Concatinating numbers

[Karen]

On May 25, 2004, at 11:04 PM, Elias. wrote:

> Can you do this using a structure something like:
>
> Table	Field
> Vial		Label -- human readable Vial Identifier
>
> Sample	VialPtr -- Pointer to Vial
>
> Run		SamplePtr -- Pointer to Sample
>
>

Why have a separate table for vials when you have one for Lot,
and vials only matter when used samples for a specific run?

There is no possibility of sub-samples here - the entire contents of 
the vial are used in the test but When there is the possibility of 
sub-samples I think it's best to use another field in the sample table 
and an internally linked tree structure.

So what do you see (if any) is the advantage of a separate vial table 
in this case?

But what you propose is similar in concept to a LIMS (Laboratory 
Information Management System for those that are unfamiliar)  I once 
worked with. In part they used:

Sample Table : Equivalent to your Vial table
ID:  Unique ID for material submitted for analysis
Lot: Link to Lot it came from
etc. ...

Test Table: Info about that specific instance of the test as a whole

Result Table:
Testptr <<-- Test.RecID
SamplePtr <<-- Sample.RecID
ComponentPtr <<-- AnalysisComponent.RecID
                   A test is an instance of an Analysis. An analysis may
                   define multiple results (which may have replicates) 
of different types used in
                   calculations
NumericResult : Double
etc...



In my current situation, I'm only worried about one Analysis (type of 
test) and current lab practice is not to assign an absolutely *unique* 
human Identifiable ID to each vial... So I would have to get the lab to 
agree to create and maintain a system to assign one... And I'm not 
writing a full blown LIMS!

The Vial ID's currently used are unique for the lot *only* within that 
Run, and used just to group results by vial to get am estimate of vial 
to vial variability for the lot.

Using your terminology my current Table Structure is:

Lot Table : Info about lot
Run Table: Info about that specific  test instance

Sample Table : Unique combo of Run, Lot sample and a relative to the 
run serial Vial ID
Sample Table Fields (in part) :
LotPtr <<-- Lot.RecID
RunPtr <<-- Lot.RecID
RunRelativeLotVialNumber : VByte
etc...

And the combination of LotPtr, RunPtr, and RunRelativeLotVialNumber  
define a unique Identifier for a vial for calculation purposes

Result Table: The actual values determined by testing the sample 
multiple times.
ResultTable Fields:
SamplePtr <<- Sample.RecID
NumericResult
etc. ...

- karen