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Start by creating an empty catalog File>New
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| Start with an empty catalog |
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This catalog is going to contain details of
Experiments, Protocols and Samples, so start by
creating separate folders for these.
right-click (CTRL-click on Mac) on the root
folder, and Add Using Class>Folder:-
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| Add a folder |
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| Rename the folder as Experiments (double-click on name) |
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Add extra folders for Samples and Protocols.
You can either
do this as before (right-click : Add), or you
can just press
Enter again after typing in the
Experiments name to add
an extra folder.
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| Three folders |
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The next step is to tell Catalyzer what
information is relevant
to include about Experiments, Samples and Protocols.
The specification of what is needed for each type
of record is called a Class
in Catalyzer.
Switch to the Class Window to add/edit classes.
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| Switching to the Class Window |
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| Switching to the Class Window using the toolbar |
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Compared with the Catalog Window, the Class Window has two
additional panes; at the bottom left is a list of
Classes (initially just Folder and Record), and
on the right hand side is the Field Details Panel,
containing details of an individual field of a class.
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| The Class window |
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To add the Classes for Experiment, Sample and Protocol,
click the
 Add button
in the Classes list (or select Add from the right-click menu).
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| Adding a new class |
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| Renaming the new class |
You can add the other classes (Protocol and Sample)
by pressing Enter after you've renamed the first.
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| Added all three classes |
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The next step is to add the Fields for the classes.
Select the Experiment class in the list,
and then add a field using the middle panel
Add button.
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| Adding a field to the Experiment class |
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| Adding and renaming fields in the Experiment class |
Add as many fields as you need to record the
relevant information
for a single experiment.
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Repeat the process to add fields to Protocol and Sample classes
(Select the class in the Classes list at the bottom left,
add fields using the button on the
middle panel, and set the field name on the right hand panel).
If you want to have multi-line entry for a field, change the field
type to "Text Box":-
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| Set the Field Type to 'Text Box' to add a multi-line description field |
For Samples, you might want to keep track of their location
(perhaps room, freezer, shelf). There
could be a restricted choice of different rooms.
In this case you can simplify the data entry process by converting
the room field to a Radio Buttons push button:
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| Setting up the Sample class. Initially the Field Type is 'Text' |
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| Switching the Field Type to 'Radio Buttons' lets you create a menu of buttons |
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Having created the necessary classes, you can now start
adding some different Experiment,
Protocol and Sample records to the catalog. First, switch back to
Catalog mode.
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| Switching back to Catalog Editing Mode |
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To add an Experiment to the Experiments folder, use
right-click Add Using Class>Experiment
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| Add an Experiment to the Experiments folder |
Once you have added a record, you can enter data for the
fields you created:-
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| Adding details for an Experiment |
If you need to change fields, return to
the Class Window and add/remove them.
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You can add entries for the different Samples and Protocols
in the same way.
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| This Sample record specifies the room and supplier |
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It is often useful to make links between records.
For example, there could be a link to a Protocol from
each Experiment record.
To do this, switch back to the Class window and add a
field of type Reference to class Protocol.
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| Adding a Protocol reference from the Experiment |
Clicking on the browse button (highlighted below) shows a reference chooser which lets you select
the target protocol:
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| Selecting the protocol for an experiment |
Clicking the "+" button next to the reference expands it inline, so you can
see the details for the protocol next to the experiment:
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| The experiment record linked to its protocol |
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It is also useful to link to data files and documents.
This can be done with the Resource field type.
For example, to
add a link to a Word document describing a protocol:
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| The protocol record linked to a document |
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