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2024 Releases

This page lists Halo Connect's 2024 releases and the changes made in each release.

Version 24.1017

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.1016.3712
    • Staging: October 17, 2024
    • Production (alpha): October 24, 2024
    • Production: October 29, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.1017.3744
    • Staging: October 17, 2024
    • Production: October 24, 2024

Earlier this year, some fields in internal APIs used by Halo Link were deprecated as part of various upgrades. These fields will be removed as of this release.

This means Halo Link versions 23.920.1226 and older will no longer work.

Based on our analytics, the impact to practices and integrators should be negligible, and we have already been in contact with the affected practices.

Changes

Converting null to DBNull

Previously, null query parameter values threw errors, as they were passed to the database as null. Bp Premier, Zedmed, and Centaur consider null to be missing values.

As of this release, null values will be converted to DBNull.

This allows integrators to explicitly write null to the database, rather than it being treated as a missing value.

Since null query parameter values previously threw errors, the functionality change to existing queries should be negligible. However, this does mean that any null query parameter values will now be treated differently by the database.

Improvements

  • Improved Halo Link's Web PubSub reconnection logic.

Bug fixes

  • Various bug fixes.

Version 24.926

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.926
    • Staging: September 26, 2024
    • Production (alpha): October 24, 2024
    • Production: October 29, 2024

Features

  • Added a new query type for the SQL Passthrough API called Registered Queries. Queries can be registered at a practice for up to 24 hours, to be run at a specified frequency. See the SQL Passthrough API overview and the API reference for more details.

Improvements

  • Improved Halo Link's threading model to improve performance and reduce noisy neighbour impact.

Version 24.912

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.912.3545
    • Staging: September 12, 2024
    • Production: September 12, 2024

Improvements

  • Improved the authoritative swap process so that a practice's Halo GUID will not change. This removes the need for integrators to retrieve the Halo GUID after a practice has completed a server migration.
  • Various improvements in preparation for the release of Registered Queries.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug with the processing of certain unicode characters in response payloads.

Version 24.829

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.829.3492
    • Staging: August 29, 2024
    • Production (alpha): September 12, 2024
    • Production: September 19, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.829.3490
    • Staging: August 29, 2024
    • Production: September 12, 2024

Improvements

  • Added _include and _revinclude support to the FHIR API.
  • Added various new resources to the FHIR API for Bp Premier.
  • Added AU Base supported profiles to the FHIR API Capability Statement.
  • Removed empty patchFormat field from FHIR API Capability Statement to better align with FHIR validation standards.

Bug fixes

  • Removed the need to update or reinstall Link before it can connect to a release ring.
  • Fixed a bug with the FHIR API base URL incorrectly being case-sensitive.
  • Fixed a bug with some FHIR bundle pagination links being invalid.
  • Fixed a bug with Centaur and Zedmed site data sometimes missing database data.

Version 24.815

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.813.3343
    • Staging: August 15, 2024
    • Production: August 15, 2024

Hotfixes

  • Improved handling of immediate query timeouts when multiple queries are queued simultaneously.

Improvements

  • Completed the migration to using Link GUIDs instead of Halo GUIDs for update checks.
  • Added the ability to populate practiceManagementVersion for Centaur practices.

Version 24.801

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.801.3258
    • Staging: August 1, 2024
    • Production: August 6, 2024

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug with immediate queries with executionMode = nonQuery that would cause them to time out.

Version 24.723

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.717.3173
    • Staging: July 23, 2024
    • Production (alpha): July 30, 2024
    • Production: August 8, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.722.3197
    • Staging: July 23, 2024
    • Production: July 30, 2024

Improvements

  • Increased immediate query size limit from 1MB to 8MB.
  • Added requestSize, resultSize and completedAt to query response body.
  • Added downloading and uploading to immediate status timing.

Version 24.715

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.712.3147
    • Staging: July 15, 2024
    • Production: July 30, 2024

Improvements

  • Identified additional PMS IDs to flag as development.

Version 24.704

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.704.3084
    • Staging: July 4, 2024
    • Production: July 4, 2024

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug with parsing some Zedmed configuration files.

Version 24.628

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.627.3043
    • Staging: June 28, 2024
    • Production: July 2, 2024

Improvements

  • Various improvements to internal infrastructure.

Version 24.611

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.611.2949
    • Staging: June 11, 2024
    • Production (alpha and beta): June 18, 2024
    • Production: June 20, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.610.2921
    • Staging: June 11, 2024
    • Production: June 18, 2024

Improvements

  • Digitally signed additional Halo Link DLLs to mitigate issues with antivirus software incorrectly flagging Halo Link as malware.
  • Various improvements in preparation for the FHIR API for Bp Premier.
  • Various improvements to finalise Dental4Windows support.
  • Various improvements to infrastructure.

Version 24.529

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.529.2816
    • Staging: May 29, 2024

Bug fixes

  • Fix a bug with the new query parameter type check that made the parameters field required when sending queries.

