Quick Guide To Experimental Data

Overview

This guide explains a more advanced spreadsheet structure for materials processing, featuring two worksheets with sample data and process attributes. You can see the sheet here.

Spreadsheet Structure

The example consists of:

• A worksheet named “Annealing”

  • Two sample identifiers (S1 and S2)

  • Four distinct attributes, including a file attribute

• A worksheet named “SEM”

  • A single sample identified by S1

  • Three distinct attributes, including a file attribute

• The Sample S1 goes through two workflow steps: Annealing, then SEM

Attribute Types

The spreadsheet includes three different attributes that demonstrate various attribute types:

Sample Attribute

s:hardness

• Prefixed with s: to indicate a sample-specific attribute

• Directly associated with sample S1

• Used for material properties

s:grain size(microns)

• Prefixed with s: to indicate a sample-specific attribute

• Directly associated with sample S2

• Used for material properties

Process Attributes

p:time(h)

• Prefixed with p: to indicate a process attribute

• Measures annealing duration

• Unit: Hours (h)

• Associated with the annealing workflow

temperature(c)

• Defaults to process attribute (no prefix required)

• Measures annealing temperature

• Unit: Celsius (c)

• Associated with the annealing workflow

p:magnification

• Prefixed with p: to indicate a process attribute

• Measures annealing duration

• No units

• Associated with the SEM workflow

File Attributes

f:images

• Prefixed with f: to indicate a file attribute

• images in f:images is an optional category that means something to the researcher

• Can have more than one f: attribute in a worksheet

• Must specify the full path in the project in Materials Commons (Not path on your laptop)

Note

Attributes without explicit prefixes (s: or p:) are automatically treated as process attributes.

Note

There are no fixed unit designations. Use what makes sense to you. Consider documenting your units.

Note

You can have as many sample, process and file attributes as you like. You aren’t limited to one or a couple.

Prefix Convention

Prefix	Usage	Example
s:	Sample attributes	s:hardness
p:	Process/workflow attributes	p:time(h)
f:	Files	f:image
none	Default process attributes	temperature(c)

Tip

When creating new attributes, consider whether they describe the sample itself (use s:) or the process being performed (use p: or no prefix).

The Annealing worksheet looks as follows:

Sample Name	s:hardness	p:time(m)	temperature(c)	f:images
S1	4	100	300	/Study1/C38/1C09/images/*.tif
S2		200	350

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The SEM worksheet looks as follows:

Sample Name	s:grain size(microns)	p:magnification	f:images
S1	3	5	/Study1/C38/1C10/images/*.tiff