Auto Scripts Introduction

NOTE: With the advent of the Sequence Wizard, creating auto scripts is unnecessary. We include the discussion pages concerning auto scripts for the sake of completeness, and instead recommend you use the Sequence Wizard for automated experiments.

Auto scripts allow you to automate your experiments. You can schedule experiments to run at specific times and run repeatedly. Auto Scripts were used in older versions of our software and can still be run. If you wish to automate experiments in current versions of Framework™, it is much easier to use the Sequence Wizard.

To use the auto scripts requires two special types of Explain™ scripts, the master script and the auto script. A master script is simply an Explain script which contains a list of other scripts to be run and when to run them. Because the master script is written in Explain, you can create very flexible experiment sequences. The master script calls the auto scripts which, in turn, run the experiments. The master script provides a way to schedule the timing and repetitions of the auto scripts.

Auto scripts are experiments designed to be launched by a master script. They are generally designed to be run unattended, although this is not mandatory.

The major difference between an auto script and the corresponding normal script is that the auto script is designed to run with minimal operator interaction. Instead of asking the operator to supply experiment parameters, the parameters are read in from setup files. You must create setup files for each type of experiment to be performed. In addition, avoid creating warning messages and queries requiring user input so the sequence doesn’t pause waiting for an “OK”.

Another difference is that the master script can pass parameters to the auto script. This allows parameter sets, file names, etc. to be controlled from the auto script. A side effect is that you can’t call the auto scripts directly from the Gamry Framework because they expect input parameters.

You can create your own specialized auto scripts or use the auto scripts we’ve added to our application packages. Both original and automated versions create the same data file formats so the Gamry Echem Analyst will work with data files from either.

Using Auto Scripts: A Thumbnail Sketch

To schedule a series of experiments :

Create a series of setup files containing the experiment parameters you want to use.

Create a master script listing the auto scripts and times you want them to run.
Set up your electrochemical cell.
Run the master script.