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In the most common use-cases, the **Lab Notebook** part of the openBIS ELN-LIMS contains a personal Space (i.e. folder) for each scientist. Within this *Space*, scientists can organise their work using the openBIS *Projects, Experiments and Objects.*
An openBIS *Experiment* is defined as a specific scientific question. The individual attempts to answer this question, are *Objects* of type *Experimental Step*. At this level, the user can create links to *materials* and *methods* registered in the Inventory that were used to perform the *Experimental Step*. These are entered as *Parents* of the *Experimental Step*. All data produced in the *Experimental Step* and further processed and analysed can be added at this level.
It is also possible to organise the Lab Notebook on *Projects*, rather than on personal Spaces. This should be configured by an *Instance admin*.
In a personal folder, users can register one or more *Projects* they
currently work on. *Projects* in openBIS only have a **Description**
field, no additional fields can be added.
1. Navigate to the relevant *Space* in the *Lab Notebook* menu and click the **+ New Project**
2. Should you have an empty page, select **Show Identification Info** and **Show Description** from the **More…** dropdown
3. *Projects* do not have a **Name** field, but only **Code**. Codes can only take alphanumeric characters and no spaces. Codes are prettified in the Main Menu.
4. Enter a **Description** for the project.
5. Click **Save** on top of the form.
In the **More…** dropdown you have additional options on what you can do
in the Project folder, as shown below.
Inside one *Project*, a user can register several *Experiments*, which can in turn be divided into single *Experimental Steps.*
openBIS provides by default 2 options for registering Experiments:
- **Default Experiment**: The form of the Default Experment contains several metedata fields that can be filled in by the user.
- **Collection**: This form has limited metadata fields. It should be considered as a folder, to be used in cases where a user only needs to group subsequent steps, and does not need any relevant information at this folder level.
1. Navigate to the relevant *Project* in the **Lab Notebook** menu
2. Select **Default Experiment** from the **+New** dropdown, as shown below. *Please note* that your openBIS instance might have different types of Experiments, depending on how it has been configured by the Instance admin.
4. Select **Show in project overview = true** if the *Experiment* is
important and should be shown in the *Project* form.
### Register a Collection:
1. Navigate to the relevant *Project* in the **Lab Notebook** menu
2. Select **Collection** from the **+New** dropdown, as shown below. *Please note* that your openBIS instance might have different types of Experiments, depending on how it has been configured by the Instance admin.
3. Fill in the **Name** of the Collection and choose the **Default Object Type** and **Default collection view**. For more info about Collections, see [Customize Collection View](../general-users/inventory-of-materials-and-methods.html#customise-collection-view) and [Collections of Materials](../general-admin-users/admins-documentation/customise-inventory-of-materials-and-samples.html#create-collections-of-materials)
4. Click **Save** on top of the form.
As mentioned above, the various steps executed when performing an
Experiment in the lab can be registered in openBIS as *Experimental
Steps or Entries.*
The default *Experimental Step* has pre-defined fields, as shown below:
An *Entry*, is a blank page, with no pre-defined fields:
To register a default *Experimental Step* or *Entry*:
1. Navigate to the relevant **Experiment** in the *Lab Notebook* menu and click the **+ New** button, as shown below.
3. Fill in the relevant information or select an available template from the list (see below).
4. If **Show in project overview** is set to true, this *Experimental Step* or *Entry* will be displayed on the *Project* page.
5. Click **Save** on top of the form.
### **Comments Log**
Several comments can be added by different users who have write-access to a given user Space:
1. Click the button in the **Comments** section.
## Add parents and children to Experimental Steps
In the default *Experimental Step* and in the *Entry*, there is a
**Parents** section where it is possible to specify links to materials
and methods from the *Inventory* or to any other *Object*, e.g. another
*Experimental Step* or *Entry*.
**Parents** are all samples/materials used in an experimental procedure,
standard protocols from the inventory followed in the experimental
procedure, the equipment used. It is also possible to set one
*Experimental Step/Entry* as parent of a second *Experimental
Step/Entry,* to keep the connection between the two.
The name of this section and which parents should be shown in the form,
is customisable by the *lab manager* or *group admin* as described in
[Customise Parents and Children Sections in Object
Forms](../general-admin-users/admins-documentation/customise-parents-and-children-sections-in-object-forms.md)
#### Adding a parent of a predefined type in the form
In the screenshot above, **General protocol** is predefined as parent
type in the form. We have two options to add a parent of this predefined
type:
1. 1. Click on the **Search** button.
2. Enter the **name** or **code** of the entry you want to add as
parent.
3. Select the entry you want to add from the list presented to you.
The parent will be added only when you **save** the entity.
##### 
1. 1. You may copy the identifier of an entry you want to add as
parent from a file, or from an advanced search or from another
ELN page. You can paste the identifier(s) in the **Paste** text
field.
