Step 3: Set up a skeletal study

Before you can deploy a study, you must set up the basic framework to hold your study design and data. This framework is called a skeletal study. All the commands used to create the skeletal study are run from a Windows command prompt.

The following procedure sets up a skeletal study named pfst on the server demo.

  1. Create the Oracle InForm server that will host your studies:
    pfadmin setup server demo
  2. Create a study within your server: 
    pfadmin setup trial pfst demo /db TRIAL1

    When prompted enter the:

    • Study DB user ID.
    • Password to associate with the study user. The password must comply with the requirements of the complexity verification function configured for the database.

    This command creates your study, and associates it with a database instance.

  3. Set up the Oracle InForm application for your study:
    dbsetup pfst base

    This command installs the components of the Oracle InForm application for your study.

  4. Copy the Oracle InForm folder from the Oracle Central Designer image to the Oracle InForm application server.
  5. Run InstallCentralDesignerFiles.cmd, located in the Oracle Central Designer image Oracle InForm folder.
    The InstallCentralDesignerFiles command installs and registers the Oracle Central Designer rules engine, as well as other files the Oracle InForm application uses for automated deployments.

    Note:

    You only need to run the InstallCentralDesignerFiles command one time on the Oracle InForm application server. After the Oracle Central Designer rules engine is installed, it can be used by all the Oracle InForm studies on the server.
  6. Specify a TrialType for your study:
    pfadmin config trial pfst /TrialType QA

    The TrialType options are:

    • Live—Production environment.
    • UAT—User acceptance environment.
    • QA—Product test environment.
    • TRN—Training environment.
    • Dev—Product development environment.

    For automated deployments to work, the TrialType must be the same as the deployment instance type set in Oracle Central Designer.

  7. Specify whether your study requires approvals from the Oracle Central Designer application in order to autodeploy a study deployment package.
    pfadmin config trial pfst /TrialApproval FALSE

    The TrialApproval options are:

    • True—Approvals required.
    • False—Approvals not required.

    Note:

    In order to deploy a deployment package from within the Oracle InForm user interface, the TrialApproval setting must be False.
  8. Specify a backup folder to be used during the automated deployment process.
    pfadmin config trial pfst /DeployBackupFolder /u01/app/dbbackup

    The Oracle InForm application uses this folder to store a backup of the database during the deployment process. If the deployment fails for any reason, the application uses the data in this folder to roll back to the state it was in prior to the deployment. The deployment backup folder:

    • Refers to a folder on the database server.
    • The folder must exist on the database server, otherwise the deployment will fail.
  9. Specify the port numbers your study will use to communicate with the following web services:
    • DeploymentService—The port number to communicate with the Oracle Central Designer application for automated deployments.
    • AuthService—The port number to communicate Reporting and Analysis module to authorize Oracle InForm and reporting users.
    • ODMSubmitService—The port number to communicate with requests to the Clinical Data API.
      pfadmin config webservice pfst DeploymentService ADD HTTP:14040
pfadmin config webservice pfst AuthService ADD HTTP:14041
pfadmin config webservice pfst ODMSubmitService ADD HTTP:14042
  10. Start the Oracle InForm server and study using the following commands, in the order listed:
    pfadmin start server demo
pfadmin start trial pfst
  11. Activate the system user for your study:
    pfadmin setserver systempw pfst

    When prompted, enter a password for the system user.

You can now log in to your study, deploy a study, and start loading data. For more information, see Deploy your study, and the Study and Reporting Setup Guide.

Parent topic: Steps to prepare the Oracle InForm Application Server