Version 24.528

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.527.2795
    • Staging: May 28, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.528.2802
    • Staging: May 28, 2024

Improvements

  • Various improvements in preparation for the FHIR API for Bp Premier.
  • Various improvements in preparation for Dental4Windows support.
  • The Halo Cloud API reference is now available in JSON format. The production URL is: https://docs.haloconnect.io/api-reference/integrator-openapi.json.
  • Restructured the documentation to reduce duplication and improve informational and navigational clarity.
  • Added a check to ensure each query parameter had a parameter type compatible with the PMS type.

Version 24.502

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.502.2565
    • Staging: May 2, 2024
    • Production (alpha): May 8, 2024
    • Production: May 14, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.501.2542
    • Staging: May 2, 2024
    • Production: May 8, 2024

Improvements

  • Various improvements in preparation for the FHIR API for Bp Premier.
  • Various improvements in preparation for Dental4Windows support.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug with the return values in the new practiceMetadata field

Version 24.424

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.423.2498
    • Staging: April 24, 2024
    • Production (alpha): May 8, 2024
    • Production: May 14, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.424.2514
    • Staging: April 24, 2024
    • Production: May 8, 2024

Changes

Changes to return data of Get Halo GUIDs and Get Site Status endpoints

The Get Halo GUIDs and Get Site Status endpoints currently return some fields which are unnecessary or even confusing for integrators. As part of an upgrade to how we handle sites across different PMSs, the return data for these endpoints is being cleaned up, and some new fields added.

Deprecations in the API Reference

The API Reference lists several fields as deprecated. Some are being moved to a nested object, while some are being removed permanently. These fields will remain deprecated for at least 90 days to give integrators time to make any changes they need to make. Please contact Support if you have any questions or require more time.

New

The following fields are new:

  • practiceMetadata contains a nested object into which practice-specific data is being moved. The fields within this object may change depending on which PMS a practice is running.
  • enrichedAt lists the time at which the practice's practiceMetadata was last enriched (updated).
  • catalogue lists the catalogues (databases) available for the practice's PMS installation.
Moved

The following fields are being moved. The old fields have been deprecated, and their values are currently duplicated to the new location. The old fields will be removed in a future release.

Old field New field
practiceManagementName pmsType and practiceMetadata.pmsType
name practiceMetadata.practiceName
practiceManagementSiteId practiceMetadata.practiceManagementSiteId
practiceManagementVersion practiceMetadata.practiceManagementVersion

There are two pmsType fields for diagnostic purposes. They should always contain the same value for a given practice. If their values differ, something has been misconfigured.

Deprecated for removal

The following fields have been deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

Field Reason
authoritative Integrator endpoints only return sites where authoritative is true.
status Update: Deprecation reversed due to feedback. status will remain. The availability field should be sufficient for integrators to know if a practice is contactable. status is extraneous.
createdAt No known use case for customers.
clientTimestampUTC Used by internal systems.
heartbeatTimestampUTC Used by internal systems.
Example: Final result

After all changes are made, including removing deprecated fields in a future release, the return data for the Get Halo GUIDs and Get Site Status endpoints should have the following fields, with some variation within the practiceMetadata object depending on the PMS type.

There are two pmsType fields for diagnostic purposes. They should always contain the same value for a given practice. If their values differ, something has been misconfigured.

{
    "pmsType": "{PMS name}",
    "practiceMetadata": {
        "pmsType": "{PMS name}",
        "practiceName": "{Practice name}",
        "practiceManagementSiteId": "{PMS ID}",
        "practiceManagementVersion": "{PMS version}"
    },
    "availability": "online",
    "status": "active",
    "haloLinkVersion": "24.314.2193.0",
    "catalogues": [
        {
            "name": "{Database name}",
            "isDefault": true
        },
        {
            "name": "{Database name}",
            "isDefault": false
        }
    ],
    "id": "{Halo Guid}",
    "enrichedAt": "2024-04-20T06:18:44.297Z",
}
GUID changes

To support PMSs which allow multiple installations of their PMS database software on one server, our GUID system is changing. These changes most affect what is written to the registry.

Previously, the registry had two fields -- HaloGuid and LinkGuid -- which contained the same GUID value.

From this release, the registry entries for each Halo Link installation will have the following changes:

  • HaloGuid becomes HaloGuids which contains a newline-separated array of GUIDs. These GUIDs represent the PMS installations that the Halo Link instance connects to. For Bp Premier, currently, HaloGuids should only ever list one GUID, as Bp Premier only allows one installation per server.
  • LinkGuid becomes a GUID that identifies that Halo Link installation.
  • For existing sites, the existing Halo GUID will be kept and moved to the HaloGuids field. LinkGuid will be a new value, but this is only used by internal systems.

This change is largely for internal use and should have minimal impact on customers. PMS IDs should still be used to get a practice's Halo GUID or to identify a practice with support, and Halo GUIDs are still used to route queries.

