Results by Analyte Display Column

Recently, a lab manager asked why some of her LIMS workstations showed the sample ID and collected date on the Results by Analyte screen while other workstations showed sample ID and location. The answer lies in the use of the Display field on the Results by Analyte Setup screen.

The second column of the Results by Analyte screen, immediately to the right of the fixed sample ID column, will display the collected date if no other field is selected on the Results by Analyte Setup screen. When the setup screen’s Display field is set to another sample field, that field will be displayed instead of collected date. The Display field offers a user[1]configurable option to distinguish samples on the Results by Analyte screen and is an alternative to the screen’s “Show Sample” mode.

The Display field’s selection is saved with the workstation’s other LIMS settings so that it is preserved for future LIMS sessions. While some users may change the Display field frequently for different sample groups, most select just once the sample field that best distinguishes samples. Once set, it is easy to forget the purpose of the Display field. If you want the Results by Analyte screen uniform on all LIMS workstations, ensure that the Display field is configured properly on each workstation.