dhis2-devs team mailing list archive

[Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

DHIS version 2.8 is release. The news this time is:


- Data visualizer plugin: Plugin for embedding the dynamic charts you see
in Data Visualizer module directly in Web pages. Data is loaded from the
DHIS back-end server. Example here:

http://apps.dhis2.org/portal/plugin.html

Documentation here:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/user/html/ch24s07.html


- Tracker tabular report: Interactive analysis tool for all types of
tracker data. Can display data element values and beneficiary attributes
and identifiers. Lets you filter on any of the columns in a table and
download the data to Excel and PDF. Follows the same user interface
principles as Data Visualizer module. Check it out here, for instance by
selecting the "Delivery returns" program, selecting org unit and data
elements and clicking "Update":

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-caseentry/app/index.html

(Demo login is admin/district)


- Search and browse beneficiary history: See the complete history of a
beneficiary from programs and single events by clicking on the blue info
icon in the list of beneficiaries. See it here by going straight down in
the org unit tree and selecting the first facility:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-caseentry/patient.action



- Dedicated import-export function for data values: You no longer risk
messing up your meta-data when doing data value import. Data values are now
matched on the stable identifiers of the meta-data (like data elements and
org units).

This means that you can safely import data as records will either be
imported if they match your meta-data or ignored if not. It also means that
remote systems can change the names of data elements and org units and
still be able to exchange data values with the central system - records are
matched on the stable identifiers which cannot be changed in the user
interface. See the demo:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-importexport/displayImportDataValueForm.action?importFormat=xml


- CSV data value import-export: Data can be imported and exported using the
CSV format (as well as the DHIS XML format called DXF). This provides an
easy way to bootstrap DHIS systems from external sources and achieve
interoperability with legacy systems as CSV is very widespread and is easy
to contstruct manually. Check it out here:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-importexport/displayDataValueExportForm.action

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-importexport/displayImportDataValueForm.action?importFormat=csv

Documentation here:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/user/html/ch18s04.html


- Cumulative values in report tables: For each column you can include a
cumulative value column by ticking "Include cumulative" in the add report
table screen. This enabled you to make nice progress reports like this:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/api/reports/Kvg1AhYHM8Q/data.pdf?ou=ImspTQPwCqd


- Reporting rates aggregation over time: The data mart process is now
producing aggregate reporting rates over time. This means for instance that
you can get quarterly and yearly reporting rates for monthly data sets in
reports, such as the one below. Reporting rates are also aggregated in
parallel processes which means performance scales almost linearly with the
available processor cores on your server.

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-reporting/exportTable.action?uid=xqGIgjysoc6&pe=2012-01-01&ou=ImspTQPwCqd


- Org unit group set analysis in Data Visualizer: You can now do analysis
on groups and create charts based for instance on facility type and
ownership. In the organisation unit tab select a group set (e.g. Type) from
the group set list and then the parent organisation unit. An example is
here:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-visualizer/app/index.html?id=wLPFpNTTLE5


-Reporting rates in Data Visualizer: You can now create charts with
reporting rates for all data sets by using the reporting rates tab in the
left side menu. They can also be combined with indicators and data elements
as you prefer:

<http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-visualizer/app/index.html?id=wLPFpNTTLE5>
http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-visualizer/app/index.html?id=MhZZglImm3o


- Baseline in Data Visualizer: New chart option for including a baseline in
charts. Similar to the target line option.

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-visualizer/app/index.html?id=aYRnuCBirzk


- Data on chart columns in Data Visualizer: New chart option for including
corresponding data value figures next to each bar or column in charts.

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-visualizer/app/index.html?id=YlSs2snF32u


- Notifications in Data Visualizer: User feedback has been greatly
improved. When trying to create a chart with show-stopping errors, like
forgetting to select org units, a descriptive popup is displayed. For
non-critical errors, like selecting many org units when the org unit
dimension acts as filter, a descriptive message is displayed at the bottom
bar.


- Cache strategy: The analytic resources in the Web API, like report,
report table, map, chart and document, can be cached on the client side
according to a "cache strategy" system setting. Available options are no
cache, cache until 6 AM next morning and cache for 2 weeks. Typically DHIS
is set up to refresh the data mart nightly - this knowledge can be used to
cache resources in the browsers of the users and thus improve latency,
bandwith usage and reduce server load. It also enables you to include a
HTTP proxy/cache in front of your server which will meet the demand of Web
scale performance when using DHIS as a back-end for Web portals.

See the load time improvements by opening the dashboard module and clicking
a few times on the "Dashboard" link in the left side menu, and by opening
the GIS module and load the favorite "ANC 1 visit facility 2011" a few
times:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-dashboard-integration/index.action

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-mapping/mapping/index.html?id=LGLRaweu91m<http://apps.dhis2.org/dev/dhis-web-mapping/mapping/index.html?id=LGLRaweu91m>
&base=googlehybrid


- Internationalization: The user interface is now completely translated to
Portuguese and Vietnamese. You can change the user interface language here:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-maintenance-settings/userGeneralSettings.action


- SQL View download to Excel and CSV: Sql views are handy for producing
custom reports and views of the database. They can now also be exported to
Excel and CSV format and saved to your local computer. Check it out by
clicking on the table icon next to "Facility overview":

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-maintenance-dataadmin/showSqlViewListForm.action


- Web API support for messages: Developers of third-party applications can
now create new message conversations and reply to existing ones by
interacting with the messageConversations resource in the Web API. The
documentation has been generally improved and we encourage you to read it
to see the new possibilities:

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/user/html/ch24s05.html

http://dhis2.org/doc/snapshot/en/user/html/ch24.html


- System overview page: A page listing all available modules in the system
can be accessed by clicking on the DHIS 2 icon in the top left corner. This
page can also be set as start page in system settings:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/dhis-web-commons-about/modules.action


- We did not manage to finalize the full meta-data import-export function,
this has been pushed to the next release. However the Web API is now fairly
complete - all resources can be browsed here:

http://apps.dhis2.org/demo/api/resources




WAR file, Live package and demo database can be downloaded here:

http://dhis2.org/downloads


Documentation and Javadocs here:

http://dhis2.org/documentation


Source code branch available for checkout here:

https://code.launchpad.net/~dhis2-devs-core/dhis2/2.8


Portal demo can be found here:

http://apps.dhis2.org/portal/



best regards,

the DHIS 2 development team