LabWare Folders

Folders

Folders - Viewing and processing samples that belong together.

Sometimes it's OK to deal with one sample at a time, and with LabWare LIMS you can, directly from the main menu if you want. But usually you'll prefer to work with several samples at once because it is more convenient and intuitive. Furthermore, your view of samples and their tests and results is greatly enhanced when visual cues tell you about the samples; their completion status, whether they have failed any limit checks or whether they have any further information attached to them and so on.

You can create ad hoc folders and choose samples to include using the sample browser, but the most common way of selecting them is to use a QueryTag. This will allow you to choose samples based on any information relating to them or their tests and results such as their status, due date, customer, analytical instrument assigned to the tests, etc.

The classic view, as in the screen above, will show the familiar tree structure in the left-hand pane and tabular information relating to the selected sample, test or result in the right-hand pane. LabWare LIMS allows you to replace this latter view with a Crystal Report, either based on the chosen object or on all the samples in the folder, thus allowing you full flexibility in what information is presented.

Another option lets you bring up a form in the right-hand pane representing a sample or test template for entering further information about samples and tests.

You can refresh a folder at any time (and the selection criteria will be reapplied) or you can rebuild the folder (which will allow you to choose new selection criteria). These events may be configured to happen automatically at a user-defined interval and this ability can play a useful role in sample workflow. Another feature that plays a part is the ability to drag samples between folders and between folders and analytical batches.

You may define an Action, or a series of Actions, to be performed on the samples in a folder. Actions enable LIMS Basic to be executed when they start or stop and may have defined sequences which are enforced when the Actions are performed. This functionality also provides workflow capabilities, especially useful when it is necessary to bring the time dimension into the process.

Some of the major functions you can perform using folders include sample receipt, test assignment, results entry, review and SQC analysis.