Task Tools

Save and Apply a Requisition Task Template

Users can save a template of a frequently used sequence of requisition tasks and apply that template quickly in a requisition.  The sequence of tasks is saved as well as the default task properties.

To save a task template:

1. In the Requisition Editor, after a user has selected specimens for the requisition, add the tasks to perform.

2. Select Tools/Save Task Template or the Save Task Template toolbar icon. The Save Task Template dialog will open.

3. Enter a Label and a Description of the template and select the OK button. A Save Successful prompt will open.

4. Select the OK button.

To apply a task template:

1. In the Requisition Editor, after users have selected specimens for the requisition, select Tools/Apply Task Template or the Apply Task Template toolbar icon. A Select Codes dialog will open containing the list of available templates.

2. Select the template that you would like to apply and, if applicable, check the Apply tasks from template to highlighted vials? checkbox.

3. Select the OK button. The template tasks will be added to the requisition.

The Assign To task property allows user to assign individual tasks within a requisition to a user for completion. Users must have permission to assign tasks. Tasks may be assigned by updating the task’s Assign To property or by using the Assign Tasks to Users tools menu option.

To assign tasks:

1. Open the requisition and select Tools > Assign Tasks to Users.
2. Use the ellipses to select the user to be assigned to each task.
3. Select Commit.

Tasks may only be assigned to a single user account. A user may only assign tasks to active users in the same repository as they are currently in. Additionally, only users with permission to complete a given task may be assigned to that task.

Notifications are sent when a task is assigned to a user under the following conditions:

Email notifications are also sent to the assigned user and requisition submitter if a task is deleted. If a user becomes inactive and is assigned a task that has not been completed, the Local Administrator of that user’s Institution will receive an email notification.

Station Tracking

Enabled via system preference, Station Tracking allows tracking of specific requisition task completion across multiple workstations. Once enabled, a new “Station” requisition task property becomes available. A station value can be entered for any requisition task to track where the vials should be processed.

After adding this system preference, a Station Processing Time standard report is available. This report calculates the time in days, hours, and minutes task processing takes at a given station. This calculation starts from the time the task was applied to the vial until the time the task was completed, not including weekends or federal holidays.

Combining Station Tracking with Requisition Task Templates

When setting up a Requisition Task Template, Station values can be entered for each task, in that task’s properties. When combined with dynamically applying tasks to vials via Requisition Task Templates, station tracking can produce more nuanced data.

Task View Level

The view level for the task status column can be changed to display the task status, task order or the current label for a Ship task.  

To change the view level of a task:

1. Open the task's column menu by clicking on the column header for the task.

2. Hover the cursor (mouse) over the View option.  A sub-menu will open with the following options: 

   • View Data - This displays the data level of the current task status.

   • View Formatted - This displays the formatted text of the current task status.

   • View Task Label - When selected for a Ship task, this will display the specimen's Current Label for each specimen that has a task status of Completed.  When selected for an Aliquot or Process task, this will display the Combine Vial Id for the parent specimens.

   • View Task Order - This will display the current task order.  See Task Specimen Order for more information on setting/changing the task specimen order in a requisition.

   • View Task Icon - This will display a graphic icon describing the current task status.

3. Select one of the view options from the list by clicking on it.

Task Vial Order

A vial order for a task can be set and verified for all specimens listed in the Requisitions Editor.  This is mainly used for Procedure, Ship and Transfer Out tasks but can be set for any task.

To set the vial order:

1. Click on the column header for the task to open the column header menu.
2. Hover over the Vial Order option to open the sub-menu.
3. Select Specify Vial Order.

This menu item will bring up a dialog which allows the user to specify a particular order.  It will bring into the dialog all BSI IDs and Current Labels of all specimens that have an active task status.  You can enter an integer to the right of each BSI ID specifying the order, Import an order matching on BSI ID or Current Label, or select one of the options on the dialog to automatically assign an order:

• Sequential - This option assigns an order that is the same as the order of the BSI IDs listed to all specimens in the dialog.
• Random - This option assigns a random order to all specimens listed in the dialog.
• Distribute - This option will randomly distribute the rows selected in the dialog among the rows not selected.  The rows not selected will keep the same order relative to each other.

Users can also generate shipping locations from the Specify Vial Order dialog.

