automar 248x110
Edited on 19-May-2023

3. Input

3.1 Parameter Files

Program automar continuously saves parameters whenever they change within the program. When starting the program, the saved parameters are read back so the user always finds the latest changes after quitting a automar session. The parameter file read at startup is called automar.mix and resides in directory $MARPRCDATDIR, $AUTOMARDATDIR or $AUTOMARDIR, i.e. mostly in $MARHOME/automar/dat.

If the environment has not been defined, the startup parameter file will be read from the current directory. If the parameter file doesn't exist, program defaults will be used. The program, however, will always create a new parameter file automar.mix.

The parameter file is a keyworded ASCII-file which may be edited, but editing is not recommended, since it is going to be automatically overwritten as soon as parameters within the GUI change.

Parameter files can be saved into user-defined files and can be loaded manually. This is useful when working on a project where you always apply the same set of parameters. The parameter files should carry the extension ".mix" and may be saved using the "File -> Save Parameters ..." menu option. The parameters can be read back by using the "File -> Open Parameters ..." menu option.

There are 2 more special parameter files in $MARPRCDEFDIR with defined file names: automar.defaults and automar.bck. automar.defaults is an editable file which may contain user defaults for all or a set of parameters. It can be loaded directly by choosing menu option Set defaults -> Read automar.defaults. automar.bck is an backup copy of automar.mix that contains the last state of parameters before an automatical update has been done or parameters have been changed manually. It can be loaded by choosing the menu option Set defaults -> Restore last set of parameters.


3.2 Images

automar autodetects image file formats. The program actually looks at contents of files rather than at file names only. automar accepts the following image formats:

Image formats accepted by automar

Format Typical suffix Description
mar345 .marXXXX Images produced by mar345 software, "pck"-compression.
marccd .#### Images of marCCD detector
image .image Original format of 180mm/300mm scanners
pck .pck Images of 180mm/300mm scanners, "pck"-compressed.

3.3 Spot Files

automar autodetects spot file formats. The program actually looks at contents of files rather than at file names only. automar accepts the following spot file formats:

Spot file formats accepted by automar

Format Typical suffix Description
MARPEAKS .pks Spot search file produced by program marPeaks.
MARPREDICT .prd Spot predictions produced by program marPredict.
MARPROCESS .i MARPROCESS .i Integrated spots produced by program marProcess.
GENFILE .gen Integrated spots produced by program ipmosflm.
DENZO .x Integrated spots produced by program denzo (York format).


3.4 Others

There is one more special input file in $AUTOMARDIR with a defined file name: cleanup.com. This file is editable and executable. It is executed when choosing the menu option Options -> Tidy up working directory . The script is called from within the program with 2 arguments:

Since data processing programs create a varying number of files that don't really need to be stored once the data processing is finished, it may be a good idea to remove for sake of clarity. Usually the following files can safely be deleted:

File name or extension Produced by program ...
.prd marPredict, marProcess
*.marPredict marPredict
SPOTOD ipmosflm
COORD* ipmosflm
.gen ipmosflm
hklpredictions denzo
fort.* marProcess, ipmosflm, denzo
ROGUES aimless
SCALES aimless
*PLOT aimless
scerror.dat.* scerror
*.pck XDS
INTEGRATE.HKL XDS

Appendix 6.2 shows a template for file cleanup.com.