How to find Container Restrictions

Use Case:
A biobank creates a freezer (Freezer A) meant to store specimens from a new COVID-19 study. Initially, only Whole Blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid are collected, so the parent container is restricted to these specimen types. Later, the study protocol is updated to include Plasma and Serum.

Since the restrictions were applied at the parent level, the user only needs to update the parent container. All child containers within Freezer A (e.g., Rack 1, Rack 2, etc.) automatically allow the new specimen types, ensuring consistency.

Behavior: Restrictions applied to the parent container are automatically inherited by all child containers (e.g., racks, shelves, boxes). If you update the restriction at the parent level, all child containers reflect the change.

Use Case:
In the same Freezer A, a specific rack (Rack B) is dedicated exclusively to store Whole Blood samples. The lab admin applies restrictions directly on Rack B, limiting it to only accepting Whole Blood.

Later, when the parent (Freezer A) is updated to allow Plasma and Serum, Rack B will still only allow Whole Blood, preserving the original intent for that specific child container.

Behavior: Restrictions are applied directly to individual child containers, within the bounds of the parent container’s allowed specimen types. In this case, even if the parent is updated later, changes will not automatically reflect on the child.

Freezer A
└── Rack 1
└── Box 1

Example: Consider a 3-level hierarchy above, and for box M802R1B2, you want to check for restrictions.

1. Check the ‘Specimen Type’ field:

   1. If it is not blank, this means the restrictions are added to the individual child container, and updating the restrictions will get your job done.

   2. If it is blank, this means the restrictions are inherited from the parent.

      Open

      

2. Trace the hierarchy:

   1. Start with Box 1 → check its parent: Rack 1

   2. If Rack 1 has restrictions, → update those and you're done.

   3. If Rack 1 has no restrictions, → go one level up to Freezer A

Read the page below for steps