User Interface

A video describing the user interface is available; to watch it, click the blue video icon below (Internet connection required).

The CurveExpert Professional user interface is divided into panes:

• Results

• Graphs and Data

• Preview

• Messages

The panes, as well as the toolbar and status bar, are labeled in the graphic below:

All of the panes can be shown or hidden via the Window menu in the menu bar. Further, panes (except for the Graphs and Data pane) can be torn out from the main window; grab the pane by its title bar, and tear it out. The panes can be redocked in the main window by the reverse operation; drag the window to one of the docking indicators, and a transparent hint will appear to show where the window will be docked. Using this procedure, the panes can be rearranged inside the main window to taste.

Panes can be quickly maximized by clicking the small box at the top right of each pane; this allows the pane to fill the entire main window. Restoring the size of the pane can be performed by clicking the double-box at the top-right of the pane. This gives a quick means of viewing a particular pane (most commonly the Graphs and Data pane) in full size.

All panes can be hidden by clicking the ‘X’ at the top right of the pane, or by deselecting the corresponding pane name in the Window menu. To show a pane after being hidden, select the corresponding pane name in the Window menu.

Menus

If current conditions are such that a particular result cannot be computed, it will be dimmed in its Calculate menu. For example, with only one point in the dataset, it is not possible to compute any regressions So, all linear and nonlinear regressions in the Calculate menu will be dimmed and therefore unselectable. See Menu Reference for a quick explanation of each of the menu choices.

Toolbar

The toolbar can be shown or hidden via “Window->Toolbar”.

Each button on the toolbar has a one-to-one mapping to an item in the menus. The toolbar is divided up into the following sections:

• File

• Edit

• Calculate

• Tools

• Help

The buttons are each documented below.

Icon	Meaning
	File->New. Reinitializes the application with an empty dataset and no results. When New is selected, you must input the desired number of columns in the new dataset.
	File->Open. Opens a new (text) data file or CurveExpert file.
	File->Save. Save the current data, results, graphs, and notes into a CurveExpert file.
	File->Print. Prints the contents of the spreadsheet as a data table. If you would like to print all graphs, hold SHIFT while selecting File->Print.
	Edit->Undo. Undo the last appropriate action.
	Edit->Redo. Redo the last appropriate undone action.
	Edit->Cut. Cuts the selected item(s) to the clipboard as appropriate.
	Edit->Copy. Copies the selected item(s) to the clipboard as appropriate.
	Edit->Paste. Pastes data from the clipboard as appropriate.
	Calculate->Linear. Calculates a straight line regression for the data.
	Calculate->Nonlinear Model Fit. Shows the nonlinear regression picker so that you can select a model or models to compute.
	Calculate->Cubic Spline. Calculates a cubic spline for the data.
	Calculate->Lowess Smoothing. Immediately calculates a Lowess smoothing of the data.
	Calculate->Function. Shows the function picker so that you can select a function or functions to compute.
	Tools->CurveFinder. Runs the CurveFinder to scan models for the best fit for your data
	Tools->Custom Models(Simple). Opens the custom model creator (simple interface)
	Help->Manual. Opens the documentation.

Results Pane

The results pane displays a list of the currently calculated results. This list is color-coded and badge-coded; see Working with Results for an explanation of the color codes and badges.

The items displayed in the columns of the results pane can be customized by right-clicking the column headers. The following items may be selected for display:

• Name (required; cannot be deactivated)

• Kind

• Family

• Score

• R (correlation coefficient)

• R^2 (coefficient of determination)

• Std_Err (standard error)

Remember that you can send results to a plot, remove a result, or view result details by right-clicking a particular result. See Working with Results for details.

Graphs and Data Pane

The “Graphs and Data” pane is a notebook where the dataset and graphs reside (as well as any notes that you would like to save). reside. Please refer to The spreadsheet for information on how to work with the dataset via the built-in spreadsheet. Refer to Graphing for documentation concerning how to work with graphs.

Two graphs are always present: “Data Plot” and “Top Results”. As the name implies, the Data Plot always displays your raw data with no other results. Top Results displays the top results from the set of calculations that the user has run; is configurable via Edit->Preferences->Graphing->Automatically plot top n results.

