(mirrored from Wiki)
Data
How do I get my GC/MS data into Peacock?
You need to export your data as AIA NetCDF files from your acquisition software or use 3rd part software such as MASSTransit from Palisade Mass Spectrometry to convert your files.
Some software packages that come with GC/MS machines include a tool for this. For example MassLab ships with a DBRIDGE executable. The export method for HP ChemStation is described in this tutorial. You might want to check if such a tool is included with or incorporated into the software currently used with your GC/MS.
Which file formats are supported?
Only AIA NetCDF for data files.
Library
How can I use a library with Peacock?
Peacock can import and edit libraries that are in the JCAMP-DX format. In order to use your library for compound identification you need to save it in Peacock’s native library file format using the Save-as command. This is needed to allow better performance as JCAMP-DX is a very lose file format making it expensive to parse. Libraries need to be stored in the folder “~/Library/Application Support/Peacock/Libraries/”. Peacock’s library file format is subject to change, so keep a copy of your libraries in JCAMP-DX around.
Which library file formats are supported?
Peacock should parse JCAMP-DX as well as the HP variant of JCAMP-DX correctly. Note that this file format is poorly defined. If you have trouble reading a certain JCAMP file, please sent me a sample file.
Are there any tools that I can use to convert other library formats into JCAMP-DX?
There are some tools available to convert between library formats. Some software packages that come with GC/MS machines include a tool for this. For example MassLab ships with a DBRIDGE executable. The export method for HP ChemStation is described in this tutorial. You might want to check if such a tool is included with or incorporated into the software currently used with your GC/MS.
The commercial (Windows based) software MASSTransit from Palisade Mass Spectrometry is capable of converting many library formats to amongst others JCAMP-DX. Only suitable for user libraries of up to 1,000 entries.
LIB2NIST (Windows based) can export HP-JCAMP formatted libraries which can be read by Peacock. It can only convert libraries consisting of less than 65,535 entries. [download]
Are there any free GC/MS libraries?
The AAFS Drug Library is made available by dr. Graham Jones. It is a compilation of over 2300 pure drug spectra and/or GC breakdown products, including many replicate entries. This drug library contains spectra for several hundred different substances. A copy of this library is included in the Peacock distribution as one of the test files.
Other Operating Systems
Can you release a version for Mac OS X 10.4.x or earlier?
Due to technological developments in Mac OS X 10.5 of which are taken advantage in Peacock, it is not possible to compile a version of Peacock compatible with earlier versions of Mac OS X. The development resources that are needed to write a version for 10.3 are beyond my spare time. Version 0.23 is the last version that can be used under Mac OS X 10.4.
Can you release a version for Windows or Linux?
This is unlike to become possible in the near future. Initiatives such as Cocotron might make this possible at some point, but this not currently a viable method of releasing a version of Peacock for any other platform than Mac OS X.