Container Views

eLab uses container views to display a virtual representation of samples and reagents in containers. Container views promote a better connection between the data stored in eLab and real laboratory work by allowing you to see the actual layout of samples and reagents in a container.

Containers are created and modified using the Container Designer (see Using the Container Designer). The Container Designer allows you to set the number of rows and columns, the well style, the visibility of labelling as well as several other properties.

Figure 1.8. Container-view.

The default appearance of a container is light-grey with dark-grey wells. Coloured wells represent the location of samples and reagents. The colour of a well corresponds to the status of the sample or reagent at that location. Red indicates that a sample or reagent has failed a task, green that it has completed a task, and blue that it is being processed by a task.

Contamination of samples or reagents is represented by a surrounding coloured ring. The colour of the ring indicates the level of contamination:

Red - Known contamination.
Yellow - Possible contamination.
Green - No contamination.
White - No determination of any contamination has been made.

A positive sign on a sample or reagent indicates that it is a positive control and a negative sign indicates it is a negative control.

Wells containing samples and reagents, but not relevant in the current contact have a transparent appearance.
It is often necessary to select one or more wells from a container view so that you can apply some functionality to those specific wells or samples and reagents in those wells . Select a single well by clicking anywhere on that well - the selected well is indicated by a surrounding dark blue rectangle. Select a pattern of wells by holding the control key as you click individual wells. Alternatively you can select a range of wells by holding the shift key and clicking the beginning and ending wells of that range or by dragging your mouse over the range of wells. When you have created a selection of wells the primary well is surrounded by a dark blue rectangle and the remaining wells of the selection are surrounded by light blue rectangles.

You can change the position of one or more samples or reagents within a container view by selecting them and dragging them to a new position. Select the samples or reagents that you want to reposition and then move the mouse over one of the coloured rectangles indicating the selection, the cursor will change to a cross, click the selection and drag it to the new position. As you drag the samples or reagents the position that they will be placed in is indicated by a pattern of dark-grey rectangles.

Container view hints:

Most container views have an associated zoom control that allows you to control the size of the container on the screen.
You can select a row by clicking on a row header or a column by clicking on a column header.