Version 8.2 represents a important step forward in the ongoing evolution of LabKey Server. Enhancements support LabKey's mission of providing the premier scientific data management system (SDMS) for experimental and observational study information.

New capabilities introduced in this release are summarized below. For a full query listing all improvements made in 8.2, see: Items Completed in 8.2.

Refer to 8.2 Upgrade Tips to work around minor behavior changes associated with upgrading from v8.1 to v8.2.

Study

Dataset Editing

• Users with editor rights now have the ability to edit the content of a dataset in a study. Admins can edit existing rows or insert new ones on any dataset grid view. This feature is off-by-default and must be turned on by an admin.
• Edits can be made either through the LabKey Server UI or via the LabKey APIs.

Participant View Enhancements

• Participant views can now be customized through script editing. The new "customize view" option on any participant view lets you edit the default script to create multiple custom views.
• Participant views can be displayed in their own sections on portal pages (via a new Participant View web part).

Study Data Searching

• The search web part now searches study content in addition to wiki, issue and message content.

Enhancements for Imported Study Schemas

• Almost all aspects of a study that can be configured through the UI can now be configured through the a study schema import file. This change includes additional key fields and dataset visibility.

Support for Auto-Incrementing Dataset Key Fields

• You can now insert data into a dataset without having to generate keys. This lets you enter more than one row per participant visit.

Streamlined UI for Study Dataset Menus

• Dataset toolbars and buttons have been condensed and simplified to help you find dataset options more easily.

Flow

Graph Generation from FlowJo Workspaces

• LabKey server now generates graphs from FlowJo-calculated statistics when a user loads a FlowJo workspace from the pipeline.

Collaboration

Improvements to Wiki Editing Interface

• The field of view for editing wiki pages can now be widened by hiding the table of contents in edit mode.
• Wiki text can be automatically converted to HTML using the new "Convert" button in the editor.
• Keyboard shortcuts are now available for "Save" (Ctrl+S) and "Save & Close" (Ctrl+Shift_S).
• Editing is more efficient because the page is not reloaded each time you save.
• You can now "Collapse All" items in a wiki table of contents.

WebDAV Support

• WebDAV can be used in place as FTP as a transfer protocol. WebDav uses port 80, so it does not require an additional entry point through your firewall.

Issue Tracker Enhancement

• You can now add attachments (such as screen captures and documents) to issues.

Assays & Lists

Customizable Ordering of List Item Properties

• Fields can be displayed in a logical sequence that makes sense for end users. This allows the designer of an assay to determine the order of columns in an upload form.

Excel Templates for Importing Lists

• When importing list data, users now have access to an auto-generated Excel template that displays the fields included in the list design.

Proteomics (CPAS)

Phase 1 of New MS2 Search Protocol Definition UI

• LabKey Server now offers a GUI for defining the most commonly changed search parameters. This lets you avoid editing XML directly. Future releases will add additional parameters to the GUI.

Venn diagrams for MS1 comparisons

• The Venn diagrams made available for MS2 comparisons in 8.1 are now available for MS1.

Export and Comparison Performance Improvements

• Several bug fixes and improved performance when exporting or comparing large MS2 runs.

Views and Reports

Display of Individual Sections of R Views

• The Report web part can now be configured to display an individual section (or sections) of a R View instead of the entire R View. This helps you display only the information that is most helpful to your audience.

URL Parameter Access from R Scripts

• The URL parameters now provided by the labkey.url.params list allow greater customization of your R scripts, including creation of parameterized charts.

Development Tools

APIs Function Cross-Container

• The new, optional "container" parameter allows data to live in one folder, while display occurs in another folder.
• For example, by specifying the container of a schema, you can build a chart in one folder from a query that lives in a different folder.

Improved Display of Large Tables Via the API

• The addition of the "maxRows" and "offset" parameters to LABKEY.Query.selectRows() makes it easier to work with large tables. These parameters allow control of paging through the display of only a chosen number of rows, starting at a certain row number.

Enhanced Control of Scripting Permissions

• Non-admins can now be granted sufficient privileges to write scripts
• Admins can now add members to the "Developers" global group.

Greater Control Over API-Generated Web Parts

• This includes the ability to control the frame type and body class for the getWebPart.api via the frameType and bodyClass parameters.

Performance/Loading Improvement for API-Generated Pages

• Enable better caching of .js files
• Provide code compression of .js files before transmission

New "Search" API action Provides API Access to Search

• The URL for this is: /labkey/project/<project>/search.api?terms=page

Improved API Action Validation and Error Reporting

• Provides better control of server-side error handling

Support for Additional SQL Functions

• Coalesce and Convert are now available for queries

Administrative Tools

New Level of Permissions

• Members of the "Developers" permissions group are non-admins who can write/save/upload scripts. This provides developers with the freedom they need to develop tools, without providing potentially-excessive levels of permissions.

Support for Hidden Folders

• Hidden folders can help you hide admin-only materials (such as raw data) to avoid overwhelming end-users with material that they do not need to see.
• Folders whose names begin with "." or "_" are automatically hidden from non-admins.
• You can use the "Show Admin" / "Hide Admin" toggle to show the effect of hiding folders from the perspective of a non-admin.

Expansion of Auditing

• Auditing now logs changes to site and module settings.

Support for Google Analytics

• You can now leverage Google Analytics to measure usage patterns of your site.