REVIEW

MassFinder 3

Dr. Detlev H. Hochmuth, AuthorHochmuth Scientific ConsultingHamburg, Germanyhttp://www.massfinder.comEuro 1850, which includes latest version ofMassFinder 3, a terpene spectral library with 1982spectra (includes spectra, retention index, molecularformula, nominal mass based on formula, andstereochemical structure), and free upgrades to yourversion of MassFinder 3.

Reviewed by O. David SparkmanUniversity of the PacificDepartment of ChemistryMass Spectrometry FacilityStockton, CA 95211, USAE-mail: osparkma@pacific.edu

During the preparation of the review of Robert P.Adams’ fourth edition of Identification of Essential OilComponents by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry(J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2007, 18, 803–806), I saw ascreen shot of MassFinder 3.10d. This display wasrather intriguing as can be seen in Figure 1 (MassFinder3.48g). The vertical orientation of the spectrum #/timeaxis of the chromatogram was reminiscent of the strip-chart recorder outputs used with gas chromatographsand for the output of the total ion current from massspectrometer ion sources before the days of computer-ized data systems. The six-position spectral display wasalso intriguing. From the brief description of the pro-gram in the Adams book, it appeared that a furtherinvestigation was warranted. The MassFinder softwareis provided with an approximate 2000 spectra library ofcompounds that are commonly found in essential oils—that is, flavor and fragrant compositions (natural andsynthetic). Each library spectrum has a structure asso-ciated with it; and, where appropriate, the structuredisplays stereochemical features. This library was de-veloped by Wilfried A. König, University of Hamburg,Germany; Daniel Joulain, Robertet S.A., Grasse, France;and Detlev H. Hochmuth, Hochmuth Scientific Con-sulting, Hamburg, Germany. It is a little surprising, butvery refreshing, that Dr. Adams makes reference to theMassFinder 3 software because the Hochmuth ScientificConsulting essential oils library at 1982 compounds andwith electronic structures is a direct competitor to theAdams library of 2205 spectra with no electronic struc-tures. It should also be noted that the MassFinder 3format is among the many formats in which the Adamslibrary is now distributed.

Published online April 12, 2007

© 2007 American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Published by Elsevie1044-0305/07/$32.00doi:10.1016/j.jasms.2007.02.013(J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144)

Although the essential oils library is significant to theuse of MassFinder 3 in the flavors and fragrance field,the program has far-reaching utility in any field wheregas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) isused. The program will read most common data-fileformats or has utilities to convert them to a JACAMPformat. There is a special File Open dialog box forAgilent ChemStation data files. This display providesfile selection from the .D file and displays the fileacquisition date and information in the sample com-ments (info) fields of the data file.

Dr. Hochmuth first wrote MassFinder in 1999 asan academic exercise. The first commercial version(MassFinder 2.0) was introduced in 2001. In 2003,Version 3 was written from a “white page beginning”according to Dr. Hochmuth. In addition to the pro-gram’s unique display, among many of its one-of-a-kind features is its proprietary search algorithm. Whenquestioned about his understanding of the PBM, IN-COS, and other important search algorithms, Dr. Hoch-muth said he knew little about those algorithms andsaid that his approach was different; moreover, in somecases, it performed better than other algorithms, al-though there were also some cases where his algorithmdid not perform as well. The MassFinder 3 librarysearch uses what it calls a two-dimensional searchalgorithm, which combines a retention index with m/zvalue-intensity pairs in matching library and samplespectra. This is why it is important that the retentionindex values are included with each library spectrum.When a data file is loaded into the program, a retentionindex is assigned based on the information about theretention time (or scan numbers) for a series of normalalkanes provided with the program. The information inthis table can be updated using data files produced onthe user’s system. A detailed explanation of this tableand how it is used and updated with user-generateddata is provided as part of the program’s documentation.

In the case where two or more compounds in thelibrary have the same or very similar spectra, such as isthe case with the regioisomers of xylene, the onlydifferentiating factor is the retention index. The auto-mated assignment of the retention index to the samplespectrum and the use of the retention index associatedwith the library spectrum is another of the many uniqueanalyte identification features of MassFinder 3.

Navigation of the Chromatogram

The chromatogram display and the spectral displaysare separated by a vertical slider bar. The size andorientation of the six spectra displays are fixed, but theirwidth is a function of the slider bar. Navigation of thechromatogram is a unique feature of the MassFinder 3program. When the data files are loaded, the recon-

structed total ion current (RTIC) chromatogram

r Inc.

