Concept#
TAPAS (Transient Absorption Processing and Analysis Software) is implemented entirely in Python with a PyQt front-end, providing a native look-and-feel on every major platform. Pre-built application bundles are distributed for Windows, macOS and Linux; users can launch the graphical interface immediately. No Python interpreter, package manager or command-line setup is required. Despite this convenience, the bundled directory keeps all source files readable. Advanced users may open a module, modify a kinetic model or plotting routine, and simply restart the programme to apply their changes. A detailed map of the code base showing where each layer (data I/O, preprocessing, fitting, visualisation) resides and what responsibility it carries is given later in the Software Architecture section.
User-interface overview#
The GUI is organised into seven workflow tabs, mirroring the standard TA analysis pipeline:
Import – drag-and-drop raw TA, solvent and steady-state files.
Preprocessing – time-zero alignment, chirp correction, trimming and resampling.
Combine Projects - fuse datasets covering different spectral / temporal regions.
Visualization – publication-ready spectra, kinetics, fit results and correlation matrices.
Components – singular-value plots, kinetic traces and residual maps.
Local Fit – parallel or sequential exponential models with statistical diagnostics at a given (averaged) wavelength.
Global Fit – parallel, sequential or target model with statistical diagnostics over the full ΔA matrix
A tab-by-tab walk-through of every control, option and dialogue box appears in the Using TAPAS section.