XMapTools 4.4 – Release notes

Release date: 21 March 2025

This version is highly recommended for all users as it includes new features, bug fixes and stability improvements to the software.

General

  • Add a Data Export module to export median and/or mean mineral compositions from merged quanti and result maps as csv files. This module is available from the Add-ons tab and is compatible with the new sub-mask classification.
  • Add several submask classification tools, including an unsupervised classification method based on the k-means algorithm proposed by Gies et al. (2024), Computers & Geosciences, 189, 105626 and a manual classification method in the Data Visualisation module inspired by Prêt et al. (2010), American Mineralogist, 95, 1379-1388.
  • Add multi-ROI selection tool in the data visualisation module and the ability to save the manually created maskfile (or submask to a selected maskfile) in XMapTools. These new features can be used in both binary and ternary diagrams.
  • Add the Border Removing Correction (BRC) algorithm from XMapTools 3.4 to the data visualisation module. If checked, the border pixels of the selected mask file will be filtered out.
  • Add a new structural formula calculation method for biotite based on Waters & Charnley (2002) assuming an 11 oxygen + Ti basis to account for a deprotonation substitution (added by P. Hartmeier).
  • Add a tool to duplicate and adjust the minimum and maximum total values of a set of merged maps (available from the Edit > Map > Duplicate and Adjust menu). This tool allows the user to define a minimum, maximum and sigma value and to rescale all pixels whose sum exceeds this value. It can be used to eliminate some of the artefacts of the EPMA multi-phase calibration routine, especially for mixed pixels that end up with too high totals.
  • Add the ability to define multiple ROIs to generate a local bulk composition.
  • Add an option to export a merged dataset to text files (available from the Edit > Dataset > Export (Merged) menu).
  • Add an option to convert quanti and merged maps from oxide wt% to oxide moles. These datasets can be used in the data visualisation module.
  • Add an option to duplicate a training set.
  • Improve the Select and Crop feature and enable it to crop merged maps. This addition was suggested by Cam Davidson for cropping quantitative compositional maps obtained by SEM.

LA-ICP-MS:

  • Improve the LA-ICPMS calibration module by the addition of several Pixel Reconstruction and Improved Precision (PRIP) tools. Manual PRIP mode allows ROIs to be manually selected during calibration to estimate local composition with improved LOD. A comparison with the median composition and LOD of all pixels within each ROI is also provided. The PRIP-AI module allows the calculation of pixel compositions below the LOD using neural networks. These new features are under development and limited in the public version of XMapTools; they will be documented in a publication. Contact Pierre Lanari or Thorsten Markmann for more information.
  • Add a sweep extraction routine to the converter for LA-ICPMS to export data from all measured sweeps. The generated data are stored in a new file SweepData_Import.mat.
  • The LOD filter is automatically applied in the LA-ICPMS calibration module when a new Quanti dataset is generated.
  • Add an option to the LA-ICPMS calibration module to store unfiltered maps (LOD). If this option is selected, two Quanti datasets will be generated, one filtered (default) and one unfiltered labeled as “no LOD filter”.
  • Add a module to select the date format when importing files from LA-ICPMS instruments.
  • Store the results of the last standard calibration test in a last_std_calibration_test.txt file in the working directory. This file is be copied to the map folder when the maps are exported.
  • Display the mean(sweeps) obtained by the sweep extraction routine when visualising the generated maps using the show button.
  • Improve signal display and background integrations in the converter module. The count rate of a single sweep is displayed with a dot. Integrations are displayed in black if no count was taken during the interval.
  • Fix minor issues with ROI generation and plot interaction in the Log Generator module.

Classification

  • Add the ability to use maps from the Other category (e.g. BSE, CL, etc.) for classification.
  • Add a button to remove all the selected maps for classification.
  • Set the number of neighbours to 5 for K-nearest neighbours.
  • Add an option to select a mask with merged data.
  • Disable the log scale of the colour bar when a mask file is selected and displayed.

Bingo-Antidote

  • Add the database JUN92_Pourteau2014 as used in Petroccia et al. (2025) JMG 43,21-46.

Other

  • Enhance the Generator module by adding the ability to use log, log10 and exp functions.
  • Enhance the Data Visualisation module with the ability to use log scales for binary plots.
  • Add log scale compatibility to multi-plot images and to the gif creation function.
  • Improve the map display engine as a test for compatibility with future versions of MATLAB. To start XMapTools with the 4.3 legacy display engine, simply add an empty legacy.xmt file to your working directory.
  • Fix a problem with the merge function that did not work properly when multiple quanti files had the same name.
  • Fix a problem where the zoom state was lost when exporting the map to a new window.
  • Fix an aspect ratio error for the RGB image in the Data Visualization module.
  • Fix a problem in the Calibration for EPMA module that could occur if a point was outside the map boundaries; a warning message has been added. Thanks to Stephen Centrella for reporting this issue.
  • Fix a problem in the calculation of the end member fraction for andradite garnets. Thanks to Rich Taylor for reporting this problem.
  • Fix an issue that prevented the first map from being displayed when a Quanti dataset was selected.
  • Fix an issue with displaying mask names in the Data Visualization module when a mask file was selected. Thanks to Jonas Vanardois and the second year bachelor students at UNIL for reporting this issue.
  • Fix a issue in the converter for EPMA (JEOL Windows recipe) where the CL maps were not recognised.
  • Solve an issue in the Spider module that prevented the plot from being updated. Thanks to Guillaume Bonnet for reporting this issue.
  • Minor fixes in XMap_MinColors.txt and XMap_MinDensity.txt.
  • Improve compatibility of the Export Plot Tool (opens in a new window) by allowing log scale colour bars to be properly exported.
  • Change the data type from ‘wt%’ to ‘wt/wt’ in the Import module.
  • Edit the message displayed when XMapTools is used for the first time.
  • Fix a configuration error for users using the latest developer version via MATLAB.
  • Other minor bug and fixes.

Release notes published on 21.03.2025, by Pierre Lanari & Philip Hartmeier.

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