faster - like loading the input files or exporting images.

In addition to several improvements, there are also utterly new features like CrysTBox Copy/Paste or CrysTBox Interconnect bringing a new dimension of how you can handle your inputs and results.

Open your files easily and instantly

CrysTBox 2.0 offers two fast and effortless ways of opening files like DM3, TIF, CIF etc.

  • Ddrag and drop - Feel free to pick image and CIF files in your file browser and drop them in a desired CrysTBox tool.
  • Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V - Just select your image and CIF file in your file browser, press Ctrl+C, switch to the desired CrysTBox tool and press Ctrl+V. CrysTBox will load them.

Export your images as you need them

There is a new export interface allowing to you to adjust exported images

  • There are >50 controls allowing you to adjust the exported image
  • Images can be saved in raster formats (JPG, PNG or TIF) as well as vector graphics (PDF or EPS)
  • Semi automated export is available for larger series of similar images
  • There is even a very simple tool for stitching large numbers of images and/or creating a GIF animation like this
  • Note: The export dialog can be opened via Ctrl+E or the main menu File / Export
  • Hint: A new concept of help and guides is being tested here - press F1 in the "Export" window to see the window description and a quick guide

CrysTBox Copy/Paste

Imagine you could grab some information from one CrysTBox tool and you could paste it into another tool in one second combinig the tools together. That's exactly what you can do with CrysTBox Copy/Paste

For instance, if you want to duplicate cellViewer window with a particular material and crystal orientation, you just copy the material and orientation, and paste them into a newly launched instance and that's it.

If you want chain CrysTBox tools, you just copy the results from one tool and paste them into another one efectively chaining individual tools in one meta-tool. Below, you can see graphics illustrating this feature in the new CrysTBox Server window.

How to use CrysTBox Copy Paste? You have two options:

  • just press Ctrl+C in the source window and Ctrl+V in the destination window, or
  • open the main menu entry labeled "Copy/Paste" where you can select what information you want to copy or paste.

What is it good for?

  • Loading your images and CIFs from your hard drive to CrysTBox tools - just select DM3 and CIF in your file browser, copy them and then paste them to a CrysTBox tool
  • Cloning contents of individual tool instances - if you need to create another cellViewer instance with exactly the same material and orientation, just press Ctrl+C, open a new cellViewer window and press Ctrl+V
  • Showing the results - after you have analyzed SAED pattern in diffractGUI, just press Ctrl+C, open a cellViewer, press Ctrl+V and you see the corresponding material, sample orientation, simulated pattern etc.
  • Cascading individual analyses so that you take results from one tool as a starting point in another tool - analyse HRTEM in diffractGUI and then copy the material, image and orientation using simple Ctrl+C and paste them into gpaGUI via Ctrl+V

Duplication interlink

Duplication interlink allows you to permanently interlink properties of materials shown in visualization tools cellViewer and ifaceViewer. Below, you can see graphics illustrating this feature in the new CrysTBox Server window.

It allows you to clone a unit cell from one cellViewer/ifaceViewer window creating its exact copy in another visualization tool permanently interlinking properties like orientation, colour etc.

This way, any change you apply on the duplicated unit cell in one window gets propagated in all interlinked windows:

  • if you rotate the duplicated unit cell in one window, it will get automatically rotated in all the interlinked windows as well,
  • if you change the material of the unit cell, it will get changed in other windows as well,
  • if you select plane in one unit cell, a corresponding plane will get shown in all interlinked windows etc.

What is it good for?

  • It allows you to model complex systems of more than two misoriented crystallites, analyze crystallographic relations across the whole system, simulate superimposed diffraction patterns of up to 5 different phases (see ifaceViewer) etc.
  • It also allows you to combine features from cellViewer and ifaceViewer.

How to create the Duplication interlink?

  • You can create the interlink by pressing Ctrl+D in the source window and then Ctrl+D in target window.
  • Interlinks can also be created, removed or configured in the main menu (entry called "Interlink").

Access Crystallography Open Database (COD)

You can find and download materials from COD via new tool called "Material database". If you use COD, please cite it. Thank you.

Hint: A new concept of help and guides is being tested here - press F1 in the "Material database" window to see the window description and a quick guide

News in diffractGUI

  • There are new visualization options allowing you to adjust graphical appearance of partial and final results:
    • diffractGUI can simulate theoretical diffraction pattern in the orientation corresponding to your image. It also allows you to superimpose one on top of each other. In one click, you can see how your experimental image matches the simulation.
    • Contents and appearance of partial results such as RANSAC pattern, basic vectors etc. can be adjusted. Moreover, you can arbitrarily combine all partial and final results in any configuration you need to present your work.
  • CrysTBox can optimize lattice parameters of your sample material so they exactly fit the pattern found in your image. Despite obvious limits, this tool can offer a quick insight into the material deformation.
  • All the measured values (d-spacings or interplanar angles) are newly presented in tables allowing you to copy/paste them directly to your paper.

News in ifaceViewer

Offers superimposed simulated diffraction pattern of

Thanks to CrysTBox Interlink, the ifaceViewer allows you to model systems of more than two misoriented crystallites. There is no strict limit on the number of interlinked crystallites. It rather depends what you and your computer can handle - since adding a new crystallite into your model requires another ifaceViewer window, a model of 3 crystallites requires at least 2 windows, model of 10 crystallites requires 9 windows etc. Further ifaceViewer news include:

  • There are new two main visualization features
    • Diffraction view was added allowing you to see superimposed diffraction pattern of two or more misoriented crystallites. You can selectively show/hide patterns corresponding to individual crystallites, you can hover your cursor above particular spot to see the what reflections and material it belongs to etc.
    • Stereographic view was added allowing you to see stereographic projection of the two materials loaded in particular ifaceViewer instance.
  • Thanks to the Duplication interlink (see above), ifaceViewer allows you to model intergrowths of more than two misoriented crystallites.
    • You start with the first ifaceViewer window, which allows you to define one misorientation defining the relation between two crystallites.
    • Then you can interlink another window adding another relation (and another crystallite) per each interlinked window.
    • There is no strict limit on the number of interlinked crystallites. It rather depends on how many windows you and your computer can handle.
    • If duplication interlink is used, the diffraction view can depict up to 5 superimposed patterns.
  • Misorientation of two crystallites can be set up very easily using CrysTBox Copy/Paste - for instance from experimental data:
    • After having determined the orientation of particular crystallite in diffractGUI, press Ctrl+C to copy material and orientation.
    • Then in ifaceViewer, open "Misorientation" tab and in the popup menu "Misorientation given by" select "Copy/Paste" and press "Paste".

Subscription plans

CrysTBox 2.0 will be offered via a dedicated e-shop under three types of license - student, academic and commercial. This will allow to satisty a growing need from private sector as well as to secure an affordable option for students.

The old version (without the features mentioned above) will remain free of charge for academic purposes within academic institutions.

Further information will follow.

If you want to be the first to know about the e-shop, write me an e-mail and mention CrysTBox e-shop in the subject. I will let you know. Miloslav Klinger