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I found a bug, and a workaround. Someone may already have posted about this, but I didn't see it specifically in previous threads, so I thought I'd post about it here.

Several of us discovered in a previous thread together that in order not to lose flow data in ResScan 3.10 when downloading data that you need to discard duplicate data when the quick start patient selector pops up for data download.
That's great if you only check your data once a day, but what if you checked your nap data yesterday afternoon, and now you want to show last nights data this morning? At first, you might think you've either lost data, you're about to lose data if you overwrite all, or you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to view the data.

When you stick your sd card reader in the usb slot, this 'quick start' screen pops up. Actually it takes a minute. It's pretty slow for a quick start, but it's somewhat automated.


When you select 'View Data', this dialog box pops up on top of the previous dialog box. Wait a few seconds...


Then another dialog box pops up on top of the second dialog box asking if you want to discard or overwrite. In order not to lose data, you choose 'discard duplicate data'.


If you had a nap yesterday afternoon and you looked at your data after the nap, this is what you get -- only the nap data -- not a hint of last night's mask sessions:


Again, repeating, you can't just overwrite because all flow data for this patient except for the last 8 days on your ResScan database will be destroyed. That would suck. What's the workaround?

Unplug the SD card, wait a few seconds and then plug it back in. This screen appears after the 'quick start' system recognizes the sd card again:
I usually click 'No', but it probably doesn't matter since new data has not been added.


The next screen comes up. Be sure to select your patient, leave all settings the same, except check 'Select Data Type to Download' and click 'View Data'.


Of course do nothing when this screen pops up:


Check all settings as shown. All summary data. Pull down to 'first' most recent detailed data sessions(s). Check 'include equivalent number of high rate data sessions (if available)'. I leave 'make these my default settings' unchecked just in case I skip a couple days so I can come back and automatically download all available high-resolution data on the card. Click 'Ok'.


Next you'll get the typical 'Overwrite-or-Discard' screen. You can now safely click 'overwrite' because you're downloading specifically last night's data and will not delete or discard any previous night's high-resolution data. You will only overwrite 'last night's' data - meaning from 12noon yesterday to 12noon today.


Now you will see all of last night's data available along with your nap. Detailed data for flow and all other data are still avialable for all nights on your computer. I'm unsure as to whether data is struck from the card when using this method, but I tend to think not. If anyone has better knowledge or a better 'best practices' methodology, it would be great to share it here.


This particular bug makes me think about ResScan 3.10's data management granularity, or lack thereof. Under the pulldown for 'Tools' --> 'Options' --> there needs to be a tab for data archive preferences - perhaps 'Data'. Under the 'Data' tab, there should be options for how you want various media types to store/archive data. Resultant pull-downs should be appropriate to the Media Type selected.


I hope this helps someone.

Hi Dave

Actually I have taken naps during the same date (before 12 noon) and found that if I choose to Discard... then it will not write the flow data to add to the same date... but it does not change the card. I went back in and Chose Overwrite and it has just added the Newest Data for the same date... everything else was left alone including any earlier Data.

I just did that again earlier this morning because I forgot and chose Disgard... no data from last night because I had already DL'ed yesterday afternoons' nap. Exited ResScan and Ejected SD card then opened ResScan again and at the DL window selected Overwrite. It simply added last night's Data complete with Flow and did not change any other values...

Less of a worry...

Nord

That's not so good, maybe you can return the software and get a refund

Nord wrote:Hi Dave

Actually I have taken naps during the same date (before 12 noon) and found that if I choose to Discard... then it will not write the flow data to add to the same date... but it does not change the card. I went back in and Chose Overwrite and it has just added the Newest Data for the same date... everything else was left alone including any earlier Data.

I just did that again earlier this morning because I forgot and chose Disgard... no data from last night because I had already DL'ed yesterday afternoons' nap. Exited ResScan and Ejected SD card then opened ResScan again and at the DL window selected Overwrite. It simply added last night's Data complete with Flow and did not change any other values...

Less of a worry...

Nord

Check your flow data for days further back than a week. Is it still there? If not, it has been purged from the system - both the card and your ResScan patient file. I want to preserve the older flow data so I can go back and look at it later. The above method keeps the flow data from being purged unnecessarily.

Uncle_Bob wrote:That's not so good, maybe you can return the software and get a refund

Alternatively, if you're not as obsessive as I am about reading data, you can just wait until the next day to read it by doing the download-all and discard-duplicate-data method once daily. I'll likely get to that point soon.

DreamDiver wrote:[

Check your flow data for days further back than a week. Is it still there? If not, it has been purged from the system - both the card and your ResScan patient file. I want to preserve the older flow data so I can go back and look at it later. The above method keeps the flow data from being purged unnecessarily.

Uncle_Bob wrote:That's not so good, maybe you can return the software and get a refund

Alternatively, if you're not as obsessive as I am about reading data, you can just wait until the next day to read it by doing the download-all and discard-duplicate-data method once daily. I'll likely get to that point soon.[/quote]

Hi DD

Yes... I don't have a full SD card but I do have three days out of a possible nine. My need for back-up to SD is zero at this point. I know that its' different for you. My data on my computer is complete and I will use the back-up feature there. Then I will cross the bridge about DL'ing to another SD card when I need it. I will then need to re-read all the posts about S9 cards...