1138 REVIEW J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144

(RTICC) is displayed from spectrum 1 to the lastspectrum in the file. The standard click-and-drag com-mand common to all Windows GC/MS data systems isavailable in MassFinder 3 to display a portion of thechromatogram. However, by holding down the leftmouse button with the mouse pointer on the chromato-graphic display and dragging the mouse, the displaywill shift in the direction of the drag (lower beginningspectrum number when the drag is down and higherending spectrum number when the drag is up). Thissame dragging motion while holding down the rightmouse button will result in the displayed range con-tracting (down) or expanding (up) without changingthe current position, which is very convenient. A dou-ble click of the left mouse button with the pointer belowthe baseline restores the full RTICC. The amplitude ofthe chromatographic peaks can be increased or de-creased with the use of the mouse wheel. Optionally,the RTICC can be set to normalize to the spectrum with

Figure 1. MassFinder 3’s desk top. The chromsymbol is a component that the user has associaa spectrum that has been evaluated but that is nindicates a spectrum associated with a librarysymbol indicates the spectrum at the apex of a cha library spectrum.

the highest total ion current when the chromatogram is

zoomed. Mass chromatograms (called ion traces in thisprogram) of up to two different individual m/z valuescan be displayed with or without the RTICC. The m/zvalues for the mass chromatograms are set by usingmouse actions to change the two values on the left andbottom row of the Toolbox (Figure 2). The display of themass chromatograms is toggled on and off by clickingon the user-defined values. The numeric value on theright of the bottom of the Toolbox represents presentintensity subtraction of the peaks that are in the selectedbackground spectrum. Background subtraction occursonly when this number is not grayed out.

There is a horizontal line on the chromatogramdisplay that is positioned to a point that is the center ofthe middle mass spectrum. This line is located on thespectrum in the chromatogram displayed to the right(middle spectrum position). Any spectrum in the dis-played range of the chromatogram can be selected byplacing the mouse pointer on the desired position and

am has four different colored � symbols: the ’ith a library spectrum; the ’ symbol indicates

sociated with a library spectrum; the ’ symboltrum by the Auto Report function; and the �tographic peak that could not be associated with

atogrted wot asspec

roma

clicking the left mouse button once. Most GC/MS data

1139J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144 REVIEW

systems selected a desired spectrum with a single ordouble click of the left (or, in the case of the AgilentChemStation, the right) mouse button. What is differentabout MassFinder, however, is that chromatographicdisplay is shifted to place that spectrum under thisfixed-position horizontal bar. The number of spectra inthe display range remains the same, but the starting andending spectrum numbers change to acclimate thisrepositioning.

Another very convenient navigation aspect is theability to use the mouse wheel to increase or decreasethe amplitude of the chromatographic display.MassFinder 3, unlike most GC/MS data analysis pro-grams, makes extensive use of the mouse wheel.

Because the chromatogram has no visible spectrum#/time axis, it can be difficult when you jump fromspectrum to spectrum with no numeric referencepoints, even if the current retention time is alwaysdisplayed with the spectrum in the status bar. However,as soon as some of the chromatographic peaks aremarked, their retention time labels (optionally dis-played) provide valuable points of orientation. Theauthor said he has had these comments before and istrying to decide what can be done to improve on thesituation without destroying the clean lines that cur-rently exist. There is a keyboard command that allowsthe display of a zero line so that it is possible todetermine the level of background in the data file.

The facile nature of being able to have an almostanalogy-type navigation of the chromatograms is one ofthe things that makes MassFinder 3 so attractive fordata manipulation and information extraction.

Mass Spectral Display

The spectral display next to the chromatogram consists

Figure 2. Definition of the Toolbox buttons.

