Orienta 0.4.6

Orienta 0.4.6

Orienta can now be installed on Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux without installing Python or git yourself. This release also adds add-ons, a citation panel for every result, per-particle EDS export and a new phase library page. The full list of changes is in the changelog.

If you built master patterns with an earlier version, or index silicon or MgCu₂ with Hough, please read this.

CIFs in space groups with two origin choices (for example silicon or MgCu₂). In the 24 space groups with two origin choices, atoms could land on the wrong orbit during conversion. Silicon came out with 16 instead of 8 atoms per unit cell, and MgCu₂ as Mg32Cu8 instead of Mg8Cu16. Master patterns built from such a structure are wrong throughout. Conversion and reading for master-pattern simulation are fixed, but files made with an earlier version keep the error: convert the CIF again; delete the Monte-Carlo file, the master pattern and any saved dictionary built from that structure; simulate them again; and index maps made with Dictionary or Spherical indexing again. Orienta now writes a warning to its log when it reads a .xtal file whose origin setting cannot be verified.

Hough indexing reads the CIF directly, through a separate reader that this fix does not cover: it still expands silicon to 16 atoms and MgCu₂ to Mg32Cu8. How much this changes Hough results has not been measured; treat Hough results on phases in these 24 space groups with caution and, where a master pattern exists, compare them with a Dictionary or Spherical run.

The changelog archived with this version, and an earlier version of these notes, also name Al₃Fe₂Si as affected. It was re-checked and is not affected: the converted structure has the atom count and density of its CIF.

Masters from Orienta Engine in 15 space groups. .sht master patterns built with Orienta Engine (the built-in simulator) in an earlier version carry a wrong symmetry number for 15 space groups, including Pm-3m (221), P-43m (215), P432 (207), P23 (195), P4/mmm (123) and P6/mmm (191). Build them again and re-index maps made with Spherical indexing that used them. Masters simulated with EMsoft are not affected.

What's new

• Installers for all three systems. Each package sets up its own private Python on first start. Your measurement files stay where they are; Orienta only reads them.
• Add-ons. Another group's analysis can run inside Orienta and its results can be shown as a layer on the phase map. Nothing runs until you allow it. An add-on is Python code: once allowed, it runs with your permissions, so install add-ons only from sources you trust. Add-ons live in ~/.orienta/addons; a worked example ships with the program.
• Citations for every result. Phase Maps → Citations gives a BibTeX file, a methods paragraph and a reference list for the method you actually ran, and they travel with the exported file.
• EDS export per particle (size, shape, composition), saved presets and a plausibility report.
• Phase library. A page showing what is in your crystal library: formula, space group, elements and which indexing methods each phase supports. You can search it, give phases your own names and synonyms, and sort phases into groups. Open points around groups, keyboard use and some panels are planned for 0.4.7. Nothing on this page deletes or moves a crystal file.
• Spherical indexing is now used directly for cubic m-3/23 and orthorhombic mmm phases, without the earlier detour through Hough.

Downloads

System	File	Requirements
Windows	Orienta.Setup.0.4.6.exe	64-bit; 2.5 GB free, 9 GB with NVIDIA GPU packages
macOS	Orienta-0.4.6-arm64.dmg	Apple Silicon (M1 or newer), macOS 14 or later; 12 GB free
Linux	Orienta-0.4.6.AppImage	x86-64; 2.5 GB free, 9 GB with NVIDIA GPU packages

On first start the setup downloads Python and the required packages. orienta-runtime-v0.4.6.zip is the program package the installers use; you do not need to download it.

SHA-256 checksums (each file also has a .sha256 next to it):

b53e6871406b2c59af86d4d6ead3ee98cbc7d2a50f7a7e7da573eca410a8717a  Orienta.Setup.0.4.6.exe
7e9ebb173916f20e4597f04480fcc00d78c6e579b31228d81698a563200d6837  Orienta-0.4.6-arm64.dmg
896574f948a41e782a9635c3383f2933064c5f512730c95e5fee2070a1dd41dd  Orienta-0.4.6.AppImage
d03e64160f6008ddced22d7bfa4f7396853605dcd705e97a6d0fe8b5989e149e  orienta-runtime-v0.4.6.zip

To check a download:

Windows   certutil -hashfile Orienta.Setup.0.4.6.exe SHA256
macOS     shasum -a 256 Orienta-0.4.6-arm64.dmg
Linux     sha256sum Orienta-0.4.6.AppImage

First start

The Windows installer is not signed, and the macOS app is signed without a paid Apple certificate, so both systems ask once before the first start.

• Windows: "Windows protected your PC" → More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: drag Orienta into Applications. On macOS 15 and later, double-click it once; macOS says it cannot verify Orienta; click Done, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message about Orienta, click Open Anyway and confirm. On macOS 14, right-click Orienta → Open and confirm with Open.
• Linux: make the file executable first (chmod +x Orienta-0.4.6.AppImage); without that, it will not start from a double-click. Ubuntu 22.04 and newer do not install FUSE 2 by default, and this AppImage needs it. Either install it once (sudo apt install libfuse2 on 22.04, sudo apt install libfuse2t64 on 24.04 and newer), or start with ./Orienta-0.4.6.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run.

Platform differences

• EMsoft simulations are available on Windows only, because Orienta runs EMsoft through WSL. Orienta Engine, the built-in simulator, runs on all three systems.
• GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA graphics card (Windows or Linux). On a Mac, Orienta computes on the processor.

Updating

Installed with an installer: from this version on, Settings → About Orienta → Check for updates tells you when a newer version is published. On Windows, run the new installer over the existing installation; there is no need to uninstall first. On macOS, replace Orienta in Applications with the new version; on Linux, replace the AppImage. On all three systems the data folder (including the crystal library) and the settings live outside the program and are kept.

Installed from a git clone: the update is offered inside the app, as before; see the update guide.

Unzipped from a downloaded archive, or an installer test build before 0.4.6: these cannot update themselves; download the new version from this page.

If you tested a pre-release build of 0.4.6 and share a database folder between computers, update all of them: a phase group edited with this version cannot be read by an earlier test build.

How to cite

To cite Orienta in general, use the concept DOI, which always points to the latest version: 10.5281/zenodo.22664080

To cite this exact version: 10.5281/zenodo.23006390

To build from source instead, see INSTALL.md.