Thermo Fisher Scientific TraceFinder 3.1 User guide

Thermo

TraceFinder

User Guide

Software Version 3.1

Optimized for Environmental and Food Safety

XCALI-97525 Revision A June 2013

Aria, Q Exactive, FOCUS, LCquan, ToxID, TSQ 8000, and TriPlus are trademarks, and Accela, Dionex,

Exactive, Thermo Scientific, Trace GC Ultra, TSQ Quantum, TSQ Endura, TSQ Quantiva, TurboFlow and

Xcalibur are registered trademarks of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. in the United States.

NIST is a registered trademark of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States.

Windows, Excel, and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and

other countries. Adobe, Acrobat, and Reader are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. in the United

States and other countries.

Agilent is a registered trademark of Agilent Technologies, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Waters and ACQUITY are trademarks of Waters Corporation.

All other trademarks are the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides this document to its customers with a product purchase to use in the

product operation. This document is copyright protected and any reproduction of the whole or any part of this

document is strictly prohibited, except with the written authorization of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

The contents of this document are subject to change without notice. All technical information in this

document is for reference purposes only. System configurations and specifications in this document supersede

all previous information received by the purchaser.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. makes no representations that this document is complete, accurate or error-

free and assumes no responsibility and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, damage or loss that might

result from any use of this document, even if the information in the document is followed properly.

This document is not part of any sales contract between Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and a purchaser. This

document shall in no way govern or modify any Terms and Conditions of Sale, which Terms and Conditions of

Sale shall govern all conflicting information between the two documents.

Release history: Revision A, June 2013

Software version: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional; (Thermo) Foundation 2.0 SP1; Xcalibur 2.2 SP1;

LC Devices 2.5 SP2; GC Devices 2.2

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

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C

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Related Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

Safety and Special Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

System Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi

Contacting Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiv

Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

About the TraceFinder Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

TraceFinder Summary of Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

TraceFinder Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Reporting Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Standard Report Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Custom Report Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Target Screening Report Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

ToxID Report Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chapter 2 Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Installing the TraceFinder Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Installing the Power Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Installing the NIST and QED Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Launching the NIST Library Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Launching the Qual Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Converting Legacy Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Version Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Converting Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Converting Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Converting Method Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Converting Batch Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Choosing a Mode or Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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Chapter 3 Using the Configuration Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Specifying the Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Specifying Application Defaults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Specifying Default Peak Detection Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Specifying Adducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Activating Optional Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

ToxID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Quick Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

EPA Tune Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Delay Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

User Peak Detection Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Auto Sampler Tray Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Batch Wizard Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Acquisition Submission Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Screening Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Multiplexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Intelligent Sequencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Creating Custom Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Creating Custom Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Chapter 4 Using the Method Development Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Working with Master Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Creating a New Master Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Editing a Quantitation Master Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Editing a Target Screening Master Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Saving a Master Method to a New Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Creating a Method Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Importing Published Master Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Exporting Mass Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Working with the Compound Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Opening and Saving a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Exporting and Importing Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Compound Detail Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Grid Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Compound Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Experiment Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Compound Database Names Mapped to CSV Column Names. . . . . . . . . . 316

Working with Instrument Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Working with Development Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Creating a Development Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Editing Samples in a Development Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Acquiring Samples in a Development Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Viewing Raw Data Files in the Qual Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Using Quick Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

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Chapter 5 Using the Acquisition Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337

Working with Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Opening and Navigating the Acquisition Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Creating and Submitting Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Using Quick Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Real Time Status Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Acquisition Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Instrument Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Devices Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Queues Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Real-Time Trace Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Sample Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Chapter 6 Using the Analysis Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .397

Using Quick Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Working in the Batch View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Samples Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Auto Samples Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Reference Samples Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Threshold Samples Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Creating a Batch Using the Batch Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Working in Data Review for Quantitation Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Sample View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Compound View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

Comparative View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Qualitative View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Features Common to All Data Review Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Working in Data Review for Target Screening Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Samples Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

Compounds Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

Chromatogram Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Spectrum Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

Working in the Report View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Viewing Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Generating Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Working with Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Working with the Active View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

Working in the Local Method View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Working in the Batch Template Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

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Appendix A Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .605

Specifying Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Standard Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Custom Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Target Screening Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

ToxID Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Report Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

Sample Standard Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Batch Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Batch Report Rev 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611

