minispec Plus

Administration Manual

Version 4.0
Date of Revision:
June 18, 2012

Bruker Biospin GmbH

CMR
Silberstreifen
76287 Rheinstetten
Germany
Tel.: +49 721 5161-6141
Fax.: +49 721 5161-6237
minispec@bruker.de
http://www.bruker-biospin.com/td-nmr.html

minispec Plus Software Manual (Administration)

Manual Version 1.2
Software Version 4.0, June 2012
Copyright 2012 Bruker BioSpin GmbH
The text, figures, and programs have been worked out with the utmost care. However, we
cannot accept either legal responsibility or any liability for any incorrect statements which
may remain, and their consequences. The following publication is protected by copyright. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by photocopy,
microfilm or other procedures or transmitted in a usable language for machines, in particular
data processing systems without our written authorization. The rights of reproduction through
lectures, radio and television are also reserved. The software and hardware descriptions
referred to in this manual are in many cases registered trademarks and as such are subject to
legal requirements.
This manual is part of the original documentation for Brukers the minispec with
minispec Plus software.

Table of Contents
1
2

6
7

Intention of this Document ........................................................................................... 4

Technical Aspects ....................................................................................................... 5
2.1
Requirements for minispec Plus installation ............................................................. 5
2.2
Installation Procedure ........................................................................................... 7
2.3
The First Run ......................................................................................................... 9
How minispec Plus works ............................................................................................ 12
3.1
Supported hardware .......................................................................................... 12
3.2
Software Design ................................................................................................. 13
Configuration of minispec Plus.................................................................................... 15
4.1
Environment ...................................................................................................... 15
4.1.1 Format of the export files ................................................................................. 17
4.2
minispec ............................................................................................................ 19
4.3
Calibration ........................................................................................................ 21
4.4
Data base ......................................................................................................... 24
4.5
Temperature Control .......................................................................................... 26
4.6
Application ........................................................................................................ 27
Other administrative Tasks .......................................................................................... 32
5.1
User Account Configuration ................................................................................ 32
5.1.1 User Group Definition and Default Users ........................................................... 32
5.1.2 Create and Modify User Accounts ................................................................... 34
5.2
Action Log ......................................................................................................... 35
5.3
Error Log ............................................................................................................ 35
5.4
Archiving of the Back End Database ................................................................... 36
5.5
Change Password .............................................................................................. 37
5.6
Modifying the Excel Templates ......................................................................... 38
5.6.1 General Modifications..................................................................................... 38
5.6.2 Enlarging the displayed number of rows ........................................................... 38
5.6.3 Adding Macros ............................................................................................... 39
Installation of OPUS 7 ................................................................................................. 40
Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................... 49
7.1
General ............................................................................................................. 49
7.2
Microsoft Office Professional without Service Pack 1 .......................................... 49
7.3
HP Tools ............................................................................................................. 50

1 Intention of this Document

The intention of this document is to provide the operator of minispec Plus with
a brief introduction to

the technical requirements and the installation procedure of the

software.
the basic idea of minispec Plus, which is a graphical user interface
working on top of a database for measuring and reporting minispec
measurements.
starting up with the software, the configuration and the intended use.

Please check the documentation on the installation CD, especially regarding

the use of the minispec and Bruker the minispec Software. Please pay
attention to safety instructions and notes in the pre-installation manual, too.
Concerning the details of chemometric data processing, please refer to the
OPUS QUANT reference manual, which is provided with the OPUS software.

2 Technical Aspects
2.1 Requirements for minispec Plus installation

A minispec instrument which is either a mq-series, mq-one or LF-series.

minispec ProFiler instruments are not supported.

A PC with Windows Windows7 32bit, Service Pack 1, English or German.

If your Windows language is different, please make sure that the
language for non-Unicode programs is set to English. To do this, open
the Control Panel via the Windows Start menu; then navigate to
Region and Language and then open the page Administrative. If
you encounter an error messange when starting minispec Plus, click on
Change system locale and set the system locale to English. You have
to restart your PC to notice the effect. Please note that other software
which is installed on your PC may not work properly with this Windows
setting.

Installation of Microsoft Excel 2010 32bit Service Pack 1 (for example

included in Microsoft Office Standard 2010 SP1). If you upgrade from
earlier minispec Plus versions, first upgrade MS Excel / Office to version
2010 before you try to install minispec Plus 4.0.

minispec Plus also requires Microsoft Access Runtime which is installed

during the minispec Plus installation. An already installed full version of
Microsoft Access
2010 Service Pack 1
works
fine, too.
However, if there is
a trial version of
Access
installed,
please remove it.
After
a
certain
number of starts of
minispec Plus, you
would
be
prompted
a
request
from
Microsoft
to
upgrade
your
Access installation
and unless you do
so,
minispec Plus
would no longer run.

