The ImageMet Browser

The ImageMet Browser is activated from the SPIP program by FileàOpen or the corresponding tool key $images\btnexplorer.gif$ and you will see a Browser window similar to the one below:

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The ImageMet Browser contains four Panes:

The Folder Pane, upper left, where you can select the directories you want to browse. This window works very similar to the Microsoft Explorer and the same Right-Click functions are provided.

The File List Pane, upper right, where the individual files can be viewed as thumbnails, icons or text lists. Compared to Microsoft Explorer this window has the advantage of being able to visualize all the SPIP recognizable microscope file formats including force curves and profiles. From this window it is possible to select one or more files and open them in the main program. It is even possible to explore and open individual data object from files containing more images or curves.

The Info Pane, lower right, where the characteristics of the selected files can be viewed and edited. Here you can also assign categories and links to related files or e.g. contacts.

The Preview Pane, lower left, where an enlarged view of the selected data files is viewed. The size of the image is determined by the size of the pane and the actual size can be defined by moving the borders between the panes. Images will keep their x,y aspect ratio while curves will be scale to use the full preview area, see the force curve example below:

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When you start browsing a directory the first time Image Explorer™ will automatically check if the files are of recognizable formats, in which case the basic information are retrieved and entered into the database together with a thumbnail. Browsing a directory a second time will appear much faster because Image Explorer™ will take advantage of the information stored in the database.

Opening a file:

To open a file, just double click on the file in the File List Pane. If it is a SPIP recognizable file it will be opened in the SPIP program while other files are send to their associated programs. You can force any file to be opened in SPIP by Drag Dropping or clicking on the Send To SPIP $images\btnspip.gif$ tool key. If the file is of non-recognizable format the Read a Special File Format dialog will be invoked and you can instruct SPIP on how to read the file.

It is possible to select more files and open them simultaneously.

Changing the file view mode:

ImageMet Explorer provides more view modes that can be selected by their associated tool keys:

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$images\ebx_-546743573.gif$ Thumbnail View:

This will limit the view to SPIP recognizable image or curve files for which thumbnails can be created. The size of the thumbnails can be defined in the in the Default View Settings.

$images\ebx_389488324.gif$ Combined Thumbnail and Icon View:

All recognizable files are shown as thumbnails and other files are shown with at default icon.

$images\ebx_-1672915926.gif$ List:

All files are shown with their associated icons column wise.

$images\ebx_1969484573.gif$ Details:

All files are shown row wise with columns for Name, Size, Type, Modified time, Description and Categories

$images\ebx_910128482.gif$ Expand Multi Data Files

Files containing more images or curves can be show in an expanded view with one item per data object (image or curve) or as a single item. When shown as a single item in thumbnail view mode a folder thumbnail overlaid smaller thumbnails of the first four data objects are shown. The folder thumbnail will provide the number of data objects stored in the multi data file. If you have more multi data files containing larger data set you may find it most convenient to show multi data files as single items.

$images\ebx_1079628065.gif$ Expand Selected Multi Data File

When the files are shown with one item per file, individual selected data files can be viewed in expanded view by clicking this tool key or double clicking on the file. This may be the most convenient way to explore folders with multi data files containing many data objects.

Default View Settings

To change the thumbnail size click PreferencesàThumbnail Size.

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Selecting the thumbnail size is a compromise between the wish to view nice detailed thumbnails and the required disk space of the data base file and processing speed. Because the thumbnails are in compressed format it is hard to set up strict formulas to the space required space per thumbnail; typically a 128*128 thumbnail will occupy 1 kbyte.

Note, that when changing the thumbnail size all the thumbnails currently stored in the database having a different size now will adopt the new size. This is done on the fly while browsing but can slow down browsing until all thumbnails are updated. You can also update the thumbnails of the current directory by pressing F5.

For image containing height information the thumbnail colors will reflect the currently selected color scale of the SPIP program. For graphical color images, e.g., jpeg, tiff or bmp image the thumbnails will adopt the colors directly. To change the color scaling for one or more selected files to the active color scale of SPIP, press F5 to refresh the thumbnails.

Viewing and entering database information in the Info Pane:

In the Info Pane optional parameters for the selected files are displayed and additional information in form of description, hyper links, and categories can be entered to the database.

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View Parameter Selection:

To define which parameters you want to display, press View.. and move the desired Available image info parameters to the Selected image info list by double clicks or the ‘>’ keys. and you can use the arrow keys to define the order.

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It is possible to create more lists under different names and it can be practical to use names that associates with the parameter types, e.g. Calibration, Roughness

Modifying description, links and categories

To modify or add information in stored in the database press Modify.

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Description

Depending on the actual file a description may already have been set at load time. You can edit the description field in free text style.