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Help Menu

Accessing the PFChrom Help

The help is accessed by the Help button in the various procedures. You can also access the Help using the PFChrom Help... item in the main window Help menu.

Directly Accessing the PFChrom Peak Function Help

You can use the Peak Function Help item in the main window Help menu to open the Chromatography Functions item in the help system.

PFChrom Online and Local Machine Help

As installed, PFChrom uses a compiled HTML help which in installed on your local machine. In the Help Source in the main window Help menu, you can change the source of the help. The Local option will use this compiled HTML help installed on your machine. The Local in Browser option will display separate HTML help in your default web browser. This is also content installed on your local machine, usually in the C:\Program Files\PFChrom5\Html_MS folder. If you select the Online option, the help will come from the internet. You will need to have an active internet connection to use this option. AIST has redundant servers for the PFChrom documentation. If you see a message indicating the help site cannot be reached, it probably means your internet connection is not currently working. If you cannot access the online help, uncheck the Use Online Help option to use the one of the help options on the local machine.

Note that the online help will always match the latest version of the software. If you have not chosen to update the software to the latest version, as described below, the documentation may describe revisions that are not present in your version of the software. When you update to the latest version, the local help systems are also updated.

PFChrom Tutorials

The PFChrom Tutorials main window Help menu item will directly open each of the programs's tutorials:

Chromatography Peak Modeling (Tutorial)

Chromatographic Experiments (Tutorial)

IRF Deconvolution and Fitting (Tutorial)

HPLC Gradient Peaks - Direct Closed Form Fits (Tutorial)

HPLC Gradient Peaks - Fits Which Model the Gradient (Tutorial)

HPLC Gradient Peaks - Fitting Unwound Data (Tutorial)

Fitting Hidden Peaks (Tutorial)

HPLC Column Health and Overload (Tutorial)

Fitting Preparative (Overload) Peaks (Tutorial)

User Function Fitting - Experimental ZDDs,IRFs (Tutorial)

Two-State Experimental Models (Tutorial)

PFChrom Home

This help menu item will offer a link to the AIST Software home page where you can access the sales and support pages.

Check for PFChrom Software Updates

The Check for Product Update... item in the main window Help menu will access the internet to determine the most recent version of the product. If you are running the latest version, you will see this confirmation. If not, you be shown the current and latest versions and offered an option to update to the latest release. If you answer Yes, the program will be automatically closed and a download will begin. Once complete, the PFChrom installation will run, uninstalling the current version and installing the newer one. Please be patient as the prior version is uninstalled; the process may be quite slow.

The Automatically Update at Startup item in the main window Help menu will automatically perform this product update check each time the program is started. This option is run on a separate thread and will not impact the program's performance.

License Update

The License Update... option in the main window Help menu will open the QLM License Wizard. From this applet, you can also update to the latest version as well as activating and deactivating your license, or install new license codes.

Activate Online

The Activate Online is easiest, but requires an internet connection when the program is first launched. Paste the license key associated with your purchase into the Activation Key field and click Activate license key. If you use a proxy server, you will need to enter the Proxy Settings. By default, the activation is tethered to this specific machine and nothing further will be required.

Activate Offline

The Activate Offline will only be needed for machines which have no internet connectivity and for an instance where a cloud license has been selected, and there is no internet connection to enable the check-out of the license. In order to initially active a license offline you will need the Activation Key supplied with your purchase, your computer name, and the Computer Key for your machine. There are two ways to use a smartphone with an intenet connection to get this Computer Key for offline activation.

You can go to https://aistsw.com/QlmCustomerSite on your smartphone, select Activation, and enter your Activation Key and machine name (in Windows 10, the Device Name in Settings | System | About ) and click Activate. You will then need to input the Computer Key that is shown on your phone in the License Wizard. You can then activate the license without an internet connection.

Alternatively, if you have a QR code scan app on your phone, you can generate a link that will automatically display the Computer Key. You will need to first enter the Activation Key and Computer Identifier, select Scan QR Code, generate the link using your the QR scan app, execute the link on your phone, and the Computer Key is then shown. Here as well, you will then need to input the Computer Key that is shown on your phone in the License Wizard.

Deactivate your License

You can deactivate your license on your existing machine if you will be installing the program on a new machine, or if you wish to temporarily deactivate your license on a work machine and use it on a laptop or home machine. To deactivate the license, select Deactivate your license and then Deactivate license key. You can then activate the license on a different machine. If you wish to routinely switch between a work and home machine, please see the Cloud License option below. If your machine permanently crashes, or you format your hard drive without first deactivating your license, you can deactivate the existing license online using the AIST Customer Portal (https://aistsw.com/QlmCustomerSite) web applet with your license code. If you have forgotten or lost your activation key(s), use the Email License Keys option to have those keys affiliated with that email address sent to you.

Cloud License Check In/Out...

The Cloud License Check In/Out... option in the main window Help menu allows your license to reside in the cloud and to be checked out and back in on different machines. You will need internet access to https://aistsw.com to use this option.

For a single user license, the cloud licensing option allows you to install the product on your work machine, your home machine, and/or your laptop. Whichever machine is being used, it will capture the license from the cloud when the program starts, and it will release the license back into the cloud when the program closes. You will need to be connected to the internet in order to check out and check in your license.

If you enable this cloud option and close the program when no internet connection is available, the license will remain checked out on that machine until such time that the program is closed with an active internet connection.

If you enable this cloud option and open the program when no internet connection is available, the license will not be accessible. If this occurs and you need to check out the license using offline activation, you will need to use the License Update option as described above.

When this option is selected, you will be warned if this process of checking in your license fails.

If you are using a multiple user license, please be aware that the program may be unavailable to you if all of the existing licenses are currently checked out.

License Assistance

The License Assistance... option in the main window Help menu, opens the AIST Customer Portal (https://aistsw.com/QlmCustomerSite) web applet for various self-help licensing items.

The Activate a license is used for offline activation.

The Deactivate a license is used for deactivate a license on the web.

The Get License Information is used to show the machines on which your license has been activated. If this is a multiple user license, this will show the status of current activation. If this is a single user license with the cloud check-out and check-in selected, this will show the machine where the license is currently checked out, or where it was last checked in if the license is checked in.

The Email License Keys option is used to send to your registered email address all of your license keys.

About PFChrom

You can click on the License button to open the License Update option described above. You can also click on the Check Update button to open the Check for Product Update... option. The Agreement button will display the End User License Agreement. You can also click on the main splash graphic to see the Copyright items.