To generate shipping locations:

1. Select the rows for the container in the Specify Ship Order dialog.
2. Press the Generate button. 
3. Enter the Box Label, Box Label Increment, Box Layout, Starting Row and Starting Col in the Box Data Generation dialog. If a Box Label increment is entered, each new Box Label is increased. If no Box Label increment is entered, the Box Label is added to all selected rows. 
4. Set the location assignment pattern.
5. Press OK. The data will be added to the Specify Shipping Box Data dialog.

Once you have specified an order, you can view this order by selecting View Task Order from the task's column header menu View option. Once the task order is displayed in the Requisitions editor, it can be sorted by using the Sort menu item.  For a Ship task, this order is often used for placing the specimens into the box for shipping.  

The task order can also be verified by scanning.  This is a feature for the user's benefit only.  Scanning to verify the task order does not change any data in the Requisitions Editor.

To verify the vial order:

1. Click on the column header for the task to open the column header menu.
2. Hover over the Vial Order option to open the sub-menu.
3. Select Verify Vial Order.

This menu item opens the Verify Task Order dialog for all specimens with a task status of Applied, Redo, Begun or Completed.  The dialog will contain all the columns visible in the Requisitions Editor when the option is selected and an additional column called Scanned.  Selecting Scan on the dialog will open the Standard Scanning dialog and allow you to scan specimens.  Each specimen successfully scanned will change the value in the Scanned column from No to Yes.

Task Editor Default Column View

Users can save a default view for task editors. By default, all available Sample and Vial fields will be available on the task editor.

To save a default task editor column view:

1. In a task editor, use the Hide/Show columns tool to rearrange and hide columns. 
2. Once the columns are shown in the desired order, select Save Default Editor View from the task editor's View menu.

To restore the system task editor column view, select Restore System Default Editor View from the task editor's View menu.

Users can use edit task properties to change existing task properties information

1. Select the specimens in the Requisitions Editor
2. Right click on the specimen field within the task column
3. Select Edit Task Properties
4. Edit any necessary task properties information

Some tasks will have additional properties available to specify. Use the Tests button to select instructional test types for the Ship or Transfer Out task.

Specify Shipping Box Data

Shipping box data can be set for Ship and Transfer Out tasks for tracking and reporting purposes.  This is optional and does not affect any data in the database.  This data will show up on the Shipping Document report depending upon how the report is configured.  Not all databases have this report configured in the same way.

To specify shipping box data:

1. Highlight the specimens in the Requisitions Editor.
2. Select Specify shipping box data from the Ship or Transfer Out task's column header menu. A Specify Ship Box Data dialog will open with one row for each selected specimen.   
3. Edit the shipping data by:
   • Editing each column manually.
   • Using the Mass Change option.
   • Select the Import button to import shipping box data.
   • Use the Generate Labels tool to generate a unique box label
   1. Highlight the rows of interest.
   2. Select the Generate Labels button from the right panel.
   3. In the confirmation message, select Yes to allow system-generated labels to replace the Box Labels for the selected rows or No to cancel the option and return to the editor.
   • Use the Generate tool to set data for multiple containers: 
   1. Select the rows for the container in the Specify Ship Box Data dialog.
   2. Press the Generate button.
   3. Enter the Box Label, Box Label Increment, Box Layout, Starting Row and Starting Col. If a Box Label increment is entered, each new Box Label is increased. If no Box Label increment is entered, the Box Label is added to all selected rows. 
   4. Set the location assignment pattern (See image below).
   5. Press OK.  The data will be added to the Specify Shipping Box Data dialog.
4. Print shipping box labels using the Print Labels button.
5. Select OK to save the shipping box data in the Requisitions editor.

Generate Specific Children for Each Parent

To create a specific number of child specimens for each parent specimen when beginning an Aliquot or Process task:

1. Add the Aliquot or Process task and apply it to the desired specimens.

2. Select Change Status > Create Child Specimens from the task's column header menu.  The Specify Children dialog will open.

3. Select Cancel. The Request Available Child BSI ID(s) dialog will be displayed containing all of the parent specimens with an applied task status.

4. Select one or more parent specimens and press the Children button.  The Specify Children dialog will open.

5. Select the Generate Children from Database or the Generate Children from Template option.

6. Enter the Number of Children per Parent and Starting sequence number or Browse to select the template.

7. Press OK on the Specify Children dialog.  Child specimens will be generated and added to the Request Available Child BSI ID(s) dialog for the selected parents only.

8. Repeat the process of selecting parents and generating children as needed.

9. Enter additional data, check for errors, and select OK to close the dialog and create the children.

Child specimen labels can be edited and printed at this point, if necessary.  See the section on the Current Label column menu for more information on editing and printing labels from the Requisitions Editor.