To have minispec Plus installed, the installation CD must contain a file

named <SerialNumber>.ini (e.g. ND3342.ini) which contains the
necessary licenses. At least the licenses for the PNMR Server (license ID
232323 and for one of the calibration modes (Classic: 230000,
Chemometric: 231000, No Calibration: 233000) must be included.
Typically licenses for application groups and for temperature control
are also listed.
The licenses are also printed on the back of the CD case. If you do not
own the necessary licenses, please order them from Bruker:
1.
Note the minispec instrument serial number. It can be found on
the rear of the minispec electronic unit).
2.
Contact Bruker, through your local office or by email to
minispec@bruker.de, to place the order of the licenses and provide
the minispec instrument's serial number.
3.
The license number will be returned.

For chemometric data processing, the Bruker program OPUS has to be

installed. See Chapter 6.

To enable data export, a default printer has to be installed. However

this does not have to be a physical printer: there are programs which
generate files instead of sheets of paper, which appear just as 'real'
printers in the Control Panel. For example, the MS Office CD supplies MS
Office Document Image Writer as such a program.

If you have already worked with Bruker the minispec Software on the same
PC please note that ...
Bruker the minispec Software Version 2.59 Rev. 2 or higher is required.
(See also Bruker the minispec Software Help about the
minispec). For correct installation see BeforeFirstRun.txt on the
installation CD and the instructions below.

Only applications named *_server.app run with minispec Plus. Do not

change the path or name of these files.

2.2 Installation Procedure

Every care has been taken that your measurement and calibration
data will not be affected by this installation. However, for safety
reasons, we recommend you to backup all your data before starting
with the installation. Bruker cannot accept any liability for lost data.

Log in to the Windows operating system with administrator permissions

and ensure that no other programs are running during the installation.
Run setup.exe on the installation CD to install the minispec software and follow the
prompts during installation procedure. It is recommended that you accept the default
installation paths, as suggested by the setup program. During the installation of
minispec Plus, the Access Runtime is installed. Please accept the license terms and
click on Continue.

Afterwards the Access Runtime Service Pack 1 is installed. Please follow

these steps, too.

Figure 1: Installation of Access Runtime Service Pack 1

Figure 2: Accept the license terms for Service Pack 1

At the end of the installation, a new icon will appear on the

desktop labeled minispec Plus.

In case of a mq series instrument, a second icon labeled

Bruker the minispec to start the standard minispec
software is displayed on the desktop. In any case the basic
minispec software can be started via the Windows start
menu.

The
Default
path
for
installation
of
minispec.exe
is:
C:\Program Files\Bruker the minispec\. You can change the
path as desired. It is also technically possible to install several versions of
the minispec software on the same PC. However this is not
recommended.

Initialization files used by a previous version of the minispec software are

not removed if the installation is upgraded.

When you upgrade from an earlier version of minispec Plus and if you
used one of the Bruker SR applications, please note that the ExpSpel file
sr_server.app was changed to sr_server2.app. Older SR calibrations and
methods will no longer work with minispec Plus 4.0 and are hidden
automatically during the upgrade process. You have to create new
calibrations/methods with the upgraded SR application.

2.3 The First Run

It is assumed that the installation was performed correctly and you are logged
in to the PC with administrator rights.
Steps 1 to 5 are only necessary when the PC has not been connected to the
instrument before.
1. Run Bruker the minispec Software from the desktop icon or start
menu. The Welcome Box should appear. Click Setup... from the
Welcome Box, and enter the password. By default no password is
defined In this case click twice the 'OK' button.
2. In the Setup window, press the Select button to set up the connection
to the minispec electronic unit. On the very first access to the
instrument, an input of a valid minispec IP-address is necessary
(typically 192.168.1.1 for mq-series and LF-series, 192.168.1.200 for
mqone). Click OK until the Welcome Box closes.
3. A correct connection of the minispec system to the electronic unit is
indicated by an output of '...Connected to the minispec NDxxxx' in the
result bar. Please note the serial number (NDxxxx where xxxx is a fourdigit number). It will be needed for configuration of the minispec Plus
software. In case of mqone instruments, the serial number will start with
NE, i.e. '...Connected to the minispec NExxxx'.
4. Run a Daily Check for instrument validation.
5. Close Bruker the minispec software.
6. Double click on the minispec Plus icon and log in as 'Admin' .

Figure 3: Log in window

7. minispec Plus automatically prompts you to enter the serial number for
the minispec to connect to (see Figure 4). For mq-series and LF-series this
is NDxxxx, where xxxx is a 4-digit number. In case of a mqone minispec,
the serial number will start with NE, e.g. NE1234. Alternatively you can
quit the dialog box and leave DEMO which allows software
demonstration without the need of being connected to a minispec
instrument.

10

Figure 4: First run: Enter the serial number of the connected instrument.

8. If you want, you can browse through the pages of the configuration
window to adjust minispec Pluss settings to your requirements (see
chapter 4). Click the button Apply to save the configuration data,
then leave the configuration window via Exit button. Now minispec Plus
is ready for use.

