Chemical Synonyms Section
Applicability: Cranium, Synapse (core versions 0315+)

The Synonyms Section manages alternative names for chemicals and mixtures. (The Synonyms Section for the Groups Chapter is a different section and is documented in Group Synonyms Section.) The Synonyms Section contains one large field: the synonyms field.

In addition to the conventional synonyms as shown in the previous image, Cranium and Synapse also store organization identifiers, software specific names and internal company identifiers.

For example:

  • FEMA Number: a number assigned by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the USA (FEMA) to a group of chemicals used as flavoring substances.
  • Flavis Number: a number assigned by the European Union to chemicals used as flavoring substances.
  • Exported Software Aliases: internal names used by other chemical software programs, e.g., UniSim, Aspen Plus, CHEMCAD, etc.

Tip: Assign synonyms for exporting

Many of the chemical software programs that Cranium and Synapse export values for use their own set of chemical names. These are designated in the Synonyms Field by a prefix. For example, the chemical 4-ethylmorpholine has the synonym ASPEN:C6H13NO-N1 which the name used in the Aspen Plus process simulator. These synonym prefixes are shown in the KB Export Dialog.

1
 This prefix is used to identify those synonyms used in this software package.

Editing Synonyms

Clicking the left mouse button within the Synonyms Field's table control activates the Chemical Synonyms edit dialog.

1
 The dialog's table control displays the current list of chemical synomyms. Clicking the left mouse button on a table row selects that table row. Clicking and holding the left mouse button down and then dragging the mouse will select several table rows.
2
 Pressing the dialog's Edit button activates the Chemical Synonym edit dialog. See below for documentation.
3
 Pressing the dialog's Commands button or clicking the right mouse button on the table control displays the commands menu. This menu provides standard commands for copying, pasting, and clearing synonyms. See the documentation on Common Menu Commands for details.
4
 The dialog's Sort button will be enabled if two or more rows are selected. Pressing the Sort button will sort the selected values alphabetically in ascending order.
5
 Pressing the Add Rows button will add rows to the bottom of the table control.
Editing a Synonym

Pressing the Chemical Synonyms edit dialog's Edit button or double-clicking the left mouse button on a row in the dialog's table control activates the Synonym edit dialog. This dialog enables you to enter a value for the synonym as well as supporting information.

See documentation for the Text-Reference dialog for details.

1
 In addition to the standard Text-Reference dialog functionality, the Synonyms edit dialog also provides a Prefixes button. Pressing the dialog's Prefixes button activates the Select Synonym Prefix dialog. Selecting a prefix from the dialog will insert it at the beginning of entered synonym.
Example: Editing a chemical's synonym
  1. Open a knowledge base document. (Open a "working" document or create a copy of a document (see here) if you are just experimenting with this functionality.)
  2. Change to the Chemicals chapter. For this example, navigate to adipic acid. (See Navigation Menu for more details on navigating in Cranium and Synapse.)
  3. Click the left mouse button anywhere within the synonym field's table control. The application activates the data entry dialog.
  4. Click the left mouse button on an empty row at the end of the list of synonyms and press the Edit button. The application will activate the Edit Chemical Synonym dialog. (You can also double-click on any row to activate the edit dialog.)
  5. Enter value a value of "ASPEN:C6H10O4-D1" for the new synonym. Clicking the right mouse button on the dialog's edit control will display the commands menu enabling you to copy text, paste text, change case and insert symbols. (See documentation on the Symbol Dialog for more details.)
  6. Pressing the dialog's Prefixes dialog will display the list of prefixes known to the application. Selecting any prefix and pressing the OK button will insert the prefix at the beginning of the entered value.
  7. Optionally, but recommended, enter a value for the datum's reference and any relevant comments. Pressing the Date button will enter the current date and time into the edit control. Pressing the Phrase button will enter the currently stored phrase into the edit control. Pressing the Set button enables you to change this stored phrase. (See the Phrase Dialog documentation for more details.)
  8. Finally, press the OK button to add the entered synonym to the list of synonyms and then press the Save button in the Synonyms dialog to store the values in the document and display the new synonym values.
Related Documentation
Topic Description
Getting Started using Cranium provides a quick tour of Cranium's capabilities including a discussion of structure editing.
Chemicals Chapter the chemicals chapter contains numerous sections for entering and displaying data and estimates including the chemical structure section.