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ClinSpark 24.2

Owned by Alex Quail
Last updated: 10-Dec-2024
5 min read

Summary

This article summarizes a few key changes of the 24.2 release. A comprehensive list of changes will be available in the Technical File and Release Notes.

Update to Support MySQL 8

ClinSpark 24.2 is the first release to support both MySQL 8 and MySQL 5.7, as a necessary step towards future sustainability and scalability of the application. Future versions of ClinSpark (after 24.2) will only support MySQL 8. Prior versions of ClinSpark that rely on MySQL 5.7 will go out of official support in February 2027.

Older versions of MySQL impose limitations and challenges with application performance and feature development. This release ensures that future ClinSpark remains on more recent and supported versions of MySQL.

While this change does not introduce new features or user interface components, it’s an essential step towards improving the technologies that enable ClinSpark. Customers will be encouraged to consider upgrading to this (and future) version of ClinSpark soon to gain benefit. More information about this change is available in the Release Notes.

Upgrading ClinSpark

Improving Default Item Audit Comments and Form Save Logic

A significant user interface change this release focuses on study form workflows. Updates were made to help ensure data collectors are provided with more useful feedback within forms that undergo changes after initial save and promote the collection of accurate audit statements. These changes were necessary to ensure that as part of data collection workflows users are closely considering audit reasons that are maintained for Item values that change on a form.

The first noticeable change will be when users attempt re-collect or modify an Item value that has been saved previously. Previously, the Audit field would default to a value from the available list (based on this feature set: General Settings > Data Collection | Default Comments ).

Now, data collectors will first be presented a free-form text entry field where an audit reason can be typed.

The audit field will prompt for a user to enter a reason for change, captured as part of Item audits

Users can interact with field and key in an appropriate response.

Alternately, users can still select a default audit comment from the available list if default comments have been configured for use (following existing behavior).

 

 

The second noticeable change will occur when users attempt to save a form with modified Item values that are missing an Audit reason.

Form save logic will now check every Item value on the form and determine if any values were modified from prior save. If a change is detected, ClinSpark will require that audit comments are provided by users. Forms cannot be saved unless valid audit reasons are provided.

Void Container and Interval Collection Improvements

Improvements covering interval workflows are now present to reduce the chances for invalid data entry when managing containers and interval summary data. Due to previous functionality, workarounds were being relied on which were also error prone and added unnecessary complexion to the interval summary workflows. The changes ensure for better data quality and operational efficiency when managing void containers. You can see more information about this feature set in the following documents:

An example of this can be seen with improve error messaging and input validation to help users collect accurate empty weight values.

Additionally, Interval Summary workflows now have improved validation and feedback as well, informing users where invalid weight, specific gravity, pH, and Total Net Volume may be present.

Managing Medical Conditions on Volunteers

Changes in this release improve the workflows for users who add medical conditions onto volunteers. The changes are especially beneficial to customers who manage their own medical condition configurations (using these features Medical Conditions ), ensuring that selection of a given condition within volunteers prompt for configured selections for Category, Subcategory, Medication Notes, and Notes.

First, the Medical Condition field has been improved to offer greater performance when dealing with a large volume of conditions. Users will now be required to provide at least 3 characters to quickly search on an available condition.

The Category, Sub-Category, Notes and Medication Notes are also now presented (based on configurations) when adding a Medical Condition to a Volunteer profile. This will make the process for adding and managing new conditions on volunteers much quicker, utilizing their selections of conditions in the existing save modal.

Other Changes

A variety of other changes, bug fixes, and improvements were made in the release covering these areas:

 

 

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