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0.CONTENTS
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1.ABOUT
2.LICENSE
3.THIRD-PARTY CODE
4.INSTALLATION
5.USAGE
6.FEEDBACK AND BUG REPORTS

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1.ABOUT
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SpecMate is a graphical tool to analyze spectroscopic data. Currently it offers three main features: 1) Background removal, 2) Subtraction of reference datasets, 3) Peak fitting(Gauss/Lorentz/Voigt).  
The program is written in python (based on numpy/scipy, wxWidgets, and  wxmpl). It has been tested on GNU/Linux (debian testing) only.   
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2.LICENSE
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The entire program is licensed under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE. See LICENSE file for details.
There is a copy of "wxmpl.py" distributed along with this package, since it is not yet available in any stable version of debian. Wxmpl has its own README and LICENSE. Please see README_LICENSE_WXMPL for details. 

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3.THIRD-PARTY CODE
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1) There is a copy of "wxmpl.py" ((http://csrri.iit.edu/~wxmpl/; called "copy_of_wxmpl.py" here) distributed along with this package, since it is not yet available in stable versions of many GNU/Linux distributions. The file will only be used if wxmpl is not installed on the system. 
wxmpl is published under the MIT License. The original README and LICENSE are distributed along with this package in README_LICENSE_WXMPL.

2) There are a few lines of code taken from an example file from "matplotlib.org". The part is indicated in the doc-string.

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4.INSTALLATION
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1.Make sure you have python, python-wx, python-matplotlib, python-wxmpl, and scipy installed. On a debian-based system "apt-get install python-wxmpl python-wxgtk2.8 python-scipy" should do the trick. If python-wxpml is not available in your distribution it will probably work without wxmpl, but all other packages have to be in place. 
2.Extract the tarball to a directory of your choice, the directory "SpecMate-x.x.x/" will be created. cd into it and run either:
"python setup.py install" (as root, for a system-wide installation)
or
"python setup.py install --user" (as normal user, for installation in your home-directory)
In the later case, you'll have to find out what the default path for python user-scripts is on your system. On debian it is "~/.local/bin/", i.e. you'll have to run ".local/bin/specmate" assuming you are in your home dir. 

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5.USAGE
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The program's basic concept is that there's always exactly one spectrum which is to be analyzed. All other data is loaded (or created) to be compared to this spectrum. A residula line is shown that equals this spectrum minus the sum of all other datasets (reference spectra, peaks, and/or baseline). If you want to analyze more than one spectrum in the same way, it is possible to duplicate the current window and replace the spectrum with another one.  
Here's a brief "quickstart guide":
1. Always start by opening the spectrum that you want to analyze: 
Goto File/Open Spectrum and select an ASCII datafile with at least 2 columns separated by whitespace character (e.g. TAB or space(s) ). The first column will be treated as X-Axis, the second as Y-Axis. All other columns will be ignored.
All other data will be interpolated to the X-Axis of this spectrum.
2. If you want to subtract a baseline from your spectrum go to ...

3. If you want to add a "reference spectrum", i.e. a second spectrum that you want to compare your (main) spectrum to, ...
 
4. If you want to add a peak ...

5. ... Fit ...

6. Exporting ...
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6.FEEDBACK AND BUGS
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Your comments and bug reports are very much appreciated:
specmate@posteo.de

