SampleManager LIMS is continuously upgraded to meet the changing needs of laboratories across all industries – pharmaceutical QA/QC, food and beverage, oil and gas, petrochemical, water and environmental, manufacturing, contract labs, and more. Each new release of SampleManager contains new functionality that is built upon feedback and customer input from these sectors, and this ensures an upgrade path that respects your previous investment while allowing you to take advantage of collected industry knowledge to respond to changing business or regulatory demands.

SampleManager LIMS offers the potential for significant operational and business benefits for your organization. There are, however, important considerations to take into account when implementing or upgrading the SampleManager solution in order to realize its full potential to transform your laboratory operations, improve organizational agility, and unlock the power of your laboratory data. In this blog, we’ll discuss key best practice recommendations to follow during your SampleManager implementation or upgrade that will ensure your project maximizes success in ensuring compliance, streamlining processes, improving quality, reducing costs, and driving productivity and innovation in your laboratory environment.

Tips for Optimizing SampleManager LIMS Implementations and Upgrades

The following best practices are recommended when undertaking a SampleManager LIMS upgrade or implementation:

Make the Most of the “Out-Of-The-Box” Features of SampleManager: SampleManager has a wide variety of system configuration features that can likely meet the needs of your laboratory today and into the future. SampleManager (SM) version 11 specifically features several advanced new tools and user-interface enhancements that serve to improve laboratory management, process mapping and automation. Best practice is to examine and understand all these features, and utilize as many of them as you can in your implementation to meet your requirements and simplify implementation. Some examples include:

• Workflow and Lifecycles (SM 11): SampleManager’s unique workflow capabilities are designed to empower lab users and managers by allowing them to easily build workflows that map to actual laboratory processes and make choices about instrument integration and reporting for regulatory requirements or management metrics. Workflow features allow laboratory users and managers to perform specific actions and/or designate statuses for any dynamic or static data, create elaborate decision trees, automate email and reporting. As laboratory needs evolve, workflows can be modified to mirror the new process.
• Report, Label and Form Designer (SM 10): Allows laboratory users and managers to create custom reports and labels, filters and folders for organizing data, and new database fields. Also allows users to change or create new forms that enable setting the data as desired.
• Inventory Tracking: SM has the ability to track almost any commodity, stock, or standard solution to let users know where inventory comes from, where it is used, and when it expires.
• Instrument Calibration and Training Tracking: SM can do the work of tracking training and instrument calibrations for you. The software has the ability to alert users if training is out of date or an instrument is out of calibration.

Avoid Customizations Unless They Are Really Required: Astrix SM experts have experienced several implementations where extensive customizations to satisfy requirements have dramatically extended project duration. Writing new or changing existing code in VGL (SM proprietary language) or ,NET, besides making the project more expensive and time-consuming, can increase the complexity of future maintenance/migration/validation, and potentially lead to system errors. SM comes with a lot of configurable items that can usually be adjusted to meet the lab’s requirements without the need for customization.

Designate Appropriate Internal and External Resources for Project Implementation: In addition to making a good decision regarding which external informatics consultant to work with on a SM project, it is crucial for organizations to assign motivated and skilled internal resources to a SM implementation or upgrade. Significant collaboration between quality external and internal resources is required for the success of any SM project. Collaboration must occur to determine project requirements, as well as configure static data, templates and data analysis.

Make sure you plan on designated internal resources spending time on the project, which means they will be less available for their day jobs. The best external consultants can help you backfill your laboratory staff for the duration of the project so that it does not disrupt productivity in the laboratory. Note that internal staff assigned to the project team will develop a lot of SM knowledge and turn into internal “LIMS Admins”.

Iterate Your Implementation: Given the extensive configurability of SM, users often don’t know exactly what is possible or how SM works, so it’s wise to implement SM in stages, with the first iteration being the minimum viable solution to go into production with. Be reasonable and don’t try to achieve everything on the first project iteration. After users get to experience the first version, they can suggest changes and adjustments that they want to see for the next iteration. This iterative approach both shortens the time it takes for internal staff to start using the system and avoids frustrating expectations early in the project.