If you want to add a parent that is not specified in the *Experimental
Step* form, you can use the **Search Any** or **Paste Any** options next
to **Parents.**
1. Click **Search Any**
2. Select the *Object* type for which you want to add a parent
3. Search by **code** or **name** as explained above
There are cases where you may want to add several parents of the same
type or also of different types. In this case, we recommend to use the
**Advanced Search** to find the entries you want to add. You can select
the desired entries from the table and the **Copy Identifiers** button
will become visible. You can copy the identifiers and paste them in the
**Paste Any** field in the *Experimental Step* page, as shown below.
If you want to add a parent that is registered in openBIS and has a
barcode associated with it by scanning the barcode:
1.Click on the **barcode** icon in the Parents section
2. A **Barcode/QR code reader** window opens
3. Scan the barcode/QR code of the entry you want to add as parent with
To remove a parent, choose **Remove** from the **Operations** drop down in the parent table, as shown below.
Children of *Experimental Steps* are usually derivative *Experimental
Steps,* or products of the *Experimental Step.* As for the **Parents**
section, this section can also be customised by a *group admin* or *lab
manager* in the **ELN Settings** ([Customise Parents and Children Sections in Object Forms)](../general-admin-users/admins-documentation/customise-parents-and-children-sections-in-object-forms.md).
The procedure for adding and removing children is the same as explained
for parents.
The **Children Generator** creates a matrix of all the parents entered
in the *Experimental Step*, as shown below. Combinations of parents
needed to generate children can then be selected by the user. The
*Object* type to assign to the children and the number of replicas need
to be specified. The children will then be automatically generated by
openBIS upon registration of the *Experimental Step*.
### Parent-child relationships between entries in lab notebook
In the Lab Notebook section, if you create a new *Object* from an
existing *Object*, independently of the type, this will be automatically
set as parent of the new Object. For example, if you create a new
Experimental Step (measurement 4) from an existing Experimental Step
(measurement 3), this will be automatically set as child of measurement
3, as shown below.
If you do not wish to have this relationship established, you need to
create the new Object starting from the Experiment level, as shown
below.
## How to use protocols in Experimental Steps
When adding protocols to an *Experimental Step*, two options are
available:
1. Link to a **Protocol** stored in the *Inventory*. This can be used
if the protocol was followed exactly in all steps as described.
2. Create a **local copy of the Protocol** from the *Inventory* in the
current *Experiment*. This should be done if some steps of the main
protocol were modified. These modifications can be edited in the
local copy of the protocol, while the template is left untouched.
To create a local copy under the current Experiment of a template protocol stored in the *Inventory*:
2. From the **Operations** dropdown in the parents table select **Copy to Experiment.**
4. A copy of the protocol is created under the current *Experiment*, where the user can modify it. This copy has the original protocol set as parent, so that connection between the two is clear.
To move an *Experimental Step* to a different *Experiment*, choose
**Move** from the **More..** drop down, as shown in the picture above.
It is possible to move *Experimental Steps* from the *Object* table
which is presented on an *Experiment* or *Collection* page.
Select the entries to move and use the **Move** button on the table. You
can move to an existing *Experiment*/*Collection* or create a new one.
To copy an *Experimental Step*, select **Copy** from the **More…** drop
down menu, as shown below.
When an *Experimental Step* is copied, the user has the option to **link
parents, copy children to the current Experiment** and **copy the
comments log.** The *Experimental Step* is copied inside the same
*Experiment*.
Templates need to be defined by the lab manager in the [**ELN Settings**](../general-admin-users/admins-documentation/multi-group-set-up.md#general-eln-settings). If templates have been created for a given *Experimental Step*, you can choose from the list of available templates by clicking the **Template** button on the *Object* form, as shown below.
A template of an *Experimental Step* is an *Experimental Step* with
pre-filled values. Templates are useful when you need to repeat an
*Experimental Step* with the same parameters several times and you wold
like to have default values for those parameters.
## Datasets tables
Since openBIS version 20.10.7, a dataset table has been added to the Experiment/Collection and Object pages.
This table shows the metadata of the datasets. The content of the datasets can be navigated through the main menu.
*Datasets* are displayed on the left hand-side of the
*Experiment/Object* form, as shown below.
To navigate and open data registered in openBIS via Finder or Explorer, open the *Dataset* folder and click on the drive icon next to the Dataset type name (see above). *If* SFTP has been configured on system level, you will be provided with a link to copy/paste in an application such as [Cyberduck](https://cyberduck.io/) or other.