of three consecutive spectra from the data file: the

selected spectrum that is identified by the fixed hori-zontal blue line on the chromatogram (middle); thespectrum that is one spectrum number greater than theselected spectrum (bottom); and the spectrum that isone spectrum number less than the selected spectrum(top). This makes it very easy to identify a noise spike ina spectrum, spectral skewing, coelution, and so forth.The middle spectrum will appear highlighted com-pared to the top and bottom spectra. Putting the mousepointer on the bottom spectrum and clicking the leftmouse button once will advance the highlighted spec-trum to the next highest spectrum number. Putting themouse pointer on the top spectrum will move thehighlight to the next lower spectrum number. Spectracan be scrolled through by placing the mouse pointeron any of the three spectra and using the mouse wheel.This moving through the chromatogram one spectrumat a time with the previous and next spectra alsodisplayed provides a slow-motion animation of the datafile that can be quite revealing. Use of this capabilitymakes spectral skewing and coelution very obviouswhen present. Clicking on the � symbol in the upperleft corner of the middle spectrum will cause the symbolto turn black (’) and the same symbol will appear onthe chromatogram, indicating that this is the spectrumto be used as the background. Now, it is not possible touse an average of several spectra as a backgroundspectrum or to view the average of several spectra in anattempt to compensate for spectral skewing. I considerthis to be a disadvantage of the program. MassFinder3’s author said that he has had this complaint fromothers and plans to add the ability to work withaveraged spectra in a future release. If another spec-trum is selected to be considered as the backgroundspectrum, the ’ symbol moves from the previousposition in the chromatogram to the position of thenewly selected spectrum.

Putting the mouse pointer on the spectrum andclicking the left mouse button will result in the spec-trum display changing to have a line that includes theretention index of the spectrum, the analyte’s possiblenominal mass (this function really reports the highestnon-isotope m/z value in the spectrum; it is not veryuseful except for pure spectra exhibiting a molecularion peak), and the m/z value of the base peak (which isusually obvious from the graphic display of the spec-trum). The ’ symbol will appear on the chromatogramalong with the spectrum’s retention time if the appro-priate option has been selected in the Configuration tabof the program’s Settings and Configuration dialogbox. A second click of the left mouse button with thepointer on the spectrum will cause the name line on thespectrum and the symbol marking the retention time onthe chromatogram to disappear. The text in this namefield can quickly be edited by using a keyboard com-mand to call the label editor. This label editor storesnames that were previously used so that they areavailable for other chromatographic peaks that may be

given the same name, such as “contaminant.”

1140 REVIEW J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144

The number of m/z units displayed in the spectraldisplay is fixed by settings in the Configuration tab ofthe Settings and Configuration dialog box. By placingthe mouse pointer below the x-axis of the samplespectrum in the middle display or the library spectrumin the middle display, holding down the left mousebutton, and dragging the mouse from right to left or leftto right, the display can be scrolled while maintainingthe same m/z range. Placing the mouse pointer in thesame position while holding down the right mousebutton will allow for expanding (drag to the left) orcontracting (drag to the right) the display. Placing themouse pointer in the same position below the spec-trum’s x-axis and double clicking the left mouse buttonresults in the display specified by the limits set in theConfiguration to be restored. This fixed-limit displaycould result in missing important peaks such as amolecular ion peak above the upper m/z limit or diag-nostic peaks such as m/z 30 and m/z 31, which arecharacteristic in the mass spectra of aliphatic aminesand alcohols and may appear below the lower m/z limit.However, if there are mass spectral peaks that do notappear below the currently displayed lower limit or thecurrently displayed upper limit, a � sign will bedisplayed to the left or right of the x-axis, respectively.

The status bar under the spectra from the chromato-graphic display shows the spectrum number of thespectrum in the middle display along with the totalnumber of spectra in the data file and the spectrum’sretention time. The name of the data file also appears inthe status bar below the spectral display. This is some-what redundant because the data file name is also in theprogram’s title bar, although redundancy is not alwaysbad. The data file and library file name in the status barmake it easy to differentiate between the two types ofspectra, and the data file name in the title bar makes itclear what is being processed. When the backgroundsubtraction is turned on, the three spectra will have diffprinted in the upper left corner. An alternate displayallows for the background-subtracted spectrum to oc-cupy the center position, the nonbackground-sub-tracted spectrum to occupy the top position, and thespectrum being used as the background spectrum ap-pearing as the bottom spectrum. This is an especiallyuseful display when trying to separate two componentsthat may be coeluting in the same RTIC chromato-graphic peak, or where a spectrum from the library isbeing used with a spectrum of a mixture of two or morecompounds.

MassFinder 3 is designed to perform a library searchof every spectrum that appears in the center display ofthe three spectra next to the chromatographic display.The results of the library search are displayed on theright side of the program’s display. The library search iscomplete as soon as the sample spectrum is displayed.There is no delay in waiting for the results of the librarysearch. The library spectra are displayed sorted accord-ing to a sort order that is selectable from the Search

Filter tab of the Settings and Configuration dialog box.

