Manage by Lots

You bought three bottles of the same perfume: one in use on the dresser, one nearly empty in your work bag, and one still sealed in the storage room. Three separate records feel scattered, but one record can’t say where each bottle is.

Managing by lots splits one item record into batches. Each batch is a small tag with its own place, count, usage status and note; the item’s total quantity is always the sum of its batches.

What a Batch Holds

Batches can’t hold different use-by dates (say, several cartons of milk with different dates). If each one needs its own expiry letter, record them as separate items.

Batches When Adding an Item

1. Tap + at the bottom to open A New Sprout, write the name, and set How many to 2 or more.
2. A faint blank tag appears under How many: Keep them in different places. Tap it to start.
3. The item now hangs as a string of small tags, headed “Kept in these places” and “N in all”. Each tag shows the grove › location, status and count, with the grove’s stamp on the right.
4. Tap a tag and a slip opens beneath it where you can change:
   • Planted in: the grove and location for this batch.
   • How many: the count in this batch.
   • Usage Status: tap a status to choose it; tap the chosen one again to leave this batch without a status.
   • Note: for example “Unopened” or “Lent to Sam”.
5. The slip also has Move 1 to a new place, which takes one out into a new tag, and Take off this tag, which removes the batch.
6. Under the tags, Another place hangs a new tag; Back to one place merges them all (you’ll be asked to confirm).

Batches When Editing an Item

1. Open the item and start editing.
2. With a quantity of 2 or more you’ll see Manage by Location/Condition (“Split these N into batches by place or status”). Tap it to start.
3. The Batch Manager card then shows:
   • “N in N batches” at the top, with a bar split by each batch’s count and tinted by its status, so you can see at a glance where things are and what state they’re in.
   • One row per batch, where you change its place, count, status and note. The row’s menu has Split One Into a New Batch and Delete This Batch.
   • Add Location/Condition Batch at the bottom adds another.
4. The total quantity is calculated from all batches; you don’t change it yourself.

Merging Batches

When you no longer need them apart, tap Back to one place in Add Item, or choose Merge Batches from the menu at the top right of the Batch Manager.

The total stays the same, but the item keeps only the first batch’s place and status; the other batches’ places and notes are removed. Check the notes for anything worth keeping before you merge.

Where Batches Show Up

• Item page: under Location & Status hangs a string of small tags, each showing how many are kept there. Tap one to see what else is in that place.
• Cards in Items: when batches have different statuses, the card’s status reads “N batches”; grouped by status, the item sits under “Multiple”.
• Find: batch notes are searchable too, so searching “Unopened” finds them.

Batches and Shared Groves

When you turn one of your groves into a shared grove and an item has batches kept outside it, MononoMori offers to split it. With Split Off, the batches kept elsewhere become a separate private item with the same name, photo, category, tags and notes; attachments and links stay with the item in the shared grove. See Shared Groves: Inviting Companions.

FAQ

Can one item have two usage statuses at once?

A batch has one status. To say “one bottle in use, two brand new”, split it into two batches and give each its own status.

What happens to batches using a status I delete?

When you delete a status, the app first asks you to either clear the status from those items or batches (the items stay), or move them to another status. See Status Management & Multi-Dimensional Evaluation.

I have just one. Why can’t I find batches?

Batches need a quantity of 2 or more. Raise the quantity and the option appears.

Related Guides

• Status Management & Multi-Dimensional Evaluation
• Gather from a Photo
• Hierarchical Browsing & Location Selection