A module that formerly worked but now crashes can often be fixed by removing the section for the module in imatest-v2.ini (or in imatest.ini, multicharts.ini or rescharts.ini prior to Imatest 4.2). We show how to do this conveniently using the INI File Editor.

An error reporting window normally opens when a crash occurs. We recommend sending us the error report before applying the fix. Click on Send Error Report, enter your correct email address, then press Send. Note that a screen capture of the window does not contain all the information  we need to diagnose the problem.	The Imatest Error Reporting window
We encourage you to send us the image (in a separate email to support@imatest.com). Having the image can make it easier for us to replicate and fix the error.

 

Note 1:  Please check to be sure the problem isn’t caused by a badly framed or badly photographed image. In such cases,      (a) images that worked previously will continue to work, and      (b) there may be some indication of the problem in the text preceding the error message. Note 2:  Reinstalling the same build of Imatest rarely solves this type of problem, although downloading and installing the current build of the most recent version your license allows often helps. Go to www.imatest.com/support/download/, select the appropriate release and operating system, then click Download Upgrade. Note 3:  All settings are stored in imatest-v2.ini, which can be opened for editing from the INI File Settings dropdown menu in the Imatest, Rescharts, Color/Tone Interactive, or Uniformity Interactive windows. imatest-v2.ini is compatible with non-Latin characters (Asian languages). Changes after Imatest 4.2 are described in INI file format changes in 4.2. Note 4:  To help us prevent similar errors in the future, please send the error report. In most cases an Error reporting window (shown above) will appear. Follow the instructions, making sure to enter your correct email and a brief description of what you were doing. If the Error reporting window fails to appear you can click File, Copy current session, then paste the session into an email to support@imatest.com. If you’ve closed and restarted Imatest since encountering the error, you can click File, Copy last session.

 

How the fix the error (by removing the INI file section with corrupted data)

Quick summary: the key to fixing this type of error is to remove the section (or critical lines in the section) of the INI file (usually imatest-v2.ini) that corresponds to the broken module. This restores the default values. Section names are enclosed in brackets ([…]) in the INI file.

 

• Record or remember important settings for the broken module that you may want to restore after you’ve done the fix. This can often be done conveniently using a screen capture utility.
• Click the INI File Settings dropdown menu in the Imatest, Rescharts, Color/Tone Interactive, or Uniformity Interactive window, then select INI File Editor to open imatest-v2.ini, as shown below.

The INI File Editor is a powerful tool for editing ini (settings) files.
You can often fix a broken (but formerly working) module by selecting the section
corresponding to the module, then clicking Delete section. followed by Save.

• Select a section to view, edit, or delete from the Section dropdown menu (near the top). Section names usually correspond to module names. Errors can often be fixed by (A) removing an entire section (this restores the default values) or (B) by editing a single line (if you know what you’re doing). Note that section names are enclosed in brackets ([…]) in the INI file.

Some section names don’t fit the pattern. We are leaving section names unchanged (for now) for backwards compatibility. We apologize for the confusion.

• • Stepchart module:
    [q13] is used for the Stepchart module, which originally supported only linear grayscale stepcharts, such as the Kodak Q-13 and Q-14. Note that [stepchart] is used for grayscale stepcharts in Color/Tone Interactive and Auto, not for Stepchart.
     
  • Color/Tone Interactive and Auto modules
    [gamut] is used for settings common to all (or most) Multicharts/Multitest charts. There are also sections for individual test chart analyses whose name corresponds to the chart name (generally abbreviated). Here are the lists of names (taken from the code).
    For (mostly) color charts:  {‘cc24’; ‘it8’; ‘special’; ‘qpcard’; ‘ccsg’; ‘stepchart’; ‘special’; ‘cdm28’; ‘sfrp20’; ‘utt’; ‘spydercheckr’; ‘hale’; ‘te226’; ‘mxn’; ‘cdm-dc48’; ‘colorgauge’; ‘rezchecker’; ‘cmp’; ‘esfriso’; ‘iso-16505’}
    For multi-row Grayscale charts:  {‘iso-14524’; ‘qa-61’; ‘qa-62’; ‘iso-15739’; ‘ite’; ‘oecf-20’; ‘sqcirc’; ‘eia’; ‘qa-79’; ‘mxn’; ‘sdr-36’; ‘sq-20’; ‘contrast-res’; ‘te269’}
     
• (A) To fix a problem by resetting a section, Select the section, then press Delete section. You will need to manually set the desired settings to the your preferred values. This method is recommended for most users.
   
  
• (B) To fix a problem by editing a line, Select the section that contains the line, select the line in the large window, make the change in the line edit window just above the large window, then press Enter. This method requires more knowledge than (A).
   
  
• To save your changes press Save, which is grayed out until changes are made. If you with to cancel your changes, press either Reload ini file or Close.

