Adding user interaction to RUN files in Quality An - Knowledge Base from Adept Scientific

Knowledge Base > Browse Categories > Quality Analyst

Adding user interaction to RUN files in Quality Analyst 6.1

Email This Article

To email this article enter and address below and click on the "Email" Article button.

Other resources from Adept Scientific for: Quality Analyst

	NWA Quality Analyst Product Information
	System Requirements
	Download NWA Quality Analyst resources from our Download Centre
	Buy NWA Quality Analyst online from our Webstore
	Read NWA Quality Analyst technical articles from our KnowledgeBase
	Find out about NWA Quality Analyst Training

Last Modified:	3rd Jan 2013
Category:	Quality Control and Management > Quality Analyst
Platform:	Windows 2000 Windows XP
Version:	6.1

Article Ref.:	D5C6
»Return to previous search
»Print friendly version of this article.
1 person has found this article useful.

The use of RUN files within Quality Analyst allows you to automate the production of SPC charts and reports giving you the ability to produce complex analysis for a range of variables at the click of a button. This article includes some general advice and tips so that you can make the most of this powerful functionality!

RUN files are effectively a series of commands which are sent to the Quality Analyst engine to perform various tasks such as the production of charts, filtering of data and the creation of reports. Whilst the RUN file wizard allows you to select most of these functions via a few clicks of your mouse, you can manually edit these files using a standard text editor such as Notepad. As a general rule of thumb it is often easier to create the initial RUN file using the wizard and then include more advanced functionality by editing the file in Notepad.

The following examples are put together into a more complex RUN file at the end of the article.

1. Prompt for a date range

One of the most useful elements to include within a RUN file is a custom date range which allows the user to select a start and end date for the data to be analysed. The following box is presented to the user when the RUN file is executed:

The syntax required in the RUN file is as follows:

PROMPT $RANGEFILTER1 Enter the range of dates to be used:

The variable for "$RANGEFILTER1" is then used within the filter section of the chart command, so the entire RUN file appears as follows:

PROMPT $RANGEFILTER1 Enter the range of dates to be used:
IR "C:\Program Files\QA\Tutorial\ELEMENTS.DAT" PB I N G $FILTER="DATE $RANGEFILTER1"
CHART

The resulting RUN file prompts the user to specify a FROM and TO date for the data to be charted and then produces an Individuals Chart based on this data.

2. Prompt for the file to be analysed

This simple command allows you to use the same RUN file to analyse data from different Quality Analyst datafiles stored in the same location. This is ideal where the datafiles are all individually named by Lot Number or Serial number

The following box is presented to the user when the RUN file is executed:

The user can now enter "elements" to use the data from the elements.dat datafile. The syntax required in the RUN file is as follows:

PROMPT $FILE1 Enter the data file to use

It is then necessary to include the variable "$FILE1" within the context of the RUN file so that the correct datafile is used, the full syntax is as follows:

PROMPT $FILE1 Enter the data file to use
IR "C:\Program Files\QA\Tutorial\$FILE1.DAT" PB I N G
CHART

3. Include a dropdown list of values for the user to choose from

When a datafile contains multiple variables it is useful to be able to select which information should be charted. The following box can be displayed when the RUN file is executed to prompt the user to select from a list of predefined options.

This feature is particularly useful as it gives each variable a name which can be customised. For example, within the elements.dat datafile, the variable for Lead is "PB" however in the drop down list it appears as "Lead". The syntax required in the RUN file is as follows:

AskList ^Element ["AS":"Arsenic"|"PB":"Lead"|"ZN":"Zinc"] "Select an element to analyze:" "Lead"
IR "C:\Program Files\QA\Tutorial\Elements.DAT" ^Element I N G
CHART

Note that the above example defines the variable "^Element" which is then used within the context of the IR charting command to specify which variable should be used in the chart itself. In addition the variable "Lead" is selected as the default option.

4. Bringing it all together

Now that we have seen each option working individually, we can include these together into a single RUN file which will ask the user to:

A. Specify the datafile to be used
B. Specify the date range they want to analyse
C. Specify the variable they want to chart

The syntax for this is as follows:

PROMPT $RANGEFILTER1 Enter the range of dates to be used:
PROMPT $FILE1 Enter the data file to use
AskList ^Element ["AS":"Arsenic"|"PB":"Lead"|"ZN":"Zinc"] "Select an element to analyze:" "Lead"
IR "C:\Program Files\QA\Tutorial\$FILE1.DAT" ^Element I N G $FILTER="DATE $RANGEFILTER1"
CHART

The above syntax can be applied to a range of charts and will allow you to create more complex RUN files which can be used for a greater range of analysis. For further information regarding RUN file syntax please see Chapter 9 in the Quality Analyst PDF manual which is located in C:\Program Files\QA\QAMAN.PDF

Related Articles