11

3 How minispec Plus works

3.1 Supported hardware
LF90

minispec Plus

mqone
mq-series

BVT 3000
Balance
Figure 5: Devices supported by minispec Plus

minispec Pluss main purpose is the control of a minispec instrument (LF-series,

mqone, mq-series). mqone instruments from mid-2011 on allow dummy scans
just as mq-series instruments do. If you own an older mqone, you can upgrade
FPGA and firmware of the instrument. However this has to be done with
utmost care in order to keep the instrument functional. If you are unsure how
to do the upgrade please contact your Bruker representative.
In addition, several auxiliary devices are supported:
The Bruker BVT 3000 serves to set the sample temperature in the probe, using
liquid nitrogen as cooling medium for low temperatures or gaseous nitrogen
for high temperatures.
minispec Plus can read sample weights directly from a balance which is
connected to the PC. The mass is stored in minispec Plus and used for NMR
signal normalization.

12

3.2 Software Design

minispec.exe

MS Excel
OPUS

BVT.exe

m+ Front End

m+ Back End

m+ SYS

m+ CTE

MS Access
Figure 6: Architecture of minispec Plus

The architecture of minispec Plus is such that the user interface is separated
from the database storage and from the NMR acquisition program
minispec.exe (see Figure 6).
The minispec Plus front end (C:\Program Files\Bruker the minispec\
minispec Plus\minispec Plus FE.mde) contains the user interface, i.e. the
visible part of the software you are working with. It does not communicate
directly with the hardware, but rather with programs like Bruker the minispec
Software (minispec.exe) to control the minispec instrument and BVT.exe to
control the tempering unit BVT 3000. This is why during measurements the
Windows task bar shows these programs. However as long as minispec Plus is
running, they cannot be accessed directly.
The frond end exports data to Microsoft Excel and communicates with
OPUS for chemometric data processing.
The minispec Plus back end (minispec Plus BE.mdb) is the database where
all data concerning measurement, calibration, and configuration are stored.
Please consider that a loss of the back end means a loss of all measured
data. Bruker therefore recommends a regular backup of the back end file. A
data base can be restored simply by defining the backup file as the new
backend data base in minispec Plus (Figure 6, Data Base Definition).
If you set value on the recorded NMR data, also backup the files in the raw
data folder defined in the calibration section of the configruation window
(Figure 7).

13

For chemometric calibrations it is also important to backup the calibration files

created with OPUS. They are stored in the paths defined in your calibrations.
The system database (m+ SYS) (minispec Plus SYS.mdb) contains
configuration information for the front end. The m+ CTE file
(minispec Plus SYS.mdb) is an auxiliary database for Calibration Transfer
Exports.
All minispec Plus files run on top of MS Access. The Access runtime is
automatically installed during the minispec Plus installation.

14

4 Configuration of minispec Plus

In order to configure minispec Plus you have to use an account with
administrator rights. In the main menu click on Administration, then on
Configure Environment. The configuration window is opened providing six
pages to edit the settings.

4.1 Environment
Figure 7 depicts the Environment section, which holds software specific
settings:

Figure 7: minispec Plus Program Environment.

Path for archiving the data base: minispec Plus allows you to archive
previously acquired data which is no longer of current interest. The default
path where to store the archive data base is given here. The archiving
process is described in chapter 5.4.

15

Default Path for (Excel) export files defines the default path for exporting
data to Microsoft Excel or ASCII files. This default path is used within the
calibration and also within the measurement menu.
The check box Open Excel File determines whether the exported Excel file is
opened immediately after the export is finished.
Max. Mass defines the maximum allowed mass which can be entered in
measurement and calibration procedures. Its purpose is to avoid serious
typing errors.
For making sample mass dependent minispec measurements more
comfortable, the direct communication with a balance (either Sartorius or
Mettler protocols) is possible, allowing an automatic transfer of sample masses
to minispec Plus. The Balance option has to be selected, and consecutively,
the balance type has to be specified in the appearing box. The balance has
to be connected to the PC. The interface parameters have to be specified in
Bruker the minispec Software. Further information about this step is available
in the users manual of the mq minispec.
Some balances support an animal weighing mode which automatically
averages a number of readings taken during a given time span. This mode is
very convenient in combination with the LF-series for weighing animals which
move during the weighing process and thus make a normal result unreliable.
The animal weighing mode has to be configured directly with the balances
panel. minispec Plus requires no further configuration. To find out whether your
balance supports the animal weighing mode and how to configure it, check
your balances manual.
Decimal Places specifies the number of digits that are displayed after the
decimal point of numerical results. This number depends on the application
and the measurement accuracy. In general 4 digits should not be exceeded.
In addition, the accuracy of the sample mass can be specified, which is
application specific (for example animal weighing compared to weighing of
yarns).
The Remove mass entry after every measurement option refers to the
measurement and calibration windows where a sample mass has to be
entered. You may want to switch this feature off if you want to measure
samples with the same mass repeatedly or set up input-less measurements
when combined with consecutive numbering of samples.
Show Tip Texts defines the appearance of tool tip texts on buttons and test
fields as shown below.

