The Freezer Box Widget is one of the built-in widgets available to all notebook members with edit access to the notebook. It can be used to manage inventory within your LabArchives Notebook and provides a way to visually organize the data in a structured grid layout. The Freezer Box Widget can easily be added and customized from the Widget menu or by using the Import CSV option for large Freezer Boxes.
From the Add New Entry menu, select Widget, and then choose Freezer Box - General from the menu. Click Use Freezer Box - General to add the Widget to your LabArchives page.
To format the widget, assign a Name to the Freezer Box (this is the only required field).
Use the dropdown menu to set the Size of your Freezer Box. You can select from preset dimensions or choose Customize to specify your own.
Change the Color of the horizontal and vertical cell labels using this dropdown menu.
Use the Location field to specify where the items represented in the Freezer Box are located (e.g., Tarantino Lab, Lab Freezer A).
Export to CSV will export the contents of the Freezer Box cells to a CSV file.
The Swap Column and Row Labels field can be used to to switch the numeric labels to columns and the alphabetical labels to rows. Click again to revert the change.
Hover over a cell to reveal the edit option to begin populating details about the item. Fill out the form for each cell and include details such as Name, Sample Type, Color, ID, Creation/Freeze Date, Concentration and Description.
Once a cell is populated, additional options become available for managing its contents. By hovering over the individual cell, you can access tools to Edit, Clear, Copy, Paste, or Move the cell. You can also view detailed information about the selected cell.
Creating a Freezer Box Widget by Importing a CSV File
As an alternative to filling out each cell individually, the CSV import option can be used to quickly populate large Freezer Boxes. Most Excel files (or similar spreadsheet files) can be saved in CSV format with UTF-8 encoding. See the sample Freezer Box CSV file at the end of this article for an example of how to format your CSV.
Before uploading the CSV, there are formatting requirements that must be followed to ensure the CSV file can be read and the data correctly added to the Freezer Box Widget:
- The first column of the CSV file must be labeled Column/Row to indicate the location of the freezer box cell. This first column will be used to determine the layout and location of the data in the remaining columns. We use a 2-character letter/number system in which the first character defines the column (typically A, B, C, D, etc.) and the second defines the row (typically 1, 2, 3, etc.). These can be flipped so that columns are numbered and rows are letters. Either way, it is important to have this done correctly so that the Freezer Box item is placed in the appropriate cell and spot within the Widget.
- Every column of data must have a unique header in row 1 of the file . Each header will become a field in the Freezer Box Widget.
- When complete, save your spreadsheet as a CSV file to upload into your LabArchives Notebook.
Using the formatted spreadsheet example above, will create a 9X9 Freezer Box Widget similar to the one below. In this example, cells have been left intentionally blank in the spreadsheet so as to provide room to manually add data via the Widget at a later time.
After saving your CSV file, it can now easily be uploaded into your LabArchives Notebook to create a Freezer Box Widget. From the Add New Entry menu, select Import CSV File. From the Import CSV File window, select Freezer Box and add a Title to your Freezer Box. From there select Choose File to browse for your CSV file and click Continue to upload.
A preview of the form's fields for entering data will appear within the Import CSV window. If the form is correct, click Yes, this form is correct. Now, your Freezer Box widget will be available as an entry on the page and as a selectable Widget in your notebook.
If your CSV does not meet the given requirements, you will see an error message describing the problem after attempting to upload. The system will also provide suggestions for formatting issues.
Warning messages are only suggestions and you may not have to comply with all of them to successfully upload your CSV into a widget. Please see the Index of Error and Warning Messages for additional information.
Index of Error and Warning Messages
This section contains two tables designed to help you identify and resolve issues. Use these tables as a quick reference to understand the meaning of each message and the recommended action.
Error Conditions
| Field | Error Condition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _mandatory | Data is empty | _mandatory fields must contain a value. |
| _number | Data contains characters other than numbers, periods, commas and dash | _number fields must contain only numbers. |
| _calculator | Data contains characters other than numbers, periods, commas and dash | _calculator fields must contain only numbers. |
| _date | Data contains text that is not in a date format | _date fields must be in the format mm/dd/yyyy. |
| _date | Date not in correct format but another date format | _date field is not in the recommended format. We suggest you change it to mm/dd/yyyy. |
| _color | Data contains text that is not a color | _color fields must contain a valid color name. |
| _radio | Data has 20 choices, suggest to make a ‘select’ | _radio fields may have at most 20 choices. We suggest you make it a _select field. |
| Misc | The given CSV is not saved with UTF-8 encoding | Your file must be saved in UTF-8 encoding to work properly. |
| Misc | An error occurred parsing the CSV file | Check that the header for each column is correct. Check that the file is comma-delimited. |
| Cell Name | Cell format invalid | Cell format must be a letter followed by a number (e.g., “A5”). |
| Duplicate Cells | Cell is a duplicate | Cell is duplicated in another row. |
Warning Conditions
| Field | Warning Condition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _text | Data has only numbers | We noticed this field contains only numbers. We suggest you make it a _number or _calculator field. |
| _select | Data has 100 choices | This field has over 100 choices. Verify the choices listed are correct. |
| (blank) | Header name is empty | Header is blank. We recommend specifying a name or it will default to "Column #". |