The ability to export all or selected data from MassHunter files in plain text format is the main purpose of this program. Click on either the File / Export menu item or the Export speed button to open the Export Data window. This window provides options to export either the TIC alone including scan number, retention time and total abundance (the data present in the Scan list), or the TIC and each associated spectrum.
Data can be exported as Condensed Text files or as Formatted Text files. By default, the export scan list will be set to all scans from #1 to the last scan in the file, but both of those values can be changed to export a specific scan or scan region of the data. Also by default, all data with a total abundance greater than 0 will be exported for each selected scan. However, you can optionally set a desired minimum abundance based on the data displayed in the Scan list box to screen out low abundance scans
Condensed Files These files are written as a continuous data stream in a defined pattern. This is the default and more efficient export option. Although these files are in plain text they are not meant to be read directly, but rather to serve as input to other programs. Note that depending on the data collected, the file sizes can be quite large. However, you can view the files if you want to by using any large capacity text editor such as Wordpad or Notepad++ The numeric data are not truncated or formatted in any way.
Condensed files are in a packed form with all values written in continuous order separated by a token. The default token is a comma, but either a space or a tab can be substituted as the separation character. To aid in reading the contents, a coded integer value is calculated and written as the first value in the file.
This index value will range from 0 to 15 and is constructed when the file is output by combining assigned values for the various options. These options and values are as follows:
Report Option ValueThe identity of the data included in the file is then indicated by this number. For example, scan-only data would result in a value of 0, whereas if the spectra are included then it would be 1. Scan-only data with Time_segments included would have a value of 2, Scan+spectra data with Scan_Method and Parent_Ion reported for each scan would be 13, and so on. Note that the basic scan data (the TIC) are always included. The data in the file after the initial format value is a continuous stream of values in this order: Scan Number, Retention Time, Total Abundance, Time_Segment (if included),Scan_Method (if included),Parent_Ion (if included), and finally spectral data (if included). When spectra are written, the first value is the number of ions in the spectrum, followed by the paired mass and intensity values, in order by increasing mass. This sequence then repeats for each subsequent scan included in the file.
