Origin 5.0 for Windows from Microcal Software is a rare software package that provides sophisticated data analysis and technical graphics tools in an intuitive, user-friendly environment. With Origin 5.0, users can effectively manipulate and plot data in a matter of minutes, yet also access robust data analysis and manipulation tools in a flexible, customizable manner. Numerous 2-D and 3-D plot types are supported and can be created with a few mouse clicks. Built-in statistical tests, smoothing functions, and fast Fourier transform are a few of the analysis features found in Origin. In addition, Origin's nonlinear curve fitter includes over 150 built-in model equations from a variety of research fields, allows user-entered equations for fitting, and is capable of global fitting methods. LabTalk, the built-in scripting language, enables automated data analysis tasks. Finally, Microcal Software has added significant new features to Origin, including the ability to utilize both Excel worksheets and Excel macros from within Origin. If you need a general-purpose, easy-to-use, customizable data analysis and technical graphics Windows software package that allows you to manipulate, analyze, and present data in precisely the way you want, there is absolutely no better choice than Origin 5.0 for Windows.

Figure 1

Origin's intuitive interface consists of a standard Windows menu bar, dockable toolbars, and a number of different window types, as well as context-sensitive shortcut menus. A single Origin file, or "project file," is composed of worksheet, graph, layout, notes, matrix, function, or Excel windows (figure 1), limited only by available memory. The menu choices available to users are sensitive to the active window, and are different depending on whether it is a worksheet, Excel, or Graph window. All window attributes are customizable. For example, the worksheet and graph windows' background color can be changed from the Format menu, or by simply double clicking on the background of the appropriate window.

Figure 2

Dockable toolbars, a new feature in Origin 5.0, enable users to customize their workspace and facilitate access to many features. These toolbars can be moved and docked to the top, bottom, or sides of the Origin workspace by simply dragging and dropping in the desired location. Alternatively, one may choose to "float" these toolbars in Origin. The Toolbars dialog box (figure 2) is opened when selected from the View menu.

Context-sensitive shortcut menus give an additional way to access many of Origin's most frequently used commands. A simple right-click of the mouse will display a menu of choices relevant for the area or object selected by the mouse. For example, right-clicking on a worksheet column will display menu choices such as Plot, Copy, Paste, Set Column Values, Sort Column, Statistics on Columns, and Properties, to name a few; right-clicking on a graph axis will display menu choices such as Hide Axis, Hide Grids, Rescale to Show All, Tick Labels, and Properties.

The notes window, new in Origin 5.0, enables the recording of information about specific experiments. A notes window may be saved as a separate text file, or simply saved along with the Origin project file. The function window allows creation of plots and sets of data based on an entered function, while the matrix window provides a way to handle data arrays for plotting contour maps and surface graphs. Finally, the layout window provides a convenient method to present both graph and worksheet windows on a single page.

Figure 3

Microcal Software has incorporated a significant new feature into this new version of Origin: users may now open Microsoft Excel files in an Origin project and retain some of the familiar features of Excel. These Excel workbooks can be manipulated within Origin, and yet can still be saved as external Excel files to be opened in versions 7.0 (Office 95) or 8.0 (Office 97).

Figure 4

Users can plot Excel workbook data in Origin using 2-D plot types, or with Excel-specific chart types.
Figure 3 shows Excel workbook data stored in an Origin project file, and plotted with Origin as well as with Excel's built-in chart wizard. Excel macros as well as Visual Basic application functions can also be executed from within Origin using Excel-specific menus or through Origin LabTalk scripts. Figure 4 shows the Excel Record Macro dialog box accessible from within Origin.

Figure 5

The worksheet window (figure 5) is convenient to use and is completely customizable. Basic features such as column labels, font attributes, and background color can be set from the Worksheet Display Dialog box. Column names, widths, and numeric display can be modified by double clicking on a column header. Other attributes such as column type can also be set as types such as numeric, text, time, date, month, or day of week. Columns are assigned specific properties such as x, y, or z data, as well as error bars and labels from the Column menu. Alternatively, users can highlight a column and click on the appropriate button in the Column toolbar.

Figure 6

A useful feature of Origin is the ability to manipulate entire columns of data from the Set Column Values dialog box. After highlighting the column to be modified, Set Column Values is selected from the Column menu, which opens the dialog box shown in figure 6. For this example, a new column, col(C), is being created by dividing col(A) by (col(B)*2.95). In addition to simple mathematical relationships, any of the built-in mathematical functions can be used to manipulate data. For example,

will log transform molar concentration values stored in a column called "conc."

