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Recording repeated processes with LabTrove

There are two main strategies to use in LabTrove to make it easier to record repeated experiments in a consistent way on an individual Notebook or across a set of Notebooks:

  • Using consistent metadata
  • Using templates

To ensure that you are using consistent metadata in a Notebook or across multiple Notebooks you can create a master Entry that defines the metadata for a particular experiment. This master Entry populates the metadata that is used by subsequent Entries.

Templates are an effective way to define and organise the structure of your Entries for an experiment. You can create a template for each type of Entry that you will use in your experiment. A template defines the following types of information for your Entry:

  • the structure of the Entry
  • standard information that you need to capture in the experiment
  • the metadata to use for the Entry

When you have set up your templates you can reuse the same templates for each of your experiments. Any Entries that you create using the templates will have a consistent structure, recorded information, and metadata. Using templates helps you to organise the recorded information and make sure that all the important details are complete and easy to find.

For example, a solution preparation template might include a number of structured fields, such as:

  • date of preparation
  • solution name
  • batch code
  • reagents used in the experiment.

A template can be used across multiple Notebooks or even shared across multiple Troves.

Creating or selecting a master post for an experiment​

In order to repopulate the metadata menus in a particular Notebook you can create a Master Entry that defines the metadata that will be used for an experiment. When you create a new Entry you will be able to select from the Section or other metadata keys that you created as part of the Master Entry. The use of a Master Entry is especially useful in a Notebook with multiple authors, as it ensures that everyone is using the same metadata values. A Entry author can choose to add new metadata keys if they want to, leaving the metadata scheme extensible if required.

To create a Master Entry for an experiment, create a Entry with a Section that describes the experiment, and the appropriate metadata keys and values that you expect to use in the experiment. See Defining the metadata for your experiment and Adding metadata to your entries, for information on how to choose and add metadata to your Entry.

Once you have created the Entry and saved it, the next time you or anyone else creates a Entry in that Notebook the metadata values you selected are available to use in the Entry.

You might also want to create a Master Entry or template for different Entry types that contains the metadata appropriate for that Entry type. For example, Entries describing an experimental method might include different metadata to a Entry describing the results of an analysis.

Creating a template​

Templates are blank Entries that can be completed when you record an experiment. A template can be reused again and again. You can use templates to standardise Entries that you use to record your experiments. Using templates ensures that the data you record is consistent across repeated experiments and can also help to make it easier to organise and find Entries in your Notebook. Templates can also be used across teams and multiple Notebooks to ensure consistency in recording. You can also share templates with other groups that are using LabTrove.

You create a template in the same way as an ordinary Entry, except that the value specified for the Section metadata must be Templates. All the templates in your Notebook are added to Templates under Sections in the right hand navigation menu. A template can be configured to contain text fields and tables that you can complete when you write up your experiment. A template can also be configured to contain specific metadata that is used when you create a new Entry from the template.

When you first create a Entry using a template, the text fields that have been added to the template are the only parts of the Entry that are editable. Once the Entry has been saved, it can be edited to change value and add extra text or data. It can be useful to add placeholder text where you intend extra text, images, or links to data to be added later. These placeholders can act as a reminder to include these additions when you create the Entry for your new experiment.

Adding text boxes to templates​

To add text boxes for the user to complete to the template you must use the [[box]] markup. Using [[box]] adds a text box into which you, or another user, can add a data value later. There is no limit on how much text can be added to one of these text boxes, but you can control the width of the box using a number. In the following example, the box markup includes a variety of widths for the text boxes:

   [[box=1]]
   [[box=2]]
   [[box=5]]
   [[box=10]]
   [[box=20]]
   [[box=50]]
   [[box=75]]

In this example when an Entry is created using the template, seven text boxes are displayed with increasing widths.

Use an appropriate width to indicate how much text needs to be entered in the text field. For example, for text fields where you want to enter a measurement, a relatively small size can be used, but if you want to enter a description of a step or product, a larger text field size is more appropriate. For example, this template shows the use of different sizes of text fields for recording the yield of an experiment:

   Experiment Code: [[box=10]]
   Date of Experiment:[[box=10]]
   
   The yield of the reaction was [[box=6]]mg with a formula mass of [[box=6]]g/mol. 
   Starting material ([[box=30]]) was [[box=6]]mg with a formula mass of [[box=6]]g/mol. 

