Configuring Equipment for Interfacing in the QEST Web App

Applies to QEST Web App

This article describes how to configure equipment items in the QEST Platform in order to transfer data electronically.

Overview

Laboratory equipment often allows for electronic data collection, typically via an RS-232 or USB port. The QEST Web App can communicate with the equipment for the collection of data that would otherwise need to be typed in manually by an operator. This article describes how to configure equipment items in the QEST Platform in order to transfer data electronically.

Prior to beginning this configuration, an appropriate driver must be configured by a system administrator for the purpose of parsing the data that the equipment sends. Please see Configuring Equipment Drivers for the QEST Web App for information on how to configure equipment drivers in the QEST Web App.

Configuring an equipment driver in the QEST Web App requires system administrator user rights.

QEST Web App Equipment Interfacing Requirements

Equipment interfacing in the QEST Web App requires that the specific conditions listed below are met. If these are not met, equipment interfacing will not function.

A Chromium (e.g. Google Chrome) browser should be used since equipment interfacing makes use of the Web Serial API present in these browsers.
A PC (desktop or laptop) version of the browser is used to enter data. Tablets and other mobile devices do not support equipment interfacing.
The above also means that equipment interfacing is not available when viewing worksheets through the QESTLab client.

The following will be shown in the information dialog on a non-Chromium browser for a balance that has been configured for interfacing:

Supported Equipment Items

The QEST Web App supports equipment interfacing for the following equipment types:

Balances

Equipment Configuration

Once the above pre-requisites have been met, the equipment item that is to be configured for interfacing will need to be set up in the following manner.

COM Port Settings

The following COM port settings will need to be entered on the Interface tab of the equipment item in QESTLab.

Setting	Value

Setting	Value
ComPort	The COM port number that the equipment item is connected to
ComPortSettings	The specific settings for communicating with the equipment item. These are defined in the format `<Baud rate>,<Parity>,<Data bits>,<Stop bits>` e.g. `9600,n,8,1`

For the purposes of QEST Web App Equipment Interfacing, the Connected to PC and Driver as well as the Make equipment available for use with these tests can be ignored on the Interface tab. These three setting are only used when Configuring Equipment Interfacing in QESTLab.

Driver Selection

The appropriate QEST Web App equipment driver must be selected on the Properties tab of the equipment item.

Upon selecting the driver some general information is shown about the equipment that the driver is intended to be used with to assist with selection of the correct driver.

After completing this setup the equipment item is ready to interface data to QEST Web App Worksheets as described in Using Interfaced Equipment in QEST Web App.

QEST Platform 5.2 and 5.3 Documentation