OpenSpecimen has option to delete any data in case user added erroneous data. When user deletes from the interface or API, the data is never hard deleted i.e the data still exists in the database with a 'Delete' flag. Currently there is no option to retrieve deleted data from the interface.
OpenSpecimen takes care that user does not delete any data by mistake:
- If user tries to delete a collection protocol with data, it asks user to type 'DELETE ANYWAY' so that admin does not click delete by mistake
- If user wants to delete participant, they have to first delete specimen and visit under it.
- Before deleting any data, system warns and confirms deletion.
To retrieve the data, the database administrator can activate the record back by running SQL. Every record has a 'activity_status' which is updated to 'Disabled' for deleted records. To activate this, run an SQL to update 'activity_status' to 'Active'. In some cases, there are dependent data and there might be multiple tables that needs to be updated. If you need further help, contact us at forums.openspecimen.org.