Please check our documentation for SFTP server configuration: [Installation and Administrators Guide of the openBIS Data Store Server](../../system-documentation/standalone/optional-datastore-server-configuration.md)
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For native access through Windows Explorer or Mac Finder we recommend
the following:
- Windows
10: [https://www.nsoftware.com/sftp/netdrive/](https://www.nsoftware.com/sftp/netdrive/)
- Mac OS X Yosemite and
higher: [https://mountainduck.io](https://mountainduck.io/)
- Kubuntu: Default Dolphin File Manager with SFTP support
### Example of SFTP Net Drive connection:
1\. open SFTP Net Drive and click on **New**:
2\. Edit the drive with the following info, as shown below:
a. **Drive name**: choose any name you want. Can be the same as
your openBIS server, but does not have to be.
b. **Remote Host**: the name of your openBIS. For example, if the
url of your openBIS is https://openbis-
demo.ethz.ch/openbis/webapp/eln-lims, then openbis-demo.ethz.ch is the
name you want to enter.
c. **Remote por**t: enter 2222.
d. **Authentication type**: Password (this is selected by default).
e. **Username**: the username you use to login to openBIS.
f. **Password**: the password you use to login to openBIS.
g. **Root folder on server**: you can leave the default, User’s home
folder.
h. Press **OK** after filling in all the information above.
3\. After saving the drive, select it in the drivers’ window and click
**Connect**.
3\. openBIS will now appear as a drive in your Explorer window. Click on
the **ELN-LIMS** folder and navigate to the folder containing the data
you want to access.
Note: if you encounter the error message “*SSH connection failed: Could
not find a part of the path*.” you can fix this by disabling the cache
(Drives -> Advanced -> Enable Caching), and disabling log files.
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The error is caused by an attempt to create files in a folder not
available to Windows.
### Example of Cyber Duck configuration
Create a new connection in cyberduck:
1. select **SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol)**
2. **Nickname**: the name you want to use for the server
3. **Server**: the name of the server you want to connect to. In the
example below openbis-training.ethz.ch. Replace this with the name
of your own openBIS server.
4. **Port**: 2222
5. **Username**: this is the username with which you connect to your
openBIS
6. **Password**: this is the password you use to connect to your
openBIS
7. **SSH** private Key: none
Save the specifications and connect to the server.
You will see the folders of your own openBIS in the Cyberduck window and
you can navigate to your data from there.
### Example of Dolphin File Manager configuration
To access the Dataset form and edit the Dataset metadata, click on the
Dataset code or Name (if provided).
### SFTP access via session token
To access via session token (for example when using SSO authentication)
you need to provide the following credentials:
**Username: ?**
**Password: session token**.
The session token can be copied from the **User Profile** under
**Utilities** in the main menu, as shown below.
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It is possible to move a *Dataset* from one *Experiment/Object* to
another *Experiment/Object*.
1. Click on the *Dataset* in the main menu
2. In the *Dataset* page select **Move** from the **More..** dropdown
3. Enter the name or code of the *Experiment* or *Object* where you
want to move the *Dataset* to. If you start typing, openBIS will
show you a list of possible entries that match what you entered.
4. Press the **Accept** button.
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It is possible to move one Experiment and all contained Objects and
Datasets from one Project to another.
If Objects contain parent/child relationships these are preserved.
To move one Experiment from one Project to another:
1. Select the Experiment you want to move from the main menu
2. Select **Move** from the **More…** dropdown
3\. Enter the code of the Project where you want to move your
Experiment. If you start typing the code, openBIS will prompt you with a
list of available options and you can select the appropriate one from
there.
4\. Click **Accept**
In the Project page you have the options to see:
1. Default Experiments and Experimental Steps with the field *Show in project overview = true*. This is a way to mark the most relevant Experiments and Experimental steps and see them at a glance on the project page (**Show Overview**).
2. All experiments belonging to the project (**Show Experiments/Collections**).
The two options are available from the *More..* dropdown on the Project
page.
Below you see an example of an overview in a Project page.
Below you see an example of the visualisation of Experiments and
Collections in a Project page.
## Edit and Delete Projects, Experiments, Experimental Steps
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*Projects*, *Experiments* and *Experimental Steps* can be edited at any
time, by selecting the **Edit** icon from the toolbar of the relevant
page.
*Projects*, *Experiments* and *Experimental Steps* can be deleted using
the **Delete** option under **More** tab in the toolbar.
*Experiments* and *Experimental Steps* are moved to the **trashcan**,
from where they need to be removed in order to be permanently deleted
from the database. *Projects* are directly deleted, they are not moved
to the trashcan first. *Projects* can be deleted only after deleting all
the *Experiments* they contain.
Please be aware that, by default, only users with *Space Admin and
Instance Admin* role have permission to delete. Default permissions can
be modified on *system level* (see [Changing the openBIS
map](../../system-documentation/standalone/installation-and-configuration-guide.md#changing-the-capability-role-map))
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It is possible to share either a complete lab notebook or single
*Projects*, using the **Manage Access** option in the **More..**
dropdown of a *Space* or *Project* page, as shown below.
Available roles are:
1. **Observer**: read-only access to Space or Project
2. **User**: can create and modify entities in Space or Project
3. **Admin**: can create, modify and delete entities in Space or
Project
The roles can be granted to:
1. **User**: the user needs to be already registered in openBIS. The
username of the user needs to be entered.
2. **Group**: the name of a user group existing in openBIS needs to be
entered.
To embed an image in the a text field with the Rich Text Editor (RTE) enabled, you can simply drag & drop a .png or .jpg file and resize the image by clicking on and dragging the corners.