16

The option Show previous measurements defines if summarized information

about previous measurements is displayed in the calibration and
measurement windows.
Define Sample Batch before Measurement Session allows the user to define
sample batches grouped in studies before measurement procedure to speed
up the measurements and simplify the process further. This feature can neither
be combined with indirect SFC measurements nor with BVT.
In case the numbering of samples in the measurement mode should be
made automatically, the option Consecutive Numbering of Samples can be
activated. The sample name is composed of Sample and the maximum
number of samples measured in the actual sample batch plus one.
If the instruments sample detector is switched on and a weightless
application is in use, the consecutive numbering can be used for
measurements without the need to enter any sample specific information.
Input-less measurements can also be performed if a mass is required, and
Remove mass entry after every measurement is deactivated.
In some cases it is important to export measured data points automatically
after each measurement, for example to support feed back in automated
processes. This is done if the Data Transfer option is set: A single data point is
stored in one of the two commonly known data formats xml or csv. The target
folder is the export path specified above. This feature is only available for
classic data processing.

4.1.1 Format of the export files

1) XML
The field names are used as tags.
2) CSV (comma separated values)
Colons are used as delimiter if the decimal separator is a comma.
Commas are used as delimiter if the decimal separator is a dot.
The first row lists the field names and the second row contains the values.
Field description
Pos. Name

Format

Description

SampleName

Text, max. 255

characters

textual description of sample

SampleMass

float

optional, mass of sample when

entered

17

Pos. Name

Format

Description

Result1

float

measurement result, number of

digits depends on configuration

Result2

float

optional, only if two results are

taken simultaneously

Unit

text

% or g

Batch

text, max. 255

characters

name of the sample batch

Calibration

text, max. 255

characters

name of calibration used for

analysis of the samples

AcquisitionDate date and time

timestamp of measurement

Comment

text, max. 255

characters

sample comment

10

Valid

text

OK = successful measurement
Err = error during measurement

11

Outlier

text

In = measurement in valid range

out = measurement out of valid
range

12

User

text, max. 50
characters

name of the user who performed

the measurement

File name
<SampleName>_<Batch>_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.[xml|csv]
Timestamp of the Export:
YYYY = year
MM = month
DD = day
HH = hours
MM = minutes
SS = seconds

Example of a XML-file
name: tsample_tbatch_ 2005_11_02_102512.xml

18

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

- <dataroot xmlns:od="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:officedata"
generated="2005-04-26T10:16:58">
- <qryLIMSExport>
<SampleName> tsample </SampleName>
<SampleMass>4</SampleMass>
<Result1>2.135</Result1>
<Unit>%</Unit>
<Batch>tbatch</Batch>
<Calibration>OPU_MSD</Calibration>
<AcquisitionDate>2005-02-11T10:24:32</AcquisitionDate>
<Comment />
<Valid>OK</Valid>
<Outlier>in</Outlier>
<User>a</User>
</qryLIMSExport>
</dataroot>
Example of a CSV-file
name: Sample25_comp_20090602_112417.csv
"SampleName","Result1","Unit","Batch","Calibration","Acquisitio
nDate","Comment","Valid","Outlier","User"
"Sample25","39.01754","%","comp","ne9995fidComp",6/2/2009
11:24:17 AM,"","OK","in","admin"

4.2 minispec
The page minispec (Figure 8) defines some hardware settings:
The Serial Number of the instrument to be connected to has to be specified
(NDxxxx for mq- and LF series / NExxxx for mqone). It can be found on the rear
of the electronic unit).
If you control two or more minispec instruments with one PC you can switch
between them using this serial number box and store all acquired data in one
data base.
The Path is the installation path of the latest used Bruker the minispec
Software (minispec.exe).
It is not recommended to have two installations of minispec Software on the
same PC. However if you use such a setup, please make sure you use the
correct version of minispec.exe. To define the version of Bruker the minispec
Software, close minispec Plus and then start Bruker the minispec Software.
The path in minispec Plus will be set automatically with the next start of
minispec Plus.

19

Figure 8: Page minispec of the minispec Plus Configuration

The Sample Detector enabled checkbox defines whether measurements are

started, when the sample tube is inserted into the instrument or immediately
by a click on the Start Measurement button. It is not relevant for
measurements with a tempered probe head / BVT 3000.
A click on the Update Settings button starts the correspondent procedure
(see Figure 9). It performs a setup of all instrument specific NMR parameters:
o receiver dead time is determined
o resonance condition is adjusted by variation of field offset
o magnet homogeneity is determined
o adjustment of the detection angles
o pulse lengths are determined
o receiver gain is tuned
o internal check adjustment procedures
Update Settings is very rarely required, for example when the Daily Check is
not passed although the proper sample is inserted and instrument
temperature is ok.
You will be prompted to remove the sample and after the determination of
the receiver dead time to insert the Daily Check sample. The following part of
the Update Setting procedure will take several minutes.

20

Figure 9: During an Update Settings.

