Skip to content

Items and item types

An item is any main record in datalab. Samples, cells, starting materials and equipment are all items. Every item has its own page, and can carry files, data blocks and links to other items.

What every item has

Field What it is
Item ID The name you gave it when you created it. It cannot be changed.
Refcode A permanent identifier assigned by the server, such as grey:ABCDEF.
Type Sample, cell, starting material, equipment, or another type your instance adds.
Name A short, readable description.
Date When the item was made or acquired.
Description Free-form notes.
Creators The people who own the item.
Collections The collections it belongs to.
Files and blocks Attached data, and the plots made from it.

Most fields are optional. Groups fill in different ones. Only the item ID, refcode and type are always present.

The full list of fields for each type is in the main documentation.

The built-in types

Anything you made or measured. This is the most common type. Samples record what they were made from under Synthesis Information, together with a free-text procedure.

Samples appear on the Samples page.

An assembled electrochemical cell. Cells record their positive electrode, negative electrode and electrolyte, which are usually other items. They also record the cell format and active mass.

Cells appear on the Samples page, alongside samples.

Things you did not make yourself: chemicals, consumables and other supplies. They record the supplier, purity, dates acquired and opened, and hazard information.

Starting materials appear on the Inventory page. See The inventory.

Instruments and other hardware. They record the manufacturer, serial numbers, location and who to contact.

Equipment appears on the Equipment page. See Equipment.

Other item types

Your instance may define extra item types for your group's work. They behave like the built-in types, with extra fields. See Custom item types.

Creating items

To create one item, click Add an item on the Samples page. The steps are in Create your first sample.

To start from an existing item, pick it under Copy from existing in the same dialog. The new item begins with a copy of the old one's details. You then change what is different.

Creating many items at once

Click Add batch of items to create a series in one go.

  1. Choose how many items to create.
  2. Fill in the Template row. Use {#} where a number should go. For example, an ID of jb-{#} and a name of LFP batch {#} produce jb-1, jb-2 and so on.
  3. Check and adjust each row below the template.
  4. Click Submit.

For larger numbers, or to create items from a spreadsheet, use the Python API.

Editing items

Click a field on the item page to change it. Then press Save or Ctrl+S. datalab does not save automatically.

Each save is kept in the item's version history. You can view an earlier version and restore it.

Who can edit an item is covered in Permissions and groups.

Deleting items

  1. On the Samples, Inventory or Equipment page, tick the items to delete.
  2. Click Delete selected and confirm.

Only the item's creators, their managers and administrators can delete it.

Deleting an item removes it and its data blocks. It cannot be undone from the web app. Other items that link to it are not changed. The attached files stay in the server's storage, where an administrator can recover them.