The two most often used are spectral similarity andretention index. These two options (out of a total ofseven) can be toggled using a button on the tool bar.When the matched library spectra are sorted by reten-tion, the center spectrum (one adjacent to the samplespectrum) is the one with the most similar retentionindex and the top spectrum is one entry before thecenter spectrum with respect to the retention index.When the spectra are sorted by similarity, the topposition will be blank; and the matched library spec-trum with the highest similarity will occupy the middleposition, next to the chromatogram spectrum that wassearched. The number of the matched library spectrumwill be in the status bar at the bottom of the displayfollowing the word “hit” along with its position in thehit queue. The name of the library being used will alsobe displayed in this region of the status bar. By placingthe mouse pointer on the top or bottom library spec-trum and clicking the left mouse button, it is possible toscroll through the list of library hits. The mouse wheelcan also be used for this purpose. This is a veryconvenient way to do a comparison of the sample andlibrary spectrum. The match quality is provided as anumeric value in the upper left corner of the libraryspectrum. If the mouse pointer is placed on the middlelibrary spectrum and the left mouse button is clicked,the name of the library spectrum will be added to themiddle sample spectrum. The ’ symbol will appear onthe chromatogram to mark the position of the identifiedcomponent. Placing the mouse pointer on the libraryspectrum and clicking the left mouse button a secondtime will cause the name to disappear from the samplespectrum and the indicator symbol to be removed fromthe chromatogram.

The three library spectra are used in cases of para-metric retrieval when the spectra meet specific criteriasuch as m/z value for the base peak, molecular weight,Chemical Abstracts Service registry number (CASrn),name fragment, or an m/z value peak with a greaterthan specified relative intensity. These spectra will allhave search filters in the upper left corner to indicatethat they are not related to the spectra displayed fromthe chromatogram. The Edit Library Entry function hasa validity check for CASrn designations to make surethe entered value matches the construction rules; that is,the official checksum algorithm is applied.

A library spectrum can be selected by use of theparametric retrieval techniques and positioned in thecenter position. If the mouse pointer is placed on thislibrary spectrum and the right mouse button is clicked,MassFinder 3 will do a true reverse search where thisspectrum is searched against every spectrum in the datafile to see which spectrum in the data file provides thebest match. The position of that spectrum will beindicated by the position of the horizontal blue line onthe chromatographic display. To our knowledge,MassFinder 3 is the only system for review of GC/MS

data that has this feature.

1141J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144 REVIEW

Another interesting feature of MassFinder 3 is theability to edit library entries. The Modify Library Entrydialog box has a check box that will cause the currentlibrary spectrum to be replaced by the sample spectrumthat is in the center chromatographic spectrum display.It is important to note that any library field can beedited. When a field is edited or a new spectrum isadded to a library and is marked as “modified” or“added”, it is possible to do a parametric retrieval for allmodified spectra. Structures are easily added to spectraby copying them from the Windows Clipboard. You canuse any structural drawing program to create a struc-ture and then copy it as a MOL file or in any metafilegraphic format to the Windows Clipboard. There is abutton that allows you take a structure from the Win-dows Clipboard and associate it with the library spec-trum. There is another button that allows a structureassociated with a spectrum to be copied to the WindowsClipboard. This structure can then be pasted into astructural drawing program for modification or someother program such as Word for display with anexported spectrum.

MassFinder 3’s ability to edit library entries, includ-ing the spectrum itself, means that its flexibility isconsiderable. Most other systems require that a spec-trum be called from the library, edited, added to thelibrary, and then the original spectrum must be flaggedas deleted.

Building new libraries is as easy as adding spectra toexisting libraries. With no library open, just use theadd-spectrum-to-library command. This will start anew library with the chromatogram spectrum in thecenter display. The field for the name of the file con-taining the spectrum, the Retention Index (RI) andRetention Time fields, and Scan Number field areautomatically populated. The Name Field will be pop-ulated with the word unknown. This means that alibrary can be quickly built and then updated withstructures, CASrn designations, formulas, and otherinformation at a later time. Because of MassFinder 3’sunique ability to assign retention indexes to each spec-trum, having the RI associated with a spectrum is veryeasy. Structures for all created libraries are stored in asingle folder inside the folder containing MassFinder 3.These structures are in a Windows metafile format andcan be opened in ChemDraw from CambridgeSoft(http://www.cambridgesoft.com) for editing. All of thestructures, regardless of the presence of multiple librar-ies, appear to be stored in this single folder. It is notpossible to tell which structures are associated withwhich libraries unless the unique structure file name isknown. There is no utility to export libraries. Theauthor, on request, will convert a MassFinder library toanother format, but this conversion does not includestructures. Libraries can be imported from other for-mats but not with structures.

