xrdPlanner

A tool to project X-ray diffraction cones on a detector screen at different geometries (tilt, rotation, offset) and X-ray energies

• Main application is to visualize the maximum achievable resolution at a given geometry.
• Is able to project diffraction cones for standard samples or directly from cif files.
• Can turn out valuable when planning beamtimes at synchrotron facilities (e.g. DanMAX).
• Helps in deciding on the geometry of an experiment.
• Meant to run standalone but is readily insertable as a widget into an existing PyQt6 GUI.
• The math used is not meant to bring people to the moon but to provide a quick and simple preview.
• The module building code is designed for Dectris PILATUS3 / EIGER2 or SACLA MPCCD Detectors (central hole geometry) but one-module systems like the Bruker Photon II and Rayonix MX-HS are possible as well.
• It uses python3, numpy, pyqt6, pyqtgraph, pyFAI and Dans_Diffraction.

Short how-to:

• pip install xrdPlanner.
• Type xrdPlanner in a terminal and hit enter.
• Choose a detector and a model from the Detector menu.
• Pick a reference from the Reference menu to plot its contours (pyFAI).
• Drop a .cif file onto the window to draw its contours (Dans_Diffraction), click a contour to get a hkl tooltip.
• Use the units from the Units menu you are the most comfortable with.
• Hover over the grey line at the top to show the sliders. Click it to make it stay open.
• Drag the sliders to change energy and geometry.

Customisation:

• Edit the settings.json file and the detector_db.json files.
• Use Settings -> Edit Settings or Edit Detector db.
• A click on Apply Changes lets you see the difference.
• geo determines the startup defaults.
• plo customises the general layout and visuals.
• lmt sets the limiting values of the geometry/energy sliders.
• Add all the missing detectors to the detector_db.json.
• Check the settings file documentation.

Known Bugs:

• On Windows: Switching Dark/Light mode requires restart to change the window frame color.

After the Update:

Sometimes I might change the name of a parameter and you will get a warning message upon startup looking something like this: WARNING: "conic_ref_min_int" is not a valid key! Either that key is no longer in use or its name got changed and is now reset to the default value. The settings file is updated and the warning should no longer appear after restart. Apart from this, your edited settings file will not be altered after updating.

Added a new key:

• conic_ref_cif_kev: this key sets the energy at which Dans_Dffraction calculates the intensities from a cif, increasing the value allows for higher resolution reference conics. However, the calculation will get slower.

Latest updates:

• 2023-08-29 Update: Added a feature to import and switch between settings files.
• 2023-08-22 Bugfix: Fixed missing symbols and the slider bar on Linux.
• 2023-08-22 Update: Added a beamstop, define distance to sample with a slider and pick a size from the menu.
• 2023-08-15 Bugfix: Fixed several bugs with regard to the save/load of the settings file (Again).
• 2023-08-15 Update: Changed the way themes / styles and customisation works internally.
• 2023-07-14 Update: Added a key plo.conic_ref_cif_kev to edit the energy for the cif intensity calculation.
• 2023-07-14 Bugfix: Fixed a bug in the calculation of the conics, sections close to 90 deg. would sometimes not be drawn.

Examples

A PILATUS3 2M detector and a Silicon sample.

A rotated EIGER2 4M detector and a Aluminium sample (darkmode).

Settings file documentation

geo - startup defaults

det_type = 'EIGER2'  # [str]  Pilatus3 / Eiger2 / etc.
                     #        -> Detector menu entry
det_size = '4M'      # [str]  300K 1M 2M 6M / 1M 4M 9M 16M
                     #        -> Detector submenu entry
ener = 21.0          # [keV]  Beam energy
dist = 75.0          # [mm]   Detector distance
yoff = 0.0           # [mm]   Detector offset (vertical)
xoff = 0.0           # [mm]   Detector offset (horizontal)
rota = 25.0          # [deg]  Detector rotation
tilt = 0.0           # [deg]  Detector tilt
bssz = 'None'        # [mm]   Current beamstop size (or 'None')
bsdx = 40.0          # [mm]   Beamstop distance
unit = 1             # [0-3]  Contour legend
                     #         0: 2-Theta
                     #         1: d-spacing
                     #         2: q-space
                     #         3: sin(theta)/lambda
reference = 'None'   # [str]  Plot reference contours
                     #          pick from pyFAI
darkmode = False     # [bool] Darkmode
colormap = 'viridis' # [cmap] Contour colormap
bs_list = [1.5,      # [list] Available beamstop sizes
           2.0,
           2.5,
           3.0,
           5.0]

