Template:TCE Utility Recommended Procedure

Recommended Procedure

The following steps are recommended in the creation of a new configuration to match a TCE database. These steps are applicable for all of the TCE packages (PHREEQC, AQSol, OLI, and ChemApp). Note that ChemApp requires an additional file, IPhaseMap.txt.

1. Create a SysCAD database
   1. Extract the utility files to a folder of your choice
   2. Copy the TCE database file into the DatabaseFiles (CSTFiles for ChemApp) folder of that utility folder structure, e.g. for PHREEQC, this will be a DAT file, for OLI, this will be a DBS file, etc. This step is not applicable to AQSol.
   3. Update the settings in the Config.txt file.
   4. Run the utility to generate a database file.
2. Create a SysCAD configuration
   1. Open SysCAD without a project open. Go to Edit->Project Configuration
   2. In the resulting dialog, create a new configuration. Give it a name of your choice. Press OK when done.
   3. Edit the newly created configuration. In the Step 1 of 2 dialog, enable the TCE interface that you are using, i.e. enable the ScdOLI2, ScdPHREEQC, ScdAQSol, or ScdChemApp dll. Press Next. Then press OK.
   4. Right click on the project configuration that you just created, select "Open Containing Folder" to open that folder in windows explorer.
   5. Copy the TCE database file into the new configuration, i.e. into the CfgFiles folder. This can be done using windows explorer. This could be a dat, dbs, or CST file. Note that there is no file associated with AQSol.
   6. Copy over the SysCAD93.db3 file generated (the SysCAD database), the IonList.txt file, and the IPhaseMap.txt file (if using ChemApp).
3. Edit the SysCAD configuration
   1. Open SysCAD without a project open. Go to Edit->Project Configuration
   2. Edit the new configuration. Press "Next" on the Step 1 of 2 dialog.
   3. In the Step 2 of 2 dialog, go to the species tab, select the first species in the middle column, hold shift, and select the last species in that column
   4. Add all species to the project by pressing the "Add Species>>" button
   5. Go to the TCEs tab
   6. Update the configuration for the TCE you are using, see TCE Configuration Help Page for more information.

You should now have a working SysCAD configuration file. The next step is to create a project and review the species properties.

1. Create a new SysCAD project and select the newly created configuration. See Introductory Tutorial - Creating a SysCAD Project for more details.
2. Once the project is open, review the species properties
   1. Go to Species->View Properties
   2. This brings up a window showing all data used for all species. More information on this window is here: Species Properties ($SDB). It is recommended to carefully review this to ensure it is correct.