Using the group list

The group list is the primary mechanism for accessing and interacting with your data. As data files are imported in ATHENA, each gets an entry in the group list. Data generated during the course of using ATHENA, such as copied or merged groups, also get placed in the group list.

Each group list entry consists of two parts, the label and the check button. The label contains text identifying the group. The default is for the label to be the same as the file name. Clicking with the left mouse button on a label makes that group the current group. The current group's label is highlighted with a light red color and its parameters are displayed in the main window. The current group is the one that gets plotted when the red plotting buttons are pressed.

The check button is used to mark the group. Marking, explained in detail in the next section, is one of the fundamental user interface features in ATHENA. Any feature of ATHENA that involves more than one group uses the mark buttons.

File can be dragged from your computers file manager (e.g. Windows File Explorer, KDE Dolphin, or GNOME Nautilus) and dropped onto the group list. These files, which can be data or project files will be appended to the group list. You cannot drop folders onto the group list.

---

 

Copying groups

You can copy a group by hitting Shift-y or by selecting “Copy group” from the Group menu. This makes an identical copy of the current group and places it at the end of the groups list. All parameters are identical and the data arrays in IFEFFIT are all copied -- only the IFEFFIT group name in different.

Copying is very useful for examining how changes in parameter values propagate through the data processing. You can make one or more copies, change particular data values, and overplot the results.

The process of comparing parameter values can be automated using the copy series tool.

---

 

Reorganizing the group list

When a file is imported into ATHENA, the name of the file is used as the label in the group list. That's fine, but you can change the label by selecting “Rename group” from the Group menu, typing Shift-l, or double clicking on an item in the group list. This posts a dialog for entering the new label for the group, shown here.

Hitting Return or clicking the OK button renames the group, shown here.

We have already seen how groups can be copied. Making one or more copies is an excellent tool for exploring the effects of the various parameters in the main window.

There are several other useful tools for modifying the contents of the group list. You can reorder the items in the groups list using Alt-k or Alt-j to move the current group up or down in the list.

Hitting Control-k or Control-j changes the current group to the one above or below.

As of version 0.9.20, Control-drag-and-drop is no longer available for reorganizing group list items. That feature has been discontinued in favor of file drag and drop.

Items can be removed from the list. The current group or the marked groups can be removed from the project by selecting “Remove group” or “Remove marked groups” from the Group menu. You can remove all the groups from the list by selecting “Close project” from the File or Group menu or by hitting Control-w.

---

 

Information about items in the group list

In the Group menu, the option for “Show structure of current group” displays the dialog shown here.

This presents all of the parameter values of the current group as well as the contents of the data arrays associated with the group. This way of presenting the information is, admittedly, rather cryptic. But it is very useful for developing and debugging the software.

If you mistakenly import a data group as the wrong record type, you can change it by selecting “Change record type” from the Group menu. You can only change between the various record types in energy, though. If you import a χ(k) file as μ(E) by accident, you will have to remove the group and re-import it.

As of version 0.9.19, there is a label on the main window displaying the data type. You can toggle between μ(E) and XANES data by Control-Shift left clicking on that label.

---

 

Using the mouse in the group list

You can turn on automated replotting when you select a new group by clicking on it in the group list. This is done by setting ♦Athena → select_replot with the preferences tool.

If you right click on any item in the group list, a context menu is posted, as shown below, displaying the Group menu.

As mentioned above, double clicking on a group list item will post the dialog for renaming that group.

---

 

Shrinking and expanding the group list

The last item in the plotting options tabs, labeled “Shrink”, causes the k-weight buttons and plot options tabs to be hidden, causing the group list to expand, and allowing the display of more data groups. When the plot options tabs is shrunk, it is replaced by a button labeled “Restore plot options”. Clicking this will return the k-weight buttons and the group list to their original places and the group list to its original original size.