GetTipStates method

Description

Gets the state of the tipboxes in the specified protocol for automated tip tracking.

Syntax

 

HRESULT GetTipStates( [in] BSTR protocol, [out] BSTR* TipStateXML, [out,retval] enum V11ReturnCode* returnCode );

Parameters

 

protocol	[in] The file path of the protocol.
TipStateXML	[out] Pointer to a variable that receives the current status of the tipboxes.

GetTipStates method output

The GetTipStates method returns an XML metadata string in the TipStateXML parameter.

XML structure

 

<Velocity11> <AllTipBoxStateQuery> <TipBoxStateQuery> <SingleTipBoxStateQuery> <TipBoxState> <PipetteHeadMode /> <TipPositions> <TipPosition State='0' > <Wells > <Well /> ... </Wells> </TipPosition> <TipPosition /> </TipPositions> </TipBoxState> </SingleTipBoxStateQuery> </TipBoxStateQuery> </AllTipBoxStateQuery> </Velocity11>

XML elements and attributes

The elements and attributes of interest to this method are described in this section. Velocity11 is the root element, and all other elements except PipetteHeadMode are container elements.

SingleTipBoxStateQuery element

The SingleTipBoxStateQuery element has the following attributes:

 

Attribute name	Value
InstanceOrLocationName	For process labware, the value is the labware instance of the tipbox. For configured labware, the value is the name of the location on the device where the tipbox has been placed.
ProcessLabware	Indicates the type of labware. Possible value: 0 = The tipbox is configured labware 1 = The tipbox is process labware
ProcessOrDeviceName	For process labware, the value is the name of the process by which the tipbox enters the system. For configured labware, the value is the name of the device on which the tipbox has been placed.

TipBoxState element

The TipBoxState element has the following attribute:

 

Attribute name	Description
NumWells	The number of wells (tips) in the tipbox.

TipPosition element

The TipPosition element has the following attribute:

 

Attribute name	Description
State	Indicates whether the tips have been used. Possible values: 0 = The tips have not been used 1 = The tips have been used

Well element

The Well element has the following attributes:

 

Attribute name	Description
Column	The column index of the tip, where 0 indicates the leftmost column.
Row	The row index of the tip, where 0 indicates the topmost row.

Example of GetTipStates method output

The following sample code is a truncated example of an XML metadata string that is returned by the GetTipStates method in the TipStateXML parameter. In this example, the tipbox contains only unused tips. The wells listed under <TipPosition State='0'> contain tips that have not been used. The wells listed under <TipPosition State='1'> contain tips that have been used.

 

<Velocity11 file='MetaData' md5sum='50a7e93353a1993ae7a53db21dd3a948' version='1.0' > <AllTipBoxStateQuery > <TipBoxStateQuery > <SingleTipBoxStateQuery InstanceOrLocationName='1' ProcessLabware='0' →ProcessOrDeviceName='Bravo - 1' > <TipBoxState NumWells='384' > <PipetteHeadMode Channels='1' ColumnCount='1' RowCount='1' →SubsetConfig='0' SubsetType='4' TipType='0' /> <TipPositions > <TipPosition State='0' > <Wells > <Well Column='0' Row='0' /> <Well Column='1' Row='0' /> ... <Well Column='22' Row='15' /> <Well Column='23' Row='15' /> </Wells> </TipPosition> <TipPosition State='1' /> </TipPositions> </TipBoxState> </SingleTipBoxStateQuery> </TipBoxStateQuery> </AllTipBoxStateQuery> </Velocity11>

Return value

The GetTipStates method returns the method-call status of type V11ReturnCode. For possible values, see “V11ReturnCode enumerated type” .

Sample code

Visual Basic .NET

 

Dim TipStateXML As String = "" Dim retCode As VWorks4Lib.V11ReturnCode retCode = oVWorksCOM.GetTipStates(“c:\myprotocol.pro”, TipStateXML)