✅ Layout Files

Layout files provide an easy way to identify incoming samples with customer information, link them to your incubated plate and pair them with the reported results. Their structure as csv files, makes it simple to integrate with your LIMS integration system and provide automation control in your laboratory.

Layout files can be used to upload multiple sample descriptions at the same time for all wells via your layout panel in the Incubation page. You can also create a standardized layout template that will always be used for future tests, if for example, you always place positive and negative controls on the same wells on the plate. In this article, we will discuss:

• Creating layouts and understanding their structure
• Loading layouts via the incubation interface 
• Make a template for your default layout

Creating Layout Files 

As we have introduced in section ‘2.2 Cell data Panel’ of the incubation Tab 🔗, you can indicate directly on the plate interface the layout of a given plate by clicking on each cell, indicating if they are control samples and giving sample descriptions. It's possible to do the reverse — you can create your own custom layout files externally and upload them directly to your device. As DAS can read layout files that are configured in a standard way, you need first to get a template csv file that will reflect the correct format for your DAS on your local computer. 

You can quickly generate layout templates directly through your device's interface following the steps below: 

1. Indicate the position of known negative and positive milk controls in the layout table using the checkmarks and provide any additional description
2. Add a name for this layout in the text field next to the 'Save' button 
3. Press ‘Save’.

Your device has 'saved' a layout generated like this through the 'layout interface' as a standard CSV file. Here's how you can access it:

1. Access your device's interface via your computer's browser.
2. Sign in as the administrator🔗.
3. Go to the 'Files' tab.
4. Go to the 'Layout Definition' folder, 🔗 where the file will be stored.

The image below shows where your Layout example file is located, click on Select to download your example file.

Let's look at the structure of the generated example CSV file. This will help us understand how to create your own layout definition files and upload it to your device.

Layout File's CSV Structure

The CSV file format used by your device for layouts is a simple 'comma-separated CSV’. Each row in the file represents data related to a specific well on the plate, and the system reads it from top to bottom during upload. 

Once you open the files, it can appear either with the comma separator between fields or automatically split in individual columns. This Microsoft explanation guide 🔗explains how to split your delimited data in columns. 

An example Layout file is shown below: 

As you can probably tell, each column has a set of 'data definitions' your device expects in order to 'understand' how to translate into a layout. Here's how they work:

It's important to keep in mind that a well should only be in one of the three states: 

1. 'TRUE’ Positive-Reference and 'FALSE' Negative-Reference (i.e., a positive reference control), i.e cell B01
2. 'FALSE' Positive-Reference and 'TRUE’ Negative-Reference (i.e., a negative reference control), i.e cell A01
3. 'FALSE' Positive-Reference and 'FALSE' Negative-Reference (i.e., cell A02, A03, B02, B03, C01… ) these are standard sample to be tested for which its test outcome is yet unknown.

Uploading Layout CSV File

Now that you know how the structure of the document should be, you can prepare your own Layout csv file. 

Download the example layout file that you generated earlier, add your local sample information that corresponds to each well respecting the given format in you example file. Start adding your samples in row 3, while preserving the structure and exact format used, i.e. type A01,FALSE,TRUE and not aO1,false,true 

💡 As you notice in the example, there is no need to specify all wells in the Layout format. You can also add the wells in any order, ensuring that the structure is identical to your example-layout csv i.e., use ‘TRUE’ and not ‘true’

Once ready, save your new file using a unique Layout Name (see next paragraph for suggestions). Follow the steps below to upload your layout via the incubation page. 

1. Access your device’s interface via your computer’s browser.
2. Go to the 'Incubation' tab.
3. In the 'Upload' section on the right-hand panel, click 'Choose File' to select the CSV layout you’ve created.
4. Once selected, click 'Upload file'. Your layout will now appear in the 'plate table' on the left, and you can start your incubation with this customized setup.

Once successfully Uploaded, you can locate your Layout files under the 'Files Tab' 🔗.

Unique File Layout name

For easy use and identification of the layout-definition files we recommend giving a unique Layout Name for each prepared csv-file. For example, include in the filename the unique ID of the plate, (e.g. 25A03A30-313), where

• "25A03A30" is the batch-id and 
• "313" is the plate number 

The batch-id and plate number can be found on the barcode sticker on the plate. Do not use special characters on the file name, standard letters, numbers, the dash (-), and the underscore (_) characters are permitted.

Default Layout

 Do you want to use always the same Layout template for all your incubations? 

1. Access the device's file directory by connecting to it through your computer’s file explorer.
2. Sign in as the administrator🔗.
3. Go to the ‘Setup’ tab.
4. Under ‘Device Settings’ type the name of the CSV LayoutDefinition file that you want to use as default Layout.
5. In the field directly underneath ‘Use predefined layout’, make sure the checkbox is checked.
6. Press the 'Update' button.
7. Your Default layout will appear now in your ‘Incubation’ tab.

💡Do you want to integrate DAS with your LIMS for automation control in your laboratory? You can instruct your system to automatically upload your plate Layout files 🔗 in the LayoutDefinition folder in the DAS memory. Load each layout plate via the incubation page and later match the sample names to the generated results 🔗. Read more about the files in the respective articles to understand their structure and effectively integrate them to your LIMS. 

Layouts for strips

Preparing a layout for strip incubation follows the same principle as full plates. The user specifies the samples on the wells of the strip that are about to be incubated and inserts them in the CSV file. There is no need to specify all wells in the Layout format. 

💡 Do you want to incubate with strips? Then you need to deselect unused strips via the Layout table on the prepare page. Read carefully the detailed procedure in this article 🔗.