User Manual for AAT Bioquest Device Cloud Software

Download and Installation

1. Download the latest version of AAT Bioquest Device Cloud.
2. Once download completes, double click "DeviceCloudSetup.exe" to begin installation. This process may take up to several minutes depending on your system configuration as well as pre-requisites that need to be installed (Figure 1).
3. Once installation is complete, Device Cloud should start automatically. If it does not, you can manually start Device Cloud by:
   • Double clicking the icon located on the desktop
   • Selecting Device Cloud from the Start Menu
4. Upon the first initialization of Device Cloud, you may be prompted to install additional software (Figure 2). This includes drivers required for many AAT Bioquest instrumentation and devices.
   • If you are not planning to utilize Device Cloud with any instruments, you may skip this installation step. Otherwise, click "yes" to continue.
   • Please note that you will need administrative privileges on your computer to complete this step.
5. After all installation steps are complete, the Device Cloud Main Panel should be visible in the system tray (Figure 3).

User Account and Sign In

1. The first time you run AAT Bioquest Device Cloud, you will be prompted with the Sign In Panel (Figure 4).
   • Please note that you will only have the option to sign in if you are already connected to the internet.
   • If you are not connected to the internet, Device Cloud will automatically switch you to offline mode, which uses a local account.
2. To begin the login process, enter the email address associated with your Device Cloud account.
   • This is the same email as your aatbio.com account, if you have made an account previously during the online shopping/checkout process on the aatbio.com website.
   • If you do not have an existing account, please create an account by clicking the link at the bottom of the Sign In Panel (Figure 4) before continuing.
   • If you do not remember you email address, please click the link at the top of the Sign In Panel for step regarding how to recover your email address (Figure 4).
   • If you wish to explicitly use the local account through Device Cloud offline mode, you may click on the arrow to display the advanced login options menu. From this menu, click "offline mode" and you will be placed into Device Cloud offline mode. In this mode, your data will not be synced with AAT Bioquest's cloud network.
3. If you are signing in using an email address, you will then be prompted to enter your password.
   • If you entered the wrong email address, you can click the link at the top of the Sign In Panel to return to the previous screen.
   • If you forgot your password, you can click "Forgot password?" to proceed with password recovery/reset.
4. If your login is successful, a progress bar will appear. During this time, the software will attempt to sync any existing account data with your local computer. This process may take up to one minute.
5. Once the login process is complete, the Sign In Panel will automatically be closed. If you check the Device Cloud Main Panel in the system tray, it should display your first name, last name and email address, confirming that you are logged in. It should also display that you are actively connected to the AAT Bioquest cloud network.

Device Cloud Main Panel

The Device Cloud Main Panel serves as the primary interface for users who choose to utilize Device Cloud products in offline mode. For logged in users, this panel serves to provide status updates about connectivity to AAT Bioquest's cloud network, syncing status, device status and sample history status.

1. The top bar displays your login status. In offline mode, this will display "Offline Mode" with an option to sign in. If you are already signed it, this will display your first and last name as well as your email address.
2. To the right of the sign in status display are three dots, which will pull up the "Advanced Configuration Menu" when clicked. The following menu options are available:
   • About - Displays the current software version number and other information pertaining to the Device Cloud software
   • Help - Opens a link to the online Device Cloud documentation
   • Sign in/Sign out - Depending on the current sign in status, this option allows either logging in or logging out of an account
   • Enable/Disable syncing - Allows you to manual turn off/on data syncing with AAT Bioquest's cloud network
   • Quit - Closes the Device Cloud software application
3. Below the top bar is the server status display. This will inform you of your current connectivity to the AAT Bioquest cloud network. It will notify you if there is a disruption is service, for example, due to internet connectivity loss. This area will also let you know the status of your data syncing, which works as follows:
   • For data syncing to occur, you must be connected to the internet, logged in to a Device Cloud account and have data syncing enabled (default)
   • If internet connectivity is lost during device usage, Device Cloud will attempt to sync at the next opportunity
   • If data syncing is disabled and then re-enabled, Device Cloud will sync all data recorded since the data syncing was disabled
4. Below the server status display is the "Device manager" display. Any active and connected devices will be displayed in this area. The device will appear as its product name (i.e. CytoCyte Fluorometer) along with its unique device id (found printed on the device itself) and connected computer port (i.e. COM1). The full device text will appear as a hyperlink, which can be clicked on to bring up the Active Device Panel. The device status can be one of three states:
   • No devices found. - Device Cloud has not identified any valid devices connected to the local computer. If you believe this message to be in error, please consult the corresponding device troubleshooting guide for further instructions.
   • Searching for devices... - Device Cloud has identified a potential device and is waiting for the device to fully initialize
   • Device name (i.e. CytoCite Fluorometer (Id: XXXXXXXXXX, Port: COM1)) - Device Cloud has successfully paired with device. Device is now available for use.
5. The final section of the Device Cloud Main Panel is the series history display. This shows the most recent series read for a given device as hyperlinks. Clicking on any of the links will bring up the Sample Panel pre-populated with data from the selected series. There is additionally an option at the end called, "View all samples", which will bring up the Series Selection Panel and allow you to view all series for your account.

