Parameters

Permissions and access

Minimum role: Lab manager
Client type: web client

The Data Governance - Parameters tab lets you create parameters for defining and managing any type of factor that can be measured or counted in a research experiment. Any factor variable that can qualitatively or quantatively measured may be defined as a parameter.

Parameters are associated to domains, which are used to categorize parameters.

The list of parameters can be sorted by clicking on the following columns:

• Parameter Name - sort parameter objects by parameter name in ascending and descending alphanumeric order

• Data Type - sort parameter objects by their data type value in ascending and descending alphanumeric order

• Modeling Type - sort parameter objects by their modeling type value in ascending and descending alphanumeric order

• Unit - sort parameter objects by unit symbol in ascending and descending alphanumeric order

• Domain - sort parameter objects by their associated domain name values in ascending and descending alphanumeric order

Create a parameter

To create a parameter:

1. On the Data Governance - Parameters view, click or tap the New Parameter button.

   

   The New Parameter dialog appears.

   

2. In the Select Place in Hierarchy left panel, select a domain to be related to the new parameter.

3. In the Parameter Name field, type a unique parameter name.

4. In the Data Type field, select a data type from the drop-down list, which determines how values are stored and used:

   • Character - is used for string values containing alphanumeric characters and unicode symbols

   • Numeric - is used for exact and approximate numeric values, on which operations may be performed

   • DateTime - is used for storing and displaying date and time values.

     When you select this data type, the Display Format field becomes enabled. In the Display Format field, select a format for date-time values to be displayed within the CoBaseKRM application.

5. In the Modeling Type field, select a modeling type from the drop-down list:

   • Continuous - numeric data type that are used in operations and represents a range of numeric values

   • Ordinal - numeric or character data values that belong to categories with a specific order

   • Nominal - a character data type that belong to categories with no intrinsic order. You can define a set of nominal values and acceptable variants for a parameter of a nominal modeling type. When spreadsheets and data tables containing nominal parameters are selected for upload, the web client will validate nominal level values. The web client will allow users to take action if the system discovers any invalid nominal level values.

     To define nominal level values for a nominal parameter:

     • Click the Nominal Levels drop-down field to display the first input field for a nominal level value.

       

     • In the input field, type a string value of alphanumeric characters for the nominal level value.

     • To define acceptable variants for a nominal level value:

       • Click the Add Variant to Nominal Level (+) button to the right of a nominal level field to display an indented input field.

         

       • In the indented input field, type a string value of alphanumeric characters, representing the acceptable variant.

     • To define additional nominal values, click the Add Nominal Level button and type a valid nominal level value.

       

6. Optional: For a unit defined with a numeric data type, select a value in the Unit drop-down field.

7. Click or tap the Create Parameter button.

   The new parameter is created and saved in the database.

Edit a parameter

You can only edit the name, unit of measurement, description, and associated domain of a parameter and save the changes to the database.

To edit a parameter:

1. On the Data Governance - Parameters tab, click or tap the Edit icon within the same row as the parameter that you want to edit.

   

   The Parameter Name, Unit, Description, and Domain fields within the row of the parameter become editable.

   

2. Edit the name, unit of measurement, description, and associated domain of the given parameter, as needed.

3. Click or tap the Save icon .

   The editing changes are saved for the parameter.

Archive a parameter

CoBaseKRM supports the ability to archive a parameter to remove it from active use.

Note

You can only archive a parameter if:

- it is not defined in an existing template, either as a variable, factor, or response; and

- it doesn't have existing observation values saved in the database

To archive a parameter:

1. On the Data Governance - Parameters view, click or tap the Archive icon for the parameter that you want to delete.

   The Archive Parameter dialog appears.

   

   Note

   To cancel archiving, click or tap Cancel.

2. To confirm that you want to archive the selected parameter, type the exact name of the parameter in the case-sensitive input field.

3. Click or tap Archive.

   The parameter is removed from the Parameters tab and is displayed on the list of archived parameters.