Blank Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

Breakdown Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Calibration Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Calibration Density Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

Check Standard Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618

Chromatogram Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Compound Calibration Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

Compound Calibration Report - Alternate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Confirmation Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

Confirmation Report 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

High Density Calibration Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

High Density Internal Standard Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

High Density Internal Standard Report Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

High Density Sample Report 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

High Density Sample Report 1 Long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

High Density Sample Report 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

High Density Sample Report 2 Long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

High Density Sample Report 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

High Density Sample Report 3 Long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634

Internal Standard Summary Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Ion Ratio Failure Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636

LCSLCSD Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Manual Integration Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

Method Detection Limit Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

Method Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642

Method Validation Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

MSMSD Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648

Quantitation Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

Quantitation Report - 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Solvent Blank Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

Surrogate Recovery Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

TIC Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654

TIC Summary Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655

Contents

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide vii

Appendix B Isotopic Pattern Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .657

Isotopic Distribution in Exact Mass Spectra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Isotopic Pattern Score Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

Data Set Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

Calculating Mass and Intensity Deviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664

Calculating Isotopic Pattern Score. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

Finding the Noise Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

Appendix C Using Copy Down and Fill Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .673

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .677

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide ix

P

Preface

Thermo TraceFinder™ 3.1 is the newest application in the Thermo Scientific™ series of

GC/MS and LC/MS analytical software.

To suggest changes to documentation or to Help

Complete a brief survey about this document by clicking the button below.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Related Documentation

TraceFinder includes Help and these manuals as PDF files:

•TraceFinder User Guide

• TraceFinder Administrator Console User Guide

•TraceFinder Acquisition Quick Reference Guide

•TraceFinder Analysis Quick Reference Guide

•TraceFinder Shortcut Menus Quick Reference Guide

•TraceFinder Custom Reports Tutorial

Contents

•Related Documentation

•Safety and Special Notices

•System Activation

•Contacting Us

Preface

xTraceFinder User Guide Thermo Scientific

To view TraceFinder documents using the Start menu

Choose Start > All Programs > Thermo TraceFinder > Manuals.

To open TraceFinder Help and access related documents from the application

1. Open the TraceFinder application and choose Help > TraceFinder Help.

• To find a particular topic, use the Contents, Index, or Search panes.

• To create your own bookmarks, use the Favorites pane.

2. To view one of the user guides or one of the quick reference guides, choose Help >

Manuals > * User Guide or * Quick Reference Guide.

The PDF file of the selected guide opens in a new window.

Safety and Special Notices

Make sure you follow the precautionary statements presented in this guide. The safety and

other special notices appear in boxes.

Safety and special notices include the following:

IMPORTANT Highlights information necessary to prevent damage to software, loss of

data, or invalid test results; or might contain information that is critical for optimal

performance of the system.

Note Highlights information of general interest.

Tip Highlights helpful information that can make a task easier.

Preface

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide xi

System Activation

When you first start the TraceFinder application, a dialog box displays the number of days

remaining in your 120-day free trial. If your free trial has expired, the License Activation

window opens.

Two types of licenses are available:

• 120-Day Evaluation Version (free of charge)

• Full Version Single License

The evaluation version is full-featured and automatically expires 120 days after activation.

Any attempt to set back the system date automatically terminates this version. You can

purchase and then activate the full version of the TraceFinder application at any time, during

or after the free evaluation, without reinstalling the software.

Each activation key is valid only for a single license. Any additional installation generates a

different license and requires a different activation key.

For questions regarding activation, contact Thermo Fisher Scientific Technical Support in

San Jose, CA:

•E-mail:ThermoMSLicensing@thermofisher.com

• Fax: 408-965-6120

Tip Highlights helpful information that can make a task easier.

Note You can open the License Activation window at any time during your trial period by

choosing Help > License Activation from the TraceFinder menu. If you already have a

permanent license, a message tells you that your product is fully licensed.

Preface

xii TraceFinder User Guide Thermo Scientific

To request an activation key

1. In the License Activation window, enter your information in the User Info area.

As you type, the License Text box creates an XML text string with your information.