Active Device Panel

The Active Device Panel is the primary interface for reading samples while in offline mode, although it is also accessible when logged into a Device Cloud account. The Active Device Panel is instantiated for a given device. Thus, if two devices are connected simultaneously, there can be up to two Active Device Panels, one for each device. The device associated with a given panel can be determined by looking at the device name located on the top title bar. Please ensure that this name matches the expected device name. The Active Device Panel has the following features:

1. The top left input will be for the "series name". This may be thought of as an experimental set and is a means to group several samples together. For example, when measuring a calibration curve, there may be several samples at different concentrations. The series name may thus be "Calibration curve". By default, the "series name" is "Series ##", with ## auto-incrementing for every device session.
2. The input below the series name input is the "sample name" input. This may be thought of as a replicate or condition within an experimental set. The sample name must be unique within a given series. Otherwise, the existing sample with the given name will be overwritten. By default, the "sample name" is "Sample ##", with ## auto-incrementing for every device read.
3. Below the two inputs is the "Read sample" button which will begin the sample read process for the given device. A status bar will display upon successful initiation of device read (Figure 6). Depending on the device and sample, the read process may take several seconds to a few minutes. Once the read is complete, the output will appear in place of the progress circle (Figure 7).
   • Note that it is possible for a device read to fail, with message "Failed to complete". If this occurs, please consult the troubleshooting guide of your particular device for further instructions
   • If your device output includes a standard deviation, this is the standard deviation across sampling for the device. Depending on the device, this can be several hundred to several thousand samples per read.
4. On the right hand side of the Active Device Panel is the "Sample History" list. This will display all of the series read on the given device.
   • Note that this only displays series read on the given device. For all series associated with a Device Cloud account, either use the "View all samples" link located on the Device Cloud Main Panel or visit the online display here. The online display will only be available if syncing is enabled on a valid Device Cloud account.
   • Double clicking on any series name will open the particular series in the Sample Panel
   • Right-clicking a series will bring up a menu with up to two options:
     1. Rename - Option allows you to change the name of a given series. This will change the series name of all the samples associated with the series as well
     2. Delete - Option allows you to delete an entire series. Please note that this function is non-reversible. Deleted series are permanently deleted and irretrievable.
   • Selecting a series and then clicking "Export selected" will export the given data series as an Excel file (*.xlsx). If Microsoft Excel is not available on the given computer, the file will be exported as a comma separated file (*.csv) instead. To export all samples, select "All samples" before clicking the export button.

Sample Panel

The Sample Panel is the primary method to view sample data while in offline mode. It can be accessed on a per series basis by one of three methods: double clicking a series in the "Sample history" list of an Active Device Panel, clicking the series in the "Latest Readings" section of the Device Cloud Main Panel, or by clicking the series from the Series Selection Panel.

1. The column headers can be clicked to reversibly sort the sample data for a given series.
2. To delete a sample, select the entire row by first clicking the open cell on the left and then hitting the "delete" key. Note that this process is irreversible, deleted samples cannot be recovered.
3. To rename a sample, click the cell containing the sample name twice or click the cell once and press the "F2" key. Type in the new sample name and then press "enter" when complete to save the new sample name.
4. The series table can be copied by conventional methods such as "ctrl + c". It can then be pasted directly into spreadsheet software such as Excel. Alternatively, data can be exported directly either through the Active Device Panel or through the Series Selection Panel.

Series Selection Panel

The Series Selection Panel can be accessed by clicking "View all samples" located on the Device Cloud Main Panel.

1. The column headers can be clicked to reversibly sort the series
2. Double clicking a series row will bring up the series sample data in a Sample Panel
3. To delete a series, select the entire row by first clicking the open cell on the left and then hitting the "delete" key. Note that this process is irreversible, deleted series cannot be recovered. Multiple series can be deleted simultaneously by selecting multiple rows before hitting the "delete" key.
4. To rename a series, click the cell containing the series name twice or click the cell once and press the "F2" key. Type in the new series name and then press "enter" when complete to save the new series name. Note that this will change the series name for all associated samples.
5. The series table can be copied by conventional methods such as "ctrl + c". It can then be pasted directly into spreadsheet software such as Excel.
6. If a series was obtained using a device which has not been paired with the given local Device Cloud software, it will show up as only its device id, rather than its full device name. This may occur if, for example, the data was read on a different computer and then synced over to the current local computer.
7. To export a series directly to Excel, simply select the row and click "Export selected". Multiple rows can be simultaneously exported by highlighting multiple rows before clicking "Export selected". Note that export to Excel is only available if Microsoft Excel is installed on the current computer. If it is not installed, data will be exported as comma separated values (*.csv) instead.