Match! Update Page

Latest Update

The most recent version is 4.1 (Build 311) released on January 10, 2025.

If you are still using an earlier version and your update permission time has not expired yet (which can both be checked by selecting "About Match!" from the "Help" menu), we strongly recommend to update to the current version. This can easily be achieved by performing the following steps:

1. If Match! is running, please save any open documents and close the program.
2. Please DO NOT uninstall the previous version before installing the new version! Instead, simply install the new version on top of the existing version. This is important to make sure that your license file is retained.
3. Download the installer file for your platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) from the Download page, and uncompress ("unzip") it if necessary.
4. Make sure that you have administrator privileges on multi-user systems, then run the installer by double-clicking on it. More details about this topic are given in the platform-specific "Readme" files that are also available from the Download page.
5. Follow the steps in the installer until it has finished, then restart Match!.
6. Check whether the update was successful by selecting "About Match!" from the "Help" menu.

Enhancements in version 4.1 (Build 311)

• Bruker BRML raw data files (*.brml) can now be imported.
• A few minor bugs have been fixed.

Enhancements in version 4.1 (Build 309)

• Crystallite size estimation has been improved
  • There is a new button for crystallite size estimation in the toolbar at the top, which is a shortcut to the menu command "Quantify / Crystallite size estimation / Crystallite size estimation...".
  • An automatic crystallite size estimation calculation will be run when you press this button (or run the menu command), asking step-by-step for any missing information. Match! is able to start the calculation even from the very beginning, i.e. the import of diffraction data.
  • When opening the "Crystallite size estimation" window, the results of the automatic crystallite size estimation calculation are displayed in the "Phases list" at the top left. The peak list (for manual calculations) that was immediately displayed in former versions of Match! is now hidden up-front and can be displayed by pressing the corresponding new button.
  • For the automatic calculation of the crystallite sizes for the individual phases in the match list, Match! uses the best available peak width data in the following order:
    • Preferably, peak widths are calculated from the Caglioti parameters U, V, W of the individual phases that have been obtained using Rietveld refinement.
    • If they are not available, Match! tries to use peak widths obtained from profile fitting of correlated experimental peaks.
    • If these are not available as well, the program uses peak widths of the closest experimental peaks.
    The assumed 'reliability' of the peak width source is indicated by the color used for the display of the individual values in the phases list.
  • For manual calculations of the average crystallite sizes, you can now switch between using peak width (FWHM) values of experimental peaks and FWHM values stored in the individual match list entries (that may e.g. result from Rietveld refinement). You can make your selection simply by clicking on the corresponding column header in the peak list, either "FWHM exp. peak" or "FWHM phase".
  • If you mark lines in the peak list of the Crystallite size estimation window, the corresponding experimental peaks will also be marked in the main window (e.g. pattern graphics, peak list).
  • There is a new command "Add as instrumental broadening standard" in the match list's context menu (available by right mouse button click on a match list entry), using which you can add the FWHM values stored in the currently marked match list entry as a new standard for instrumental peak broading, e.g. for crystallite size estimation. You have to run a successful Rietveld refinement calculation of at least the Caglioti parameter 'U' in advance to be able to use this command, e.g. by running an automatic Rietveld refinement.
  • The sample's contribution to the observed peak width is now calculated as FWHM_sample² = FWHM_observed² - FWHM_instrumental², instead of the former FWHM_sample = FWHM_obs - FWHM_instrumental. The background is that peak broadening contributions from different sources combine in a quadratic manner, not linearly, because the broadening from different factors (such as crystallite size, strain, and instrumental effects) is typically considered to be independent and additive in terms of variance rather than in terms of simple widths.
  • In the peak list of the "Crystallite size estimation" window, the column "Use" (containing the checkboxes for the peaks to be used in manual calculation) has been moved to the left-hand side.
• Quantitative analysis has been improved: Pressing the 'pie chart' button in the toolbar now runs an automatic quantitative analysis, asking for any required information automatically. Match! uses the default quantitative analysis method (RIR or Rietveld) for this purpose.
• There is a new keyboard shortcut <Ctrl+Alt+Q> (Mac: <Cmd+Alt+Q>) for quantitative analysis (i.e. button 'Pie chart').
• The maximum number of peaks that are calculated from an imported CIF or in the User Database Manager has been increased to 10.000.
• Several bugs have been fixed:
  • A bug affecting indexing with Dicvol has been fixed, due to which the calculation did not seem to stop and no results were displayed.
  • Caused by a bug, the Match! window was not updated completely after loading a predefined selection of entries into the match list.
  • A few minor bugs have also been fixed.

