This tutorial will guide you through a few ways you can intereact with the FDM Library Search.

  • Browse a library and Enable a library for text or full spectrum searching

  • Search a spectrum

  • Search names and chemical information

  • Review the list of installed libraries and activate a license


    • Browse a library and Enable a library for text or full spectrum searching

    To Browse a library go to the Search menu and select “Browse a library”.

    Then simply click on a library name of interest and the chemical names for the library will appear. If the database is licensed the spectra will appear. If the database is unlicensed you can still browse the names.

    To select, or deselect, which libraries are searched simply click on the checkbox next to each library name.



    Search a spectrum


    To search a spectrum against any licensed FDM library go to the Search menu and select “Search Spectrum”.



    Using the browsing dialog find a reasonably good spectrum (no spikes, no wild baselines, a small or moderate amount of sample, etc.) and click OK.



    Essential FTIR will then, very quickly, search your spectrum against the enabled libraries using the search parameter settings above the hit list.



    You may revise the search parameters and click on “Search” to update the hit list.

    Search names and chemical information


    To search the names in any installed FDM library you can go to the Search menu and select “Search Names”.



    Enter a simple string like “dimethyl” and click "Search Text".



    One way to refine the results is to add more characters to the search string such as “dimethylamino”.



    Review the list of installed libraries and activate a license


    To review the list of installed FDM libraries you can go to the Search menu and select “Installed Libraries”.



    This will bring up the FDM Library Search “Licenses” tab. Installed libraries are not necessarily licensed.
    Click on any name in the “Available Servers” column and see the list of libraries on board each server.
    Click on the “Activate” button to apply a temporary or permanent license key supplied by Fiveash Data Management, Inc.



    Return to FDM Library Search