XRF Results

The MX XRF table can be used to import XRF results from a CSV file that are associated to a sample that is in the MX Deposit database. The import behaviour for the XRF table is slightly different from other table imports in that it performs a lookup of the sample number on import. This is one of the only import files that does not require a [Hole Number] column in the import file, since the lookup will know what hole to import the data to based on the sample number.

The MX XRF table is located in the “Sampling” category of the Tables configuration:

Before you can begin importing XRF results, you must configure the XRF table in MX Deposit to match the columns in the XRF result file.

To configure the XRF table

It is recommended to create a child table of the MX XRF table to accommodate any future requirements that might come up. You might be working with a certain XRF vendor today, but the vendor might change at some point in the future. By creating a child table, we can isolate a table for each XRF vendor to match their outputs. The child table will inherit the default columns from the MX XRF table, and the import behaviour mentioned above will apply to any child tables of the MX XRF table.

You can create a child table by right-clicking on the MX XRF table and selecting the “Create child table” option:

You can name the child XRF table anything you want. You can also specify a different table name vs. the table label that appears in the UI. Click the “Configure columns” step along the bottom to set up the columns.

The child table will already have a [Sample Number] column. This is a required column as it is the link back to the Samples table (and samples themselves).

Using the “Add new column” link, create new columns for each of the columns in the XRF CSV file that you will be importing.

For each new column, enter the column name exactly how it appears in the XRF CSV file, and set the appropriate data type. The data types will be validated on import (numbers, dates, etc.) - so make sure they match what is coming from the XRF CSV file.

If you only want to import a subset of the columns from the XRF CSV file, you only need to create columns in the MX Deposit XRF table for the columns that you want. If you do this, you will have to account for the additional columns (that you don’t want to import) at the time of import, either by removing the columns entirely from the XRF CSV file, or by adding the text “(ignore)” to the column headers that won’t be imported, which will prompt the importer to ignore those columns.

Once you have configured the XRF table, you must add it to an activity (and groups if applicable) to enable it for data import.

To import XRF results

Before you can import XRF results, please make sure that the sample numbers that appear in the XRF import file are already in the MX Deposit samples table. The import routine performs a lookup of the sample to know where to import the data, and the import will fail if it cannot find a matching sample in Deposit.

1. Click the Import module in the main navigation menu on the left
2. Select the Object > Project > Activity that you are importing data for
3. Click the Browse button and select the XRF CSV file that you want to import
4. Click the Map files button to map the file to the XRF table
5. The selected CSV file will appear in the right-side “Files for import” section.
6. Drag the file into the MX Deposit XRF table on the left.
7. When ready, click the Import button to perform the import. The system will warn you of any validation issues that need to be resolved before the file can be imported.