plo - plot settings

# - geometry contour section - 
conic_tth_min = 5               # [int]    Minimum 2-theta contour line
conic_tth_max = 150             # [int]    Maximum 2-theta contour line
conic_tth_num = 30              # [int]    Number of contour lines
beamcenter_marker = 'o'         # [marker] Beam center marker
beamcenter_size = 6             # [int]    Beam center size
conic_linewidth = 4.0           # [float]  Contour linewidth
conic_label_size = 14           # [int]    Contour label size

# - reference contour section - 
conic_ref_linewidth = 10.0      # [float]  Reference contour linewidth
conic_ref_num = 100             # [int]    Number of reference contours
conic_ref_cif_int = 0.01        # [float]  Minimum display intensity (cif)
conic_ref_cif_kev = 10.0        # [float]  Energy [keV] for intensity calculation
conic_ref_cif_irel = True       # [int]    Linewidth relative to intensity
conic_ref_cif_lw_min = 2.0      # [float]  Minimum linewidth when using irel
conic_hkl_show_int = False      # [bool]   Show intensity in hkl tooltip
conic_hkl_label_size = 14       # [int]    Font size of hkl tooltip

# - module section - 
det_module_alpha = 0.20         # [float]  Detector module alpha
det_module_width = 1            # [int]    Detector module border width

# - general section - 
conic_steps = 100               # [int]    Conic resolution
plot_size = 768                 # [int]    Plot size, px
plot_size_fixed = True          # [int]    Fix window size
unit_label_size = 16            # [int]    Label size, px

# - slider section - 
slider_margin = 12              # [int]    Slider frame top margin
slider_border_width = 1         # [int]    Slider frame border width
slider_border_radius = 1        # [int]    Slider frame border radius (px)
slider_label_size = 14          # [int]    Slider frame label size
slider_column_width = 75        # [int]    Slider label column width
enable_slider_ener = True       # [bool]   Show energy slider
enable_slider_dist = True       # [bool]   Show distance slider
enable_slider_rota = True       # [bool]   Show rotation slider
enable_slider_yoff = True       # [bool]   Show vertical offset slider
enable_slider_xoff = True       # [bool]   Show horizontal offset slider
enable_slider_tilt = True       # [bool]   Show tilt slider
enable_slider_bsdx = True       # [bool]   Show beamstop distance slider
        
# - update/reset - 
update_settings = True          # [bool]   Update settings file after load
update_det_bank = True          # [bool]   Update detector bank after load
reset_settings = False          # [bool]   Reset settings file
reset_det_bank = False          # [bool]   Reset detector bank

# - debug/testing -
set_debug = False               # [bool]   Debug mode

thm - theme

color_dark = '#404040'                # [color]  Global dark color
color_light = '#EEEEEE'               # [color]  Global light color

# light mode
light_conic_label_fill = '#FFFFFF'    # [str]    Contour label fill color
light_conic_ref_color = '#DCDCDC'     # [color]  Reference contour color
light_beamstop_color = '#DCDCDC'      # [color]  Beamstop color
light_beamstop_edge_color = '#EEEEEE' # [color]  Beamstop edge color
light_det_module_color = '#404040'    # [color]  Detector module border color
light_det_module_fill = '#404040'     # [color]  Detector module background color
light_plot_bg_color = '#FFFFFF'       # [str]    Plot background color
light_unit_label_color = '#808080'    # [str]    Label color
light_unit_label_fill = '#FFFFFF'     # [str]    Label fill color
light_slider_border_color = '#808080' # [str]    Slider frame border color
light_slider_bg_color = '#AAC0C0C0'   # [str]    Slider frame background color
light_slider_bg_hover = '#C0C0C0'     # [str]    Slider frame hover color
light_slider_label_color = '#000000'  # [str]    Slider frame label color

