From the Add a Container page, new containers can be added to your inventory. It is possible to add more than one container of the same substance at a time using the Quick Add tool.
The Add a Container page is broken into two sections. On the left is an area where the information for the new container can be entered; and on the right substance information will be displayed before the new record is saved. The screenshot below shows an example entry for a new container of triphenylphosphine.
A range of data entry areas will be listed on the left side of the interface, where information for the new container record can be entered. There are two mandatory fields when adding a new container: Container Name and Location.
ChemInventory includes a range of default fields to store information, such as Container Size and Supplier. Any custom fields that are defined in your inventory will be listed under the default fields on the left side. In the screenshot above, two custom fields are shown (Expiry Date and Product Code).
If your inventory uses barcoding, you can scan a barcode number you wish to assign to the container into the Barcode field or type it in manually. For an overview about container barcoding, refer to the barcoding support page .
Most fields in ChemInventory are text-based, meaning that any value can be saved in them. Some fields, however, may be saved with a different data type. For example, an Expiry Date custom field would usually be defined with the date data type.
The data type will change how you can interact with the field. For example, a pop-up calendar will be displayed when editing a date field. Likewise, when modifying a tags field you will only be able to enter applicable values which have been predefined by administrators. More information about custom field data types can be found on its support page .
ChemInventory will use the CAS number entered to identify the substance held in a container. This information is used to automatically assign synonyms, GHS information and the chemical's structure to the new record.
Some containers, such as proprietary mixtures or in-house made compounds, may not have a CAS number associated with them. In these situations, the CAS number field can simply be left blank (or the no CAS number? link can be clicked). The system will attempt to use the container name you've entered to identify the substance to prepopulate substance information; for example to load a structure automatically if you have saved this previously.
Currently only one number can be assigned to a container at a time. When adding a new container which is made up of multiple different substances, such as a mixture, we recommend that either the most hazardous or most prevalent component is entered as the container's primary CAS number. The CAS numbers associated with any secondary components can be added to the Comments field or to a custom field.
After you have completed initial information for the new container on the left side of the page, the system will attempt to use the CAS number entered to identify chemical information to be linked to the new record. If a CAS number is not entered, the system will use the value entered into the Container Name field instead. Any substance information found will be displayed on the page's right side, including the chemical structure and GHS safety information.
If any substance custom fields have been defined for your inventory, these will be listed under the GHS safety summary. If you modify any of these fields, the value you enter will be updated for any existing containers of the same substance. More information about substance fields can be found on the custom fields support page .
For compounds which are commercially available, the system will render the structure without any further information needed from you. For in-house made compounds, or those without a CAS number, you will be prompted to draw a structure if you wish.
Any chemical information you save for custom compounds will remain private to your inventory; no other ChemInventory customers are able to view this information. Structures will be retained in your database for new containers that may be added in future, helping to cut back on data entry time.
The quick add tool offers a simplified interface to add containers to your inventory which are commercially available. It is only possible to add containers through the quick add tool which do have a CAS number.
To open the tool, click on the Quick Add button at the top of the fields list then enter the CAS number for the container. ChemInventory will pre-populate the container name for you automatically using substance information linked to the CAS number you supply.
Using the quick add tool, it is possible to add more than one container of the same substance at a time. For example, if you receive five identical bottles from a supplier, the tool will be the most efficient way to get the new records into your database. To add more than one record, click on the Adding Multiple Containers? link at the bottom of the tool.
If you would like to add multiple records for containers which are not identical, such as containers of different sizes, then the quick add tool should not be used. Instead, the Excel import tool may be more efficient.