Question Engine (QE) Migration FAQ
General Questions:
What is the timeline for the QE migration?
The migration will be complete by 5/31/2019. All data partners should be ready to receive and respond to question engine queries by 5/2/2019. Investigators will be expected to send queries in the QE infrastructure starting on 5/31/2019. Specifies due dates are available here: Question Engine Migration - Data Partner Processes.
How does the question engine migration relate to the required upgrade to .NET 4.7.2?
These activities are unrelated, DataMart client versions 6.0 or newer are already compatible with the question engine infrastructure, and all Data partners are already using version 6.0 or newer. This means DataMart Client 6.0 and newer can respond to Summary Table queries via a SQL Server database. .NET is the framework required for the DataMart client to function. In fall 2018, the PopMedNet team requested that all Data Partners upgrade their .NET framework to version 4.7.2 by Spring 2019. A new DataMart client, (version 2019.2) that will require .NET 4.7.2 to run will be made available to Data Partners for review by that time, (approximately early March 2019). Data Partners will be required to install this new DataMart within 3 months of it being made available. Once PopMedNet 2019.2 is released to production (approximately end of May 2019), DataMart version 2019.2 must be used to respond to queries; older DataMart client versions will not be able to execute queries sent from PopMedNet version 2019.2.
What is the difference between the investigator and data partner training sessions?
The investigator training sessions focused mostly on the query tool (the web application from which queries are sent) and how it will look/function differently when its fully migrated to the question engine infrastructure. The data partner training sessions focused on the DataMart client changes and how responding to queries will be impacted by the migration.
Is a recording of the live training available?
We did not record the training, but all screenshots were taken from the existing PopMedNet user guide available on this wiki. Click here to view the user guide.
What can I do if I have additional questions?
Please create a question engine task tracking ticket and enter your question in the description or in a comment. If you already created a question task tracking ticket, please enter your question as a comment in the existing ticket. View your open service desk tickets.
For Investigators:
What is “Group name” in the new request creation screen?
Group name is a field in which you can enter a name for the set of parameters you entered for a query. You can save these paramaters to apply them to a later query.
Is there still a character limit for the description field in a request?
No, question engine based requests have no character limit for the description field.
For Data Partners:
How are Summary Table model processors handled in question engine?
In the DMC, all Summary Table model processors have been merged into a single model processor that can execute prevalence, incidence, or most frequently used (MFU) summary table queries as well as file disribution and modular program queries.
Does the QE migration change the number of required DataMart Client (DMC) updates?
No, there will still be up to two required DMC updates per calendar year.
How do I create the .txt files that I can import into a SQL Server Summary Table Database?
The Sentinel team distributes a modular program called the summary table creation package that runs against your Sentinel Common Data Model dataset to create these text files.
Where can I find the slide deck presented during the Data Partner training sessions?
The slide deck is available here: Question Engine Migration - Data Partner Processes