Starting with REGINA3 version 3.10, the staining method is now part of the slide number. A short form of the staining method (max. 4 characters) is added to the slide number, separated by a dot (.). For example, a complete new slide number may look like

      M0017-2a.VG

where "M" is an indicator for "males", "0017" is the animal number (formatted to 4 digits), "2a" is the block number, and "VG" is the short form for the staining method applied (Van Gieson in this example). The dash is used to separate animal and block number.

To make data entry as easy as possible, REGINA3 provides a special "tool" to add the staining method to the slide number. Please note that the functionality is identical in the module to enter the slide number together with the finding (discussed in the previous chapter) and in the module to enter optional slide numbers (see chapter 6):

• Move the cursor in the slide number field to the end of a slide number (after generating a slide number, REGINA3 positions the cursor automatically at the end; only if more than one slide number was generated, you have to move the cursor manually).
• Press the dot key.
• REGINA3 displays a pop-up window showing all possible staining methods (long format to the left, short form to the right).
• Use the scrolling keys (Up, Down, PageUp, PageDown, etc.) to select your staining method and press the Enter key. You may also type the first character of a particular staining method to jump directly to it.
• REGINA3 inserts the dot and the short form of the staining method into the slide number field.

Please note:

• The insertion of the staining short form always takes place at the cursor position, i.e. if the cursor is located, for example, in the middle of a slide number, the information is inserted here. If such an errors is made by chance, you have to correct this manually.
  
  
• By pressing the dot more than once, it is possible to insert more than one staining method per slide number. However, REGINA3 checks this situation before storing the data and displays an error message. If you have an additional slide, you can press F8 to append another slide number and then the dot key to add the staining method.
  
  
• You may abort the selection of a staining method by pressing the Esc key: nothing is inserted.
  
  
• Adding the staining method information to the slide number is necessary only if the staining method applied is not H&E. Since more than 95 % of all slides are stained today using H&E, REGINA3 simply assumes that this method has been used if no special information is supplied. Compared to older versions, you have the benefit of reducing the number of entries for a finding.
  
  
• If the staining method you have used is not contained in the list of available options, please select the last option of the list which reads "New staining method: FREETEXT !!". REGINA3 adds the short form ".NEW!" to the slide number and you must specify the staining method in the Freetext field. The reason for this behavior (in contrast to other fields where you can add your own information by pressing the F8 key) is related to the fact that standardized terms should be used, in particular for the short form. Once you submit a new staining method, the information is added to the data base and the next release of REGINA3 will contain the new method in the list of available options.