Adding Start Date/Time and End Date/Time of the Analysis

Q:
Main Menu → Samples → Data Entry/Inquiry → Sample Login In addition to the Collected and Received Date/Time fields, we need fields for the Start Date/Time and End Date/Time of the analysis. This is essential for drinking water microorganism reports, as ADEC requires confirmation that samples were processed within the appropriate hold times—which vary by organism. Currently, the result entry allows for a timestamp, but it doesn’t reflect the actual start time of analysis due to the absence of a dedicated field.

A:
Analysis Start/End Date & Time: We looked into this, and you can currently enter the specific dates and times you start and end an analysis. Getting this on reports is possible, but involves some work.
 

On the Sample Login screen, you can enter a date/time the analysis started in the “Started” field, but it cannot be before the Collected Date. You will need to manually type the time in this field as there is no calendar/picklist for time. After entering the date/time, unfortunately the time won’t display unless you click back into the field, but the time is saved in the database and can be reported. After entering all results for a sample, the “Completed” field will update to the End date/time the sample is complete.  

While Start Date and Completed Date will appear on the built-in reports, it looks like if you enter a Start time it won’t appear and neither will the Completed time. You might consider experimenting with User Defined Reports, which is the LIMS’ custom report designer. From the Main Menu, click on the Samples tab and then “Define Report” under the Actions/Other column. The work is in the “Columns” tab on this page. You can add specific labels for analysis Start Dates/Times and Completed Dates/Times, and correspond them with a built-in picklist of formats (which include several time displays) and a built-in SQL expression to grab the correct data point.

***See LIMS User Guide Ch. 4 Samples – User Defined Reports for more instruction., or search this knowledge base for User Defined Reports.