In addition to the utility that allows for adding andediting library entries, there is a utility that allows for

the addition, modification, and removal of m/z value-

intensity pairs from a mass spectrum in the library. Thisutility can also be used to manually create a libraryspectrum entry.

One problem that exists with most GC/MS datasystems concerns an ability to achieve good graphics forinclusion in reports and presentations. MassFinder 3has addressed the export of graphics with separateutilities for spectra and chromatograms. The same drag-and-drop expansion, scroll, and expand functions thatexist for chromatograms and spectra incorporated intothe main program exist in the Export displays. Thismeans any type of chromatographic or spectral displaycan be generated as shown in Figure 3 for the chromato-gram and Figure 4 for the spectrum. The spectrumgraphic will optionally allow for labeling of mass spec-tral peaks, showing m/z values and tick marks on theabscissa, showing tick marks and relative present val-ues on the ordinate, including the text from the spec-trum’s name field, and, most important, showing struc-tures on the library spectra and sample spectra thathave been given library-spectra names. The highlightedsample spectrum and library spectrum are available foroutput when the Spectrum Export function is evokedfrom the program’s Toolbox by simply clicking on theGC or Lib button at the top of the display, whichtoggles back and forth between the two spectra.

The color of the graphic is selectable as is the abilityto toggle between thick and thin lines. If a structure isdisplayed with the spectrum, the structure remainedblack when an alternate color is selected for the display.

The Export Spectrum function also has a Text Exportfeature that could be used. This would output thelabeled mass spectral peaks in a format of (m/z value)relative percentage; that is, 69 (15). This makes creatingdocuments such as theses or reports much more conve-nient because users will not have to type m/z value-intensity lists. Pairs of m/z values–intensities could beadded or removed from this list by clicking on unla-beled peaks (to add them) or labeled peaks (to removethem). All outputs from both the Export Chromatogramand the Export Spectrum function sent an output to theWindows Clipboard or to a printer. In addition to theText Export and Graphics Export functions of the Spec-trum Export, there was the ability to copy all the m/zvalue-intensity pairs in a tab-delineated format to theWindows Clipboard for import into Excel.

The Chromatogram Export function has a uniqueability to label chromatographic peaks. The labels areorientated vertically rather than horizontally. You canchoose to label either peaks that are associated with alibrary spectrum (identified spectra), peaks that areinvestigated but are not associated with a library spec-trum (what the program refers to as unknown scans), orboth. The labels can be just the retention time, theretention time followed by the name, or a tick markpositioned at the position of the spectrum that islabeled. Any combination of these three is possible. Asample spectrum’s name field can be populated with

the name of the adjacent library spectrum; or it can be

the E

1142 REVIEW J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144

given the default unknown name that contains theretention index value (RI), possible nominal massvalue (M), and the m/z value of the base peak (BP) whenthe mouse pointer is put on the sample spectrum andthe left mouse button is clicked. If the label is addedfirst, its position can be moved relative to the chromato-graphic peak. If the retention time is then added, thisnew position will be respected. The tick mark definingthe spectrum that is labeled in the chromatogram willalways be positioned just above the intensity of thatspectrum in the chromatogram.

The Chromatogram Export function allows for peakintegration. There are two integration modes: SimpleIntegration and Advanced Integration. The Simple In-tegration mode allows the user to select the region ofthe baseline that is to be integrated. The values reportedare a percentage of the summed peak areas. The Ad-vanced Integration mode functions with the Auto Re-port function. The Auto Report function will examineevery spectrum in the chromatogram to determine thebest match to the spectra in the library. This is a littlelike a target compound analysis where the target ana-lytes are in the library. This is an important concept ofMassFinder 3 using a library with spectra of specific

