Multi Group Set Up

openBIS can be configured to be used by multiple groups, where every group only sees their own group Spaces. This configuration needs to be done by a system admin, as described here.

In the example below we see two groups: RDM and ETHRDH. For each group, in the Inventory, there area n Equipment, a Materials, a Methods and a Publications Spaces with the group prefix. In the lab notebook, each group member has a personal Space where the name is the group prefix and the username of the user.

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It is possible to configure the user management configuration file (sys admin) not to create user Spaces for a given group, in case one group prefers to organise their notebook by project, rather than by group members, as described here.

In a multi group instance users are automatically registered and the roles defined in the user management configuration file on the server are automatically assigned to them. There is a maintenance task that runs in the background at a frequency determined by the system admin. This can be once per day or several times per day. If there are new users, they will be added to openBIS when the maintenance task runs.

An instance admin can assign additional roles to users from the admin interface (User Registration). Default roles defined in the user management configuration file and automatically assigned cannot be removed, because they will be assigned again automatically by openBIS when the maintenance task runs.

We would recommend to assign SPACE_USER rights for the Inventory Spaces to every group user and SPACE_ADMIN rights for their own lab notebook. This can be specified in the user management configuration file by the system admin.

In the user management configuration file, one or more admins for each group can be designated. The group admin has by default SPACE_ADMIN rights to all the Spaces of their group. A group admin can customise the Group ELN Settings for the group.

General ELN Settings

In a multi-group instance an Instance admin can customise the General ELN Settings.

The Settings can be access from the main menu, under Utilities.

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The General ELN Settings are Settings that are not specific to any of the defined groups group , as shown below.

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The General ELN Settings consist of two parts:

  1. Instance Settings. These settings affect the whole instance, it is not possible to customise them on a group level.

  2. Group Settings. These settings affect all general Spaces that do not belong to any group defined in the configuration file (see openBIS set up for multi group instances). This is the case, for example, if Spaces are manually created and they do not belong to any group (see Create new ELN Spaces).

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Spaces that do not belong to any group do not have a group prefix. In the example below Publications do not belong to any group in the Inventory.

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and Horizon, Snf do not belong to any group in the Lab notebook.

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Instance Settings

  1. Custom widgets. This section allows to enable the Rich Text Editor or Spreadsheet component for a given field, as described in Enable Rich Text Editor or Spreadsheet Widgets;

  2. Forced Monospace Font. This section allows to force the use of monospace font (i.e. fixed width) for selected MULTILINE_VARCHAR properties. This is useful for example for plasmid sequences.

  3. Dataset types for filenames. This section allows to associate files with a given extension to a specific dataset type, as described in Associate File Types to Dataset Types.

Group Settings

  1. Storages. In this section the storages for samples to be used in Spaces not belonging to any predefined group (see above), can be created, as described in Configure Lab Storage;

  2. Templates. In this section, the templates for a given Object type to be used in Spaces not belonging to any predefined group (see above) can be created, as described in Create Templates for Objects;

  3. Object types definition extension. In this section, it is possible to:

    1. Define if one Object type is a protocol. If an Object type is defined as a protocol, it is possible to create a local copy of it under an Experiment, when linking to it as a parent, as described in Enable Protocols in Settings;

    2. Enable the storage widget for an Object type, as described in Enable Storage Widget on Sample Forms

    3. Define if the Object type should be shown in drop downs, as described in Enable Objects in dropdowns;

    4. Define if the Object type should be shown in the main menu under the Lab notebook section. By default objects are not shown in the main menu in the Inventory section.

    5. Customise the Parents and Children sections for an Object type as described in Customise Parents and Children Sections in Object Forms;

  4. Inventory Spaces. It is possible to move Spaces from the Inventory section to the Lab notebook section and vice-versa as described in Move Spaces between Lab Notebook and Inventory

  5. Main menu. The main menu for the Spaces that do not belong to any predefined group (see above) can be customised here, as described in Customise the Main Menu;

  6. Miscellaneous. In this section it is possible to:

    1. Show the dataset archiving buttons in Spaces that do not belong to any predefined group. Please note that this is not available by default, but the infrastructure for archiving to tapes (StrongBox/StrongLink) needs to be put in place by a system admin (Multi data set archiving).

    2. Hide sections by default in Spaces that not belong to any predefined group. By default some sections in some forms are hidden:

      1. Description in Spaces and Projects.

      2. Identification info in Spaces, Projects, Experiments, Objects, Datasets.

By unchecking this option, these sections will be shown by default.

Updated on April 26, 2023

Group ELN Settings

In a multi group instance a group admin or Instance admin can customise the ELN Settings for the group.

The group Settings can be selected from the Settings in the main menu.

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The Settings for the relevant group can be selected from the available dropdown, as shown below.

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In the group settings the following is configurable:

  1. Storages. In this section the group storages for samples can be created, as described in Configure Lab Storage;

  2. Templates. In this section, the templates for a given Object type can be created, as described in Create Templates for Objects;

  3. Object types definition extension. In this section, it is possible to:

    1. Define if one Object type is a protocol. If an Object type is defined as a protocol, it is possible to create a local copy of it under an Experiment, when linking to it as a parent, as described in Enable Protocols in Settings;

    2. Enable the storage widget for an Object type, as described in Enable Storage Widget on Sample Forms

    3. Define if the Object type should be shown in drop downs, as described in Enable Objects in dropdowns;

    4. Define if the Object type should be shown in the main menu under the Lab notebook section. By default objects are not shown in the main menu in the Inventory section.

    5. Customise the Parents and Children sections for an Object type as described in Customise Parents and Children Sections in Object Forms;

  4. Inventory Spaces. It is possible to move Spaces from the Inventory section to the Lab notebook section and vice-versa as described in Move Spaces between Lab Notebook and Inventory

  5. Main menu. The main menu for the group can be customised here, as described in Customise the Main Menu;

  6. Miscellaneous. In this section it is possible to:

    1. Show the dataset archiving buttons for the group. Please note that this is not available by default, but the infrastructure for archiving to tapes (StrongBox/StrongLink) needs to be put in place by a system admin (Multi data set archiving).

    2. Hide sections by default. By default some sections in some forms are hidden:

      1. Description in Spaces and Projects.

      2. Identification info in Spaces, Projects, Experiments, Objects, Datasets.

By unchecking this option, these sections will be shown by default.

Updated on April 26, 2023