Isotope Explorer user's manual

Isotope Explorer user's manual

Level scheme mode

In level scheme mode a level scheme is drawn like in the example below:

The arrows at the bottom can be pulled horizontally by the arrow-cursor to adjust the width of the different areas of the level scheme - the spin/parity label, the gammas area and the energy label.

If the decay scheme contains many gammas, it would become too crowded if they were all displayed at once. Therefore, the program displays only one row of gammas (called 'layer') across the gammas area, and other transitions are hinted with a 'v' at the initial level. The tool bar buttons are provided to facilitate browsing through these layers.

The menu bar

The Menu bar in drawing mode has the following entries:

Explanation of the menus (if an equivalent item in the tool bar is available, this will be displayed with the explanation):

File
Get Reference...: Decode NSR Keynumber, search for NSR Authors
Select Nucleus...: Get nuclide data
New chart...: Not yet implemented
Open chart...: Open an existing chart
Open local file...: Open a local data file
Save as...: Not yet implemented
Close: Close the active window
Print: Print current view
Print preview: Print preview current view
Printer setup: Change printer or properties of current printer
.....: Open recently used files
Exit: Exit Isotope Explorer

Edit
Undo: Undo the last operation
Set Scale...: Set vertical scale
Set Layer...: Set layer for gamma display

Operation
Coincidence...: Display coincidences with selected gamma(s)
Set Energy Gate...: Set energy gate for coincidences
Logical operations...: Perform logical operations with spectra

Data
Select Data Set...: Select data set in the current file
Reset selection to all levels: Deselect band and level selections
Select Levels..: Bring up the level selection panel, see Selecting levels
Select Band(s)...: Bring up the bands selection panel, see Selecting bands

AddView...
Level Scheme: Display level scheme of current selection
Table: Display table of current selection
Plot: Plot current selection
Editor: Not yet implemented

Configuration
Save the size of the current view: Save font sizes, width etc. to the file IsoExpl.INI
Set level font size: Set font size of energy and spin/parity labels
Set gamma font size: Set font size of gamma labels
Set decay font size: Set font size of T1/2 and other information primarily for decay data
Reset to default settings: Reset all options above to the default values
Nuclear data source >: Select: Internet database/local database. On selecting local database the user has to locate it on the disk
Reference data source >: Select: Internet database/local database. On selecting local database the user has to locate it on the disk
Debug mode: Debug mode on/off (in debug mode all operations performed are logged in the file LOG)

Window
Cascade: Make windows overlapping
Tile: Tile all windows side by side
Arrange Icons: Arrange icons of iconized windows at the bottom of the main window
Close All: Close all open windows
.....: List of currently opened windows

Help
About: Isotope Explorer version information, authors etc.
Report problem: Requires network connection. Allows the user to report problems with Isotope Explorer or the databases directly to the Berkeley server
Isotope Explorer news: Requires network connection. Latest news about the program and databases
Help: Isotope Explorer Help function

The tool bar

Access to the most frequently used commands have been collected in a row buttons with symbols, the tool bar. Meaning, from left to right:

Open an existing chart file

Get nuclide data

Undo last operation

Show no gammas

Show all gammas

Show next higher layer of gammas

Show next lower layer of gammas

Automatic scaling (vertical)

Increase vertical scale

Decrease vertical scale

Select arrow cursor (for selecting objects)

Select hand cursor (for moving display)

Show parent data (for decay data sets)

Show data legend (for decay data sets)

Display coincidences with selected gamma(s)

Get literature reference

About Isotope Explorer (version information)

Isotope Explorer help

Data selection

With a complex decay scheme, it may be difficult to see which gammas populate and depopulate a level. In order to facilitate this, there is a level selection option: control-click on the level energy with the arrow-cursor:

The level is then shown in blue, and only transitions feeding or depopulating the level are shown.

Just clicking a level (without pressing the control key) will select a level (this feature will be used in later implementations). Gammas can be selected in the same way, i.e. by clicking on them with the arrow cursor. Selecting gammas in this way may be used for examining coincidence relations.

Selected gammas or levels are deselected by clicking them again. Any selection is reset by clicking on an area of the level scheme drawing that is neither a level or a gamma. The previous state can always be obtained with the Undo button ( ).

Shortcuts

All supported commands are available as entries in the menu bar, and some of the most used commands are available in the tool bar. In addition, there are some useful mouse-shortcuts, of which some have been described above:

Click on a gamma: Gamma is selected and shown in purple
Click on a level: Level is selected and shown in blue
Ctrl-click on a level: Highlight level in blue and show only populating and depopulating gammas
Click on selected gamma or level: Deselect gamma/level
Click on empty part of drawing area: Deselect all gammas/levels
Click anywhere with the right mouse button: Open the band/levels selection panel

Comments to: F Chu (program), P Ekström (manual)