2. In the Barcode box, type the barcode printed on the TraceFinder CD.

The form of the barcode number is either xxxx-xxxx-xxxx or xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx.

3. When you finish entering all the information, click Copy.

The application copies this XML text to the Clipboard.

If you have not completed all the information, a pop-up box identifies the missing

information.

Note The barcode might already be filled in for you.

Preface

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide xiii

4. Paste this XML text in the body of an e-mail and send the e-mail to

ThermoMSLicensing@thermofisher.com.

You will receive an e-mail response containing the activation key.

To use your activation key

1. When you receive your activation key, copy it from the e-mail.

2. Choose Help > License Activation from the TraceFinder menu.

The License Activation window opens.

3. Click Paste.

The application pastes the contents of the Clipboard to the License Text box.

4. Click Set.

The application is activated according to the type of authorization your license gives you.

Note The License Activation window for power modules automatically opens when

you try to enable the power module features in the Configuration console.

Preface

xiv TraceFinder User Guide Thermo Scientific

Contacting Us

There are several ways to contact Thermo Fisher Scientific for the information you need.

To contact Technical Support

Find software updates and utilities to download at mssupport.thermo.com.

To contact Customer Service for ordering information

To get local contact information for sales or service

Go to www.thermoscientific.com/wps/portal/ts/contactus.

Phone 800-532-4752

Fax 561-688-8736

E-mail us.techsupport.analyze@thermofisher.com

Knowledge base www.thermokb.com

Phone 800-532-4752

Fax 561-688-8731

E-mail us.customer-support.analyze@thermofisher.com

Web site www.thermo.com/ms

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide 1

1

Introduction

This chapter describes general features of the TraceFinder software.

About the TraceFinder Application

The TraceFinder application targets the environmental and food safety market. It supports a

focused quantification workflow for specific nonbioanalytical laboratory use, instrument

control, and method development functionality. TraceFinder is the primary application for

the TSQ Quantum™ XLS triple quadrupole mass spectrometers.

The TraceFinder application can export mass data in the Acquisition List to XML format so

that other applications, including TSQ 8000, TSQ Quantum™, ISQ, and Q Exactive™, can

import the files into their databases.

The TraceFinder application can import the following file types:

• Sample lists in .csv or .xml format

See “Defining the Sample List” on page 350.

• Processing (.pmd) and instrument (.meth) method files from the Xcalibur data system

For detailed information about creating processing methods, see “Working with Master

Methods” on page 87.

For detailed information about creating instrument methods, see “Working with

Instrument Methods” on page 320.

• Compounds from files that use the database (.xml or .cdb) format

See “Editing Compounds in the Database” on page 296.

Contents

•About the TraceFinder Application

•TraceFinder Summary of Features

•Tr a c e Find e r Wo r k f l ow

•Reporting Features

1 Introduction

About the TraceFinder Application

2TraceFinder User Guide Thermo Scientific

• Batches, methods, or templates from the following applications:

– TraceFinder 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, or 3.0

– QuanLab Forms or EnviroLab Forms 2.5 or 3.0

See “Converting Legacy Data” on page 20.

The TraceFinder application checks the accuracy and precision of data against systems that

have previously been certified against a standard processing program, such as the Statistical

Analysis System (SAS).

Supported File Types

The TraceFinder application supports the following file types:

• Comma-separated values (.csv): A set of file formats used to store tabular data in which

numbers and text are stored in plain textual form that can be read in a text editor. Lines in

the text file represent rows of a table, and commas in a line separate fields in the tables

row.

• Extensible Markup Language (.xml): A generic framework for storing any amount of text

or any data whose structure can be represented as a tree. The only indispensable

syntactical requirement is that the document has exactly one root element (also called the

document element). This means that the text must be enclosed between a root start-tag

and a corresponding end-tag.

• Instrument method (.meth): A proprietary file format for the Xcalibur software suite with

specific instructions that enable scientific instruments to perform data acquisition.

• Processing method (.pmd): A proprietary file format for the Xcalibur software suite with

specific instructions on processing data that was acquired through the instruments

attached to the system.

• Raw data (.raw): The file type for acquired samples on the system.

