What’s new in visionCATS 4.0

For a complete list of changes, please see the Changelog.

Technology update

.NET

visionCATS is now using a newer long-term supported version of .NET (currently .NET 6), which will give better performance. Also, the application is self-contained, therefore no other framework version than the Windows default one would be installed.

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2022 Express

Newest version to get mainstream end date to 2028.

Important

If upgrading from a previous version of visionCATS, SQL Server® will be automatically upgraded to 2022.

Computing

Intensive computing algorithms previously running on the graphic card were modified to run on CPU with optimization features. Therefore, the issues with the graphic card will not occur anymore and the speed is greatly improved. See PC System Requirements.

Security

The more secure bcrypt hash algorithm is now used to store hashes of password.

Method Library

The Method Library website was updated to a new version, hosted by CAMAG (https://methodlibrary.camag.com/).

Internal Standard

A new Advanced option is available: Internal Standard. See Internal Standard (reminder: the previous mode named Internal Standard is now named Standard for error correction, see Standard for error correction).

Extended linearity

The Extended linearity Profile representation mode has been added (see Extended Linearity).

Comparison improvements

General improvements were performed to comparison files (third group, new sorting/grouping options). These improvements are designed to facilitate the usage of complementary developing solvents (CDS).

Global lists improvements

Many new features have been added to the Global lists editor and the usage of global lists items. In particular, naming guidelines have been introduced to control how names are defined and displayed. Furthermore, built-in solvents have been corrected, see Migration from visionCATS 3.2.

Impurity test

In method and analysis files, there is a new Impurity test tab which can be used to perform sample image checks against a reference track in order to detect impurities.

HPTLC PRO

Many improvements were performed to HPTLC PRO SYSTEM configuration and details windows. In particular, the History tab now includes a Table display mode.

Furthermore, error handling was improved through new options, notifications and a better logging.

Other improvements

Limit exposure time for Visualizer HDR Images

A new option allows to limit the exposure time for Visualizer HDR images, see TLC Visualizer (any version) max. exposure time for HDRI images.

Enhanced installation report

The Installations export has been improved to become a general installation report.

Documentation-only analysis

Documentation steps defined/performed in method/analysis files containing only documentation steps are not considered anymore as clean steps. Consequently, warnings related to clean steps execution are not displayed and such steps are overall referred as documentation steps:

Client profiles

The new client profiles application allows the visionCATS client to switch between servers (see Client profiles).

Differentiate abort and interruption

To disambiguate cases in controlled environments, visionCATS now differentiates an abort (performed by the user) from an interruption (caused by an error).

Breaking changes

End of support TLC Visualizer (first generation): the instrument will not be detected, please use instead TLC Visualizer 3 (or TLC Visualizer 2).
End of support TLC Scanner 3: the instrument will not be detected, please use TLC Scanner 4 instead.
End of support for visionCATS before version 2.5: Importing files or upgrading a whole installation from before version 2.5 is no longer supported.
- Consequently, legacy reports (reports created before version 2.5) are not displayed anymore (see Report templates)
End of support for Windows Server 2012 R2: visionCATS is not anymore supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 (see Supported operating systems).
For consistency reasons (duplication of functionalities of the Main explorer view), the Project Explorer toolbox has been removed.

Known Issues and workarounds

Please refer to Known Issues and Workarounds for the list.