Custom Termination Conditions

9 min

Define flexible stop conditions for your measurements by combining field count, particle count, and time limits. Custom termination gives you precise control over when a measurement ends, replacing the simple single-condition stop types available in earlier versions.

Overview

By default, AMICS stops a measurement based on a single condition — either a target number of fields, a target number of particles, or when the full measurement area is covered. Custom termination lets you combine multiple conditions with either Or (stop when any condition is met) or And (stop only when all conditions are met) logic.

Accessing Termination Settings

Open the Termination Settings dialog from:

Data Collection Wizard → Properties tab → Termination section

Measurement settings → Click the termination configuration button

{{FIG: Termination Settings dialog showing By Fields, By Particles, and By Time checkboxes with Or/And radio buttons | IDD_MEASUREMENT_TERMINATE_SETTING_DIALOG}}

Termination Conditions

Enable any combination of the three condition types:

Condition	Checkbox	Value	Description
By Fields	Enabled/Disabled	Number of fields	Stop after collecting the specified number of fields
By Particles	Enabled/Disabled	Number of particles	Stop after identifying the specified number of particles
By Time (m)	Enabled/Disabled	Minutes	Stop after the specified number of minutes

Each condition has a spin control for setting the target value.

Combine Logic

When multiple conditions are enabled, choose how they interact:

Mode	Behavior	Example
Or (Anyone)	Stop when any enabled condition is met first	"Stop after 100 fields OR 60 minutes, whichever comes first"
And (All)	Stop only when all enabled conditions are met	"Stop after BOTH 100 fields AND 1000 particles are reached"

Tip: Use Or mode as a safety net — for example, set both a particle target and a time limit so the measurement doesn't run indefinitely on a sparse specimen.

Tip: Use And mode when you need both statistical representativeness (particle count) and spatial coverage (field count).

Examples

Standard particle count with time limit

Enable By Particles: 1000

Enable By Time: 120 minutes

Select Or (Anyone)

Result: Measurement stops when 1000 particles are found OR after 2 hours, whichever comes first

Full coverage with minimum statistics

Enable By Fields: 200

Enable By Particles: 500

Select And (All)

Result: Measurement continues until both 200 fields have been scanned AND 500 particles have been identified

Time-boxed measurement

Enable By Time: 30 minutes

Disable other conditions

Select Or

Result: Measurement runs for exactly 30 minutes regardless of how many fields or particles are collected

Info Box

The dialog displays an Info Box on the right side that provides a plain-language summary of your current termination configuration, helping you verify the settings before applying.

Storage

Termination settings are stored in JSON format as part of the measurement settings file. They persist with measurement templates and can be reused across multiple measurements.