   Yield is calculated as:
   ([[box=6]]/[[box=6]])X100=[[box=8]]

When a Entry is created using this template, the text fields are displayed with a variety of appropriate sizes based upon the input that the user is likely to enter.

Adding tables with text boxes to templates​

To simplify data entry you can also add text boxes in a table format using the box markup inside table markup. The following example shows a simple table in a template:

   [table] 
   [mrow]State:[col]NMR Solvent:[/mrow]
   [row][[box]][col][[box]][/row] 
   [mrow]TLC Characteristics:[col] Recrystalize From:[/mrow]
   [row][[box]][col][[box]][/row]
   [/table]

When the template is used to create a Entry the Entry contains text fields to complete for each section in the table.

Adding metadata to templates​

You can specify the metadata to be used for Entries created by a template for both Section and key-value pair types of metadata. These values can be changed by the user of the template for their specific Entry if required.

To set the Section for the Entry use the format [[Section>name_of_section]]. For example, if you want to set the Section for the Entry to Spectroscopy you would use the following markup in your template:

  [[Section>Spectroscopy]]

An Entry can only have one value for Section assigned to it, so if you include more than one value for Section in the markup, only the final value is used when you create a Entry from the template.

To add metadata in the form of key-value pairs to your Entries using templates use the [[Metadata_key>Metadata_value]] markup. For example, if you want to create a heading Methods with a value in your Entry of TLC, the markup that you would use to add the metadata is:

  [[Methods>TLC]]

You can include multiple key-value pairs in your Entry and you can therefore defined multiple values using this style of markup in your template. Each key can only have a single value assigned to it, so if you include the same key more than once in the markup, only the final value set for the key is used when you create a Entry from the template.

You can add the markup for Section and key-value pairs anywhere in the template, but you might find it easier to locate and edit the values if you add them at the beginning or end of the Entry.

Using a template​

You can use templates to create Entries with a standard structure for recording your experiments. To use a template from your own Notebook to create a new Entry:

  1. Click the Templates link beneath the Sections heading in the right hand navigation menu in the Notebook to see a list of the available templates.
  2. Choose the template that you want to use, and click Use Template at the bottom of the template Entry.
  3. (Optional) Edit the title of the Entry
  4. Complete any text fields in the template
  5. (Optional) Amend any metadata values for the Entry if required
  6. Click Submit to save the Entry
  7. (Optional) If you want to add any additional text, data, or metadata to the Entry:
    1. Click Edit Post.
    2. Make any additions or changes to the post as required.
    3. Enter details of your changes for Reason for Edit.
    4. Click Submit to save the changes to your Entry

A new Entry is created with the values that you entered, and the original template remains unchanged. The template formatting is removed from the Entry and you can now edit the Entry in the usual way.

Using a template from another Notebook​

You can use templates from another Notebook to create a Entry in your own Notebook. This process is almost identical to using a template from your own Notebook. To use a template from another Notebook to create a Entry:

  1. Navigate to the Notebook with the template you want to use.
  2. Click the Templates link beneath the Sections heading in the right hand navigation menu in the Notebook to see a list of the available templates.
  3. Choose the template that you want to use, and click Use Template at the bottom of the template Entry.
  4. (Optional) Edit the title of the Entry.
  5. Complete any text fields in the template.
  6. (Optional) Amend any metadata values for the Entry if required.
  7. Select your own Notebook from the list labelled Blog: at the bottom of the new Entry. Ensure you select the correct notebook because you cannot delete the Entry if you add it to the wrong notebook.
  8. Click Submit to save the Entry
  9. (Optional) If you want to add any additional text, data, or metadata to the Entry:
    1. Click Edit Post.
    2. Make any additions or changes to the post as required.
    3. Enter details of your changes for Reason for Edit.
    4. Click Submit to save the changes to your Entry.

A new Entry is created with the values that you entered, and the original template remains unchanged. The template formatting is removed from the Entry and you can now edit the Entry in the usual way.

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