Hi UB

I pretty happy with 3.10... there hasn't been any major difficulties... just a learning curve. No returns necessary thank goodness

BTW: I'm guessing that all is well with your XP Install and did you recover your data???

Nord

If I am reading data when the day's data isn't complete, I just don't save when exiting ResScan. That way I can look at my data but don't have to worry about the data settings, I just select discard duplicate data.

fiberfan wrote:If I am reading data when the day's data isn't complete, I just don't save when exiting ResScan. That way I can look at my data but don't have to worry about the data settings, I just select discard duplicate data.

Excellent! I hadn't thought of that. That's another perfectly valid way to do it, eh? Thanks fiberfan.

Great post DreamDriver! I'm sure this will help many that have a siesta. Personally I find no need for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon nap since being on CPAP. If I'm relaxing watching TV and lazing around say on a weekend and I start to get tired, the first thing I do is get up, walk into the kitchen and make myself a drink. I usually find that combats any need I might have to have a siesta in the day

dave21 wrote:Great post DreamDriver! I'm sure this will help many that have a siesta. Personally I find no need for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon nap since being on CPAP. If I'm relaxing watching TV and lazing around say on a weekend and I start to get tired, the first thing I do is get up, walk into the kitchen and make myself a drink. I usually find that combats any need I might have to have a siesta in the day

Thanks dave21,
I'm getting to the point now that I'm not obsessing so much about reading data immediately after a nap. In actuality, fiberfan's method is clearly superior, but now we have knowledge of multiple options for at least attempting to conserve data. ResScan really shouldn't summarily remove patient data from the hard-drive though, before first alerting the clinician in plain language that they're about to delete records from a patient's file, and allowing for the ability to override patient data deletion. The way it is now seems like a total HIPAA compliance nightmare.

After corrupting my SD card at the weekend I'm getting to the point on thinking maybe I shouldn't import it every day. The other point I'm really getting concerned about is in the company I work for, we go through external USB SD card readers very quickly because they fail to read the cards when several thousand cards have been through the reader (contact plate problem), and I'm wondering whether ejecting the SD card on a daily basis is really a good idea for the S9.

At some point we might find that the S9 might fail to read the contact plates correctly and not read or write to the cards at all. I hope this never happens (and for others that might think I'm scare mongering I really am not - but I'm just trying to warn everyone that this might be a reality), I have seen this a lot as the Support team I manage have to write out thousands of SD cards every 3 months and we're continuously re-purchasing USB SD card reader/writer devices and having them also replaced under warranty due to high means failure rates

dave21 wrote:After corrupting my SD card at the weekend I'm getting to the point on thinking maybe I shouldn't import it every day. The other point I'm really getting concerned about is in the company I work for, we go through external USB SD card readers very quickly because they fail to read the cards when several thousand cards have been through the reader (contact plate problem), and I'm wondering whether ejecting the SD card on a daily basis is really a good idea for the S9.

At some point we might find that the S9 might fail to read the contact plates correctly and not read or write to the cards at all. I hope this never happens (and for others that might think I'm scare mongering I really am not - but I'm just trying to warn everyone that this might be a reality), I have seen this a lot as the Support team I manage have to write out thousands of SD cards every 3 months and we're continuously re-purchasing USB SD card reader/writer devices and having them also replaced under warranty due to high means failure rates

dave21,
I think this is a valid concern. I've had the same concern with my M-Series pro smart card. The old card is no longer recording each night's data consistently, so I bought a new card, hoping the problem was with the card and not the reader. I haven't yet tried it since I'm still working with the S9, but I keep the M-Series because I want to have some sort of backup during power outages that doesn't have special power requirements.

What really annoys me as a lot of manufacturers do stipulate how many read/writes they can do on the reader/writer before failure could kick in and some rate it at 1000. For our use, I guess that would equate to nearly 3 years so it might not be too much of a problem, but unfortunately could mean it will fail just as the warranty has run out if other card readers/writers are anything to go by.

dave21 wrote:What really annoys me as a lot of manufacturers do stipulate how many read/writes they can do on the reader/writer before failure could kick in and some rate it at 1000. For our use, I guess that would equate to nearly 3 years so it might not be too much of a problem, but unfortunately could mean it will fail just as the warranty has run out if other card readers/writers are anything to go by.

Interesting Dave.

I think my S8 card is all but stuffed - often it comes up with a Card Error when I insert it in the S8. I was going to buy a new card. (I have had the S8 for just over 2 years)

Thankfully for the S8 I never had ResScan software so I couldn't keep taking the card in and out but looking at the card and how the card inserted into the S8 that would have worried me a lot. S9 is a lot better with the SD card but knowing SD card technology failure rate tends to still be quite high for heavy usage, I really hope the S9 doesn't hit into any problems reading the cards.

I'm still into backing the card up daily and transferring it into ResScan. I don't mind if the SD card breaks, I'll just buy another one as they're cheap, but I won't be buying multiple S9's if the SD card writer breaks in the machine.

dave21 wrote:but I won't be buying multiple S9's if the SD card writer breaks in the machine.

That is the only concern I have as well.