Protocol properties

Protocol properties is specified with the <properties> element in the <protocol> element of experiment definition files:

<properties>
   <rerun-policy message="[The message to be displayed to the operator]" 
                 require-reason="[true or false]"
                 force-warning="[true or false]" />
   <incomplete-protocol-warning value="[true or false]" />
   <allow-in-session-participant-creation value="[Required: true or false]" />
   <in-session-display-of-participants value="[Required: true or false]" />
</properties>

Re-run policy

The data set for a subject can store one result for each test in a protocol. If a test is rerun the previous result is replaced with the new result from the rerun. The <rerun-policy> element determines how LabBench Runner will handle rerunning tests in the protocol.

The message attribute is the message that will be displayed to the experimenter when a test is started if a previous result will be replaced at the completion of the test. This is a dynamic text attribute with a default value of “Rerunning the test will discard the current results.”.

The require-reason attribute controls whether or not the experimenter is forced to provide an entry in the experimental log that explains the reason for rerunning the test before a rerun is allowed. This attribute is primarely used for clinical trials where there need to be an audit trail for why results have been discarded. The default value for this attribute is false, meaning the experimenter is per default not required to provide a reason for rerunning tests in the protocol.

The force-warning attribute only applies to tests that do not display a warning because their data is not replaced when they are rerun. The default behavior for these tests is not to display a warning. Setting the force-warning attribute to true would force a warning to be displayed for these tests. One example of such a test is Questionnaires; when they are rerun, their original data is displayed and can be modified in a rerun. When the data of a questionnaire is modified, the changes are automatically added to the experimental log, and thus an audit trail of the modifications is created.

Incomplete protocol warning

If a session is closed and not all the tests in the session have been completed, then LabBench Runner will display an incomplete protocol warning. This incomplete protocol warning will not be displayed if the incomplete-protocol-warning element sets its value to false.

Allow in session participant creation

By default, participants can be created in LabBench Runner via the Startup Wizard by specifying a participant identifier (ID) that does not exist. However, this introduces a risk of accidentally creating a wrong participant identifier due to mistyping or operator error.

To reduce the chance of this error, participant identifiers can be validated with regular expressions. However, participant creation in LabBench Runner can also be turned off by setting the <allow-in-session-participant-creation> element to false. When participant creation in LabBench Runner is turned off, participants must be created in the Data tab on the Experiment page in LabBench Designer.

In session display of participants

By default, the Startup Wizard displays a list of existing participants and allows the operator to select the one to use for the current session. However, there is a risk of misclicks, and depending on how the protocol is designed, it may be possible for data to be recorded for the wrong participant.

This risk can be mitigated by turning off the display of the list of existing participants with the <in-session-display-of-participants> protocol property.

This will force the experimenter to type in the participant ID. If this ID is highly unique or contains a checksum, the risk of using the wrong participant IDs is effectively mitigated. If paper-based Case Report Forms or similar systems are used that can display barcodes/QR codes, then a handheld scanner can eliminate the need for the operator to type IDs and make incorrect IDs impossible.