The rule
A spreadsheet cannot put the lab back.
The Data section in Settings says it in one line: “A backup is the whole lab in one file, and the only one of the two you can restore from.” A spreadsheet lists what is there. It does not carry the full recorded history of each vial and item, the lab members as the app knows them, or the settings, so nothing can be restored from it.
The files side by side
What each file is for.
Settings, Data, Save the vial export or Share the vial export. Two spreadsheets: every vial recorded, in stock and removed, and the nitrogen fill log. For reading; it holds no Cold Storage items. Export inventory and fill-log records.
Reports on either dashboard, such as Inventory snapshot or Cold Storage inventory. A dated PDF and its data as CSV, for a reviewer, an inspector or the lab's own records. Prepare and export a report.
Export current inventory in the Cold Storage importer. Cold Storage as it is now, in the importer's columns. It can rebuild items and their places in an empty CryoIndex, but not their history or who did what.
Settings, Data, Back up or restore, Save backup. The whole lab: the dewars and cabinets with everything recorded about their contents, the lab members, the fill log and the settings. The only file a restore reads. Create and check an external backup.
A backup is saved with up to five spreadsheet copies beside it: every vial, the fill log, the vials in stock in a form that can be imported again, and, for a lab with cabinets, their contents and layout. They are there for the day the backup file cannot be used. Importing the stock list brings back the vials but not their history.
Automatic copies hold the whole lab too, but they stay on the device. CryoIndex keeps them in its own storage on the tablet or PC, so they help after a mistake but are lost with the device. See Use an automatic copy after a mistake.
Which one to use
Match the file to the job.
- Someone needs to read the inventory, such as a collaborator, an inspector or a grant report: use a report, the vial export or the Cold Storage export.
- The lab must survive losing the device: save a backup somewhere other than the tablet or PC, on a schedule.
- The lab is moving to a new tablet or PC: save a backup on the old device and restore it on the new one. See Move CryoIndex to a replacement tablet.
- Something went wrong today: an automatic copy or a recent backup can be restored, for the whole lab or for one side. See Restore safely without merging inventories.
- The lab is starting from a spreadsheet: begin from the importer's blank template. The vial export includes removed vials, so it is not current stock. The Cold Storage export can be imported into an empty CryoIndex, without its history.