Hi Josh,
I am trying to add a couple of tables to the EHR system, but I am running into a bit of a conceptual problem. What is the difference between Lists and Datasets. Both seams to be able to defined columns, lookups and add data to a table. I am trying to create a solution for immunology service similar to the freezer inventory system of the oconnor module, I changed the immunology_services folder to a Lab folder and it allows me to create Datasets. I also add the capability to add List to this folder.
Botton line, I want to know what is the advantage of using list versus datasets for this specific request. The group interested in the solution needs four tables that are link to each other through lookups.
Thank you
Daniel |
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| jeckels responded: |
2012-10-30 10:12 |
Hi Daniel,
As you've seen, both lists and datasets are administrator-configured data types.
Datasets are always associated with a study (like the EHR). Every row in a dataset must be associated with an animal/participant/subject. Depending on the type of dataset, rows may also be associated with timepoints. The server automatically understands relationships between datasets, which means that you can use Customize View or other features to join together different datasets to show information for the same animal/participant/subject and timepoint without needing to do any additional configuration or coding.
Lists are a more generic data type. They can exist independent of a study, and even if they contain a field that happens to be an animal/participant/subject identifier, the system doesn't automatically associate it with other data. Lists can still link to each other or other data types via lookups, but these need to be configured on a field-by-field basis. They're typically used to populate value lists that are the targets of lookups from other data types, or to generally store data that's not directly associated with an individual animal/participant/subjects.
I suspect that lists are probably a more appropriate data type for at least some of this data. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.
Thanks,
Josh |
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| Daniel Nicolalde responded: |
2012-11-01 16:06 |
Hi Josh,
I created several list under the Immunology services folder. Three of them should be lookup list, where the information store in them should be available in the main inventory list. I am trying to set up the lookup option for some of the fields in the inventory table but I cannot find the other lists that I create it. How can I make the new lists create to show as an option to be a lookup? If you go to test-ehr, you can find the list under:
WNPRC_Units/Research_Services/Immunology_Services
Thank you
Daniel |
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| Daniel Nicolalde responded: |
2012-11-01 16:11 |
Hi Josh, I added another field and selected as a lookup from the beginning and they show up. Thank you
Daniel |
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| jeckels responded: |
2012-11-01 16:18 |
Hi Daniel,
That makes sense. When you're adding a new field, you can target any lookup because the field doesn't have an existing type. When you change the lookup for an existing field, you can only target queries that have a primary key that's the same type of column. This is because we don't support changing an existing field's type at this point (String->Integer, for example).
Thanks,
Josh |
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