Managing Locations

Create a new container

To create a single new container:

1. In the Locations Manager, select the immediate parent container under which the new container will be added in the Location Tree and use the right mouse button to select New Subcontainer. The New Container dialog will open.
2. Select the General Container Type to be created. This will be the type of container you are creating (I.e. freezer, rack, box, etc.). Specifics of the container being created will be configured later.
   • A saved configuration of the container type can be selected in this dialog. A saved configuration includes any subcontainers under the original saved container, such as a freezer configuration with 5 racks inside it, each of which having 10 boxes inside them.
   • If no configurations have been saved for the selected container type, "<No configurations saved>" will be displayed on the New Container dialog.
3. Press OK on the New Container dialog.  The Locations Editor will open for the selected container.
4. Enter properties for the container and select Save from the File menu or press the Save button.
   • If any errors exist on the Locations Editor, the container will not be saved.  Resolve any errors before saving again.
   • Fields with errors will be shaded red and will be listed in an error table at the bottom of the Locations Editor.
   • If you want to create a label after saving the new container, click the Generate button next to the Label field.  When prompted, click Yes to replace the label with a system-generated label or click No to keep the current label.
5. Once the container has been saved, it will appear in the location tree.

To create multiple containers:

1. Right-click on a parent container and select Add Subcontainers from the menu or select a parent container and select the Add Subcontainers icon on the Location Management toolbar. The New Subcontainers editor opens.
2. Import (File/Import or Import icon) new containers or add a row (Edit/Add Rows) for each new container in the editor table.
3. Add required details appropriate for each new subcontainer. Errors are shown if an inappropriate value is added.

4. Once all the new subcontainers have been added and no errors exist, press the Save The subcontainers are added to the selected parent container.

View a Container

To view a container:

1. In the Locations Manager, select container to view in the Location Tree.  This can also be done by selecting View on the right-click menu.  
2. Either select View from the right-click menu or click the View button.
3. The Location Viewer will open for the selected container.

Edit a container

To edit a container's parameters:

1. In the Locations Manager, select the container to edit in the Location Tree and either click the Edit button or select Edit from the right-click menu.
2. The Location Editor will open for the selected container.
3. Make the desired changes to the container's parameters.
4. Select Save from the File menu or press the Save button to save changes.

If any errors exist on the Location Editor, the container will not be saved.  Resolve any errors before saving again.  Fields with errors will be shaded red and will be listed in an error table at the bottom of the Location Editor.

To adjust layout to configuration:

1. If a user changes a container type to make a box smaller and there are vials in the extraneous slots; save the change, destroy or move the vials and then click Tools > Adjust Layout to Configuration or press Ctrl + A to remove the extraneous locations from the box layout.
2. Users will receive a message that the extraneous locations were removed successfully.

If there are vials in any of the extraneous slots, users will receive a message and will not be able to adjust the layout.  

Users can also generate unique label IDs.

Edit multiple containers

Locations contains a feature which allows for several containers, all within the same parent container, to be edited simultaneously.

To edit multiple containers:

1. Select the parent container of the containers to be edited in the Location Tree.
2. Press the Edit Subcontainers button or right-click on the parent container and select Edit Subcontainers.  A dialog will open listing the parameters of the subcontainers in a table.
3. Modify the subcontainers as desired.
4. Select Save from the File menu or press the Save button to save changes.

If any errors exists on the subcontainer editor, no containers will be saved.  Resolve any errors before saving again.  Fields with errors will be shaded red and will be listed in an error table at the bottom of the subcontainer editor dialog.

If the containers listed in the Subcontainers dialog also have subcontainers, they can be added to the dialog.  In this way, multiple levels of the container hierarchy can be edited at the same time.

To add containers to the Subcontainers dialog:

1. In the Subcontainers dialog, select Add Containers from the Edit menu or press the Add Containers button.  A Select Container(s) for Editing dialog will open displaying a tree view of the highest level of containers currently in the Subcontainers dialog.
2. Expand the tree view to display the subcontainers by clicking on the + sign next to the folder, or by double-clicking on the folder.
3. Highlight the containers to add.  Users can highlight multiple containers by holding down the Shift key while selecting a range of containers, or holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on each container to add.
4. Press OK on the Select Container(s) for Editing dialog to add the containers.  Select Cancel to return to the Subcontainers dialog without adding containers.

Containers listed in the Subcontainers dialog can be removed from the dialog.  No data for the container will be changed on the database, the container will only be removed from the Subcontainers dialog.

To remove containers from the Subcontainers dialog:

1. Select the row or rows in the Subcontainers dialog that are to be removed.  Highlight multiple rows by clicking on the row numbers while holding down the Ctrl key.

2. Select Remove Containers from the Edit menu or press the Remove Containers button.  Click Yes to remove the containers or click No to keep the containers on the dialog.

   • The selected rows will be removed from the dialog.  Any editing done to the containers will not be saved to the database.

Delete a container

Delete Single or Multiple Containers

It is possible to delete single or multiple empty containers and their sub-containers at once.

To delete container(s),

1. In the Locations Manager,select container(s) to be deleted.
2. Press the Delete icon or select Delete from the right-click menu or select Tool Menu option. A confirmation dialog will be displayed.
3. Select Yes on the confirmation dialog to delete the selected container(s) or No to cancel.
4. If one or more selected containers are not empty, user will be notified as the delete cannot be completed.