XMapTools 4.5 – Release notes

Major compiler update and compatibility notes

• MacOS M series (Apple Silicon) compatibility: XMapTools 4.5 runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs using MATLAB Runtime 25.1, providing a notable performance boost. However, XMapTools 4.5 is only compatible with the M-Series chip for the following versions of macOS: Ventura (13), Sonoma (14), Sequoia (15) and Tahoe (26) and later versions. The previous MATLAB Runtime version (v912) can be uninstalled after installing this version.
• MacOS Intel & Windows compatibility: XMapTools 4.5 for Intel Macs and Windows PCs still uses MATLAB Runtime v99 (R2020b).
• MacOS Installation and Update: The initial installation of XMapTools 4.5 and MATLAB Runtime can be performed using the terminal command: curl -fsSL https://xmaptools.ch/install.sh | bash -s — –install. In the future, XMapTools updates on MacOS will be distributed using the terminal command: curl -fsSL https://xmaptools.ch/install.sh | bash -s — –update.
• Windows Installation and Update: The installation of XMapTools 4.5 and MATLAB Runtime can be performed using the terminal command: iex “& { $(irm https://xmaptools.ch/install.ps1) } –install”. XMapTools updates can be obtained using the terminal command: iex “& { $(irm https://xmaptools.ch/install.ps1) } –update”. Please note that you will need to run PowerShell as an administrator in order to update XMapTools.

New feature: introducing Spot Data

• Add a new data type that can be used to interact extract information from the maps and spot data from X–Y positions.
• Add tools to generate datasets and populate them with spots that have been entered manually or randomly onto the displayed data.
• Add a sampling function that allows data to be extracted using the median value of an ROI defined around each spot. Data for each pixel can be displayed, and outliers can be manually removed.
• Add a data management module that can load external data from a file and display it in a table.
• Add a plot module to display the imported spot data on the displayed map using various colour and spot size options.
• Add export functionalities for spot data to the Export module. Data can be exported to a CSV file in the MinPlot format for one or all spot datasets.

General

• Add an image converter module (in Add-ons) to convert images into numerical values stored in text files that can be imported into XMapTools. The converter module has additional tools to set the minimum and maximum value and to crop the image.
• Enhance the Data Export module with a new mode that randomly selects n pixels to export. This can be combined with other export formats in the same file.
• Add an option to display the “bulk value (average)” of plotted pixels in binary and ternary plots in the Data Visualisation module, improving the statistical output of the plots.
• Add an option to change the colour of the ROI drawn in the main windows and modules. The default colour is selected when the program starts, but the user’s choice is saved for each project.
• Add an external function for olivine thermobarometry including the calibrations SC13: Shejwalkar and Coogan (2013) and B17: Bussweiler et al (2017).
• Add the monticellite end-member to the olivine structural formula calculation.
• Add the creation of colormap data on opening to allow modules to use the default colormap before the first map is displayed.
• Hide the map navigation slider when an item is selected from the secondary menu. While this changes the behaviour of the interface, it prevents a lot of potential instability.

LA-ICP-MS

• Add a signal selector module to the converter module to manually select background signals if the background is not measured before each measurement. This module includes a manual mode in which each background measurement can be selected using a ROI, and an automated mode based on a similarity check from a single ROI.
• Improve the converter module by enabling the generation of another type of map. When generating the map, if the ‘Mean of non-zero sweeps’ option is selected, the program will calculate the mean of the non-zero sweeps for each grid pixel.
• Improve the converter module by automatically selecting ‘step function’ interpolation for the background and ‘polynomial’ interpolation for the primary standard.
• Improve the converter module’s compatibility by enabling it to convert FIN2 files to CSV files and import them. You can find the FIN2 converter tool in the Tools menu. Note that this format require a conversion before to be imported in XMapTools.
• Improve the converter module by adding more date and time formats.
• Improve the converter module to display the file date/time format selection module only if the format is not automatically detected. Note that the old behaviour can be restored by deselecting the “Skip Date/Time format confirmation” option in the Options menu of the converter module.
• Improve compatibility by enabling the reading of files from PerkinElmer instruments. Please note that, as these files contain no date or time information, the file timestamp is used instead.
• Add a new compatible format for automatic identification of the analysis ID. The list of compatible formats is “Name – ID”, “Name-ID”, “Name_ID”.
• Add a check to detect if the wrong format of the name has been selected and the analysis ID cannot be retrieved.

Bingo-Antidote

• Add melt detection and filtering in Bingo-Antidote if the option ‘Exclude melt’ is activated.
• Change the name of the solution model for biotite from BI14 to BIO in DEF_ds62-mb.txt and add Ti and K for the calculation of Qcmp of amphibole.

 Other

• Correct an error in the sampling function where the standard error not being calculated correctly. Thanks to Ryo Fukushima for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the Calibrate workspace prevented an uncertainty on LBC from being estimated. Thanks to @harshal9192 for reporting the issue.
• Correct an error that occurred in the ‘Generate Mosaic (Grid)’ function when an ‘Import.txt’ file was present in a folder containing CSV files. The behaviour of the function has been improved so that it can now automatically detect the presence of a subfolder called ‘Mosaic’. Thanks to Yulu Tian for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the calibration for EPMA module that prevented single masks from being selected for calibration. Thanks to Yulu Tian for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the PRIP-ROI module preventing LOD to be calculated when an empty pixel was selected. Thanks to Renée Tamblyn for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the extraction of the number of sweeps per pixel, which was causing rare errors in the value. Thanks to Thorsten Markmann for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the LOD calculation equation with very minor effect on the LOD value. Thanks to Thorsten Markmann for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the LOD calculation for the PRIP module. This error only affected the LOD calculated for ROIs, not the LOD for maps or the LOD filter. The LOD was underestimated by about 10–30% depending on the number of pixels in the ROI. Thanks to Thorsten Markmann for reporting this issue.
• Correct an error in the data converter for the LA-ICP-MS module that prevented the manual adjustment of the integration sweep for the primary and secondary standards.
• Correct an error in the LA-ICP-MS Converter module that prevented the secondary standard data from being plotted.
• Correct an error in the log generator module that was preventing the ‘Apply to All’ option from being used.
• Correct an error that prevented LA-ICP-MS projects generated with XMapTools 4.1 from being opened.
• Correct an error that occurs during startup if the directory is not selected correctly, or if the Cancel button is pressed.