Open an Agilent .D folder without ChemStation (Beta)

An Agilent .D "file" is really a folder. ChemStation and OpenLab put one binary file per detector into it (DAD1A.ch … for the signals, DAD1.uv for the diode-array spectra, MSD1.MS for a mass selective detector), with the method report, the sample details and often the integration report. MassHunter keeps its data in an AcqData folder inside the .D. Without the vendor software the folder is unreadable. Upload it here and you get everything as CSV and Excel.

How to open a .D folder

1. Pack the folder: on Windows right-click it and choose Send to, Compressed (zipped) folder; on a Mac choose Compress. You can also select the files inside the folder and upload them together; files of the same injection are kept together.
2. Upload the .zip. A ZIP with several .D folders converts every run in one go.
3. Look at the preview, then download.

What you get from one folder

• a CSV for every detector signal, with retention time in minutes and the response in its unit;
• the DAD spectra as a time × wavelength table, and chromatograms extracted at the wavelengths of the folder's own signals, or at wavelengths you choose;
• for MSD data the total ion chromatogram as stored, the base peak of every scan and a table of every m/z value with its abundance;
• the peak table of Report.TXT and REPORT*.CSV (ChemStation) or RESULTS.CSV (MSD), exactly as the software integrated it;
• an Excel workbook with a sheet and chart per signal, the peak table, a metadata sheet (sample name, operator, method, instrument, injection date, vial) and the acquisition method report.

MassHunter folders

From AcqData you get the DAD signals and spectra, pump, column oven and other module traces, and for LC/MS and GC/MS runs the TIC and base peak MassHunter stored for every scan, which match MassHunter's own TIC exports. The mass spectra themselves are not exported yet. A MassHunter GC/MS folder that also holds ChemStation-format files (FID1A.ch, data.ms) is read from those, with the full spectra.

Good to know

• Method folders (DA.M, ACQ.M) hold settings, not data; they are skipped.
• The converter never integrates peaks itself; without a report you get the raw chromatograms.
• Very large spectra files (over 40 million values) are refused rather than cut short.

For single signal files see Convert ChemStation .ch files to CSV, and for OpenLab CDS 2 result files see the OpenLab .dx converter.

More about what this tool reads and writes: Chromatography Data Converter (Agilent, Shimadzu, Waters, AIA).