Use Quanto.Console when acquisition is finished and you want import → Analyze → report/export without opening the interactive WPF app. Typical cases: a scheduled task after the instrument writes a sample folder, a lab automation job, or a review PC that only needs batch reporting.

Quanto.Console is a Windows console CLI (Quanto.Console.exe). It is not a Quanto application server, and it is not a replacement for your acquisition software. The WPF UI remains the interactive product for method design, review, and report workbook editing.

Prerequisites

Item Notes
Install Same Quanto setup as the desktop app (Program Files). Console ships with the product from 1.0.0.49 / quanto-setup-alpha-49-* onward
OS Windows 10/11 64-bit (same add-in and vendor stack as WPF)
License Instrument licenses follow the same rules as WPF; missing licenses still block batch save
Reports Create report / create export need Spread next to the exe (included in a normal install). Method/batch must define report or export workbooks
Method A .qtm / .qtb (or vendor method) that already has the compounds, calibration rules, and optional ReportTemplates you want

Help on any machine:

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" --help

What headless is for

  1. Acquisition writes raw data to a sample folder (or sequence folder).
  2. A scheduled or scripted step runs Quanto.Console with a fixed method and that data path.
  3. Console imports method + data, runs Analyze, optionally saves .qtm / .qtb, and creates defined reports/exports.
  4. Analysts open the .qtb or the report folder in WPF when they need interactive review.

Typical commands

Full default pipeline (import → analyze → save-method → report → export):

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" --method "D:\Methods\Assay.qtm" --data "D:\Data\Seq2026-09-20"

Post-acquisition report only (method and data are still loaded first):

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" --method "D:\Methods\Assay.qtm" --data "D:\Data\Seq2026-09-20" --report

Named actions in one flag:

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" -m "D:\Methods\Assay.qtm" -d "D:\Data\Seq2026-09-20" -a import,analyze,report

Positional form:

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" "D:\Methods\Assay.qtm" "D:\Data\Unk1.D" "D:\Data\Unk2.D" --analyze --report

Listfile (fixed method, varying data paths — do not combine with --method / --data):

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" --listfile "D:\Jobs\nightly.listfile" --report

Example listfile (Examples\example.listfile next to the exe when shipped):

# UTF-8; blank lines and # / ; comments ignored
method D:\Methods\Assay.qtm
data D:\Data\2026-09-20\Cal1.D
data D:\Data\2026-09-20\Unk1.D
data D:\Data\2026-09-20

A data path that is a folder but not itself a single sample imports every sample discovered in that folder. Relative paths in a listfile are resolved against the listfile directory.

Actions

Action Flag What it does
Import --import Load/import the method and add data files
Analyze --analyze Get signals → Integrate → Identify → Calibrate → Quantitate (same pipeline as WPF Analyze)
Save method --save-method Write the processed method as .qtm
Report --report Create defined reports only
Export --export Create defined exports only

Or --actions / -a with a comma-separated list: import,analyze,save-method,report,export.

Default when no action flags are given: all five, in that order.

Notes:

Input modes (pick exactly one)

  1. --method / -m plus one or more --data / -d, or positional <method> <data> [...]
  2. --listfile / -l — do not combine with method/data

Method may be .qtm, .qtb, or a vendor method file/folder. Data may be a sample file/folder.

Where outputs go

Output Flag / default
Method .qtm --method-out — default: overwrite a .qtm input, or <method-name>.qtm next to the batch
Batch .qtb --batch-out — default: {data}\QuantoResults\{yyyy-MM-dd-NN}.qtb
Report / export root --output / -o — default: the batch data folder

Reports and exports from one create-run share one timestamp folder (Excel and PDF together), under a structure like QuantoReports\{batch}_{Batch|Sample|...}_{yyyy-MM-dd_HH-mm-ss} — same idea as WPF create report.

Report workbook templates live in the method/batch package under method/ReportTemplates/ (inside both .qtm and .qtb). Design and define those workbooks in the interactive WPF Report Designer first; Console only runs what is already defined.

Logging

Console writes path and timing lines to stdout (no dialogs). Typical lines include import paths, Analyze stage text (ASCII arrows), saved .qtb / .qtm paths, and report/export folder paths with elapsed times (milliseconds under 1 s, otherwise 1.5 s / 2 min 3 s).

Indexed Agilent conversion prompts, Continue dialogs, and license nags are auto-continued or skipped. Missing instrument licenses still block batch save, same as WPF.

Exit codes

Code Meaning
0 Success
Non-zero Parse error, missing files, import/analyze/save failure, or an explicit --report / --export that cannot run

Use the exit code in Task Scheduler or your orchestration script.

Console vs interactive WPF

Quanto.Console Quanto WPF
Purpose Headless post-acq pipeline and reporting Interactive method design, review, designer
UI None (stdout logs) Full desktop UI
Server role None — still a local Windows process None — still a local Windows process
Acquisition Does not acquire; reads finished data Does not acquire; reads finished data

Do not treat the WPF app as a headless batch server. For unattended Analyze / report after acquisition, schedule Quanto.Console on a Windows PC that can see the method and data (local disk preferred; see Hardware and performance).

Performance check (single-sample post-acq)

Use one finished sample as a post-acquisition smoke test with the default pipeline (import → analyze → save-method → report → export — no action flags). Stdout already prints stage timings (Import:, Analyze:, Report:, Export:, Job:). For peak process memory, sample Working Set / Private Bytes while the process runs (Task Manager, Performance Monitor, or a short PowerShell sampler).

Agilent MassHunter VOA example (ships with QuantExamples):

"C:\Program Files\Quanto\Quanto.Console.exe" -m "D:\MassHunter\Data\QuantExamples\MS\VOA\QuantoVoaMethod.qtm" -d "D:\MassHunter\Data\QuantExamples\MS\VOA\CAL_L09.D"

Measured reference (Quanto 1.0.0.50, 2026-09-20)

Local disk, Release Quanto.Console with AddIns, default actions, one sample:

Metric Value
Import 242 ms
Analyze 468 ms
Save batch 53 ms
Save method 65 ms
Report 2.9 s
Export 201 ms
Job (stdout) 5.4 s
Wall clock (process start → exit) ~5.6 s
Peak Working Set ~253 MB
Peak Private Bytes ~400 MB
Workload 1 sample · 74 analytes · 209 signals · 224 peaks · 84 results

Cold start includes add-in load. Report/export are no-ops when the method has no defined workbooks; this VOA method creates Excel+PDF report and a TSV export. Re-run on the same PC after method or hardware changes. For larger multi-sample Analyze numbers see Hardware and performance.

Troubleshooting

Symptom What to check
--help / unknown exe Confirm install path; Console is next to the desktop product from builds that ship it
Analyze fails / missing integrator Same add-ins as WPF under the install folder; repair/reinstall if AddIns is incomplete
Report skipped in default run Method/batch has no defined Q.Report* workbook — open in WPF Report Designer and define report
Explicit --report fails Spread assemblies must be present (normal install); Windows Desktop runtime; defined report must be runnable
Empty sample set Data folder may not contain recognizable samples; point at a sample .D / .dx / .wiff / etc., or a folder of samples
Listfile parse error UTF-8; one method / data directive per line; do not mix --listfile with --method/--data
Batch not saved License / instrument serial rules — same as WPF
Slow on network share Copy study data local for Analyze; size the PC per Hardware and performance

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