Subjects database
The participant database (accessible from the main menu bar "Window/Participant Database") is a collection of files containing information about individual participants. The interest of the database is to store the information in one place, without direct link to the protocols and runs.
The database works, as for a protocol, as a tree. The graphical interface offers the same vertical toolbar and the same contextual menus as for the protocol tree. The short menu bar allows the management of files, especially in terms of opening, saving and creating.
Data editing
The GUI only allows editing one file in the database at any given time.
Data storage and links with the protocol
The files that make up the participant database are stored in the data folder. By convention, the files are stored in the PatientDatabase folder.
When a run is started, VRmaze loads all the files in the PatientDatabase folder, so for the duration of the run, VRmaze has access to the participant data. At registration, only the identifier is stored in the file. At no time does the output protocol file contain any information about the participant himself.
Stored files
The database files are stored in an Xml form and thus remain humanly readable and unprotected.
Database organization and topic types
In a database file, participants are grouped together. There can be as many groups as desired and the categorization of the participants is up to the operator. There are several different types of participants, each with its own characteristics.
Participant attributes
The participant attributes are information that can be used during the execution of the protocol. Indeed, some components are able to use participant attributes to adapt behaviors when the protocol is executed in pass mode.
Reviews
In addition to the participants and their potential attributes, a last entity is available, it concerns the exams. Indeed, it is possible to store the results of examinations (medical, psychological etc.). Unlike the attributes of participants, "Examinations" can be conducted several times on a participant and have a date of passage. These "Exams" are not used by VRmaze when running the protocol.
Link to Excel Exporter
When using the Excel exporter VRmaze loads all the available files to try to find the participant's ID and thus find all the subject's data that it can write in the generated Excel file.
Export of attributes
It is possible to integrate an Excel sheet gathering the attribute values of the participants.
Excel generation
The generation of an Excel file using participant information requires the presence of the database file(s). A copy of this data is necessary if the Excel exporter is used on a third party computer.
Managing a participant's credentials
VRmaze provides the ability to display a window summarizing all of the participant's credentials across all of the .Xml files in the data folder. This window, available via a button in the properties panel when a participant is selected in the database, allows a number of actions to be taken on each file:
- View the file in Windows Explorer
- Delete the file
- Make the file anonymous
- Open the file in VRmaze (via drag and drop)
Anomymization
The result files, which store the subject's ID, are anonymized by replacing the ID with "-1". The rest of the result file is kept intact.
In addition to these per-reference commands, it is possible to execute some global commands:
- Refresh data
- Delete all
- Create a zip file
Delete All
The global delete command deletes all files but does not delete the subject entry in the database.
Zip File
When creating a .Zip file, all references are copied along with the raw subject data from the participant database.
Irreversible actions
A confirmation message is requested when deleting and anonymizing. These actions are not reversible.
Anonymize all at once
There is no command to anonymize all references at once. A simple solution is to change the subject ID in the participant database.
Loading time
In the current version of VRmaze, loading the referral window can take some time. It takes about 1 minute to search for the participant ID in 10,000 .Xml files. Please be patient!
Opening a reference file
The list of reference files allows drag and drop. A drag and drop in the graphical interface from the reference window allows to open directly the dragged file.