Code Lists

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Code Lists

BSI stores much of its data in a coded format.  To view or modify these codes, select Code Lists from the Manager menu of the Main window.  This will open the Code Lists Manager, which will allow users to create, view and edit the BSI code lists.  The Code Lists Editor is used to add, remove, or modify values within the BSI code lists.  Some code lists that are critical to the operation of BSI cannot be edited or can only be edited by administrators. The Data View in any editor can be changed from the column header menu.

Some lkup code lists require fields to have values before they can be saved in the system, for example the lkup_printer list requires the Printer Method field to have a value.

Code list data can be pushed from other systems to BSI by BSI Connect users with the appropriate permissions to add or modify values in code lists.

Users must have permission to access this module.

Manager

The manager tab displays each code list, including relevant information
such as the number of values in the code list. The following options are available:

  • New
  • View
  • EditCode List options

Editor

The code list editor contains a table displaying the values associated with the selected code list as rows. Each column of the table represents a property of the code list value.

  • If the Is Active column is set to False/No, the code will not be available to select from any Select Codes dialog from any other user editable table in the system. If it is set to True/Yes, the code value will be available for selection. 
  • Some fields contain a Req Value This column indicates whether the field is required. If updated via Web services, this is set to False/No by default.

Example: After deciding to study kittens instead, Dr. Furter no longer needs to use his reanimated tissue material types and decides to deactivate them. He still has many specimen records from his original study in BSI, and would like to keep them, so he cannot delete the corresponding material types.

To add new code list values, select the Insert Rows button on the toolbar. This button will add a blank line above the selected row in the table.  Click on the new line in the Value column to type the new value.  The user can then enter the label and any other information by moving the mouse to the other columns or by clicking the Tab key.

The Delete Rows button allows mistakenly entered rows to be removed. If an existing code list value will not be used in the future, change its “Is Active” value to False/No instead of deleting it. Once finished adding values, use the Submit button to save changes to the code lists. The Print option opens the print dialog for the code list.

Code/Values within a code list may not be modified or deleted once they are used by another table in the system. Attempting to modify or delete an item from the Code/Value column will throw an error that contains the following information: a statement explaining that a used value cannot be modified/deleted, the values that cannot be modified/deleted, and the tables where those values are used.

Example: Dr. Furter has decided to study kittens instead of reanimated human tissue. He needs the ability to designate new specimens as kitten, so he adds appropriate material types to the “Material Type” code list, including fur, claws, and whiskers.

Filtering a code list

From a user editable table, any choice-type field is linked to a code list containing all the values for that field. Select the code list button. On the dialog that opens you can use the filter feature to easily locate the value you need.

By default, when selecting a code list value all options are available. Via the Code Lists manager, you can select to filter the values of user-editable code lists based on the values selected for other fields. When editing a code list, each code list value will have a field called "Filter Criteria", which determines the conditions under which the value will be displayed by default. Code lists can be filtered by any values which can be added to other fields in the same dialog/editor.
Specify Filter Critera window

Adding default filter criteria can shorten lengthy code lists to include only relevant values for selected specimens. To select the scenarios under which a particular value will appear in the code list selection dialog:

  1. Select the code lists button available for the Filter Criteria field.
  2. Use the standard search dialog to enter field values which will cause this code list value to be filtered to.
  3. Select OK.

If no criteria are specified for the values in a code list, or no criteria are met, then the code list will show all active values by default.Sample Code List

Example: Dr. Furter is studying kittens with cancer. He already captures both the general and specific cancer types in BSI, using two choice fields. He doesn’t want to sort through his entire list of specific cancers to find the right one each time. Dr. Furter sets up each Specific Cancer Type so that when the General Cancer Type field is set, only the appropriate specific cancer types will be displayed

In this example, if the General Cancer Type is not selected, then the Specific Cancer Type code list will look like this:Specific Cancer Type code list

If the General Cancer Type is defined as “Kidney”, then the Specific Cancer Type code list will be filtered like this:Specific Cancer Type filtered code list