Transform Framework
- Andy Tseng
Introduction
The transform framework provides integration of DaRIS with external processing of data.
The approach is that Method steps can now define transform or workflow steps (as well as Study steps and Subject state steps; see /wiki/spaces/RCS/pages/4593236). These steps can be executed and monitored (if the transform provider has appropriate functionality) by the DaRIS portal. Processed data bundles can be uploaded (by the workflow, or manually for that matter) back to the repository.
Recall that Subjects contain ExMethods, which are the instantiation of Methods. A Subject can contain many ExMethods. Usually, the first ExMethod will be the one that was used to create the Subject. However, it could also contain workflow steps. Otherwise, other ExMethods can be instantiated under the Subject which contain just transform steps. These workflow steps visible via the ExMethod are the primary way in which the transforms are exposed.
For workflows that involve multiple Subjects, then one can create a special virtual Subject and create a workflow which fetches data from the appropriate input Subjects.
To utilise the framework, you must have a Transform Provider which is the entity that execute the desired workflow. Our primary use cases, for which the transform package provides built-in Transform Providers (see transform.type.list) are currently
- The Kepler workflow engine.
- An external executable (e.g. script)
No other Transform Providers have been developed at this time.
Quick Start
A bare-bones outline of how to make a workflow and use it can be found /wiki/spaces/RCS/pages/4590274.