A Non-Description Tech's Guide

FAQ Table of Contents

Introduction

This guide covers 16 of the most commonly asked questions by description and paleontology scientists about DESClogik. The guide is intended to assist technicians and scientists when the Description technician is unavailable.

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Scientists are responsible for entering paleo and smear slide samples in Sample Master. For most paleo samples, these will be taken off of the PAL whole round. Paleo samples are then children of the PAL with the test being their respective paleontological sub-discipline. Smear slide samples will be children of either the archive or working section-halves, and are designated by the test "ss". Two quick guides have been created for entering paleo and smear slide samples into Sample Master. These are usually given to the scientists before our first core. These guides are located on Confluence and within the following folder: V:\IODP_Share\ALL things DESClogik\Technician Guides and Quick Starts.

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NOTE: Paleontologists have to filter by Sample types and Test list, so, which boxes to check depend on how they have entered their sample into Sample Master. Common sample types are "TPCK" for nannofossils, diatoms and radiolarians, and OTHER "OTHR" for foraminifera (forams). Ignore test list types FORAMB and FORAMP. For pale samples, careful that you do not enter paleo data on chemistry samples. Test filters are pretty straightforward as long as samples were created with the correct test. A paleo example is shown in Figure 3 below.

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• To Download data: the preferred method is to download by "Hole". To do this, select "Hole" from sample types within the "Select Sample" icon. Click the "Download" icon. Downloading by hole will give you all the data for that template and for that hole.
•  Alternatively, the user can select a set of samples by highlighting samples from the Sample list window shown within the "Select Sample" icon. This method is preferred if there is a large amount of data.

NOTE: If you do not see your data,  first try and download by Hole. This will catch all sample types entered as well as all depths. Potential mistakes are that data has been assigned to the wrong sample or that depths have shifted and need to be re-calculated in Sample Master. It is also possible that data was not uploaded, or it has been cancelled. If this is the case see a DESC tech. 

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• Deleting means clearing un-uploaded data.
• Canceling means deleting downloaded data. Deleting downloaded data means that you are erasing these values from the database. Canceling values is very hard to un-do, and should only be done by qualified users.
• To delete data in a single cell: use the delete key.
• To delete an entire row: right click on the row number and select "clear row". A warning will appear.
• To delete data from the whole sheet or whole template, click the "Clear" icon.

8. How do I export an Excel copy of my data?

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• First download all relevant sample data

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• Click the green " Excel Export

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• " icon (Figure 5)
• Check the box "Data

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• Only" and hit "O.K

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• "; the "Include classifications" box is automatically checked and should be. This will export an Excel workbook with everything downloaded, if you do not check this box you will get a blank Excel workbook with only the column header names.

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• These can be useful if scientists (usually structural geologists) wish to record

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• their observations and measurements

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• by hand. However, this is typically discouraged because it's double the work and prone to entry mistakes.
• To download and export all

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• data on every tab

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• ,

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• check the "All Tabs" box before downloading, and leave it checked when exporting (Figure 5).

NOTE,the export : Export progress window will often hang after it finishes, you can just . If this happens, close the window with the red "x" in the corner and all will be well.

Figure 5. Exporting Data as an Excel Workbook.

9. How do I import data to my template?

• Importing data from Excel can be

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• tricky. We suggest importing data at a minimum, and if you do import data do so with care.
• In general: simply copy and paste in from

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• Excel

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• . Make sure that

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• columns are

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• the same, and

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• that samples are labeled correctly

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• .
• DO NOT copy the depths

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• . Offsets are okay

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• .
• DESClogik  automatically calculates depths (from Sample Master) once the samples,

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• and corresponding intervals, are pasted in.

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• It is suggest to copy and paste in two chunks

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• .
• Once you are happy with your import, click "Upload".

NOTE: It is very easy to mess up which data goes with which sample, especially . Especially since the cell you click to paste in will auto populate with whatever the sample is loaded selected from the "Select Sample globe" icon. This auto populated sample will be overwritten , so no worries there. Lastly, hit Uploadby your import; however, it can add to confusion.

10. How do I move, widen, or remove columns/Can I change the look of my template?

Scientists have a few options when it comes to customizing their templates. They can widen :

• Widen and shrink columns

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• Hide and unhide columns
• Change the background colour
• Sort the sublist by most frequently used

as well by right clicking, choosing Edit Visibility, checking and unchecking the list of all columns. Data associated columns will not disappear, the column will just have to be unhidden in order to download data. These permissions are set by the DESC administrator, so some features may not be available. Changes can be saved permanently or per session; a dialogue warning will appear after each action (Figure 6).
NOTE: changes saved will apply to all users of the template, and some might not like what one person has done.

Figure 6. Template Changes Warning

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