• Compound database (.cdb): The file type for TraceFinder or ExactFinder compound

database data.

• Library (.db): A library used for target screening.

1 Introduction

About the TraceFinder Application

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide 3

TraceFinder Directory Structure

The TraceFinder application creates folders for batches, methods, and templates in the

…\TraceFinderData directory. Within each batch folder, the application creates folders for

data, methods, and reports.

You can create batches in the TraceFinderData\Projects folder, or you can create subfolders

within the Projects folder for your batches. You can create as many subfolders as you want for

your batches, but you cannot create a batch within another batch folder.

Figure 1. Example batch directory structure

IMPORTANT You cannot rename or move the folders created by the TraceFinder

application.

1 Introduction

TraceFinder Summary of Features

4TraceFinder User Guide Thermo Scientific

TraceFinder Summary of Features

The TraceFinder system provides a workflow-oriented approach to high-throughput

quantitation. The system uses a batch-centric approach and tools to automate and speed up

the processes of method creation, loading samples, automatically generating data, manually

reviewing and editing results, and finalizing the data review and reporting process.

The TraceFinder software package includes data acquisition, processing, reviewing, and

reporting capabilities designed to assist analysts in environmental applications. The

application has a fully automated acquisition mode and a manual data analysis mode. You can

use the data acquisition system to create and submit batches and monitor real-time review of

results.

The TraceFinder application uses a comprehensive processing method to provide improved

handling of ion ratio calculations, reviewing, and reporting. In addition, it can compare the

mass spectra and integrate the processes of data review and reporting.

Key features include the following:

• Role-based authorization for LabDirector, ITAdmin, Supervisor, Technician, and QAQC

(quality assurance) roles

• Administrator Console for user security, role-based permissions, and data repositories

• Configuration console for report configuration, detection and acquisition defaults,

screening library selection, and customized columns and flags

• Method Development mode for editing instrument methods, setting processing and error

flag parameters, and setting report options

• Choice of acquisition wizards:

– Acquisition batch mode that guides you in creating batches and running samples

– Batch template wizard similar to the interface used in the EnviroLab Forms

application

• Analysis mode with batch views, data review, local method views, and report views

• Database-capable method development

• Quantification workflows, supporting capabilities present in the LCquan™ and

EnviroLab Forms applications

• Target screening workflows

• Standard and customized report formats

1 Introduction

TraceFinder Summary of Features

Thermo Scientific TraceFinder User Guide 5

Features of the common workflow core include the following:

• Acquisition and processing

•Peak detection

• Quantification to include calibration

• Error analysis and flag setting

•Reporting

• Data persistence

• Raw data file handling

1 Introduction

TraceFinder Workflow

6TraceFinder User Guide Thermo Scientific

TraceFinder Workflow

The TraceFinder application is structured with a typical laboratory workflow in mind. You

create a batch, and the system injects samples into the instrument, runs the samples, analyzes

the data, and generates a report. You can set up a master method for specific compound

groups or assays that you expect to run in your laboratory. When you are ready to run a

particular type of sample, select the appropriate method and begin.

When using the TraceFinder application, follow these basic steps:

1. Create and save a master method in the Method Development mode.

A master method combines the instrument method and processing method that define

the following:

• How the raw data is acquired and processed

• How the error checking information evaluates the results

• How the results appear in reports

2. Create and submit a batch using one of the batch wizards.

A batch lists samples for processing and reporting using a specified method. Each row of a

batch represents a unique sample.

3. Monitor the status of the batch in the Real Time Status view.

The real-time display is visible from all the TraceFinder modes. You can begin another

batch while you watch the real-time display of the currently acquiring batch.

4. Evaluate the data in the Analysis mode.

The Analysis mode includes views where you can review batches, batch data, reports, and

local methods.

5. View and print reports in the Report View of the Analysis mode.

Use the Report View to view or print the reports for the currently selected batch.

Note At any time, you can quickly view the system status by looking in the lower

right corner of the TraceFinder window. This area displays a green, yellow, or red

status light and a description of the number of samples in the queue (if any).

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Thermo Fisher Scientific TraceFinder 3.1 User guide

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