Plotting data is a pleasure in Origin. One simply selects the columns to be plotted from the worksheet and clicks on the plot type from the Plot menu or from one of the 2-D toolbars. The plot types supported by Origin include scatter, line, line + symbol, high-low charts, vector, a variety of bar and column graphs, pie charts, and area and polar graphs, as well as several statistical charts. New charts in version 5.0 include indexed charts that displays symbol size and/or color to reflect a numerical index or value, several segment- and spline-connected graphs, horizontal and vertical step graphs, and a vertical drop line graph, as well as a number of multipanel graphs.

Figure 7

Complex plotting needs are handled through the use of layers (figure 7). Each Origin plot can hold multiple layers, allowing the display of plots with different axes or the display of a plot within a plot. A few clicks of the mouse controls all plot attributes. Double clicking on axis labels, plot axes, or plot lines/symbols opens dialog boxes that customize plot attributes. Background colors and color gradients can be created on each plot, and formatted text such as sub- and superscripts, Greek characters, and symbol fonts can be used to annotate plots. The new Text Control dialog box gives users greater control over the final appearance of their text since users can preview these changes before placing them on the plot.

Axis attributes are seamlessly handled by the new tabbed dialog boxes. When a user double clicks on an x or y axis, the appropriate dialog appears and gives full control over the range of values plotted, axis scale, grid properties, and axis type. The supported scale types include linear, log10, Probit, reciprocal, ln, probability, and logit.

Origin supports a number of 3-D plot types. These include scatter, trajectory, bars, ribbons, walls, and waterfall. Once a column of data is marked as z-data from the Column menu, creating a 3-D plot is as simple as highlighting the columns and selecting plot type from the available 3-D charts on the Plot menu. A number of 3-D tools makes it easy to rotate, turn, and change the perspective of a 3-D graph.

Origin supports a number of import file formats. These include ASCII, Lotus, Excel, dBase, DIF, LabTech, SigmaPlot, Mathematica, Kaleidagraph, ODBC, and WAV (sound files). The ASCII Import Options dialog box allows customization of the import routine for a specific file structure. Origin will also export data as an ASCII file, and will export graph windows as WMF, BMP, JPEG, PCX, or Targa files.

Origin 5.0 is an OLE2 server application, enabling the embedding of an Origin graph in a compliant software package and allowing editing in place using Origin tools. This editing procedure is called in-place activation, and requires that the feature be enabled from the Graph tab in the Options dialog box. Once activated, simply copying the graph and pasting it in an application like Microsoft Word will enable one to double click on the graph and use Origin tools for making changes to text labels and axis attributes!

Although Origin's data handling and graphical features are quite impressive, its value is not fully appreciated until complicated data analysis is required. Besides basic descriptive statistics on columns or rows, Origin provides effective tools for t-tests, ANOVA, and multiple regression.

Origin offers numerous toolbar-based analysis features such as Pick Peaks, Baseline, and Smoothing Functions. The Baseline tool allows users to identify peaks, set a baseline, and automatically integrate peaks. The Smoothing functions included in Origin are Savitzky-Golay, Adjacent Averaging, and FFT Filter. In addition, Origin provides four digital signal filters - Low Pass, High Pass, Band Pass, and Band Block - to facilitate data filtering in the time domain.

Fast Fourier transforms (FFT) are accomplished by using the FFT tool from the Analysis menu. Users select forward or reverse FFT, as well as the real, imaginary, and time components for the calculation. Several FFT windowing methods are available from this toolbar, including Rectangular, Welch, Hanning, Hamming, and Blackman. Origin also includes new Convolution and Deconvolution tools, often used in image analysis or digital signal processing, as well as Correlation using FFT to measure the correlation between two columns of data.

Several other data analysis tools are accessible from Origin's menus. If the active window is a worksheet, data can be sorted or normalized by selecting a column, then selecting Sort or Normalize from the Analysis menu. The Frequency Count tool makes creation of histograms quick and easy. When a graph is the active window, users have access to additional tools such as simple math functions, calculus (differentiate and integrate), subtraction (of a reference data set or a straight line), vertical or horizontal translation of data, and interpolation or extrapolation of data as well as averaging of multiple curves. Finally, the Analysis menu includes a number of linear and nonlinear curve fitting functions.

