Description of CaRMeN's User Interface

Here we will describe CaRMeN's User Interface. After Installing CaRMeN open it.

FOR WINDOWS USERS: CaRMeN can take about a minute to start up. During this time you may not see any changes happening or windows opening.

After opening CaRMeN you will first be presented with the Cases window. CaRMeN has a total of five windows: Event Log, Cases, Mixins, Simulations, and the Combiner view. These windows can be accessed in the described order by clicking on the icons located on the right side of the top blue icon bar. The left side of the bar contains the folder icon and the refresh-folder icon which are used respectively to define and refresh the the Project Directory folder.

The Event Log window shows the path to the Project Directory and the Connection status (i.e. whether or not a connection to CaRMeN's remote server has been stablished), as well as a list reporting all errors that may occur while using CaRMeN. An error report can be deleted by clicking on the delete icon next to it on the right side. Alternatively error reports may be deleted all together by clicking on the Clear all icon on the top right of the list.

The Cases window contains a list of all data (e.g. experimental or equilibrium data) loaded into CaRMeN. Each data set is called case. The Title of a case contains the most important information of an experimental data set (e.g. reaction kind, reactor type, author, and experimental conditions). The column Driver shows the driver (i.e. the simulation program) assigned to each case (e.g. detchem_stagnation or detchem_channel). If no data has been loaded the list contains no items.

Under Actions you will find a pop-up menu for each case containing the actions Show Details and Show Directory. Show Details opens the Case Details window showing the path to the configuration file of the case, configuration parameters, and the data in tabular and graphical form. The Cases Details Window can be closed by clicking on the X icon on the top right corner of the window.

The Mixins window contains a list of all mixins loaded on to CaRMeN. The Title of a mixin contains the most important information of the mixin (e.g. fitting variable, mechanism name). If no mixin has been loaded the list contains no items.

Under Actions you will find a pop-up menu for each mixin containing the actions Show Details and Show Directory. Show Details opens the Mixin Details window showing the path to the configuration file of the mixin and the parameters defined in the mixin. The Mixin Details Window can be closed by clicking on the X icon on the top right corner of the window.

The Simulations window contains a list of all currently running and already run simulations showing the simulation status, start and end of the simulation, and the used driver. Successfully completed simulations are marked with a green-check icon and the word done; failed simulations with a red-X icon and the word failed (or any other information describing the occurred error).

The Combiner View window is the main working space in CaRMeN. The window is divided into three columns. The left column contains a compact list of loaded cases, the right column contains a compact list of loaded mixins, and the middle column shows either the Detailed Comparison view or the Parity Plot view. These two views contain the combination of the selected cases (e.g. experimental or equilibrium data) with the result obtained after simulating with the selected mixin(s) (e.g. fitting variable, mechanism). In other words, here is where experiment and simulation meet.