Iterating your implementation also makes any future upgrades/updates necessitated by a changing environment (regulations, data integrity, new users, etc.) easier due to:

• Already have internal SMEs to help define a wish list and possible project pat
• Validation of core functions is already completed

When Appropriate, Use Virtual fields (SM 10 and later versions) Instead of Actually Creating Fields in the Database: Virtual fields are not stored in a database and can include any calculation allowed by .NET code – text aggregation, sum of amounts, reporting fields, timeline planning for samples, etc. In addition to allowing much more flexibility, virtual fields avoid creating unnecessary database overhead.

Create Good Project Documentation: For regulatory and future maintenance requirements, the owners of the SM system need to document all the relevant changes to the system after the project ends – database fields created, code created or modified, integrations and interfaces, workflows configured, etc. Working with a quality external informatics consultant makes this easy, as they will provide the documentation for you. Documentation provided by Astrix on SM projects includes:

• Project Plan – responsibilities, communication plan, work schedule, etc.
• Requirements Traceability Matrix – requirements description, categorization (standard/configuration/customization), design ideas, prioritization.
• Functional/Design Specification – relevant technical changes to the system and/or system architecture.
• Testing Documentation – IQ/OQ/PQ scripts or protocols for validation (required for regulated laboratories). Note that whether the laboratory is in a regulated environment or not, Astrix always does system validation.

The Astrix Difference

The Astrix Team contains some of the most experienced and knowledgeable SampleManager experts in the world. Our team has proven expertise in project management, implementation, integration, validation and system optimization for SampleManager LIMS across all industries. Our accomplished consultants also have a wealth of experience across various organization types, helping to ensure that business-specific needs, along with industry and regulatory requirements, are taken into consideration on your project.

As your laboratory needs evolve due to regulatory or business changes, it is often necessary to begin to utilize new features of SM that have not been previously used, or upgrade to a new version that has the functionality to fulfill your changing requirements. Whether you need to implement SampleManager LIMS as a new system, optimize or adjust your current implementation, or upgrade to a new version, Astrix can help ensure that any new configuration or customization of SM is accomplished in the most efficient, cost-effective and timely way that satisfies your present and future requirements.

Let us help you with:

• Strategic planning to make sure that your implementation/upgrade project satisfies production, operational and financial goals.
• SampleManager LIMS configuration or customization
• Instrument integration with SampleManager LIMS
• Computer system (e.g., laboratory, business and manufacturing system) integration with SampleManager LIMS
• Data migration from legacy systems to SampleManager LIMS
• SampleManager LIMS training for key personnel
• SampleManager LIMS validation services
• Scientific and Technical Staffing Services to backfill laboratory staff so that your SM project does not disrupt operations.

If you would like to learn more about these services, please feel free to contact us for a no obligation consultation using the link below:

Conclusion
From smaller individual lab deployments through global multi-site implementations, SampleManager LIMS has the ability to meet your laboratory needs in a single application. While the potential for this system to help increase productivity and innovation in your laboratory environment is great, it is important to work with a quality laboratory informatics consultant who has the necessary experience with SampleManager in order to realize its full potential.

The post Tips for SampleManager Implementation and Upgrades appeared first on Astrix.

Technological advances in laboratory instrumentation, along with higher throughput processes, have led to massive increases in the volume of analytical data. One of the main challenges faced by organizations today is turning this vast amount of data into useful information that fuels innovation and enables timely and effective business decisions. In order to manage and process these growing data volumes effectively, laboratories are looking to automate and integrate laboratory operations and processes as much as possible.