For SFC instruments, also the additional SFC calibration standard samples
have to be measured and the so-called k, f and o factors are determined.

4.3 Calibration
In the Calibration page (Figure 10), the calibration and data processing
mode is chosen. For each of the processing methods a license number is
stored in the corresponding NDxxxx.ini or NExxxx.ini file. Only if such a
license is available, the calibration mode option can be chosen.

21

Figure 10: Calibration configuration menu, Classic calibration mode is chosen.

The first data processing method is the classic calibration mode, where a
characteristic NMR parameter is directly correlated to a material property,
e.g. oil content in seeds. In this case, the minimum number of calibration
samples is to be defined. As classic TD-NMR measurements use linear
regression models, the minimum accepted number of calibration samples is
two. However, it is recommended to increase that number for a better
reliability of the calibration. For some methods a polynomial fit leads to better
results than a linear regression; in this case, 3 is the minimum number of
samples.
In the second mode, the chemometric capabilities of OPUS are used for
deriving material properties from NMR signals (Figure 11). The OPUS program is
opened when required for data exchange and processing. Therefore the
OPUS installation path has to be defined according to the current OPUS
installation, i.e where the OPUS.exe file is located.
mq-series and LF-series instruments support all chemometric applications;
mqones only support simple pulse sequences like FID, Hahn echo and solid
echo.

22

Figure 11: Calibration configuration menu, Chemometric processing mode selected.

The third possibility is measurement without using a sample calibration (Figure

12). Parameter sets are defined and used for subsequent measurements. Next
to the usage of applications like in classic calibration mode, relaxation data
can be obtained and processed by using this option. Relaxation
measurements are not possible with mqone instruments due to pulse sequence
restrictions.

Figure 12: Calibration configuration menu, measurements without calibration selected.

23

In addition, the Path for minispec data files for minispec raw data (*.mdt
files) is configurable here. The main path can be specified in more detail by
adding the sample batch and / or the user name. The raw data of each
minispec measurement are stored in ASCII format in the specified folder using
the sample name and the date of acquisition in order to guarantee both a
simple identification mechanism and an unique data file name, e.g.
C:\Bruker minispec Plus Data\RawData\myBatch\Admin\mySample_200
90607_0942177.mdt. This feature also allows alternative methods of manual
data processing.

4.4 Data base

The minispec Plus software was designed to be in compliance with the 21 CFR
part 11 regulation (i.e. Code of Federal Regulations article 21 part 11).
Therefore, all actions and errors are logged in the locked back end
database file. Error/Action Logging can be switched on or off (Figure 13),
according to your preferences. When logging is switched off the database file
size will grow slower.

Figure 13: Page for logging option and password definition.

In this context the requirements for passwords are set. The window appearing
when clicking Password Properties contains the specifications each
password within minispec Plus has to fulfill (Figure 14). If the first checkbox

24

Password required is un-checked, the log in requires only the name of the
user in order to apply the according rights. Only the electronic signing requires
the entry of a password in any case.
According to these settings, accounts will be disabled automatically when an
account has not been used for more than the defined time span or there
have been too many failed login attempts. Only an administrator can then reactivate the disabled account (see Chapter 5.1.2).

Figure 14: Password policy options.

As explained in chapter 3.2, all data is stored in a Microsoft Access

database, the so-called back end file, which has the extension *BE.mdb. Its
default
location
is
C:\Program Files\Bruker the minispec\minispec Plus\. To change
this location, copy the file minispec Plus BE.mdb manually into another
folder and click Data Base Definition (Figure 15). Select the folder path and
file to be used as back end database. Click on Apply. One example of
when you would need to change this path is if you want the back end file to
be stored on a network drive. This file will continually increase in size as more
measurement sessions and operations are performed with minispec Plus.
Please make sure that the computer drive where the back end file is stored
provides adequate size. It is also recommended that a backup copy is
created on a regular basis.

25

Figure 15: Define Database Connection.

Another option is to work with two different back end files one for testing
purposes and the other one for production. With the Data Base Definition
function you can switch between testing and production data.
A third option is to use one PC to control two or more minispec instruments. If
you can either keep the data of both instruments in one back end file or use
separate ones and switch the back end files to connect with the other
instrument.

4.5 Temperature Control

Automated temperature control is described in a separate manual. This
feature of minispec Plus can only be used together with the minispec mq
hardware. It is available with a corresponding license allowing an automated
temperature control with the BVT3000 of time domain NMR measurements.
The temperature unit (Kelvin, Celsius or Fahrenheit) is required for indirect SFC
measurements, too, and is defined on this page.