Enhancements in version 4.0 (Build 306)

• When the first phase is selected as "matching", Match! now automatically displays the profile calculated from selected phases as well as the corresponding difference plot in the pattern graphics (see new option below).
• There is a new option "Switch to 'Selected phases' on selection of first matching phase or PFSM calculation" on the "Graphics" tab of the "Options" window. It toggles the automatic "switching over" to the display of the profile calculated from selected phases.
• A new option "Activate difference plot on selection of first matching phase or PFSM calculation" has been added on the "Graphics" tab of the "Options" window. It toggles the automatic activation of the difference plot.
• A new option for selecting the search-match method to be used in batch processing has been added to the "Batch" tab of the "Options" window.
• The new option "Display phase names in addition to formula sum in pie charts graphics" has been added on the "Quant. analysis" page of the "Options" window.
• The option "Switch to 'Composition' display (pie charts) after selection of the first/second phase" has been removed from the "Batch" tab of the "Options" window, because a more or less equivalent option "Automatically switch over to the pie chart graphics after performing a quantitative analysis" is already available on the "Quant. analysis" tab.
• The "Selected phases" and "Exp. peak data" options on the "Graphics" tab of the "Options" window have swapped their positions.
• The "Background" chapter in the Match! online help has been reworked.
• The new version has been verified to be compatible with all upcoming release 2025 ICDD PDF database products.
• Several bugs have been fixed:
  • Some bugs that might have caused Match! to crash in certain situations (e.g. when loading documents or performing "Undo" operations) have been fixed.
  • Due to a bug, the accuracy of the determined peak positions was reduced during peak searching if the peaks were very broad (FWHM > 2.0 degrees 2theta).
  • A bug causing the diffraction pattern graphics not to be erased completely at "File / New" has been fixed.
  • The automatic selection of matching phases did not work if profile fitting search-match was applied.
  • The name of the selected restraints preset was not stored along with user-defined option settings on the "Batch" tab of the "Options" window.

Enhancements in version 4.0 (Build 299)

• A bug affecting the copying of the match list to the clipboard when the candidate list is empty has been fixed.
• Due to a bug, the y-axis scale marks of the difference plot sometimes overlaid the y-axis marks of the diffraction pattern above.
• Due to a bug, the peak list was not displayed in certain circumstances.
• Some minor bugs have also been fixed.
• The latest edition 2024.06.03 of the COD reference database is included.

Enhancements in version 4.0 (Build 295)

• Profile-fitting search-match (PFSM) is now available, as an alternative to the classical search-match based on peak data. PFSM tries to fit the profile calculated from every candidate entry in the reference database to your experimental diffraction pattern. PFSM can be run using the new menu command "Search / Search-match using profile fitting".
• Improved handling of entries without I/Ic value in quantitative RIR analysis, e.g. when using the ICDD PDF-2 database: Missing I/Ic values in the match list can now be calculated from imported crystal structure data (CIF) or entered manually.
• New menu command "Quantify / Rietveld refinement (FullProf)" uses the currently selected schedule (-> Rietveld options) to perform an automatic Rietveld refinement calculation for quantitative analysis.
• New "Quantitative analysis" options "Show quantitative analysis method in pie chart graphics title" and "Automatically switch over to the pie chart graphics after performing a quantitative analysis"
• New menu command "Entries / Automatic entry selection" selects matching phases automatically. The minimum required Rwp reduction (that is also used for automatic selection of entries) can be adjusted in the "PF search-match" section on the "Search-Match" tab of the "Options" window.
• New menu command "Edit / Copy candidate list" copies the current contents of the candidate list at the bottom left into the clipboard, in order to insert it into some other program (e.g. Microsoft Excel).
• New menu command "Edit / Copy match list" copies the current contents of the match list (phases selected as 'matching') at the bottom right into the clipboard, in order to insert it into some other program (e.g. Microsoft Excel).
• Continuous display of already found results during normal (peak-based) search-match
• For macOS there now are separate versions for ARM (Apple Silicon) and Intel processors. This significantly increases the calculation speed on Apple Silicon while at the same time reducing the memory overhead.
• Demo version has new signature, so that the Match! 4 demo version can be run for 60 days even if the Match! 3 demo version has expired.
• An issue causing background control points to be no longer shiftable or removable once they got too close to each other has been resolved.
• A bug affecting the recalculation of the degree-of-crystallinity (DOC) has been fixed.
• Another bug sometimes affecting the peak position accuracy in peak searching has been resolved.
• There was a bug affecting the "1/d"-scaling of the x-axis in the pattern graphics that has been fixed by now.