Generate Children from a Template

To begin an Aliquot or Process task by creating child specimens from a template:

1. Add the Aliquot or Process task and apply it to the desired specimens.

2. Select Change Status > Create Child Specimens from the task's column header menu.  The Specify Children dialog will open.

3. Select Generate Children from Template.

4. Press the Browse button and locate the template that will be used for creating the child specimen.

5. Press OK on the Specify Children dialog.  The system will create children, and enter Sequence, Volume and Volume Unit data based on the data in the selected template.  If a multi-line template is used, the system will create one child specimen for each line in the template per parent.

6. Enter additional data, check for errors, and select OK to close the dialog and create the children.

Child specimen labels can be edited and printed at this point, if necessary.  See the section on the Current Label column menu for more information on editing and printing labels from the Requisitions Editor.

Generate Children from Database

To begin an Aliquot or Process task by having the system generate children for all parents:

1. Add the Aliquot or Process task and apply it to the desired specimens.
2. Select Change Status > Create Child Specimens from the task's column header menu.  The Specify Children dialog will open. 
3. Select the option to Generate Children from Database.
4. Enter the number of children to generate for each parent specimen with an applied task status in the Number of Children per Parent field.
5. Enter the number in the Starting sequence number that will be used as the starting point when creating children. 
6. Select one of the following options:
   • Assign Same Starting Sequence for All Sample IDs - The system will look for the first unused sequential block of sequence numbers available to all of the parents’ Sample IDs. The size of the block is determined by the largest number of children created for a sample. Once a block of sequence numbers is found they are assigned to the children sequentially until all children have been assigned sequence numbers.
   • Assess Starting Sequence by Individual Sample ID - The system will look for the first unused continuous block of sequence numbers available for children belonging to each individual Sample ID. Once a block of sequence numbers is found they are assigned to the children sequentially until all children have been assigned sequence numbers.
7. Press OK on the Specify Children dialog.  Child specimens will be added to the Request Available BSI ID(s) dialog.
8. Enter additional data, check for errors, and select OK to close the dialog and create the children.

Child specimen labels can be edited and printed at this point, if necessary.  See the section on the Current Label column menu for more information on editing and printing labels from the Requisitions Editor.

Enter Child Default Data

The Defaults option will open the Enter Child Default Data dialog that can be used to enter data to child vials based on the Sequence number.  To open this dialog, select the Defaults button on the Request Available BSI ID(s) dialog or the Child Completion dialog and select the appropriate option from the sub-menu.

• Selected Children - The Enter Child Default Data dialog will open containing one row for each sequence number for selected child vials only.

• All Children - The Enter Child Default Data dialog will open containing one row for each sequence number for all child vials in the dialog.

Each row will contain the sequence number and any editable fields in the source dialog.  Data entered will be applied to the child vials when the OK button is pressed.  Pressing Cancel will exit the dialog without adding any data.

Entering data in the Enter Child Default Data dialog will overwrite any existing data in the source dialog.  No data in the source dialog will be modified for fields that are empty in the Enter Child Default Data dialog.

Combine Multiple Parents into Children

To begin an Aliquot or Process task and combine Specimens:

1. Add the Aliquot or Process task and apply it to the desired specimens.
2. Select Change Status > Create Child Specimens from the task's column header menu.  The Specify Children dialog will open. 
3. Create a child or children for the parent specimens.
4. On the Request Available BSI ID(s) dialog, select the parent specimens to be combined.
5. Select one child specimen that the parents are combined into.
6. Press the Combine button.  The BSI ID of the child specimen that is selected as the combine specimen will be added to the Combination Id column for the selected parent specimens. 
7. Repeat selecting parent specimens and a child specimen for all sets of parents that are to be combined.
8. Enter additional data, check for errors, and select OK to close the dialog and create the children.
   • The Combination ID can be viewed in the Requisitions Editor by selecting the View > View Task Label option from the Aliquot task's column header menu.

Child specimen labels can be edited and printed at this point, if necessary.  See the section on the Current Label column menu for more information on editing and printing labels from the Requisitions Editor.

Copy from Parent

Use the Copy from Parent feature to copy specimen data from a parent specimen to its child specimens when processing an Aliquot or Process task in Requisitions.

To use Copy from Parent:

1. Select the row(s) that you would like to edit.  Only child specimen rows need to be selected.

2. Click in the header of the column that you want to copy data from parent to child in.

3. Select Copy from Parent from the menu that appears.