LabAdviser/Introduction to LabManager/State System Guide
State System
Keeping track of whether equipment is “Ready for use” or some problem is present is a vital part of LabManager. However, this part of LabManager is outdated and is replaced by a new State System. The new module wil however embrace and extend the old system.
States for equipment
The basic states – “Ready for use”, “Limited Use”, “Out of Use” and “Being Serviced” – will be the same in the new system. We are satisfied with these as they describe the status of an active and released equipment well.
To complete the life cycle of equipment, two new states are added: A “Not released” state, and the “Decomissioned” state.
The regular users will rarely see these states, as active and released equipment will only have the regular 4 states they already know.
New logs - 'Event Log' and 'State Changes'
Event Log is a log for each equipment where all relevant events are shown. Usage of the equipment, changes to eg. Contact info and of course changes in the states of the equipment. Many records in the 'Event Log' are not about a change in state, but the equipment has a status at all times, and this status is shown to the left of each record. By clicking on the colored field, further info will appear:
State Changes is another log which focuses on the continuous development of the equipment - or on the specific problem (issue). This is shown with a wide bar graph with the different states in it - or with different impacts (see next paragraph).
The graph should be read as a long timeline from left to right, which is chopped up in smaller pieces and placed next to each other. The triangle on the left emphasizes the first point (as a single point can be hard to see) - the triangle on the right emphasizes the last point.
Status and impact - what is the difference?
The old status system was characterized by the mechanism, that one entry in the status log ends the former and changes the status of the equipment.
A new system will replace that system by allowing several active entries at the same time - and the resulting status of the equipment will be determined at all times by the impacts of the present, active entries.
To replace the "statusLog" - first and foremost - the Issue system is introduced.
The upgrade to the new system comes in several steps.
The first couple of steps has been taken behind the scenes not affecting the user interface.
Then, the appearances of lists with status information will change, but still with info from the old StatusLog.
After that, a new Issue system which allows several reported problems to be handled in parallel on a single equipment will replace the old StatusLog.
Then, a new checking system will allow for a more systematically approach to maintenance.
And, this new state system will be used on other entities eg. gas panels and locations (rooms) – also giving us the possibility to assign states to them.
Finally, the systems will be tied together, so eg closing a room or a gas line will easily give the possibility to set the relevant equipment “Out of Use” as a result.