Device Description
Meaning​
A Device Description is a top-level ELN element used to document a piece of scientific equipment — an instrument, a component of an instrument, or a whole measurement setup made of several instruments — in the same way a Sample or a Reaction documents a chemical entity or a transformation. It captures identification, ownership, location, software, maintenance and publication-relevant information about a device, so that the device itself becomes a citable, searchable, versioned object in the ELN rather than free text scattered across analyses.
Do not confuse a Device Description with a Device in the admin area. A "Device" (see Accessing Remote Devices) is a technical account used to remotely control an instrument or to automatically collect measurement files from it into the ELN. A Device Description is optionally linked to such an account, but it is a separate, much richer record describing the physical instrument itself — its vendor, its version history, who maintains it, where it stands, and how it should be cited.
A Device Description is not connected to the "Instrument" field or the generic-dataset metadata shown in the Metadata tab of a dataset inside a Sample's, Reaction's, etc. Analyses tab. That "Instrument" field is a plain free-text string (with autocomplete limited to values the user has previously typed) and the generic-dataset fields there come from a separate, per-analysis-method template system — neither has any relation to Device Description records. There is currently no way to attach a specific Device Description (with its serial number, vendor, calibration/maintenance history, etc.) to an uploaded dataset; a Device Description only has its own, separate Analyses tab for analyses performed on the device itself (e.g. its qualification/calibration measurements).
Model​
Like other elements, a Device Description belongs to collections, can carry comments, tags, attachments and analyses, and has a full edit history. Two aspects of the model are specific to devices:
- Device class. Every Device Description is classified as
stand-alone,component,equipmentorsetup. Asetupgroups severalcomponentdevices (and vice versa): the Properties tab exposes a dedicated Setup description area where components/setups can be linked to each other by dragging one Device Description onto another. This lets a complex instrument (e.g. an HPLC made of a pump, a detector and a column oven) be represented both as individual devices and as the combined setup that uses them. - Versioning through splitting. A Device Description can be split into a new, linked
Device Description that represents a later hardware/firmware version of the same physical
device (for example after a major service, an upgrade or a part replacement). The new record
is created as a child of the original one (an ancestry tree), inherits its short label with an
incremented suffix (e.g.
AB-Dev12-1,AB-Dev12-2, …), and copies its properties and ontology segments as a starting point. This is distinct from the History tab, which tracks field-level edits of a single record — splitting instead creates a new, independent element to represent the device at a new point in its life cycle.
Representation in ELN​
Device Descriptions are represented and treated analogously to other elements (Sample, Reaction, Cell line, …): they live in collections, can be tagged, commented on, exported and imported.
Tabular form​
In the element list, Device Descriptions can be grouped by Serial no, Short label, Ontology or combined Ontologies, in addition to the default sorting by update time available for all elements.
Detailed view​
The detail view of a Device Description is organized into six tabs: Properties, Details, Analyses, Attachment, Maintenance and History. As with other elements, the order and visibility of these tabs can be customized.
Properties tab​
The Properties tab holds the descriptive metadata of the device, organized into a top section and several collapsible groups.
At the top:
| property name | description |
|---|---|
| Name | free-text name of the device |
| Device class | stand-alone, component, equipment or setup |
| Device class detail | whether the device has variable components or not |
| Operation mode | manual - walk in, manual - service or integrated - automated |
| Device type | device type name, a device type ID and the type of that ID |
General description
| property name | description |
|---|---|
| Model name / Model ID / Serial no | general information on the device from the manufacturer |
| Manufacturer name / ID / ID type | details describing the manufacturer of the device (ID type: MID or UID) |
| Description | free text |
| Tags | one or more of manufacturing, processes, sensors, analysis, … |
Version specific information
| property name | description |
|---|---|
| Version | version number, typically derived from the short label (1, 1.1, 1.2, …) |
| Started: Installation date / End date | when this version was installed and, if applicable, taken out of service |
| Persistent identifier | an identifier type (DOI, Handle, ARK, EISSN, IGSN, PURL or RRID) together with the identifier value and, optionally, a resolvable link |
| Characterization of this version | free-text description and comments for this specific version |
Device operators and location
| property name | description |
|---|---|
| Operators | one or more people, each with name, phone, e-mail, type (technical/administrative) and a comment |
| Owner | owning institution, e-mail, ID and ID type |
| Location | institution, institute, building and room |
| Inventory | inventory ID and an alternative identifier/label |
| Access options | infrastructure assignment, access options and comments |
Setup description — only shown when Device class is setup or component. Another Device
Description can be dragged onto this one to declare it as a component of a setup, or as the setup
a component belongs to; each linked entry shows its short label, name, an ELN link and its
persistent identifier.
