GSoC 2018 Bika LIMS Ideas

Bika has registered for the 2018 Google Summer of code and are inviting students to take on any of the Project Ideas published here. We are proposing more realistically achievable projects than the big bites of GSoC 2015!-)

Ideas

Good working knowledge of Python required. JS and Plone beneficial.

Automating Batch Analysis Request Creation and Editing

Currently bulk Sample and analysis creation, say in Batches of 10 or more Analysis Requests, ARs, when the UI becomes somewhat cumbersome, is done by importing them from spreadsheet. Which can be reasoned to be just another big form, admittedly with the ability do save drafts before finally submitting them.

Often all the ARs in such a Batch share the same attributes, except for Client Sample ID, Samopler and Date Sampled. This Idea proposes that the shared attributes be completed once only in the Batch Create and Edit forms, and ARs inherit them at creation time. Users may then drill down to edit exceptions.

Code to do this was developed to near perfection before the project went dormant. It needs to be migrated to Bika Senaite only.

Further Performance enhancements

Bika LIMS evolution to Senaite opens up more possibilities to move performance hungry components to Plone Dexterity and ElasticSearch. Most populous objects Analyses and ARs first.

Froid. Free Open Instrument Middleware

A GSoC 2015 survivor, much more achievable in 2018 on the Bika API v2, and some serial interfaces already developed in the user community.

Froid will be a free-standing instrument server to easily interface any laboratory instrument to any laboratory software. The current Bika LIMS interface module was designed with this in mind and can be used as a basis, see Creating an Instrument Import Interface. Froid will be vendor neutral to attract as many interfaces possible, open sourced on the AGPL for protection.

One of its main functions will be to resolve serial RS232 communications with instruments and for this project we aim to add at least one of the most popular for which good interface specifications can be obtained, most likely the BD MGIT for health care application.

Initial top level design at Froid. Free Open Instrument Middleware. Fluffy and dated Functional Specification.

Also see Quora, How to get started and Reddit r/gsoc

Important upcoming dates

January 23	Mentoring organization application deadline
January 23 - February 11	Google program administrators review organization applications
February 12	List of accepted mentoring organizations published
February 12 - March 12	Potential student participants discuss application ideas with mentoring organizations
March 12	Student application period begins
March 27	Student application deadline
April 23	Accepted student proposals announced

Mentors Mike, Lemoene, Inus