To add another graph, simply press the “+” tab; this adds another graph for you to build as you see fit. You may also rename any of your custom plots by right-clicking on the tab and selecting Rename; this assists in keeping track of multiple graphs. Also, you can delete a graph entirely by right-clicking the graph tab and selecting Delete. Finally, you can copy (clone) a graph by right-clicking the appropriate graph’s tab and selecting Clone.

Your notebook can also be rearranged to taste. Select one of the notebook pages (by clicking on it), and then hold the shift key along with a left or right arrow key to move the selected notebook page left or right, respectively. Using the left/right arrow keys without holding shift simply selects the page to the left or right, respectively.

Remember that, for a graph that you have created, you can drag and drop results from the results pane to plot any results of interest.

Preview Pane

The preview pane displays the result that is pointed to in the Result pane, or, if a result is pointed to in a graph, the preview pane also updates to the pointed-to-result. While convenient, the preview window can cause the user interface to be sluggish on older computers; to disable the preview, simply hide it by deselecting Window->Preview, or more straightforwardly, click the ‘X’ at the top right of the preview pane.

Messages Pane

The Messages Pane is an area where CurveExpert Professional sends all notifications for your perusal. For example, when a file is read, the a summary of the file contents appears in the Messages pane. Also, when any calculation is undertaken, a summary of the result appears in the Messages pane.

The content of the messages pane can be copied and pasted to another application by highlighting a portion, right-clicking, and selecting Copy, or by using Ctrl+C (on a Mac, Cmd+C).

Error messages appear in the Messages pane in red, and special messages appear in blue. All messages that appear in the Message pane are automatically logged, and be accessed after-the-fact via Tools->Log Viewer (see Log Viewer).

Status bar

The status bar is divided into five sections, which show the following items:

Section	Displays
1	typically shows vital statistics for the currently pointed-to result, or displays help when appropriate.
2	size of the currrent dataset (nrows x ncolumns)
3	dimension of the dataset, which determines the mode of the application
4	current locale
5	number of helper processes present that perform calculations (see Max number of cores to utilize). Each asterisk represents one helper process.

Menu Reference

Note

On OSX, some menu items appear both in the CurveExpertPro menu at the top left of the menubar (in order to conform to Apple UI guidelines), and in their standard locations as documented below. Specifically, Preferences (documented throughout this manual as Edit->Preferences), About (documented below as Help->About), and Quit CurveExpert Pro (documented below as File->Exit).

File menu

Menu choice	Purpose
File->New	Reinitializes the application with an empty dataset and no results. When New is selected, you must input the desired number of columns in the new dataset.
File->New from Clipboard	Reinitializes the application with a dataset imported from the clipboard. The file import dialog allows you to fine-tune the importing process.
File->Open	Opens a new (text) data file or CurveExpert file.
File->Recent files	Opens a previously opened file.
File->Close	Closes the current file.
File->Save	Save the current data into a file.
File->Save As	Save the current data into a file, under a different name.
File->Export	exports the current dataset as a text file.
File->Print	Prints the contents of the spreadsheet as a data table. If you would like to print all graphs, hold SHIFT while selecting File->Print.
File->Print Preview	Shows a print preview of the spreadsheet data, optionally printing it as well. If you would like to print preview for all graphs, hold SHIFT while selecting File->Print Preview.
File->Page Setup	allows setting of preferences for margins, paper orientation, etc., for printing.
File->Exit	close CurveExpert Professional

Edit menu

Menu choice	Purpose
Edit->Undo	Undo the last appropriate action. For data in the spreadsheet, see Undo and Redo.
Edit->Redo	Redo the last appropriate undone action. For data in the spreadsheet, see Undo and Redo.
Edit->Cut	Cuts the selected item(s) to clipboard as appropriate. For selections of data, see Cutting, Copying, and Pasting.
Edit->Copy	Copies the selected item(s) to clipboard as appropriate. For selections of data, see Cutting, Copying, and Pasting.
Edit->Paste	Pastes items from the clipboard as appropriate. For pasting of data, see Cutting, Copying, and Pasting.
Edit->Clear	clears the selected data as appropriate, without placing it on the clipboard.
Edit->Select All	Selects all items as appropriate.
Edit->Preferences	Opens a dialog where the application settings/preferences can be viewed and/or modified. See Application Preferences.

