XchangeEXPERIMENTAL XRD

XCHANGE / DOCUMENTATION

User manual

Find, inspect, contribute and review experimental evidence.

2026-10-13 · Xchange

01

Browse and inspect

Use the four status cards to show all, approved, pending or not-approved records. Search samples, formulas, phases or elements, then narrow by target, institution, instrument or date. Clear filters to reset.

Select a record to inspect the measured pattern, calculated Bragg positions, CIF structure and review feedback. Drag across the chart to zoom; reset restores the full range. Records without a CIF can still show their measured pattern.

02

Accounts and downloads

Browsing is open. Uploads require an account; sign in with username, registered email and password. Every new account starts as an ordinary user, including the first registration.

After more than 10 approved contributions (at least 11), you may request VIP download access. A super administrator decides the request; contact the project lead for individual access needs. Approved users can download record files. The bulk archive contains approved records only.

Disabled accounts retain their contribution identity but cannot sign in. Contact the project lead for account help; never email your password.

03

Upload an experiment

  1. Sign in, select a measured pattern and check its preview and range.
  2. Attach one CIF for a single phase, or multiple CIFs with a name and formula for each phase.
  3. Describe the sample, radiation, wavelength, measurement date, contributor, source and license.
  4. Confirm the summary and submit. Saved records enter pending review.

Each request is limited to 25 MiB, with at most 20 CIFs and 5 MiB per CIF. Patterns support XY, XYE, CSV, DAT, TXT and XRDML. See the data specification.

04

Automatic identification

Choose automatic identification when you do not have a CIF. It currently supports single-phase records; a known formula or element hints can narrow the candidates. XMatcher compares the pattern against the local Materials Project peak library and saves a candidate CIF for human review.

A matching score is not a phase identification verdict. If matching fails, the record is retained and its uploader can supply a corrected CIF. Jobs are queued; persisted pending jobs can resume after a restart, while failed jobs are not repeatedly retried.

05

Review, feedback and resubmission

Pending and not-approved records have separate sections. Reviewers may approve, defer or return a record with a required reason. Six editable reply templates cover structure mismatch, data quality, metadata, files, missing phases and wavelength or calibration.

Uploaders can read feedback in their profile and resubmit by correcting metadata or replacing files. Approved experimental data cannot be directly rewritten by its uploader. A previously empty DOI or article reference may be added and sent for further review.

Super administrators may recover deleted records and disable accounts. Earlier file versions stay in private server storage; the web recovery panel restores deleted records.

06

Troubleshooting

The collection does not load
Make sure the server is running and use its printed URL, then retry. Opening an HTML file does not start the backend.
Why is download unavailable?
Downloads need separate approval after sign-in. Public previews and file downloads have different permissions.
Why was a replacement rejected?
Check file sizes, format, phase names and formulas, and wavelength. Validation failures leave original files intact.
Signed out after a restart?
Sessions are held in memory. Sign in again after restarting the service.