Release 1.7.12  contains solutions for providing an easier install of i2b2, redesigned Find Terms, totalnum counting scripts, new Authentication protocols, and REDCAP import. Also included are other enhancements to the i2b2 Webclient, the ACT ontology, and bug fixes.

After reading this documentation, please go to the Quick Upgrade Guide for the details about upgrading your i2b2 software. If you are installing from scratch, refer instead to the Quick Install Guide (and optionally the full i2b2 Installation Guide).

i2b2 Release 1.7.12

Release Date: December, 2019

Highlight of Features

Backend Features

• Easier Install

  • Pre-built War file for easier distributions of the application

  • Properties files are moved from static files to a table in the database

• Authentication protocol support for OKTA and  NTLM v2.        

• Database scripts to generate Totalnum counts for Ontology Terms for POSTGRESQL, ORACLE and SQL SERVER databases

• REDCap data import into i2b2, with ontology creation from REDCap forms

• Documentation updates for Apache Webserver timeout settings for previous queries run.

Frontend Features

Redesigned Find Terms By Name

• Find terms shows the terms' contextual hierarchy, and terms that are children of other search results are not returned. Shown here: 1.7.11 (left) vs. 1.7.12 (right)

• Right-clicking on a term and then "Find Term in Tree" shows the entire hierarchy around the selected term.

New Webclient Documentation

• Included in the client and also on the Webclient Community Wiki page.

• Featuring:

  • 3-minute screencast tutorial

  • Better overviews and guideposts

  • More task-oriented teaching

Open

Improved view of Left Pane in maximized mode

• In maximized mode, the left pane now makes all tabs accessible.

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Larger Query Results Panel view after Query run

When a query with breakdowns has finished, the results panel temporarily expands slightly to accommodate the breakdown graphs display.

Community-Contributed Features

Contribution	Contributor

Contribution	Contributor
ACT Ontology	ACT Technology and Data Harmonization Team University of Pittsburgh	Open
Easier-to-read counts	Nick Brown and Griffin Weber Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	Open
Extended query-by-value flags	Robert Bradford University of North Carolina	Open
Totalnum in find terms	Mauro Bucalo University of Pavia	Open
Visual Design of new Find Terms	Leaf Team University of Washington	Open
Totalnum Counter for Postgres	Dan Vianello Center for Biomedical Informatics, Washington University in St. Louis	(Part of overall totalnum scripts in this release.)

Feature Configuration

Easier i2b2 Install

The i2b2 server can now be installed using a pre-built war file instead of having to build it from source, or the war file can be built from source much more easily. More information is in the updated Installation Guide. The properties files are now stored in the database.

Authentication Protocol Support for NTLM2/OKTA

•   User Set up with  OKTA Configuration:   On the Admin page, under Manage Users,

             Add a Parameter domain  and assign the values as below. Parameter value will be your institution domain name.

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               Add a second parameter domain_controller as below. Parameter value will be your institution domain_controller value

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                Add the final parameter authentication_method as below. Parameter value will be OKTA

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•   User Set up with  NTLM2 Configuration:   On the Admin page, under Manage Users,

                  Add a Parameter domain  and assign the values as below. Parameter value will be your institution domain name.

  Open

  

                    Add a second parameter domain_controller as below. Parameter value will be your institution domain_controller value

  Open

  

                Add the final parameter authentication_method as below. Parameter value will be NTLM2

  Open

  

RedCap Import Setup

Currently,  the following  REDCAP Features  are supported in i2b2.

• Project level :

  •  Only one unique redcap project id  can be assigned to  each i2b2 project( system finds the first project it encounters and assigns it, so two projects cannot have same REDCAP project id:

•  Form level:

  • Renaming a Form in Redcap will create a new record in table access instead of updating the original record which means in i2b2 the original survey will still show in Ontology in addition to creating the renamed survey as a new Ontology item.

  • On adding a new Field/editing a field in the REDCAP form, the form needs to be explicitly associated with the record again to take effect in i2b2

  • Data triggers happen only on Form SAVE button.

  • Only Form  SAVE as a URL survey or Admin edit/add record Saves, triggers i2b2 Ontology creation. Other forms of Form creation in REDCAP- by Data import tool, API format, will not trigger Ontology creation in i2b2)

  • Ontology is only displayed in Tree structure format in i2b2. Pop up display (sometimes called query-by-value) is not supported. (example as below)