Overview of Creating Protocols

The Protocol screen is composed of three sections, the property section at the top, the tree-view on the left and the designer on the right. The property section describes the protocol type, version and status of the protocol. The tree-view contains a list of actions and reagents that can be dragged onto the designer. Finally, the designer is where the actions and reagents are positioned, details are specified and the order of components set.

Figure 22.1. The Protocols screen

To create a new protocol click Protocols from the Show group, click New, select the protocol type from the displayed dialogue box, and then set the details of the properties section. It is important to note that if the protocol type changes, the two red components on the designer also change, these components correspond to the input and output sample types of the selected protocol type.

The available actions or reagents that can be applied to a protocol are shown in the tree-view on the left of the screen. Drag the actions and reagents from the tree -view and position them on the Designer in the order that you want them to be performed.

Clicking a component will put that component into selection mode (see figure 22.2). When a component is in selection mode you can change its position by clicking on the component again and moving the mouse around while holding down the button.

Figure 22.2. A protocol component.

Once you have positioned all the components it is time to link them together. Click a component and drag from its connector circle, the small gray circle near the bottom right of the component (see Figure 22.2), to the component you wish to link to and release the button. The two components are now linked by a connector and the order is specified by an arrow on the connector.

To create a valid protocol there should be a complete path from the input to the output sample types and no components should be orphaned. Orphaned components are components that lead nowhere (that is the y do not have a connector with an arrow leading away from them ) or do not flow from another component (that is they do not have a connector with an arrow coming from another component).

To complete the protocol double-click on each component to view its attributes dialogue box and set as many of the attributes as possible. It is particularly important that the required volumes and concentrations of samples and reagents are completed as these details are required when tasks are created. You can tell when attribute s have been attached to a component as there is a small icon representing the associated attribute at the bottom right of the component.