PmsType changes

For diagnostic purposes, the Halo Link registry entry PmsType currently reads BestPracticeLegacy for Bp Premier practices. This was set in a previous release in preparation for this release, and the changes to bootstrapping that are included in it.

Once a Halo Link install has successfully migrated to the new bootstrapping process, the PmsType should read BestPractice and the registry should also reflect the above GUID changes. Halo Link's logs will also indicate when the migration process began and succeeded.

Changes to fake Bp Site Id for developer licenses

Bp Premier installs running a developer license are given a Bp Site ID of 0. As this is a non-unique identifier, Halo Link needs to substitute that value for a unique value when bootstrapping such sites so that functionality such as the Get Halo GUIDs endpoint will work.

Previously, Halo Link generated a fake Bp ID for such sites during bootstrap. This was a unique, custom-generated GUID.

Due to changes to bootstrapping, Link will now use the first eight characters of a practice's Halo GUID as its fake Bp Site ID.

For existing Link installs with fake Bp Site IDs...

Existing fake Bp Site IDs will be gradually switched over to the new system in the 24 hours following the release. This will not change the Halo GUID used to send queries. However, if you have saved or cached your fake Bp Site ID, please update your records to the first eight characters of the Halo GUID.

Improvements

  • Various improvements in preparation for the FHIR API.
  • Various improvements in preparation for D4Windows support.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug with clashing character sets in the Zedmed integration.
  • Fixed a bug with heartbeat records not updating correctly after migration

Version 24.405

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.404.2343
    • Staging: April 5, 2024
    • Production (alpha): May 8, 2024
    • Production: May 14, 2024
  • Halo Cloud version 24.405.2357
    • Staging: April 5, 2024
    • Production: May 8, 2024

Improvements

  • Various improvements in preparation for the FHIR API.
  • Uninstalling Halo Link now removes the Version value from the Halo Link registry.
  • Removed a deprecated query endpoint from the API reference and clarified some details.
  • Updated the EULA included in the Halo Link installer to apply to multiple PMS in preparation for Zedmed support.
  • Improved error handling related to query processing.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a regression in the Halo Link installer that resulted in a non-specific error message being displayed if installation failed due to the .NET 4.8 requirement not being met.

Version 24.321

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.321.2278
    • Staging: March 21, 2024
    • Production: March 26, 2024

Bug fixes

  • Various bug fixes for the SQL Passthrough API for Zedmed.

Version 24.314

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.314.2193
    • Staging: March 14, 2024
    • Production (alpha): March 18, 2024
    • Production: March 26, 2024

Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug with our installer tool incorrectly detecting assembly file versions during an update.

Version 24.313

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.309.2138
    • Staging: March 13, 2024
    • Production: March 18, 2024
  • Halo Link version 24.312.2173
    • Staging: March 13, 2024
    • Production (alpha): March 18, 2024
    • Production: March 26, 2024

Improvements

  • Various improvements have been made in preparation for Zedmed support.
  • Various improvements have been made in preparation for supporting FHIR for Bp Premier.
  • Improved handling of async query state when database connection is lost.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed an issue with Halo Cloud not honouring the timeout parameter for async queries.

Version 24.215

Includes:

  • Halo Link version 24.214.1927
    • Staging: February 15, 2024
    • Production: March 5, 2024

Bug fixes

  • Fixed issue with the Halo Link installer authoring tool generating invalid product codes, resulting in Halo Link not updating due to incorrectly detecting that it was already installed.

Version 24.213

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.209.1875
    • Staging: February 13, 2024
    • Production: February 28, 2024
  • Halo Link version 24.212.1908
    • Staging: February 13, 2024
    • Production: February 28, 2024

Changes

Removal of deprecated in-query database credentials functionality

The ability to pass database credentials to Bp Premier databases via the query body was deprecated in August 2023. This functionality has now been removed.

Improvements

  • Various internal improvements and additions have been made in preparation for Zedmed support.
  • Various internal improvements and additions have been made in preparation for supporting FHIR for Bp Premier.

Bug fixes

Web PubSub failing to reconnect after connection disruptions

Halo Link has had an ongoing issue with reconnecting to Web PubSub after server reboots and internet disruptions, though only on certain servers with unique configurations. Release 23.803 contained a fix which resolved one aspect of this issue.

This release includes improvements to Halo Link's error handling which has been proven to resolve most remaining cases of Web PubSub errors caused by connection disruptions.

Version 24.124

Includes:

  • Halo Cloud version 24.124.1699
    • Staging: January 24, 2024
    • Production: February 28, 2024

Changes

Get Halo GUIDs endpoint now requires practiceManagementName

In preparation for adding support for Zedmed, the Get Halo GUIDs endpoint now requires integrators always specify the practiceManagementName. For Best Practice sites, the value to use is Best Practice.

Improvements

  • The Halo Cloud API reference includes a database catalogue field in query request objects, in preparation for Zedmed support.
  • Various internal improvements and additions have been made in preparation for Zedmed support.

Prev: 2023 Release notes

Version: 24.1029.3843