Example: Checkerboard stops working. Press the INI File dropdown menu, then select INI File Editor. Select the [colorcheck] section, then press Delete section, Save, Close. You’ll need to manually restore your old settings in the next run.

This can also be accomplished in a text editor by pressing INI File, View/Edit INI file.

Other solutions

Sometimes the problem is in the image file itself. Matlab has difficulty reading files with bad header data. Look at the command window to see if there are warnings about problems reading the file. You can often fix such problems by “laundering” the file by reading it into an image viewer/editor such as Irfanview (an excellent free program), then saving it with a similar name.

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Full up-to-date documentation on region selection and how to use ROI files is now on Saving and Retrieving Regions of Interest (ROIs)

Imatest can store Regions of Interest (ROIs) for most modules that use manual region selection.

Regions of Interest can be stored in small named ini files that only contain region information, and can be retrieved whenever needed.

This can be done for most modules that use manual region selection (even when automatic selection is an option). These modules include

SFR, Colorcheck, Dot Pattern, Distortion, Multicharts, Multitest, Random/Dead Leaves, Log Frequency-Contrast, Star, and Wedge, and Rescharts (with the four preceding modules)

Stepchart (with a restriction: method 1 (below) should not be used)

[Omitted: Blemish Detect, Uniformity, which usually use the entire image. Automatically detected Rescharts modules like SFRplus and eSFR ISO ]

Saving the region selection

The ROI can be saved by one of the following methods.

1. The Save ROI settings… button in the settings window

When you open a module, select a Region of Interest, then press Yes (not Express mode), a settings window opens that that contains a Save ROI settings… button, typically located somewhere in the Settings section. Its location is not consistent: it can be different for different modules. This method is not recommended for Stepchart*. Examples:

Save ROI settings… button for Random/Dead Leaves and SFR modules

2. The Save ROI settings… button in the Save results window that typically appears when a run is complete.

3. From the Imatest, Multicharts, or Rescharts windows:

INI File Settings –> Save ROI Settings can save settings from the most recently run module (if you didn’t save it in the Settings window).

*The Stepchart Settings window differs from other modules in that it lets you select the grayscale chart type. The Fine ROI adjustment window opens after the Settings window, so it is never a good idea to save the ROI from the Stepchart Settings window. You can set it afterwards with methods 2 or 3 (described above). This is one of several reasons that Multicharts and Multitest (which can analyze color as well as grayscale charts and display more noise detail) are recommended.

 

Selecting Save ROI settings… opens a window that lets you select the file for saving the ROI settings.

Save ROI settings window

The Optional Navigation Area assists with navigation: It affects the initial folder that appears when you click Save ROI Settings. The ROI settings INI file contents list box displays the ROI file contents, described in the gray box below. When you press Save ROI settings you can navigate to the desired folder and specify the file name.

All modules except for SFR and Wedge store image width (nwid_save), height (nht_save), and Regions of Interest (roi) for up to 20 recently-run images (where images are distinguished by their height and width). The most recent image size is first. Each image has a single width and height and either 4 or 8 numbers describing the ROI. SFR and Wedge store multiple regions for a single image. 4 ROI numbers, sufficient for describing rectangles, are used in SFR, Wedge, Dot Pattern, Distortion, Uniformity, and Blemish Detect. Each set of four numbers consists of [UL(x) UL(y), LR(x), LR(y)], where UL = Upper-Left and LR = Lower-Right (location in pixels relative to the upper-left corner of the image). 8 ROI numbers, sufficient for describing four-sided polygons (quadrilaterals), which generally contain inner rectangles, are used in all other modules. Each set of eight numbers consists of [UL(x) UL(y), LR(x), LR(y), UR(x), UR(y), LL(x), LL(y)].

Retrieving the region selection

Because the region selection window opens first for most modules (before the Settings window) you need to load the ROI before running the module. This can be done from the Imatest, Multicharts, or Rescharts windows by clicking

INI File Settings –> Load (merge) ROI Settings

This opens the following window that lets you select a previously-saved INI file. It will be merged into the main INI file (imatest-v2.ini, unless otherwise specified).

Load ROI settings window

The upper box (OPTIONAL NAVIGATION AREA) assists with navigation by helping to locate the initial location for reading the ROI Settings file. It is completely optional and may be ignored.

Loading the region requires three steps.

1. Press 1. Read ROI Settings file.  You can specify the actual file location to load in the Open dialog box.
2. Examine the contents of the ROI settings file, which are displayed when the file is loaded.
3. Press 3. Load (Merge ROI Settings). If this operation is successful a message will be displayed to the right of the button.

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Imatest does not support international characters in file name paths.  Using files with international characters will corrupt the Imatest INI file and lead to an INI file error.

You should only use folders and filenames with latin characters or you will encounter this problem.

Resetting your Imatest INI is the easiest way to solve this problems.  You can do this through the following menu entry:

 

This will remove the settings that you have made within imatest.

To correct the problems with your INI File you can follow the troubleshooting information information available here

 

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