Data menu

Menu choice	Purpose
Data->Sort	sort the selected data by the first column. See Operating on Data.
Data->Scale	scale the selected data by a factor. See Operating on Data.
Data->Translate	translate (add) a constant to the selected data. See Operating on Data.
Data->Transform	Apply a general transformation to the selected data. See Operating on Data.
Data->Crop	Crop the data to a selected minimum and maximum; removes points from the dataset. See Operating on Data.
Data->Clamp	Clamp the selected data to a minimum and maximum. See Operating on Data.
Data->Rotate	Rotate the columns in a dataset to the left. See Operating on Data.
Data->Add/Remove STDDEV Column	Add or remove a standard deviation column to/from the dataset, as appropriate.
Data->Statistics	Show the basic statistics for the dataset. See Data statistics.

Calculate menu

Menu choice	Purpose
Calculate->Linear Fit	Calculates a straight line regression for the data. See Linear Regression.
Calculate->nth Order Polynomial	Calculates a polynomial fit for the data, with a user-selectable degree. See Linear Regression.
Calculate->Nonlinear Fit	Shows the nonlinear regression picker so that you can select a model or models to compute. See Nonlinear Regression.
Calculate->Linear Spline	Calculates a linear spline for the data (dot-to-dot). See Interpolation
Calculate->Cubic Spline	Calculates a cubic spline for the data. See Interpolation
Calculate->Polynomial Spline	Calculates an nth-degree polynomial spline for the data. See Interpolation
Calculate->Tension Spline	Calculates a tension spline for the data. See Tension Splines
Calculate->Moving Average	Calculates a moving average for the data, with parameters such as the window size and type to be specified. See Moving Averages
Calculate->Lowess Smoothing	Calculates a Lowess smoothing of the data. See Lowess Smoothing.
Calculate->Function	Shows the function pick so that you can select a function or functions to compute. See Functions.

Tools menu

Menu choice	Purpose
Tools->CurveFinder	Runs the CurveFinder to scan models for the best fit for your data. See CurveFinder.
Tools->Custom Models(Simple)	Opens the custom model creator with the simple one-line-equation interface. See Custom Models.
Tools->Custom Models(Advanced)	Opens the custom model creator with the advanced interface. See Custom Models: Advanced Usage.
Tools->Custom Functions(Simple)	Opens the custom function creator with the simple one-line-equation interface. See Custom Functions.
Tools->Custom Functions(Advanced)	Opens the custom function creator with the advanced interface. See Custom Functions: Advanced Usage.
Tools->Manage Graph Themes	Create/delete graph themes. See Graph Themes and Graph Theme Manager.
Tools->Run NIST Validation	Check CurveExpert Professional against certified NIST results. See Validation.
Tools->View Logs	View the log files. See Log Viewer.

Window menu

Menu choice	Purpose
Window->Results	Toggle the Results pane on and off. See User Interface.
Window->Graphs and Data	Toggle the Graphs and Data pane on and off. See User Interface.
Window->Messages	Toggle the Messages pane on and off. See User Interface.
Window->Preview	Toggle the previewing pane on and off. See User Interface.
Window->Toolbar	Toggle the main toolbar on and off. See Toolbar.
Window->Dock All	Dock all floating panes back into the main window. See User Interface.
Window->Restore to Default	Restores all panes the the default layout (docked, Results pane top left, Preview bottom left, Graphs and Data top right, and Messages bottom right). See User Interface.

Help

Menu choice	Purpose
Help->Manual	Displays the CurveExpert Professional manual (HTML version).
Help->Web Site	Displays the Hyams Development web site.
Help->Discussion Forum	Displays the CurveExpert user-to-user discussion forum.
Help->Tutorial Videos	Displays the available video tutorials for CurveExpert Professional
Help->Activate Trial Period	activates a 30 day trial period for CurveExpert Professional; see Installation and Activation.
Help->Enter License	after purchase, enter your license for the software; see Installation and Activation.
Help->Order	direct link to the website for ordering.
Help->Check for Updates	Checks to see if your version is the latest one; requires Internet access.
Help->Show Diagnostics	Displays diagnostic information in the Messages pane.
About	Displays the application about box.