Slide numbers are not identical in all companies, but in many cases they are "constructed" from the animal number and the block number. Therefore REGINA3 provides a flexible "slide number format definition module" which you should use to customize your slide number format. Once the format is defined, REGINA3 "creates" the slide numbers automatically for you (according to the specified "rules") when you enter your findings.

To activate this module, select the option "Slide number format" from the F10=Customize pull-down menu on the main screen. REGINA3 displays a data entry screen, which is more or less self-explanatory: You are able to surround the animal number as well as the block number with additional text information, to define the character, which should be used to separate the animal number from the block number, and to define the number of digits used to display the animal number. All this may be useful to set-up a format which is identical to the information printed on your slides.

Please note:

• Some companies use an abbreviation for the sex as part of their slide numbers. You can also instruct REGINA3 to do so by entering the keyword {Sex} in any of the four text fields (please observe the use of upper/lower case characters in "Sex"). Depending on the sex of the animal, REGINA3 inserts "M" for males and "F" for females.
  
  
• You can always "test" the result of your modification by pressing the F8 key ("show example").
  
  
• In the text and delimiter fields, the characters dot ".", comma ",", and semicolon ";" are not allowed, since the dot is used to delimit the slide number from the staining method and commas or semicolons are used to separate slide numbers.
  
  
• The entry in the field "Animal number digits" cannot be larger than 6, since animal numbers are limited throughout the program to 6 digits.
  
  
• REGINA3 displays a warning if the total length of a slide number exceeds the width which can be displayed in the slide number report. You can press F10 to accept your entry but you may not be able to read the report correctly later.
  
  
• If you change the format after you have entered findings (i.e. after REGINA3 has generated the slide numbers) this change will not take effect, unless you edit your finding and allow REGINA3 to generate the slide number again (see also below).
  
  
• The definition of the slide number format is not study-specific, since usually the format will not change from study to study in a company.
  
  
• Do not forget to press the F10 key to store the entered data to disk. To cancel data entry press Esc.