If you have incomplete information on a batch of specimens, you may add that batch as a work in progress. This will save the batch in a format similar to the add specimen expert templates. All Works in Progress appear at the bottom of the templates list and allow you to later add the missing information. Once the missing information has been added and the specimens from the work in progress are added to the database, the work in progress will be deleted. (It will only be used once, instead of multiple times like templates.) Works in Progress can store placeholders for batches of specimens when the information is still incomplete. Other users within your group have access to Work in Progress records and can finish the batch process if needed. Works in Progress will be locked to the first person that begins editing the Work in Progress. To unlock the Work in Progress and allow another user to edit information, select a different template or close the Add Specimen Expert window.

To open and add data to a previously saved work in progress batch:

• Select Edit > Add Specimens > Add Specimen Expert from the menu bar at the top of the itBioPath application window. The Add Specimen Expert window will open.

• Select the work in progress that you would like to work on from the list on the left side of the window. The Works in Progress appear in the bottom portion of the list, in the “Work in Progress” folder. Select a Work in Progress from the list to display it on the right side of the window.

• Enter the remaining data for the batch — see Adding a Batch of Specimens Using the Add Specimen Expert Tool for specific instructions about entering data for the batch.

• When the information in the row is complete. Click the box at the beginning of the row. A check mark will appear in the box. Any row that remains unchecked will not be added to the database.

• Click the Add Specimen(s) button to add the entire batch of selected specimens to the database. The CC# field in each of the rows of the added specimens will be populated with the specimens' newly assigned Cancer Center number.

• If you have multiple specimens from the same new collection event and do not have an existing collection alias to link them together (such as the HCI Number), you should add just one of these specimens first, then once the new Collection ID has been generated, add the remaining samples with the correct Collection ID (see Customizing the Add Specimen Expert Tool to Streamline Specimen Batch Entry. If all of the specimens from a single new collection event are added at once without a collection alias they will each be given their own new Collection ID. Therefore, they will not be treated as a single collection event in the database.

• Instead of adding the specimens, you can save your work in progress again, if the batch is still incomplete, by clicking on the Save as Work in Progress button. The updated work in progress will replace the old one (unless you have changed the Name field — see Saving a Batch of Specimens to be Added as a Work in Progress).

• Upon successfully adding the specimens to the database, the Add Results window will appear with a summary of the specimens added. This window allows you to also print barcodes for the specimens or export the summary in Excel spreadsheet format (see the upper right corner of the window). Close the window once you have finished with the summary. The Work in Progress will also be removed from the list on the left side of the window, since the batch has now been completed.