26

Figure 16: Temperature Definition

4.6 Application
minispec Plus includes a pool of NMR time domain applications which are
organized in groups of practical scope. The configuration page Application
(Figure 17) lists all application groups in minispec Plus. The ones which are
licensed in the NE/NDxxx.ini file are checked. Only applications in selected
application groups are available for calibration and measurement.
For SFC instruments, the option Solid Fat Content (SFC) in Fat Compositions is
selected. Whenever this entry is activated, the main menu of minispec Plus
shows SFC Method Definition rather than Calibrate, no matter if other
application groups are selected or not. For more details please refer to the
minispec Plus manual for classic applications.
The button Toggle SFC Mode activates or deactivates the entry Solid Fat
Content (SFC) in Fat Compositions on the left hand side. If the
ND/NExxxx.ini file contains a license for SFC (230005) the SFC group will be
activated after each start of minispec Plus.

27

Figure 17: Tab Application in the configuration part of minispec Plus. In this window,
application groups can be chosen which are then available in the calibration part.

A click on Configure Application lists the applications grouped by their

processing methods. The application lists for classic calibration and no
processing are identic; the chemometric calibration mode comprises other
applications.

28

When a data set is marked by mouse click and the data is edited, a pen
appears, indicating that the underlying data set in a database table is
changed (e.g. Fat and Water Analysis as in Figure 18). Pressing the ESC
button cancels your changes and restores the original data set.
The pulse sequence, the corresponding timing and the processing of data are
characteristic for a certain time domain application. A minispec Plus
application is primarily defined by a fixed ExpSpel file describing the NMR
pulse sequence. The administrator has access to the timing parameters by a
click on Define / Show Parameters.
minispec Pluss NMR applications are defined according to worldwide
standards. These standard applications are locked so that no changes can
be made. However, it may be necessary to apply minor adaptations to
special requirements. This can be achieved by duplicating an existing Bruker
standard application and modifying timing and processing parameters.

Figure 18: Editing applications

Mark the new application by mouse click and by a click on the Edit button a
pen appears, indicating that you can change the applications name, group
and locked flag. Pressing the ESC button cancels your changes.
Only locked applications are available for calibration and measurement. Be
sure to lock only after you have checked the applications timing as
applications cannot be un-fixed. To check or modify the timing click on
Define / Show Parameters (see Figure 18).

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Figure 19: Define / Show Parameters Menu. The visualized pulse sequence is applied.

This window (Figure 19) shows the NMR signal and the timing windows for its
analysis. Please change the NMR parameters only when you are familiar with
the underlying TD-NMR measurement principles. Bruker cannot guarantee
that an application with new timing will work properly. In order to test the
signal response of a special sequence, a Pilot Scan can be performed with
Check NMR Signal. The pulse sequence and the timing specified in the
application will be used together with values to be entered for gain and
scans to perform a minispec measurement (Figure 20).

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Figure 20: Define / Show Parameters. A NMR signal is acquired with the parameters previously
defined.

The NMR signal remains visible until you click the Stop button.
Note that the minispec hardware is not equally suited for all applications. It is
possible that an applications sampling window overlaps with the instruments
receiver dead time, so that not enough data points can be acquired. In this
case you are prompted to use an appropriate application, i.e. move the
sampling window so that you can be sure it begins after the receiver dead
time is over.

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5 Other administrative Tasks

By clicking on this button Administration in minispec Plus main menu the
following window appears (Figure 21), giving access to various administrative
tasks in addition to the above mentioned configuration.

Figure 21: Administrative tasks

5.1 User Account Configuration

5.1.1 User Group Definition and Default Users
There are three user groups which can be used for account configuration.
They provide increasing levels of user control for operating minispec.

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User Group

Rights

Administrator

administration, calibration, measurement

Calibrate

calibration, measurement

Measure

measurement

The next table summarizes the hierarchy of user groups and the primary types
of operations that each user group can perform. For example, a user who
only needs to measure samples can obtain an account with measurement
rights only. A person that needs to make measurements as well as calibrations
could obtain an account with calibration and measurement rights. A plant
managers or the facilitys specialists account might be configured as
Administrator. The administrator has the most control of all user groups. You
will notice that various options of the minispec Plus software are grayed or
hidden when a user groups Calibrate or Measure are used.
Function, type of operation

Measure

Calibrate

Administrator

Create a new sample batch

Perform minispec measurements

Delete data points (measurement

results)

Sign a sample batch

Validate minispec instrument via

Daily Check

Perform Update Settings

Define new calibration and its

parameters

Perform calibration measurements

Delete / recover data points in

calibration data sets

Sign calibration

Configure user accounts

Configuration of minispec Plus

program

Access to action and error logging

33

Upon installing the minispec Plus software there are three default users
corresponding to the three levels of user rights:
User Name

Password

User group

Language

Admin

admin

Administrator

English

Calibrate

calibrate

Meas and Calib

English

Measure

measure

Operator

English

Bruker recommends to change the default passwords if you set value on

security. Make sure that the Admin password is documented elsewhere
because if you cannot login with administrator rights, there is no possibility to
recover the default settings. A good practice is to create at least a second
administrator account to provide a fallback option.

5.1.2 Create and Modify User Accounts

To configure user accounts you have to be logged on with administrator
rights. In the Administration window (Figure 21) click on User configuration
to display the User Account Configuration window (Figure 22).
To add a new user account, click the Add User button ; to edit an existing
user account, select the desired user and click the Edit User button.
In both cases you can set the group to which the account belongs to, a flag if
the user has to change the accounts password and if the account is
enabled at all. The user name cannot be altered after creation of the
account.