Software and interfaces
| property name | description |
|---|---|
| Application name/version | the software controlling the device |
| Vendor URL | link to the vendor's software/device page |
Manuals, documentation and helpers — a checkbox indicating that additional helper files were uploaded to the Attachment tab, plus a free-text field for policies and user information.
Information for publications — a free-text Description for methods part, meant to be reused verbatim (or as a starting point) when describing the instrument in a manuscript's methods section.
Physical descriptions — size and weight (with a unit toggle between tonnes, kilograms and grams).
Details tab​
The Details tab is used to classify the device against controlled vocabularies and to attach any custom, admin-defined fields.
- Ontology Classification lets the user assign one or more terms from the Chemical Methods Ontology (CHMO), restricted to its instrument-related branch, using the same ontology selection mechanism used elsewhere in the ELN (search-as-you-type against the TIB terminology service, with the full hierarchical path stored alongside the selected term).
- Custom segments — if the administrator has activated device-specific segments (Labimotion templates), additional structured fields defined for those segments appear here.
Analyses tab​
Works exactly like the Analyses tab of other elements: analyses are added and grouped by method (again drawn from the Chemical Methods Ontology), with datasets and files attached to each analysis. All analyses of a Device Description can be exported together as a zip archive using the Download Analysis button in the detail view's footer.
Attachment tab​
Standard attachment area shared with other elements: drag & drop files onto the device, filter and sort them by name, size or date, preview, download, edit/annotate images, or remove them (with undo).
Maintenance tab​
The Maintenance tab documents how the device is kept operational.
- General aspects — whether a maintenance contract is available, the maintenance scheduling
(
yearly,every two years,on request), and one or more contacts for maintenance and repair (company, contact person, e-mail, phone, comment). - Planned Maintenance — a list of planned maintenance entries (date,
internal/externaltype, details, status —planned/ordered/done/ongoing, costs, time, changes) and a separate list of consumables needed for maintenance (name, type —mandatory/optional/sometimes, number, status, costs, details). - Unexpected maintenance and repair — the same fields as planned maintenance, used to log ad-hoc repairs.
- Unexpected Power Shutdown — free-text measures to take after a complete power shutdown and after a short shutdown of a running device.
- Planned offline period — free-text measures to plan an offline period and to restart the device afterwards.
History tab​
Shows the complete change history of the record, as for other elements.
Creating and versioning a device description​
- A new Device Description can be created in the currently active collection using the create
button in the top menu, the same way other elements are created. Its short label is generated
automatically as
<user initials>-Dev<counter>(e.g.AB-Dev12). - To document a new hardware/firmware version of an existing device, select it and use the
split action: a new Device Description is created as a child of the original, with a short
label suffixed by an incrementing number (
AB-Dev12-1,AB-Dev12-2, …) and pre-filled with the parent's properties and ontology segments, ready to be adjusted for the new version.
Import/Export​
Collections containing Device Descriptions can be exported and imported like collections of any other element.
Search​
Device Descriptions can be found using the basic search. The following properties are taken into account: name, short label, model name, model ID, serial number, manufacturer name, tags and assigned ontology terms.