Origin provides a wide range of linear and nonlinear curve fitting tools that are fast, powerful and easy to use. Some of these can be accessed directly from the Analysis menu, including linear, polynomial, exponential (growth and decay), and sigmoidal (logistic and Boltzman) equations, as well as gaussian and Lorentzian peak-fitting models. Fitting data is as easy as creating a plot and selecting the appropriate model to fit the data. Linear, polynomial, and sigmoidal fitting toolbars can also be accessed from the Tools menu, and provide users with added flexibility during the fitting routine.

Figure 8

The nonlinear least-squares curve fitter is robust and flexible, and is arguably Origin's most powerful feature. It includes over 150 built-in model equations such as peak functions, exponentials, hyperbolas, waveform, power, and logistic models, as well as functions to analyze spectroscopic and chromatographic data. New in Origin 5.0 is a category of pharmacological models (Figure 8) that enable users to fit dose-response curves, biphasic dose-response curves, and one- and two-site competition binding data, as well as one- and two-site direct binding data. If none of the built-in equations describe your data, user-entered models are easy to implement.

Origin's nonlinear regression method is based on the Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm, the most commonly used method for nonlinear curve fitting. In addition, users can choose to implement a simplex minimization method that is faster but less robust than the Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm. The curve fitter can handle one or several independent variables and up to 200 parameters. In addition, one has full control over linear constraints on parameter estimates, calculation of initial parameter estimates, and use of different weighting methods, as well as the ability to select a specific range of data to be used in a fit.

Several unique features of Origin's nonlinear curve fitter makes it the ideal tool for both beginning and advanced users. First, Origin is one of the only programs that automatically plots fitted lines during the curve fitting session, making the process visual and interactive. Users can view a complete statistical analysis of the fit, important for evaluating residuals and goodness-of-fit information. Finally, Origin has implemented global nonlinear curve fitting that requires only a few clicks of the mouse, enabling users to fit multiple data sets with both shared and unique parameters. Read more about the importance of global nonlinear curve fitting in the HMS Beagle Software Solutions column "Global Nonlinear Curve Fitting Using Microcal Origin".

Data analysis tasks can be automated with the built-in scripting language, LabTalk, a full-featured programming language that allows users to access all of Origin's basic functions. Besides basic manipulation of data in worksheets, users have full control over curve fitting features as well as graph and worksheet attributes. The basic Origin approach used to automate data analysis tasks is writing a series of scripts, creating worksheet and graph template files, and creating buttons on these templates to be used to launch the scripts. Read more about the use of Origin scripts for automating complex data analysis tasks in a future Software Solutions column in HMS Beagle.

Although the user's manual is essential for mastering advanced Origin topics, many of the basic features are easily accessed without consulting it. The manual is generally well written and provides useful, effective information for learning about Origin's many features, but it leaves readers wanting for more. Undoubtedly it will take a user's manual at least three times the size of the current one to thoroughly cover all of the features, but the expense of producing and shipping an 1,800 page manual would be prohibitive. Fortunately, Microcal Software has set up an effective technical service staff able to answer questions by telephone or via e-mail. In addition, Microcal Software maintains an Origin and LabTalk discussion group on their Origin Web page. Finally, Origin 5.0 includes an online help manual that is identical to the printed version, as well as an online LabTalk reference.

Origin 5.0 is a well-conceived, impeccably implemented package for data analysis and visualization. Its data analysis features are robust but intuitive enough for the novice to master quickly. Version 5.0 adds significant new features, making it a worthwhile tool for those already familiar with Microsoft Excel. Not only can Origin utilize files created in Excel, but plotting data from Excel worksheets is seamless, macros created in Excel are functional, and Excel macros can be recorded from within Origin. When this functionality is combined with Origin's powerful and flexible data analysis and visualization tools, unmatched nonlinear curve fitter, and built-in programming language, Origin 5.0 stands alone as the best data analysis and technical graphics software solution for any research lab.

Origin 5.0 from Microcal Software, Inc. is available for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 or later. A minimum of 8 Mb of RAM is required (16 Mb recommended), a PC with a 486/DX or higher processor, and a minimum of 8 Mb of available hard drive space.

Origin 5.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT can be purchased from Microcal Software, Inc., for $595. Microcal Software can be reached by mail at One Roundhouse Plaza, Northampton, MA 01060, by phone at (800) 969-7720 or (413) 586-2013, by fax at (413) 585-0126, or by e-mail at info@microcal.com or sales@microcal.com. See the Microcal Software Web site for more information on Origin 5.0 or to download the demo version of the program.