Figure 22: User Account configuration menu. New accounts are defined here, existing
accounts can be modified or deleted.

According to the password settings (see Chapter 4.4) the Enabled flag is
unchecked automatically when an account has not been used for more
days than the defined time span has or if there have been too many failed

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login attempts. If this happened, an administrator can re-activate the

disabled account.
To delete a user account, select the user and click the Delete User button.
Neither the default Admin account nor the currently logged in account can
be deleted.

5.2 Action Log

minispec Plus provides an audit trail stored in the back end data base which
can be displayed by a click on the View Action Log button.
The Action Log (Figure 23) contains all actions relevant for measurement,
calibration, and administration. The enormous amount of information which is
collected along with usage of the program can be filtered by date, action
type and user name. These filters can be set in the upper part of the window.
After configuring the filter, click the Apply button. By default, only actions of
the current day are listed.

Figure 23: Default View of the Action Log window.

Some actions include more detailed information which are shown in the text
box in the windows footer.
The action log can be printed or exported to either Excel or ASCII text files.

5.3 Error Log

If an unexpected error occurred during your work with minispec Plus you can
check out what happened in the Error Log (Figure 24).

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Figure 24: Error Log in minispec Plus. Errors occurring during operation are recorded and are
listed in this window.

After a click on the View Error Log button, a window listing the errors
occurred during minispec Plus operation is displayed. The date of the error
creation can be used as filter parameter. Enter a date, confirm by return key,
and the filter will be applied. The usual export functions are also available.

5.4 Archiving of the Back End Database

Eventually your back end file size grows towards the maximum size of 2GB. By
archiving, its size can be reduced and the contents are stored on another disk
(or a CD). To archive your back end database file click the Archiving button
and the window Database Archiving will appear (Figure 25).
An example of the default path and file name for an archive database file is:
C:\Bruker the minispec\minispec Plus Data\Archive\
minispec Plus BE_20090608_142912.mdb. This default file suffix shows that
the file will be archived on June 8, 2009 at 14:29:12. In the lower field of the
archiving window you can set the cutoff date for the archive file that you are
about to create. A typical example would be to archive all data up to two
months previous to the current date. The complete back end file will be
copied to the archive file. In the current back end file measurements and log
entries older than the cutoff date are deleted.

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Figure 25: Archiving window for the back end database.

After clicking OK, you are prompted that the archiving procedure will need
some time. The archiving process can be canceled or started at this point.
If you want to examine the data in the archived data base later on, click on
Configure Environment in the administration window (Figure 21). Then
navigate to data base and Data Base Definition (Figure 15). By entering
the name of the archive database the front end will link it. After logging in you
can have a look at the data, but you cannot modify it. In order to switch
back to the current back end, navigate to Data Base Definition and enter
the corresponding file name.

5.5 Change Password

There are three reasons why a user account password is changed:
o Depending on the password policy the user may need to change the
minispec Plus login password at the first log in.
o Password expiration time is exceeded.
o Any user may decide to change his/her password.
To change your own password, click the Change password button in the
administration window (Figure 21). Then you have to type in the old password
once, and then the new password twice. Click Apply and exit using the
open door button. After the next login the new password will be required.

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5.6 Modifying the Excel Templates

5.6.1 General Modifications
Excel templates are used for a suitable presentation of measurement and
calibration results when exported to Excel files. You can adapt the templates
to your requirements concerning colors, column widths, column order, cell
formatting etc. To do so, please follow these steps.
1. Select the appropriate template from the list:
Template Name

Function

CalibResult.xltx

Classic calibration

CalibResultTwoCalib.xltx

Oil and Moisture calibration

ChemCalibResult.xltx

Chemometric calibration

CalibStability.xltx

Classic calibration validity

CalibStabilityTwoCalib.xltx

Oil and Moisture calibration validity

MeasResult.xltx

Classic measurement

MeasResultSFC.xltx

direct SFC measurement

MeasResultSFCI.xltx

indirect SFC measurement

MeasResultTwoCalib.xltx

Oil and Moisture measurement

ChemResult.xltx

Chemometric measurement

NoCalibResult.xltx

Measurements without calibration

RelaxResult.xltx

Relaxation measurement

2. Create
a
backup
copy
of
the
template
file
C:\Program Files\Bruker the minispec\minispec Plus\
ExcelTemplates\<Chosen Template>.xltx
3. Open Excel from Windows Start Menu (do not double click on
<ChosenTemplate>.xltx)
4. Load your chosen template using the Excel menu.
5. Apply your changes
6. Save the template.

