cv_pro

cv_pro is a command line tool for processing CV data files (.bin format) created from the CH Instruments chi760e electrochemical workstation.

Key Features

✅ Parse binary .bin files and export as directly plottable and nicely formatted .csv files

✅ Process CV traces (truncate segments, x-axis correction)

✅ Automatic determination of E½ values

✅ Interactive plotting with Matplotlib

Contents

• Installation
• Command Line Interface
• Command Line Arguments
• Examples
• Multiview Mode
• Uninstall

Installation

Clone this repo and use setuptools and build to build the package (python -m build) then use pip to install the resulting .whl file.

Command Line Interface

With cv_pro installed, you can run the script directly from the command line using the cvp shortcut. To begin processing data, use process and specify the path to your data:

Process .bin file:

cvp process path\to\your\data.bin

Tip: You can use shorter paths by setting a root directory or by simply opening a terminal session inside the same directory as your data files.

Command Line Arguments

• Data Processing Args
• User Config Args
• Other Args

Data Processing Args (process, proc, p)

Process CV data with the process subcommand.

Usage: cvp process <path> <options>, cvp proc <path> <options>, or cvp p <path> <options>

path : string, required

The path to a CV data .bin file. You have three options for specifying the path: you can use a path relative to the current working directory, an absolute path, or a path relative to the root directory (if one has been set).

-ne, --no-export : flag, optional

Bypass the data export prompt at the end of the script.

-v : flag, optional

Enable view only mode. No data processing is performed and a plot of the data set is shown.

-fc, --ferrocenium : float, optional

Set the relative potential of the Fc/Fc^+/0 redox couple (given in V) to adjust the x-axis for data reporting.

-sep, --peak_sep_limit : float, optional

The maximum distance (given in V) between two peaks for them to be considered "reversible". If the distance between two peaks if within the limit, E_1/2 calculations will be attempted.

-tr, --trim : 2 integers, optional

Use -tr to select a range of CV segment traces. Segments are numbered in order starting from 1. Segments before the first integer and after the second integer will be removed. Give -1 for the second value to show all sweeps following the sweep specified by the first value.

# Keep only the second and third sweep
cvp p C:\Desktop\MyData\myfile.bin -tr 2 3

# Show all sweeps after the 4th sweep
cvp p C:\Desktop\MyData\myfile.bin -tr 4 -1

--pub : flag, optional

Generate a publication quality figure (BETA).

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User Config Args (config, cfg)

View, edit, or reset user-configured settings with the config subcommand.

Usage: cvp config <option> or cvp cfg <option>

Current user-configurable settings:

• root_directory - A base directory which contains UV-vis data files. Set a root directory to enable the use of shorter, relative file paths.

• primary_color - The main color used in terminal output. Can be set to any of the 8 basic ANSI colors.

--delete : flag, optional

Delete the config file and directory. The config file is located in .config/uv_pro/ inside the user's home directory.

-e, --edit : flag, optional

Edit configuration settings. Will prompt the user for a selection of configuration settings to edit.

-l, --list : flag, optional

Print the current configuration settings to the console.

-r, --reset : flag, optional

Reset configuration settings back to their default value. Will prompt the user for a selection of configuration settings to reset.

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Other args and subcommands

Other miscellaneous args and subcommands.

-h, --help : flag, optional

Use -h to get help with command line arguments. Get help for specific commands with cvp <command> -h.

tree : subcommand

Print the root directory file tree to the console. Usage: cvp tree.

Examples

Import the data from myfile.bin, set the ferrocenium reference couple to +0.08 V, trim the data to keep two segments, starting from the second segment:

cvp -p C:\Desktop\MyData\myfile.bin -t 2 2 -fc 0.08

File Paths & Root Directory

cv_pro is flexible in handling file paths. When you give a path at the terminal, you can provide a full absolute path:

cvp p C:\full\path\to\your\data\file.KD

Alternatively, you can open a terminal session inside a directory containing a data file and use a relative path:

# Current working directory = C:\full\path\to\your\data
cvp p file.bin

Setting a root directory can simplify file path entry. For instance, if you store all your CV data files in a common folder, you can designate it as the root directory. Subsequently, any path provided with process can be given relative to the root directory.

Without root directory:

# Must type full file path
cvp p "C:\mydata\CV Data\mydata.bin"

Without a root directory, you must type the full path "C:\mydata\CV Data\mydata.bin" to the data.

With root directory:

# Set the root directory.
cvp config -edit

# Select the root directory setting and enter the desired path, for example:
"C:\mydata\CV Data"

# Now, a shorter relative path can be used.
cvp p mydata.bin

With a root directory set, for example "C:\mydata\CV Data", you can omit that part of the path and just give a relative path mydata.bin. The root directory is saved between runs in a config file.

Multiview Mode

You can open multiple .KD files (in view-only mode) simultaneously with the multiviewer subcommand. Navigate to a directory containing .bin files and run the command:

cvp mv -f some search filters

The script will open .bin files which contain any of the supplied search filters in view-only mode. You can omit the -f argument to open all .bin files in the current working directory.

The default search behavior is an OR search. You can use the -a or --and-filter argument to perform an AND search:

cvp mv -f some search filters -a

Now only .bin files with contain all of the search filters in their name will be opened.

Examples:

cvp mv -f copper DMF

OR search, open .bin files with copper OR DMF in their filename.

cvp mv -f copper DMF RT -a

AND search, open .bin files with copper, DMF, AND RT in their filename.

Uninstall

To uninstall cv_pro, run the following command:

pip uninstall cv_pro