Towards this end, integration of laboratory instruments with a LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) automates laboratory processes and drives operational efficiency by reducing data transcription errors and increasing sample throughput. Instrument integration with LIMS also serves to increase job satisfaction by reducing tedious tasks like manual data entry and writing of results, allowing scientists to spend more time doing the science that leads to innovation. Connecting the information generated by instruments and informatics systems is a key to transforming your laboratory operations, improving product quality, and turning your data into knowledge.

Instruments that are commonly integrated with LIMS in laboratories include:

• GC
• GCMS
• HPLC
• LCMS
• ICP
• Particle Counters
• DNA Sequencers
• Balances
• Titrators
• AA Analyzers

The latest versions of SampleManager LIMS provides a number of effective mechanisms to accomplish instrument integration. In this blog, we will discuss some best practice recommendations when integrating laboratory instruments with SampleManager LIMS in order to ensure that your enterprise maximizes success in ensuring compliance, streamlining processes, improving quality, reducing costs, and driving productivity and innovation in your laboratory environment.

Instrument Integration Tips

Triage which instruments are worth integrating

Before you invest the time and effort to integrate an instrument with SampleManager LIMS, it is important to consider the cost/benefit ratio involved. Implementing an instrument integration can be a time-consuming task – anywhere from a few hours to a several days – so it is advisable to determine if the ROI makes the instrument integration worth pursuing. Some of the factors involved in this analysis are:

• How frequently is the instrument used and what quantity of results will it export?
• How critical are the instrument’s results for laboratory processes?
• Can the instrument’s PC be easily connected to the network so the instrument can be integrated with the LIMS?

For this last point, it is important to consider operating system actualization, network compliance issues such as company IT policies, and the complexity of the data being exported by the instrument.

Go for the Low-Hanging Fruit First

Once you have your list of instruments that make sense to integrate, you’ll want to go for the low-hanging fruit first in order to build project morale and momentum. This means integrating critical path instruments first – those that are relatively straightforward to integrate, high throughput, and add a lot of value to the business.

Laboratories often want instruments such as balances to be integrated due the fact that they are critical to their processes. Balances can be problematic, however, due to a number of factors such as age, connectivity and logistics. An instrument like a GC or HPLC with high throughput and compatible software would probably be a better choice to place at the top of your integration list. Working with a quality informatics consultant that can help you develop an effective roadmap and outline a realistic amount of scope for your project is very important.

Standardize Export Formats

The data exported by instruments either have a fixed format, or can be formatted as the operator desires using exporting templates defined on the instrument software. For this latter case, it is important to configure an export format that is both flexible (allowing all possible instrument methods to work and be imported into the LIMS) and fixed (it does not vary for different methods or different instrument runs). The day-to-day instrument operators should not have the ability to change the export templates. If a different export template is used, parsing scripts developed for the instrument will need to be adjusted to keep it working properly.

SampleManager LIMS Instrument Integration Options

Once the decision is made to integrate an instrument with SampleManager LIMS, the integration method needs to be determined. There are several different ways to integrate instruments with SampleManager LIMS which we will describe below.

Serial/RS-232 interface

The functionality required to integrate serial instruments with SampleManager (e.g. balances, pH meters) is built within the system. These instruments usually require a physical cable connection between the instrumentation and the workstation running SampleManager. The COM port parameters can be defined within SampleManager for the instruments.

Different setups/hardware options (Serial Device Servers) can be explored if multiple instruments need to be connected through this serial interface to the same SampleManager workstations; or to make the same instrument available to different SampleManager workstations through the network. Some VGL customization is required for this setup.

Instrument Manager

Also known as SM-IM, or the “SampleManager Instrument Manager” module. The SM-IM module allows SampleManager to read result files from instruments. Virtually any instrument that is networked and can produce a result export in a file format can be integrated with SampleManager using this module.

