Defining a Freezer Configuration

The largest unit in LDMS Storage is a freezer. A freezer contains one or more levels, which contain containers, which hold individual specimens. A freezer in LDMS isn't necessarily an actual freezer. For example, a refrigerator is considered a freezer since it is the largest storage unit. The term freezer was chosen simply because it is the most common large storage unit that laboratories use.

The Freezer Cfg tab in LDMS Storage is where you define a freezer configuration. Like containers and levels, a freezer configuration must be defined before a new freezer of that type can be created.. When the freezer in the following example is added to storage (e.g. when the user creates a new Big Cabinet freezer), it will automatically have these levels added exactly as shown. Additionally, the user will be restricted to only adding 4x1 shelves directly to freezers using this configuration.

Figure: The Freezer Configuration tab. Levels and sub-levels are added to a freezer configuration by dragging them from the list on the left to the list on the right. In this example, users will only be able to add a 4x1 level directly to the freezer.



Creating a freezer configuration

  1. Enter a descriptive name for your freezer into the Label field.

  2. Select the type of "freezer" from the Type list.

  3. Select the operating temperature for your freezer from the Temperature list.

  4. Select a level from the Level Types list and drag it to the Configuration Design list. You must add at least one level to the freezer configuration.

    1. If the level is going to be a sub-level of another level, select the parent from the Sub Level of list; if it is not a sub-level, leave this field blank.

    2. Enter the number of levels to add into the Number field.

  5. After all levels are added, click the button from the LDMS toolbar to create the configuration.

You can modify an existing freezer the same way. Select the freezer from the Configurations list in the top-left corner, make your changes, and then click the button from the LDMS toolbar.