Background
Data can now be stored as a numerical value with an associated unit, offering richer functionality and greater consistency when recording experimental data. Units can be configured on schema fields and new units can be added to a tenant by the Tenant Admin. All users are able to view the available units in the Unit Dictionary.
Fields configured on schema fields that predated Unit Aware Fields (ex. those that have the unit in the Name of the field) will require updating the configuration to define the unit via the process described below.
Unit Dictionary
The Unit Dictionary is the administrative interface for Tenant admins to create new Unit Types and units. If you are a user trying to add units to your Unit dictionary, please reach out to your internal tenant admin. All users are able to view the available units in the Unit Dictionary.
Units are grouped by Unit Type in the Unit Dictionary to facilitate unit conversion. Units of the same type are mutually convertible, for example consider a Mass unit type with compatible units including grams, kilograms, pounds, etc. (see the Units in Tables section below). Unit Types need to be added or created (if using a custom unit) via the unit dictionary before additional units can be added to them.
The following units and unit types are automatically created on every tenant:
- Mass: kg, g, mg, ug
- Volume: L, mL, uL, nL
- Amount of Substance: mol, mmol, umol
- Cells count (Cells)
- Units count (Units)
A set of standard units are pre-configured in the Unit Dictionary wizard to facilitate adding other unit options to the tenant. These additional options can be added by the Tenant Admin from the Unit Dictionary main page (see below).
Accessing and adding Standard Unit (SI Units) to a tenant
The Unit Dictionary can be accessed in Settings where unit types and units that have been added to a tenant can be viewed. The units added to a tenant can then be used when configuring schema fields (see later section).
Select the “Add unit type” button to open the Unit Dictionary wizard. Add and configure additional units as needed. SI Units define a standard set of unit types available to all tenants out of the box. Pre-configured units within types can be added to a tenant’s dictionary by selecting the checkbox and saving.
After a Unit Type has been added to the tenant, individual units within that type can also be added by selecting the appropriate checkbox(es) and saving.
Adding new units to a Unit Type
If units belonging to a Unit Type are not available in the onboarding wizard presets, tenant admins should use the + sign under the appropriate Unit Type on the main Unit Dictionary page. After clicking the + sign, add new units by defining the Unit, Symbol, and Conversion Factor and clicking the check mark to save.
Additional Units
In addition to SI Units, additional units/unit types can be added via the PD Units and Custom Units tabs.
- PD unit types include those commonly used in process development.
- Custom Units allows Tenant admins to configure new Unit Types (ex. Mass, Length, Volume) and the base unit. Additional units for that Unit Type can be added on the main Unit Dictionary page as described above.
Custom Units Types
Before configuring a custom Unit Type, verify that it is not already available in the SI Units or PD Units sections. We strongly recommend checking the list of pre-configured units before adding Custom Unit Types to the dictionary.
Custom Unit Types can be defined in terms of other existing units in your dictionary using the formula editor. Leave the formula blank if this unit type is a dimensionless quantity (eg. “plane angle” or “cell count”).
Units in schema fields
Configuration
Units can be applied to existing and new schema fields by clicking the gear icon, selecting “Set units” and selecting the appropriate base unit from the dropdown menu.
Please note, the unit of a given field cannot be changed once it’s been set and the field has been created.