5.6.2 Enlarging the displayed number of rows

There is also a maximum number of data sets which are displayed:
Calibration files: up to row 150
Measurement files: up to row 500

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Calibration validity files: up to row 8000

If you measured more samples than displayed in the Excel file, you can easily
enlarge the number of rows. During the above-mentioned sequence of steps,
do the following at stage 5 Apply your changes.
Mark the first few rows and move the cursor to the lower right corner of the
selection. The cursor then changes its shape to a cross(see Figure 26).

Figure 26: How to enlarge the number of rows in Excel.

Then click the left mouse button and drag it down to as many rows as you
want.

5.6.3 Adding Macros

Excels macro capabilites allow you to add functional extensions to your
Excel files which are beyond look and feel modifications. However *.xltx
templates are protected, i.e you cannot store macros within them. If you want
to use macros with minispec Plus templates, you have to open your template
first and store ist as a macro-enabled template, indicated by the *.xltm
filename extension. For example you can open MeasResult.xltx and store it as
MeasResult.xltm and then add your macro code. When you export data from
minispec Plus, it will automatically use the *.xltm file if there is one, otherwise it
will take the default template. The resulting export file will be stored
accordingly as a macro-enabled workbook (*.xlsm instead of *.xlsx).

39

6 Installation of OPUS 7
An extensive description of OPUS installation and its features can be found in
the original OPUS documentation. This chaper provides only a hands-on
workflow to set up OPUS for chemometric processing of minispec Plus data.
1. When you install OPUS, start setup.exe with administrator rights:

When prompted if you want to continue, click yes.

2. Select the language of your choice.

40

3. Click on Next.

4. Check Skip this step and click on Next.

41

5. Check I accept the terms of the license agreement and click

on Next.

6. Enter your user and company name, then click on Next.

42

7. Activate Compact and click on Next.

8. Choose the installation folder. It is strongly recommended, NOT to

install OPUS 7 in C:\Program Files, because user rights are too
limited in this path.

minispec Plus expects the OPUS folder to be C:\OPUS. If you

43

define another folder, you also have to change it in minispec

Plus, too (see Figure 11).
9. Check on No, skip this step and click on Next.

10. Click on Install

44

11. Now the software is installed, which may take a few minutes. You
can skip the printout of the installation protocol. Finally, on the
next window do not check I want to start OPUS and click on
Finish

12. For the first time start right click on the OPUS Icon on the desktop
and select Run as administrator

13. Log on with User ID Default and password OPUS.

14. Click on Setup / Register OPUS and enter the registration data
which comes with the OPUS DVD.
15. Log off and log on a gain (now Run as administrator is not
necessary.
16. Click on Setup / customize toolbars. On the Commands page,
choose the category Evaluate.

45

Select the item Setup Quant 2Method and drag it to the toolbar
at the top of OPUS main window. Do the same with Quantitative
Analysis 2. IMPORTANT: Use the Quant 2 commands, not the
Quant commands.
17. If you want to use Multi Evaluation, also drag the commands
Multi Evaluation Setup (old) and Multi Evaluation Test (old).
IMPORTANT: Take the commands with the suffix (old), not the
ones without the suffix. Finally your toolbar should look like this:

18. If you want to use Multi Evaluation, the necessary folders to store
the methods have to be created. The easiest way to do this, is to
click on the icon Multi Evaluation Setup (old) (the one which
displays the tool tip text Configure ME Method).
Then click on Load Multi Evaluation Method.
Enter an arbitrary method name and click on Open.

46

No method is loaded, but the necessary folders

(C:\OPUS_70\MultiEvaluation\ etc.) are created.
19. To avoid message boxes appearing in OPUS after every
measurement click on Setup /User Settings and open the page
New File:

47

Check the option Add new spectrum to window and click on

OK.
Now OPUS is setup to be used in combination with minispec Plus.

48

7 Troubleshooting
7.1 General
Bruker strives to supply you with instructional and accurate documentation.
Therefore we encourage you to tell us how we are doing. Please send us your
suggestions for improvements, corrections, or bug reports. If there is anything
you particularly liked, tell us as well. With your input and assistance, Bruker can
continually improve its products and documentation. You can send your
messages and correspondence via e-mail, FAX, telephone, or mail. It is
important to include the document name, product name, version number,
and page number in your response. Thank you for your help.

7.2 Microsoft Office Professional without Service Pack 1

If you use a Version of Microsoft Office 2010 version including a full version of
Access, the following message appears when minispec Plus is started:

Figure 27: Error message when Service Pack 1 is missing.

Do NOT click on OK, but on Cancel. Then install Service Pack 1 for Microsoft
Office 2010. You can download it for free from:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26622
(as at April, 2012)
If you accidentally clicked on OK, delete the file minispec Plus FE.mde and
re-start the installation and select the Recover Last Known option.

49

7.3 HP Tools
On one occation, repeated crashes of the minispec software occurred, when
a certain load was on the processor and the HP (Hewlett Packard) Tools were
installed on a PC built in 2011.
However, this behavior could not be reproduced on PCs from 2012 with
current versions of HP Tools and on PCs without HP Tools.
If you happen to have an older PC which shows the abovementioned
behavior, please uninstall the HP Tools.

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