# dark mode
dark_conic_label_fill = '#000000'     # [str]    Contour label fill color
dark_conic_ref_color = '#202020'      # [color]  Reference contour color
dark_beamstop_color = '#202020'       # [color]  Beamstop color
dark_beamstop_edge_color = '#404040'  # [color]  Beamstop edge color
dark_det_module_color = '#EEEEEE'     # [color]  Detector module border color
dark_det_module_fill = '#EEEEEE'      # [color]  Detector module background color
dark_plot_bg_color = '#000000'        # [str]    Plot background color
dark_unit_label_color = '#C0C0C0'     # [str]    Label color
dark_unit_label_fill = '#000000'      # [str]    Label fill color
dark_slider_border_color = '#202020'  # [str]    Slider frame border color
dark_slider_bg_color = '#AA303030'    # [str]    Slider frame background color
dark_slider_bg_hover = '#303030'      # [str]    Slider frame hover color
dark_slider_label_color = '#C0C0C0'   # [str]    Slider frame label color

lmt - limits

# energy [keV]
ener_min =  5.0    # [float] Energy minimum [keV]
ener_max =  100.0  # [float] Energy maximum [keV]
ener_stp =  1.0    # [float] Energy step size [keV]

# distance [mm]
dist_min =  40.0   # [float] Distance minimum [mm]
dist_max =  1000.0 # [float] Distance maximum [mm]
dist_stp =  1.0    # [float] Distance step size [mm]

# X-offset [mm]
xoff_min = -150.0  # [float] Horizontal offset minimum [mm]
xoff_max =  150.0  # [float] Horizontal offset maximum [mm]
xoff_stp =  1.0    # [float] Horizontal offset step size [mm]

# Y-offset [mm]
yoff_min = -250.0  # [float] Vertical offset minimum [mm]
yoff_max =  250.0  # [float] Vertical offset maximum [mm]
yoff_stp =  1.0    # [float] Vertical offset step size [mm]

# rotation [deg]
rota_min = -60.0   # [float] Rotation minimum [deg]
rota_max =  60.0   # [float] Rotation maximum [deg]
rota_stp =  1.0    # [float] Rotation step size [deg]

# tilt [deg]
tilt_min = -25.0   # [float] Tilt minimum [deg]
tilt_max =  25.0   # [float] Tilt maximum [deg]
tilt_stp =  1.0    # [float] Tilt step size [deg]

bsdx_min =   5.0   # [float] Beamstop distance minimum [mm]
bsdx_max = 1000.0  # [float] Beamstop distance maximum [mm]
bsdx_stp =   1.0   # [float] Beamstop distance step size [mm]

Detector db entries

The detector_db.json is stored as a dictionary

• key: detector name e.g. PILATUS3
• value: dictionary {Entry:Value,}, see table below

The size Entry is a dictionary {key:value,}

• key: detector size / type, e.g. 300K
• value: list [hmn, vmn]
  • hmn: [int] Number of modules (horizontal)
  • vmn: [int] Number of modules (vertical)

Example of the PILATUS3 entry

"PILATUS3": {
    "hms": 83.8,
    "vms": 33.5,
    "pxs": 0.172,
    "hgp": 7,
    "vgp": 17,
    "cbh": 0,
    "size": {
        "300K": [1, 3],
          "1M": [2, 5],
          "2M": [3, 8],
          "6M": [5,12]
    }
},

Example code for adding xrdPlanner as a widget into an existing GUI

xrdPlanner uses its own menu bar, setting the GUI as the parent for xrdPlanner makes it add its menus to the parents menu bar, and likely more in the future.

import sys
from PyQt6 import QtWidgets
from xrdPlanner.classes import MainWindow as xrdPlanner

class MainWindow(QtWidgets.QMainWindow):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        # make layout and widget
        layout = QtWidgets.QGridLayout()
        central_widget = QtWidgets.QWidget()
        central_widget.setLayout(layout)
        self.setCentralWidget(central_widget)
        # add xrdPlanner to layout
        xrdPlanner_as_widget = xrdPlanner(parent=self)
        layout.addWidget(xrdPlanner_as_widget)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
    window = MainWindow()
    window.show()
    app.exec()

I hope this turns out to be useful for someone!