The SM-IM module utilizes parsing scripts (to parse the important information from a result file), mapping scripts (to map the parsed data to SampleManager entities) and an alias table (to map specific entries between the instrument and SampleManager, like name of analysis methods and results). Each instrument to be integrated will have a parsing script, mapping script and an alias table defined on the SM-IM module. The instrument is then configured to export files to a specific network folder, where SM-IM interface will process the files and send the results to SampleManager (through LIMSML).

This SM-IM module is easy to use and configure. The main limitation is that it is a unidirectional interface, so it won’t allow SampleManager to send data to the instrument (such as list of samples to be analyzed).

New SM12.1 LES Instrument Integration (“New” SM-IM)

Together with the SampleManager LES functionality (standard on SM12.1), Instrument and Workflow functionality were extended to support manual Instrument Integration that is compatible with the SM12+ web client. The Instrument Entity has a tab for configuring Integration properties, which includes the ability to specify a Data Source for the integration.  Data sources can be:

• Emulated
• Serial Port
• Directory
• Web Request
• File Prompt

Parsing scripts and Alias table can be defined within SampleManager for the LES Instrument Integration.

Once the test is assigned to an instrument on the SampleManager result entry screen, the system will allow results to be imported based on the Serial/Data Source configuration defined for the instrument. This is a unidirectional (Instrument  SampleManager)  instrument interface mechanism.

The SampleManager Workflow Entity was also extended and has new nodes to streamline instrument integration.

Integration Manager

Integration Manager is a stand-alone Thermo Fisher application/product that allows for bi-directional integration with instruments, services or third-party applications using the concept of integration points. When utilized for instrument integration, Integration Manager can be configured to send SampleManager information to the instrument (usually the list of samples and some sample properties), and to retrieve results back from the instrument (usually exported to files on a network folder). More complex setups with multiple interfaces and multiple integration points can also be used to address very complex integration scenarios.

Integration Manager is a stand-alone product with its own license, user interface and database objects that is designed to work with many different systems, not just SampleManager. Integration Manager acts like a translator of different languages from disparate data sources, accepting and delivering data in the format appropriate to each intended recipient.

When used specifically for SampleManager instrument integration, Integration Manager allows the creation of transformations (similar to parsing and mapping scripts) and alias tables and makes available ‘File Agents’ and ‘SampleManager’ agents to complete the integration.

Chromeleon Link

Specific functionality to integrate SampleManager with Chromeleon (a CDS from Thermo Fisher Scientific) was released with SM 11 and is being continuously enhanced on service releases and newer versions of SampleManager (12 and 12.1).

This interface allows bidirectional communication between SampleManager and Chromeleon, where:

• SampleManager can send Sequence List to the Chromeleon instrument.
• SampleManager can import the Sequence information and results seamlessly from the Chromeleon instrument.
• Chromeleon software can search for Sequence information directly on the SampleManager system (through Batches and Standards Configuration on SampleManager) using Chromeleon e-Workflow wizard.

Custom Instrument Integration

Customers sometimes choose to customize their instrument interfaces (bi-directional from SampleManager –>Instrument and from Instrument –> SampleManager) and do not use any of the tools available from Thermo Fisher. While this allows flexibility, like any other customized solution, it is not sustainable for a long-term strategy and will require a lot of attention as SampleManager evolves and upgrades take place. Usually maintenance costs of custom solutions are very high, so all other options should be exhausted before going down this path.

Conclusion

Whether you have old instruments that were not integrated with SampleManager during your initial implementation, or new instruments that have come online since, a SampleManager upgrade (or a new implementation) is a convenient time to integrate instruments with the system. Effective instrument integration is crucial to improving your organization’s IP protection and SampleManager adoption and utilization rates, and a key factor in enhancing productivity, efficiency, data integrity and innovation in your laboratory environment. Automating your laboratory environment through effective instrument integration, however, is best accomplished through a close partnership with a quality informatics consultant. As a long-standing Thermo Fisher Scientific’s services partner, Astrix is uniquely positioned to help you optimize your SampleManager LIMS implementation and instrument integrations.

