The CIMS Program – Chromatography Information Management System (CIMS Chromperfect)

Chromperfect
Sep 23
3 min read

The Chromatography Information Management System (CIMS) utility in Chromperfect helps analysts search, filter, and act on chromatography files at scale. With targeted criteria, CIMS can scan directories for raw, bound, method, calibration, and sequence files, then output results to the screen, printer, PDF, text, or a ready-to-run sequence file—streamlining data review before anything goes to LIMS.

Getting started with CIMS Chromperfect

Launch the Main Menu and click Find to open CIMS. Choose the File Type to search (Raw, Bound, Method, Calibration, Sequence, or Solution). CIMS honors user privileges: users without search rights can view the UI but cannot run searches; users without file-operation rights cannot move/copy/delete; sequence-file writing also requires permission.

What CIMS searches

Raw/Bound: file metadata, acquisition info, user fields, components, and integration data
Method/Calibration/Sequence/Solution: their respective fields, including multi-target items (e.g., every component or sequence entry)

Menus and controls overview

File menu

Load/Save configuration (re-use search setups)
Exit (persists your settings per user)

Edit & Search menus

Open criteria editors for Raw / Integration / Method / Calibration.
When searching Bound files, toggle which criteria classes are active (checked items apply; unchecked can still be edited but won’t affect the search).

Tabs workflow

Search Directories

Add, remove, reorder, or browse to directories. Order defines scan order. At least one path is required.

Search Specifications

Date limits filter candidate files before deeper checks.
Match mode:
- All criteria (restrictive): files must pass every selected test.
- Any criterion (permissive): files pass if they meet any selected test.
Search current list only: refine the already-listed files (ignore directories).
Append results: add new matches to the current list (avoid duplicates).

Tip: Build wide (Append from directories) → Refine (Search current list only) → repeat as needed.

Display Item

Choose an extra data field to show beside filenames (e.g., a numeric value or a specific component). Supports formatting, component matching, and user-field tag selection.

Commands

Start / Stop / Abort searches and monitor live status: current path/file, candidates examined, files passed, and list size.

Criteria editors (how tests work)

Each editor provides:

Date limits (file/acquisition) — absolute gatekeepers: if a file fails these, it’s excluded.
Text items — Present / Absent / Don’t care; supply the test string.
Numeric items — Single value (==, ≠, >, <) or Range (inside/outside).
Binary flags — True / False / Don’t care.

Multi-target logic (components, user fields, sequence entries)

For multi-target items, a file passes when any target matches. “Absent” and “Not equal” are disabled where they would always pass. If you specify a User Field Tag Name, the user-field tests become single-target against that tag and “Absent/Not equal” are allowed.

Viewing results and acting on files

After a search, double-click a row to open it in the appropriate program:

Raw/Bound → Analysis
Method/Calibration/Sequence/Solution → File Editor

Menus allow you to:

Make/Append Sequence File (for listed Raw/Bound files; choose/override method)
Print to printer/PDF or write text reports
Send to Summary for quick report generation
View File History from the data log
List operations: Clear / Remove / Restore entries; Add names or Load/Append lists from text
File operations (on selected rows): Move / Copy / Delete, with per-file approval

Practical tips for success

Start broad with Any criterion, then tighten with All criteria.
Use Search current list only to iteratively narrow candidates.
Pick a Display Item (e.g., a component area or a user field) to spot issues at a glance.
For Bound files, remember snapshots of method/calibration live inside the file—search those when tracking processing changes.