history

Legacy import and first app workbench

id: LK-20260528-initial-app-workbench-foundation
date: 2026-05-28
sequence: 1
type: feat
compatibility: compatible
scope: historical project evolution

Context

LabKit began with a direct import of older MATLAB analysis and GUI code. The electrochem workflows mixed file parsing, calculations, session state, plots, and exports inside large entry scripts, and several root commands exposed the same legacy implementation through different paths.

Decision and rationale

Separate the imported code by responsibility before adding new features. Move Gamry parsing and pulse detection into reusable DTA operations; keep CIC, CSC, VT resistance, EIS, and chrono calculations with their workflows; then expose each workflow through one package-backed app command. Extract shared UI pieces only after the app behavior is visible in more than one workflow.

Changes

• Imported the legacy MATLAB tree without rewriting its scientific formulas.
• Extracted chrono, EIS, and CV/CT DTA parsers plus pulse detection and named synthetic fixtures.
• Separated chrono alignment/export, CIC, CSC, VT resistance, and EIS result operations from their GUI assembly.
• Added named app entry points and package-backed runners, then removed the duplicate root legacy entry points and legacy GUI directory.
• Introduced the first shared two-pane/tabbed shells, file panels, plot controls, log panels, and axes helpers used by the electrochem apps.

User and data impact

Users gained named electrochem app commands instead of opening the old GUI scripts directly. Calculations and exported values were intended to remain unchanged while code ownership moved; laboratory files remained external inputs rather than being copied into a central LabKit database.

Compatibility and migration

• Component/app version files did not exist yet. Old root GUI entry points were removed as package-backed app commands became the supported launch path.

Validation

The first regression evidence included named DTA fixtures, calculation tests, an optional GUI smoke runner, and GUI compatibility checks. A single standard test command had not yet been established.

Evidence

• Initial import 5973bde0.
• Parser and calculation extraction from fc70f9b2 through 9f7c6e4e.
• App entrypoint and package migration from 40f46561 through 4d58066c.
• First shared app-shell work from f05f4a35 through 61a8cb87.

Known limitations and follow-up

This stage improved structure but still contained several broad shared UI helpers and session abstractions that were narrowed during the following DTA facade and app-boundary work.