LoadPlate method

Description

VWorks software calls the LoadPlate method to tell the plugin to accept the specified labware from the robot. Then robot does one of the following:

•	Loads the labware to the specified location

•	Places the labware on the storage device’s handoff location, and the storage device loads the labware to the specified location

VWorks software calls this method each time a Load task is executed during a protocol run.

IMPORTANT VWorks software always calls the LookupLocations method before the LoadPlate and UnloadPlate methods. See “LookupLocations method” and “UnloadPlate method” .

Syntax

 

HRESULT LoadPlate( [in] BSTR Labware, [in] enum PlateFlagsType PlateFlags, [in] BSTR LoadPlateLocationXML, [out,retval] enum ReturnCode *retVal );

Parameters

 

Labware	[in] The labware name.
PlateFlags	[in] Specifies whether the labware has a lid, is sealed, or neither. Possible values: 0 = The labware does not have a lid and is not sealed 1 = The labware has a lid 2 = The labware is sealed
LoadPlateLocationXML	[in] A StorageLocation XML block that contains information about the location on the storage device to which the specified labware is to be loaded.
retVal	[out, retval] Returns an error code. For more information, see “ReturnCode enumerated type” . Possible values: 0 = The request was completed (RETURN_SUCCESS) 1 = Something was wrong with the input, so the request was not completed (RETURN_BAD_ARGS) 2 = The request was not completed (RETURN_FAIL)

LoadPlate method input

VWorks software passes a StorageLocation XML block into the LoadPlateLocationXML parameter of the LoadPlate method.

StorageLocation XML block

The StorageLocation XML block contains the StorageLocation element and all its children. This XML block provides information about the location on the storage device, including the cassette/slot coordinates, that is used for a Load or Unload task.

XML structure

The value of the file attribute for the Velocity11 element is MetaData. See “Velocity11 element” .

 

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='ASCII'> <Velocity11> <StorageLocation> <Coordinates> <StorageLocationCoordinate Name='Cassette' ... /> <StorageLocationCoordinate Name='Slot' ... /> </Coordinates> <Location /> </StorageLocation> </Velocity11>

StorageLocation element

The StorageLocation element has two children: Coordinates and Location.

Coordinates element

The Coordinates element contains two StorageLocationCoordinate elements.

StorageLocationCoordinate element

Each StorageLocationCoordinate element has one of the following pairs of Name and Value attributes:

 

Name	Value
Name Value	The value Cassette. The name of the cassette. Note: The cassette name was received with a previous call to the GetMetaData method. See IWorksDriver “GetMetaData method” .
Name Value	The value Slot. The name of the slot. Note: The slot name was received with a previous call to the GetMetaData method. See IWorksDriver “GetMetaData method” .

Location element

The Location element contains information about the location on the storage device. The Location element is defined in “Location element” .

Example of LoadPlate method input

The following sample code is a StorageLocation XML block that is received by the plugin from VWorks software as a string in the LoadPlateLocationXML parameter of the LoadPlate method. VWorks software tells the plugin to accept a labware from the robot. Then the robot is to load the specified labware to the location named Primary (Load/Unload) Pad, which is one of the StoreX device’s external locations.

 

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='ASCII' ?> <Velocity11 file='MetaData' md5sum='3787f34ae05399b617f2cf072129fb4a' version='1.0' > <StorageLocation > <Coordinates > <StorageLocationCoordinate Name='Cassette' Value='1' /> <StorageLocationCoordinate Name='Slot' Value='1' /> </Coordinates> <Location Group='0' MaxStackHeight='460' Name='Primary (Load/Unload) Pad' →Offset='0' Type='4' /> </StorageLocation> </Velocity11>

Related information

 

For information about...	See...
LookupLocations method	“LookupLocations method”
MakeLocationAvailable method	“MakeLocationAvailable method”
ReturnCode enumerated type	“ReturnCode enumerated type”
UnloadPlate method	“LoadPlate method”