The Excel files add to Excel a menu called 'SCOUT' which has the following subitems:

Creeate SCOUT

Use this command to start SCOUT as OLE automation server running invisibly in the back. Immediately after startup SCOUT loads the configuration specified on the 'fit strategy' page.

Start fit

Starts the SCOUT fit activity as if you had pressed the Start button in SCOUT.

Stop fit

Stops the current fit activity of SCOUT as if you had pressed the Stop button in SCOUT.

Delete SCOUT

This removes SCOUT from memory. SCOUT is automatically shut down if you quit Excel.

Start batch fit

Starts the batch fit macro which processes all spectra in the input list (located on the 'Results' page).

No pre-fit is done which is recommendable if the input spectra do not differ from each other very much.

Start batch fit using pre-fit

This command starts the batch fit macro with pre-fit activity. This is recommended if the input spectra may differ significantly from each other.

Show status

With this command you can create entries on the SCOUT status page giving information on the SCOUT model. A list with the names of the used dielectric functions is given. The names of the computed spectra are also shown. This information is useful if you want to write macros which have to refer to certain dielectric functions (for example, to extract refractive indices or absorption coefficients).

Enter fit parameters at cursor

A (vertical) list of the current values of the SCOUT fit parameters is created starting at the current cursor position in Excel. This command can be used to manually create collections of fit results. This command can also be useful for the creation of new pre-fit parameter sets.

Restore fit results from cursor column

After a batch fit you may want to inspect visually the fitting result for a certain sample. To do this, simply place the cursor on the 'Results' page in the column that contains the fit parameters obtained for that sample and activiate the 'Restore ...' command. ...

Get arbitrary filename

This command is used to enter a filename in the active cell. It activates a standard file import dialog. If the dialog does not appear on the screen it might be hidden by some other windows. You can use the Alt-Tab key combination to bring it to the front. The filename selected in the dialog is entered in the cell after the dialog is closed.

Get spectrum filename

This command is used to select a file that holds a spectrum for the batch process. It is useful only on the 'Results' sheet. After you selected a filename Excel  subtracts the path specified in the cell 'Pathname' and returns the pure filename only. During the batch mode this filename is composed with the path given set in the 'Pathname' cell to result in the complete filename for data import.

Get spectrum path

This command is used to fill in a pathname in the cell 'Pathname'. Select this cell and activate the 'Get spectrum path' menu item. In the following file import dialog pick any file in the directory that holds your batch process input spectra. After the dialog Excel subtracts the pure filename and returns to the 'Pathname' cell only the path. During the batch mode this path is used to find the experimental spectra.