Signals Notebook: Creating and Managing Experiment Templates

Experiment Templates in Signals Notebook provide a standardized structure for creating experiments, ensuring consistency and compliance across an organization. This article explains how to create, configure, and manage experiment templates, including adding fields, establishing parent-child relationships between fields, and setting up mandatory information items.

Solution:

Understanding Experiment Templates

Signals Notebook includes a default experiment template (DEFAULT_EXPERIMENT) that:

• Is shared by default with Administrators and All Users groups
• Cannot be renamed or deleted
• Can only be edited by users with system administrator roles
• Is used automatically when users create experiments without selecting a specific template

Creating a New Experiment Template

1. Navigate to System Objects > Experiment > Templates
2. Click the "Create Template" button
3. Enter a name and description for the template
4. Click the "Create Template" button to generate the new template

Adding Content to Templates

Add information items using the "Add Content" dropdown list, which includes:

• Text
• Chemical Drawing
• MS Office information items
• Materials Table
• Plates
• Table
• Image
• Spotfire File
• Tasks to do
• File Upload (supports formats including xls, xlsx, pdf, ppt, pptx, doc, docx, png, jpg, jpeg, gif, tiff, BMP, CDX, CDXML)

Making Information Items Mandatory

1. Add the information item to your template
2. Click the "mark as mandatory" icon next to the item
3. A plus sign will replace the X sign, indicating the item is now mandatory
4. Users without the "Trash Mandatory Entities" privilege cannot delete these items

Managing Template Properties and Sharing

• Properties Tab: View information about the template name, description, creator, and modification history
• History Button: View all actions performed on the template and its fields
• Sharing Button: Share the template with individual users or groups with Read, Write, or Full Control privileges
  • Note: Only users with whom you've shared the template can use it in Signals Notebook
  • The default template automatically includes All Users with Read privileges that cannot be edited

Adding and Configuring Fields

1. Click the "Fields" tab to view the Experiment Fields window
2. Default fields include Name and Description (editable but not deletable)
3. Click "Add New Field" to create additional fields
4. Configure each field with:
   • Field Label: Enter a name for the field
   • Attribute: Select the field type (text, number, list, etc.)
   • Read Only: Make the field non-editable if checked
   • Required: Make the field mandatory if checked
     • Choose whether it's required during creation or completion
     • Required fields must be filled before signing transitions like Close, Sign and Close, Sign and Add Reviewers, and Sign and Add Two Stage Reviewers

Configuring the Name Field

The Name field can be configured as:

• Text type: Users must manually enter experiment names
• Number sequence: Experiment names are generated automatically based on the selected sequence format

Creating Parent-Child Field Relationships

1. Add a field and select a parent list as the attribute type
2. Add another field and select the child field associated with the parent
3. In the "Specify Parent List" field, select the parent list
4. Configure additional options as needed (Multi Select, Required, etc.)
5. A tree icon will appear next to child fields in the Fields page

Important Notes

• Changes to template attributes only affect newly created experiments, not existing ones
• Parent-child relationships affect how users select values:
  • When a parent value is selected, only associated child values are displayed
  • If no parent value is selected, all child values (including orphans) are displayed
  • Selecting an incorrect parent value after selecting a child value will clear the child value

By properly configuring experiment templates, organizations can standardize their experimental processes, ensure data completeness, and improve overall workflow efficiency in Signals Notebook.