The post Tips for SampleManager LIMS Instrument Integration appeared first on Astrix.

SampleManager offers many features that help scientists sort and view data more efficiently. In this article, we will discuss the use of the SampleManager Criteria Builder feature that allows team members to quickly access relevant data for viewing or developing reports.

SampleManager Criteria Builder

In our recent blog on Personal Folders, we discussed how to build criteria in SampleManager Personal Folders to improve your ability to find and view data efficiently. This feature works well when a user wants to sort and filter data to show a specific personlized view. When an organization needs to create a quick report or a certain view of a table for more than one person, however, Criteria Builder can be used instead. This window has different names in SampleManager depending on where it is used, but it is exactly the same when building criteria in a folder, cabinet, or from scratch.

There are two ways to open the Criteria Builder:

• In the Navigator, go to the System Folders > Criteria Use the Right Mouse Button (RMB) menu to select “Add Criteria”
• Use the RMB menu on any folder or cabinet in the Navigator and select “Modify.” Then open the ‘Data Source’ tab

Figure 1: The criteria folder in the System Folders section

The window looks the same regardless of where you open it from. The only difference is, when you are creating or modifying criteria in the ‘Criteria’ folder, you get the same ‘General’ tab that is found in all .Net forms in SampleManager.

Figure 2: The General tab when creating new criteria.

When creating a new criteria, the ‘ID’, ‘Table Name’, and ‘Name’ fields  must be entered. If the ‘Public Criteria’ box is checked, it will be available to all users. A ‘Group ID’ can be used if the criteria will apply to views used by only one group. However, this is not recommended because it can lead to the same criteria being built multiple times. For the rest of this article, we will show the ‘Data Source’ tab for modifying folders instead of the ‘Criteria’ tab.

Building Criteria

To build criteria:

• Click on the little green ‘Add’ (+) button.
• Select the criteria from the list of <Entity> Fields.
• Select the operator to use in the Operator column (=, >,<, >=, <=,or LIKE).
• Enter the value for the field.
• Use the AND, OR, and parenthesis ( ) operators to link fields together. These operators are found at the bottom of the drop down list when you click inside a ‘Criteria field’ box.

To see more than one field selection, use the AND operator. This would be utilized when you want to find all samples authorized by two Authorisers, for example.

Figure 3: Example of using the AND operator.

On the other hand, if you want to find all samples that are Completed, you would use the OR operator, as both statuses “Completed” and “Inspection” mean that the samples have been completed in SampleManager.

Figure 4: Example of using the OR operator

To group items together, use the parenthesis. If you wanted to see samples logged in during the past 30 days and were authorized by either authoriser, for example, you would build the criteria as seen below:

Figure 5: Example of how to use parenthesis

Import

If you want to create a new criteria based on a previously build critera, use the ‘Import’ button at the top of the window. The list shows all criteria from the Critera system folder filtered for the specified table or folder being modified. In this example, we are working with the Sample table, so the list shows only what is available for the Sample table.

Figure 6: Example list of criteria that can be imported from the Criteria folder

Display

If you have a long list of criteria that can’t be seen in the window, use the ‘Display’ button. This shows a smaller list of all criteria. It can be a useful tool to spot errors or missing information.

Figure 7: Example of the Display window.

Variables

Variables can also be used as values for any criteria field.  To add a variable, click on the ‘Variables’ tab. Right click in the blank space and select “Add New.” Select the type of variable you want to use to open the window. The three types of variables are Environment, Prompt, and Parameter.

Environment variables are best used for getting the most up to date information – for example, if you wanted to see samples logged in on the current date. This cannot be done using the list of fields as criteria, because the date and time are fixed for all entries in the sample table.  Instead, use the Environment variable ‘TODAY.’ This will select all entries between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm.

