LabMaestro User Interface Actions & Customization
The LabMaestro user interface (UI) offers multiple ways to simplify and perform operations, ensuring that building your experiment is a smooth process.
UI Actions
Adding Elements From The Project Panel
LabMaestro’s Project panel lets you build your entire experiment structure within it. Using right-clicks and selecting the Add menu, you will be prompted to add context-relevant elements to your experiment timeline.
As an example;
From Experiment Design, you can add a Timeline or Method component.
From a Method component, you can add a Timeline.
From a Timeline component, you can add an Epoch or Conditional Branch component.
From an Epoch component, you can add a Region or Command component.
From a Region component, you can add a Pattern component.
From a Conditional Branch, you can add an Epoch or a Conditional Branch component.
From Environment, you can add a Display or a VPixx Device.
From Resources, you can upload image or sound files to use in your project.
If you wish to quickly add elements to your project without engaging with the Timeline Window, you can perform these operations from the Project panel.
Adding Elements From The Timeline Window
If you prefer using the Timeline Window to build your structure, right-clicking in the relevant regions of the Timeline Window will display the same contextual menu.
Right-clicking inside a Timeline component will prompt you to add an Epoch or a Conditional Branch Component.
Right-clicking inside an Epoch component will prompt you to add a Region or a Command component.
Right-clicking a Region component will prompt you to add a Pattern component.
Dragging Components to the Timeline Window
If you prefer, you can directly drag components from the Component Library to either the Project Panel or the Timeline Window. You can only drag components into the same areas where you can add them through the Add menu (e.g., you can drag an Epoch under a Timeline, but not under a Method or a Region). As such, you cannot break your experiment logic by adding a component to the wrong area.
From Version 1.11.0 onwards, you can also drag and edit Regions and Patterns components directly on the Timeline Preview.
Copy/Paste
LabMaestro supports the copy/paste functions to allow you to quickly replicate components you may need multiple times throughout your experiment. Similarly to dragging components from the component library, you can only paste a component to an area in which it can be added from the Add menu.
Undo/Redo
From version 1.11.0 onward, LabMaestro also supports undo/redo. For more information on what components and operations are compatible with these functions, please refer to this page.
UI Customization
The LabMaestro UI layout can also be customized to your preferences. Your UI preferences are saved when you exit the LabMaestro application, but you can modify them at any time, either manually or by enabling/disabling windows on the View tab.
In the View tab, under Layouts, two default UI layouts are offered to users.
Builder View
The Builder view is the default view for LabMaestro. This includes all windows relevant for building your experiment. This layout is covered in detail in theIntroduction to the LabMaestro User Interface.
The Builder view is intended for users who want to use the full functionality of LabMaestro, both as a UI for configuring VPixx devices and as an experiment builder.
Config View
The Config view is a simplified layout that disables windows and panels related to the experiment builder. In this view, the Variables, Properties, and Component Library panels are disabled, leaving only the Timeline/Device Previews and the Project panel.
The Config view is intended for users who rely on LabMaestro for device management and calibration but run their experiments with third-party software.
Moving/Resizing UI Elements
If you wish to customize your layout further, you can drag/drop any panel from the LabMaestro UI to your preferred location on the top, bottom, left, or right areas of the UI. Click and hold the window heading (where its name is displayed) and move it with your mouse.
If you wish to resize a window, click and hold one of its borders; your cursor will turn into a directional arrow. You can then adjust the window to the desired size along the dimension indicated by the arrow widget.