Figure 3. An example of

compounds for a specific type of analysis. The Auto

Report has several settable options that allow the userto customize the ability to identify the analyte. Resultsof the Auto Report function will be a table that containsthe retention time, name (from library spectrum), inte-grated area, and the percentage that integrated area is ofthe total area for all the identified chromatographicpeaks. In the event that there is no matching spectrum/retention index in the library, but the chromatographicpeak is above a set threshold, that peak is identified asan unknown. This table can then be exported to theWindows Clipboard for import into Excel for quantita-tion purposes. MassFinder 3 sets the baseline for eachintegration. The Advanced Integration function allowsthe user to redefine that baseline for each peak to havea better value for the peak area. The MassFinder AutoReport feature does not assign the same library spec-trum to more than a single chromatographic peak ascan be the case with other GC/MS data systems becauseof the use of the retention index. Another importantpoint about the Auto Report is the Peak (chromato-graphic) Finder function. Chromatographic peaks aredefined through thresholds and a number of spectraacross the peak. These files are determined by theprogram while viewing a sample chromatographic

xport Chromatogram view.

peak. There is a chromatographic peak evaluation but-

of th

1143J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144 REVIEW

ton on the Auto Report tab of the Configuration andSettings dialog box. It should be noted that the PeakFinder will not deconvolute chromatographic peaksrepresenting more than a single analyte. The AutoReport and Peak Finder functions are dependent onchromatography that produces a single peak for eachcompound (high-resolution gas chromatography).

In the version evaluated, the mass chromatograms,even when displayed without the RTICC, were not setto the Chromatogram Export function; and integrationwas done only on the RTICC. This possible shortcomingwas discussed with the program’s author, who statedthat he would consider some alternatives that wouldinclude mass chromatograms. Another potential short-coming in the tested version was an easy ability to senda spectrum to the NIST Mass Spectral Search Programto search it against the NIST/EPA/NIH Database or theWiley Registry. Spectra can be exported in a tab-delineated format to Excel, a NIST-compatible text filecreated, and then that file opened with the NIST MSSearch Program; however, this process could not beconsidered convenient. The author stated that a futureversion of MassFinder 3 will include a seamless export

Figure 4. An example

to the NIST Program, much like that available from the

Waters, Agilent, Thermo Fisher, Varian, Perkin Elmer,and Agilent GC/MS data systems.

The program uses a USB hardware key that can beinstalled on an individual computer or on a computeron a network so that other work stations (one at a time)can use it. Installation of the hardware key is accom-plished with a standard Install Shield program; how-ever, installation of MassFinder 3 is much more primi-tive. The user must create a folder and then copy thefiles for the program from the distribution CD to thisfolder. There are no program groups or desktop iconscreated. The author said this was done in deference tothe academic community who like to avoid the rigors ofa number of formal installations. I found this type ofinstallation to be somewhat amateurish and may bedifficult for many. The documentation that accompa-nies MassFinder 3 is very good and well written,especially considering that the program is from Ger-many where English is not the first language. Thedocumentation is divided into several sections, andusers are advised to open and print all the PDF files andto become familiar with each section before beginninguse. As can be seen from Figure 1, this program does

e Export Spectrum view.

not have the standard Windows program appearance.

1144 REVIEW J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2007, 18, 1137–1144

The tool tips (labels that appear as the mouse pointermoves over the icons of the Toolbox or that are presenton various displays) are very well done and provide anabundance of information. The evaluated version hadno Help file or Help buttons on any of the displays.There is no automation capability. That is to say, thereis no way to automatically apply the Flash Reportfunction to a series of files. This may not be necessarybecause of the speed of all the various functions of theprogram.

There is a network version of MassFinder 3 that doesoffer some convenience and multiple-user support at areduced cost.

MassFinder 3 looks different, functions differently,and offers different capabilities than those of otherGC/MS data analysis programs. It is an interactiveprogram that allows the extraction of a great deal of

information for a GC/MS data file. Another very im-

pressive feature of this program is the openness of theauthor to suggestions for enhancements and improve-ments. Upgrade notices are sent by e-mail to all users sothat they can download upgrades from an FTP site. Thisdownload site is open for only a few weeks after theupgrade, but if the download period has expired, theauthor will provide the current version. This program iswell suited to any type of qualitative GC/MS analysesand can prove very useful in any laboratory.

Reviewer’s Note

Some parts of this review may appear to be a littleoverly didactic. This is because the subtleties of thissoftware can be presented only in this way withoutbeing able to view the program in operation. It is thesesubtleties that set this GC/MS analysis software apart

from other programs.