Figure 8: The Variable creation window

What if you wanted to see all samples in a certain status?  You could create a folder with sub-folders for each status, or you can use a Prompt type variable.  To create a prompt variable:

• Create a new variable called Status.
• Select the ‘$Status’ library entry and click OK.
• Add the variable as the value for the Status field.

Figure 9: Selecting a library value.

The prompt window will appear before the folder opens to allow a user to select the status. The folder will then show the filtered results.

Figure 10: Example of a prompt box.

Another way to create a prompt is to check the ‘Allow User Prompts’ button. For this example we want to see samples from a selected sampling point.

• Create a Prompt type variable and add a name.

Figure11: Creating a Prompt variable.

• Click the OK button to close the window.
• Check the Allow User Prompts box.
• In the ‘Form’ field, select “‘Criteria User Prompt Template”
• In the ‘Task’ field, select “GenericUserPromptTask”

Figure 12: Example of the Allow User Prompts option.

The prompt list is generated based on the criteria field the prompt is assigned to.

SampleManager has a large list of forms and tasks that can be used with variables. Custom forms and tasks can be created using either VGL or C# .Net forms.

A Parameter type variable is most useful for setting up folders with specific information that cannotbe changed by the user. For example, parameter type variables are used to create cabinets to filter out data for a specific bulding, lab, or business group.

To create a parameter type variable, add a new variable and select the ‘Parameter’ type. The default value must contain the exact value input of the field you want to filter on. Unfortunately, there isn’t a drop down list to select from, so you need to know what the field value is before creating your prompt. In this example, we want to know which operators are assigned to the Chemistry lab.

Figure 13: Creating a parameter type variable.

Figure 14: Folder with a parameter type variable assigned.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored the SampleManager Criteria Builder and we have seen how to create criteria to view information in the explorer. Criteria saved in the Criteria folder can be used to display information in the explorer, as well as many other places in SampleManager (when creating labels and reports, for example). Custom variables can be created and added to criteria using VGL and C# .Net forms.

The Astrix Team contains some of the most experienced and knowledgeable SampleManager experts in the world. Astrix provides an array of value-added professional services for SampleManager including implementation, training, upgrade and managed services.  We can help you discover where and how to use criteria to make your SampleManager data more intuitive and easier to find. If you would like to explore some of the ways you could utilize Criteria Builder, or any of the other features that are available in SampleManager, do not hesitate to contact us for a no obligations consultation.

Astrix  is a full service informatics consulting and staffing firm that has been serving the scientific community since 1995. We specialize in laboratory informatics strategic planning, vendor selection, development, implementation, integration, managed services and scientific staffing. Astrix professionals have the skills and expertise necessary to architect, implement, integrate and support best in class solutions for your organization’s laboratory environment.

The post SampleManager LIMS Best Practices – Criteria Builder appeared first on Astrix.

One little-used tool that helps users find and view data in SampleManager much more easily is Personal Folders. In this article, we will discuss how to create and leverage Personal Folders in SampleManager.

SampleManager Personal Folders

When a user opens up SampleManager, a default screen appears with a list of basic folders that hold various types of information. Users typically click on the public folders tab in the navigator to navigate through all the data and find what they are looking for, oftentimes having to click multiple times to get to the information they want to see. Time is then spent adding, moving, removing, and sorting data in the explorer to see the data in a way that makes sense.

Fortunately, SampleManager has a built-in tool to help you find and view data easier – that little pane at the top of your navigator called Personal Folders. Many users never access this folder because they are either afraid of breaking something or just don’t know how to use them.

SampleManager personal folders require an existing Table or View in the structure file. The first step to creating a Personal Folder is to decide what information you want to see. Next, you need to decide if creating a Personal Folder for the information makes sense. If you can filter and sort data in a folder you already use, you can create a Personal Folder to show you your version of how the information is presented from the same view or table with just one click.

Take your requirements to your administrator and find out if all the information can be found on one table, if a new view can be created to combine the information from two or more tables, or if what you are looking for would be better seen in something other than a Personal Folder. What you are looking for may already exist and a change to a group or role setting may be all that is needed!

