Copying Domains

Domain copying enables you to copy VTAs and Actions from one domain to another. The process is flexible: for example, you can copy every VTA into the target domain, or only those of a particular approval status or subtype. Coupled with the use of virtual dictionaries, domain copying can help you conduct studies against multiple versions of a dictionary.

This section includes:

• Planning a Domain Copying Operation
  
• Copying Domain Information Using the TMS User Interface
  
• Copying Domain Information with the TMS API
  
• Handling Errors that Arise from the Domain Copying Process
  
• Reassigning Oracle Clinical Elements
  
• Using Domain Copying with Virtual Dictionaries
  

Planning a Domain Copying Operation

Some of the rules that govern domain copying operations depend upon your dictionary and domain choices. Consult the following sections before copying VTAs and Actions from one domain and dictionary to another.

Domains

You can copy information from multiple source domains into a single target domain, but not in a single transaction. The Copy Domains window restricts domain copying to exchange between a single source domain and a single target domain, so you must copy each source domain's information individually.

When different VTAs and Actions exist in the source and target domains, the existing target domain's information takes precedence; keep this hierarchy in mind as you plan the order in which you load the multiple source domains into the target.

Dictionaries

Actions and VTAs can be copied between domain/dictionary combinations regardless of dictionary structure.

Actions

You cannot copy Actions to or from the Global domain.

Copying Domain Information Using the TMS User Interface

To copy VTA and/or Action information from one domain to another using the Copy Domains window:

1. From the VTA Maintenance menu, select Copy Domains. The Copy Domains window opens.
2. Specify the source domain and dictionary in the window's Source block.
3. In the Target block, specify the target domain and dictionary.
4. Select Copy VTAs? to copy VTAs, and Copy VTIs? to copy VTIs from the source to the target domain.

   Source Domain/Dictionary VTAs that have unanswerable negative list actions with the same verbatim term in the target Domain/Dictionary will not copy.

   If you choose to copy VTIs, additional fields appear. For each auxiliary information level in the source domain dictionary, specify the equivalent level in the target domain dictionary.

   Note:

   Providing these mappings creates more accurate matching critieria for the copy logic.

5. Choose the SubType of the VTAs and VTIs you want to copy into the target domain. You can choose to copy all subtypes, only Accepted, or only Misspelled VTAs and VTIs.
6. From the Appr? list, choose the approval status of the VTAs you want to copy into the target domain. You can choose to copy only Approved VTAs, only Nonapproved VTAs, or all VTAs.
7. Select the Copy Actions? box to copy the Actions that have been linked to verbatim terms into the target domain.
8. Click Copy. TMS records any errors resulting from this domain copying in the TMS error log; see for details.

Copying Domain Information with the TMS API

The package TMS_USER_MT_DOMAIN handles domain copying from external systems. See the Oracle Thesaurus Management System Technical Reference Manual for package details and restrictions.

Handling Errors that Arise from the Domain Copying Process

The domain copying process can generate errors when the source and target domain and dictionary are incompatible. For example, if the copying operation would overwrite a VTA or Action in the target domain/dictionary, or change its approval status or subtype, TMS will not change the VTA in the target domain/dictionary combination, and generates an error.

If a domain copying operation generates any errors, TMS saves all of the operation's errors in an error log. You can check if your domain copy generated errors by clicking View Errors after the domain copying operation completes. TMS opens the Maintain Domain Copying Error Logs window.

To view the errors generated from one domain copying transaction, select the error log's row from the upper half of the window. TMS displays the specific errors from that transaction in the lower half of the window, listing the details of each error in the Error Msg field.

The information in error messages is delineated by pound (#) symbols, as in the following example. Alternating items appear in bold here for clarity; the errors themselves appear as delineated strings in the Error Msg field.

Source Domain=BASE#Source Dict=BASE#Target Domain=GLOBAL#Target Dict if present=BASE#SourceVT=TROUSERS#SourceVTId=1000499#Dict Term=SLACKS#Dict Term Id=1000487#ORA-20000: 245800-Record already exists.

The first four items identify the source domain/dictionary combination and target domain/dictionary combination for this operation. The next four items describe which VTA is inconsistent in the source and target; the message provides the name and ID of the source verbatim term, and the name and ID of the dictionary term to which it classifies. The final item is the error message itself; in this example, the source VTA already exists in the target domain and dictionary.

For more information, see:

• Deleting Domain Copying Error Logs
  

Deleting Domain Copying Error Logs

You can also delete specific error logs by clicking in the log's row and selecting Record, then Delete, or delete all domain copying error logs by clicking the Delete All button at the bottom of the window.

Note:

The Delete All button deletes all of the domain copying error logs for all users in the installation.

Reassigning Oracle Clinical Elements

When you copy information from one TMS domain to another, you must reassign any elements from an external system that were associated with the original domain to the new domain.

In Oracle Clinical, for example, you must reassign projects and studies that are assigned to Domain A in the above example to Domain B. To switch domains for a study or project:

1. Navigate to Maintain Domain Elements; from Oracle Clinical's Plan menu, select TMS Domains Elements. Oracle Clinical prompts you to choose a study or project.
2. Choose a study or project.
3. Query for the domain you want to reassign, and click TMS Domain Elements.
4. Select a new domain, and click Save.

Using Domain Copying with Virtual Dictionaries

If you are using Oracle Clinical, the combined use of domain copying and virtual dictionaries allows you to continue coding some studies against a specific release of a dictionary while updating your base dictionary for use by other studies.

For example, and Study 12345 is coding against Domain A with one version of MedDRA 5.0 and your organization updates to the latest version of MedDRA, to continue coding Study 12345 against MedDRA 5.0:

1. In TMS, create a virtual dictionary with a cut-off date just prior to the date of the base dictionary update. This virtual dictionary will contain MedDRA 5.0 data and all the changes made to the dictionary until the cut-off date.
2. Create a new domain (Domain B) that contains the virtual dictionary for MedDRA 5.0.
3. In Oracle Clinical, go to Plan, then TMS Domains, and change to the virtual dictionary for the desired studies.
4. Copy domain information from the Domain A to Domain B. The next time you run Batch Validation for the selected study, the new dictionary will be used as the target/coding dictionary.