How can I get more decimal places/ significant figures in the concentration amount given on a report?

Question

I am using open lab CDS/ chem station and when quantifying an active I am looking for a bit more significant figures in the concentration amount it spits out when I have the program analyze the data and make a report for me. I am having to calculate by hand with areas for more accuracy, but it would be much easier if the report could just give me more decimal places/ sig figs in the concentration it gives me based on my cal curve. Does anybody know how to get more decimal places in the concentration it gives you under "amount"? Thanks for any help.

ryoboyle · Accepted Answer

You can change the number of decimals/significant digits to report your concentration/amount out to by editing your table properties on the Intelligent Report template you are using. To edit the report template, you will need to be in the Report Layout view of OpenLAB ChemStation. When in the 'Edit Report Template' tab in Report Layout (after loading your report template of interest), you will need to right-click on the table where your concentration is being reported and select 'Properties': In the table properties in the Columns tab, highlight your Concentration/Amount column and then click on the Column Properties button: In the Column Properties window that appears, go to the Value Format tab and this is where you can edit the number of digits after the decimal place you want the report to display:

ryoboyle · Answer

Hi Seth,

The solution I had outlined for the original post only applies in OpenLAB software if you are using Intelligent Reporting.

For MSD ChemStation, if you would like to change the number of decimal places displayed on your quant report for the amounts then you would need to make manually edits to the epa.mac file. See below for instructions on how to do this:

The file EPA.MAC controls the number of decimal places in the Enhanced and EnviroQuant summary report. This file can be edited to give the precision the user needs. Before making any changes to the system macro files, BACKUP the file first. Suggested names for a backup copy of this file: EPA.ORG (original), or EPA.FAC (for factory).

Edit \msdchem\msmacros\epa.mac, using Notepad. Two code changes are required to modify the decimal format in this report.

Search for the occurrence of amtfmt$ (there will be 2 of these), and look for the line listed below.

amtfmt$=”4#.2#”

Now if we change this to

amtfmt$=”4#.3#”

You now will have 3 decimal places for the target compounds. Once the code has been changed, save the file and regenerate the quantitation report.

How can I get more decimal places/ significant figures in the concentration amount given on a report?

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