As an example, say you want to see how many samples are assigned to each of your analysts, and how many tests are needed to complete the sample. It may be possible to leverage the SAMP_TEST_RESULT view provided with SampleManager to get some of this information and build a folder based on it. However, we often find that, depending on your specific requirements, the view either needs to be modified or an entirely new view be created to fit your needs. View modifications are beyond the scope of this article, so for our purposes we will assume we have everything needed to build your personal folder as we dive into a discussion on how to create Personal Folders.

To add a note of caution, SampleManager does provide the ability to delete folders, but using this feature is not a good idea, as deleted folders don’t just go away. If you’re using SM 11.0 or earlier, other steps must be taken to remove the folder and clean up related objects from the system. So, if you create a folder that doesn’t work, chances are you are stuck with it. Cluttering your Personal Folders with folders that don’t work defeats the purpose of making it easier to find your display of the data!

Creating SampleManager Personal Folders – General Tab

Just like with any static data, all you need to do is open the Personal Folders to see the Explorer, then right click and select ‘New Folder’ using the Right Mouse Button (RMB) menu.

This opens the Explorer Folder – Add window where all of the configuration settings are grouped by tab. The General tab allows more things to be done with the folder than can be contained in one article. For now we are only concerned with the Folder Name, Table Name, Description, and Group ID fields. Leave all other fields blank or at their default settings.

The Folder Name can be any name you want to give it. You can call it “Purple Wildflowers” if you wish but, keep in mind this name is what you will see in your Navigator and should be meaningful and intuitive. There is also a character limit, so a short, descriptive name is the best option.

The Table Name is the Table or View that will add data to your folder. SampleManager provides a drop down list by clicking the little arrow on the right. There is room to experiment if you select the wrong name,  but once the Apply or OK button is pressed, the Table Name can’t be changed.

Leave the Group ID field blank. For Personal folders, you don’t need to restrict access to a group. Personal folders are kept with your profile information in SampleManager, so you are the only user who will be able to see them.

Data Source Tab

Click on the Data Source tab – this is where the main sorting and filtering takes place. The filtering of the data is mainly achieved by adding variables to create criteria, but if no criteria is set, then SampleManager will return all the data in the defined table. We discuss the basics of how to create criteria below, but for now do not apply any.

Before proceeding click the ‘Run’ button – this produces a preview of the data the explorer will return when you open your folder. Just like a normal folder, you can change the columns and sorting in this view. Make sure you can find all the data you are looking for in this preview. If you can’t, you most likely chose the wrong table for the Table Name. In this case, go back to the General tab to change the Table Name, then hit the ‘Run’ button again. Once you are confident you have the right table, click the ‘OK’ button. This will save and close your folder.

But wait! I’m not done. What about my changes?

Before going further, you want a starting point. Open your new Personal folder and change the columns, make groups, and sort data so it looks like you want it. Take a screenshot or write down your changes so you know what you need to change. This makes modifying the Data Source information much easier.

Now right click on your new folder and select ‘Modify’ to re-open it. Go back to the Data Source tab. On the left under the ‘<Entity> Fields’ tab is a list of the fields from the table selected as the Table Name. At the bottom of the list are two buttons – ‘Criteria’ and ‘Order.’ To use a field, click on the field name, then click either of these buttons.

The ‘Criteria’ button will move the field into the Criteria Grid and use it as a filter. Clicking the ‘Order’ button will add it as a way to sort the data. So if you want to see samples logged in by you and sorted by the date they were logged in, you would select the LOGIN_BY field and click ‘Criteria.’ Then, select the LOGIN_DATE and click ‘Order.’

