Designing protocols - 9.1 - Editing a protocol

It is often quicker and easier to edit a downloaded protocol than to design one from scratch.
Downloaded protocols are not locked, so you can change labware and reagents, add, re-order or
remove steps to meet your process requirements.

You may wish to use 'Save As' and rename your protocol, if you want to keep your downloaded copy unchanged (or you could always download it again). 

If you make a mistake when editing, you can use the undo and redo functions; these will work for multiple steps. 

Select an item or a step to see its properties. Some are only visible if you select 'Advanced'. Many properties are default values, set within firefly software, but you will need to set e.g. aspirate and dispense volumes. If you forget to set a property, firefly will warn you that it is missing.

9.1.1 Changing the target instrument

All firefly protocols are designed for a target instrument. If you need to change this, open Description, and click the Change button.

This opens the popup form to select an instrument type. Note that if you select a type which cannot support steps in your protocol, you will need to revise it to clear the errors.

9.1.2 Opening multiple protocols

If you want to work from an existing protocol without editing it e.g. to see how to create a particular sequence, you can:

1. Open the protocol you wish to edit, or set up firefly to create a new protocol.
2. Open another copy of the firefly software from the desktop shortcut.
3. Log in again. You will only see the option to load an existing protocol, not to design. Select the protocol you want to use as a master for your protocol. 

You'll notice that you will only see the Protocol functions in the second firefly window; this is to prevent conflicts so e.g. only the first copy opened can run a protocol (even in simulation) or send feedback.

 4.     You can now use the second protocol as a prompt, when designing your protocol.

5. You can select steps (the steps with grey backgrounds above) in the second protocol, copy them and paste them into your protocol if you want to use the sequence. You can add the steps to an existing protocol:

or use them to start a new protocol from scratch.

Note that only the protocol steps are copied, not the assets. You can see this most clearly in the example above, where there are no plates or tip boxes as there are in the original. You'll need to add these.

Next Article - Designing a protocol - 9.2 - Editing plates