In Signals Inventory, there are two ways to end the lifecycle of Containers: "Dispose/Final Dispose" and "Delete". This article provides guidance on when to use each of these operations.
"Dispose" fits with normal workflow for Container management.
The "Dispose" is intended to be used by most scientists with normal lab work for discarding Containers. Once the Containers are disposed, they are put in DISPOSED status. The Containers in DISPOSED status can be restored to AVAILABLE status by the "Restore" operation.
"Final Dispose" can optionally be used for Containers that need special treatment after DISPOSED status.
The "Final Dispose" is intended to be typically used by safety officers for disposing the Containers that require special treatment for removal from the premises due to safety or environmental reasons. The "Final Dispose" operation can only be applied to the Containers in DISPOSED status, and after "Final Dispose" is done, the status is changed to FINAL_DISPOSED. The "Final Dispose" helps to identify the Containers that were discarded through special treatment so that a report can be generated and referred to over time.
Once Containers are put in FINAL_DISPOSED status, they can neither be restored nor deleted.
"Delete" is designed for administrative operation.
The "Delete" is intended to be used to forcefully delete a Container beside the normal workflow. E.g., when a Container is created by mistake, the "Delete" operation is the most suitable way to remove it from the list of Containers.
How to access menus for "Dispose", "Final Dispose" and "Delete"
These operations are explained in the official user guide. Please refer to the following section in your Signals Notebook User Guide.
Signals Notebook -> Signals Inventory -> Adding a New Container