The Criteria Grid can be used as an expression builder using basic mathematical expressions such as =, >, <, <> (not equal), and LIKE (search for something). The Logical expressions; And, Or, and parenthesis are available as Criteria when the ‘Add’ (+) button is used. Criteria can be as simple or as complex as needed to filter data down to exactly what you are looking for.

The Order Grid can be used as a way to sort multiple times. Sorting is applied from the first line down to the last. So for example, if the LOGIN_DATE is selected in the first line and the SAMPLE_TYPE in the second, the sorting will be applied by Login Date first then by Sample Type.

Columns Tab

In the columns tab there are four options, but only two of them allow you to customize your columns. The ‘Use pre-defined column list’ option allows you to select the specific columns, order, and width by adding them to a list. Click the ‘Add’ (+) button to get started. If you took a screenshot or have a list of your columns, it makes adding your columns easy. If you don’t want to add columns manually, you can use the ‘User defined columns’ option instead. With this option, you can move columns as you did before, and the system will save the configuration when the folder is closed.

If you want your columns to be auto-sized to the contents, check the ‘Autosize Columns’ box, which proportionally sizes the columns to the window. We don’t recommend using this, because it tends to make the columns much wider than expected. Alternately, you can leave the column width at a value of zero (0), which will space the column width based on the default field size defined in the structure. This behaves like ‘Autosize Columns’ when changing the window size. Or, you can adjust the column width to a value of your liking.

Popup Menu Tab

This tab is used to set up an RMB menu for your folder. Setting these up requires knowledge and system privileges to create menus, which is out of the scope of this article. For most users, this can be left blank.

Grouping Tab

The grouping tab doesn’t do the same thing as adding a group in your explorer. Instead, it adds sub folders in the navigator to group the data in your personal folder. This can come in handy when the information in your folder becomes too large to view effectively. For example, the Samples folder shown in the figure below is grouped by date.

To add a group, right click in the blank space under the Groups heading and select ‘Add New.’ In the right pane, add a folder name and description if desired (this can be left blank). Select the field to group data by. The drop-down menu then provides all available fields in the table.

Add an icon for the sub folder, if desired. If this is left blank, the default folder icon will be used. If you check the ‘Phrase Description’ box, it will name the sub-folders by the description found in the field. Otherwise, it will use the field ID. Some fields are automatically sub-divided by the system. For example, if you want to group by date, folders will always be named by Day, Month, Year.

You can also group the data further to create sub-groups, for instance by the LOGIN_BY field, as seen below.

This would result in the following folder configuration when viewed in the explorer:

Options to use forms and tasks with the grouping requires knowledge of how to create and use forms and server tasks. These are not needed for most personal folders.

Appearance Tab

The Appearance tab is simply a place to select a custom icon for your personal folder or change the default icon. If icons were created for the sub folders in the Groups tab, these are not affected.

Links Tab

In the Links tab, users can select any child entities that are linked to a main entity in the folder. These link settings are typically inherited and defined in the Global Table Defaults folder for the entity type being displayed. For example, if your folder is based off of the ‘Jobs’ table, it is possible to drill down into any sample properties associated with that job because Sample properties are defined in the Jobs’ Global Table Defaults.  Links configuration is beyond the scope of this article, but for our purposes, it is fine to leave the ‘Override Table Defaults’ checkbox unchecked.

Security Tab

Leave the Security tab at the default settings. Security for personal folders is not used because they are already specific to only the user who created them. Changing these settings can result in a folder you can’t see or use!

Conclusion

In summary, creating a basic Personal Folder in SampleManager to improve your ability to find and view data efficiently is not difficult. In this article, we have covered the basics about how to create your own Personal Folders, but you don’t have to stop here! As mentioned, there is a lot more you can do with folders in SampleManager.

The Astrix Team contains some of the most experienced and knowledgeable SampleManager experts in the world. If you would like to explore some of the other ways to organize your data with folders, or any of the other features that are available in SampleManager which could help improve the efficiency of your laboratory, do not hesitate to contact us for a no obligations consultation.

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