a quick way to test OpenClinica 3.1.4.1
For those of us who want to test release 3.1.4.1 before installing it, here is a quick way to do just that.
What we'll do is:
- rename the war to oc314.war
- let tomcat deploy it
- create a new, empty database oc3141
- make a backup of our existing 3.1.2 or 3.1.3 database
- restore that as oc3141
- copy the directory openclinica.data
- modify datainfo.properties
- start oc3141
start with the war
Start with downloading the zip with the war and then unzip it and rename the war to oc3141.war. Once you've done that, copy the war to tomcat/webapps. Tomcat will start deploying it, but it will not be able to start it, because there is no corresponding database. If tomcat does not deploy the war automatically, check with ls -al if tomcat is the owner and if not, issue chown tomcat:tomcat oc3141.war
copying the database
We assume that you will want a copy of your existing database and the way to do that is making a new, empty database. Then making a dump of your production database and restoring that to the new one.
sudo -u postgres /usr/bin/psql
create database oc3141 with encoding='UTF-8' owner=clinica;
\l
\q
sudo -u postgres /usr/bin/pg_dump openclinica > pg_dump_openclinica_20130802
sudo -u postgres /usr/bin/psql oc3141 < pg_dump_openclinica_20130802
(The \l is to check if the creation of the database was successful and the \q to quit psql.)
don't forget the data
Now before we start we must copy the data-directories and we do that with:
cd /usr/local/tomcat
sudo -u tomcat cp -r openclinica.data oc3141.data
datainfo.properties anyone?
If you like you can go through datainfo.properties, to edit it to your favorite settings. But the defaults work.
start oc3141
As a last step, go to tomcat's manager/html and start oc314.
what to look for?
If you are coming from 3.1.2: login to your 3.1.2 instance and also to your 3.1.4.1 instance and notice the difference in performance.
Especially in large Studies with lots of CRFs you should notice a better performance (sometimes 40%) when opening and saving.
Same applies to Notes & Discrepancies.
And look at the option Configure Password Requirements in the Users-section.
And there's also the option to migrate CRF-data to a newer version of the CRF, on a Subject basis.
If you're upgrading from 3.1.3.1: the horrible bug that disabled the use of Firefox is fixed. And suddenly you can choose Chrome (unofficially) or Opera or Safari. And if you're wondering 'does that mean my users can run OC on their iPads?' the answer is 'in a way they can.' The SubjectMatrix does not work as expected, that is to say the yellow notes do not appear when you click on an Event. If you want to enter data, you must use the magnifier icon in the right column of the SubjectMatrix to view the data for that Subject and from there schedule new Events, etc.
The other thing the developers focused on is the print-functionality and a lot looks nicer and tidier.
one last thing
After you've evaluated version 3.1.4.1 and decided that indeed you want to upgrade, make a backup first! Do it for example as described here and when you've done that, store the files on another server and a tape and burn them on CD. Well, you get the picture.
Other how-to-pages can be found here.
this page was last reviewed October 2013