Updates

About updates

Updates to RevMan are released with regular intervals as long as there is a need.

Users are notified about updates through the automated system built into RevMan. Updates containing critical bugs fixes and new features are also announced on relevant email lists, including the RevMan discussion list.

Known issues to be addressed in the next update are listed here.

Download latest update (5.0.14)

Windows | Mac OS | Linux

Fixed in update 5.0.14 (2 July 2008)

All comparison names should not be printed when printing one forest plot

Cannot insert bulleted lists into What's New

Cannot open specific review that uses risk difference

Conversion problem for plain language summary with multiple paragraphs and no line between title and body

Only first paragraph of PLS is converted.

Delete key may corrupt table structure when used at the end of list

Error converting 'Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis'

Error message when pasting times out after 10 seconds

Error when undoing pasting into review title

Lists with all list items empty are uneditable after saving and opening

Memory leak when reviews are edited

Not possible to format text with links as list

Possible to make a bulleted heading by applying heading style to bulleted list

Causes program to hang on save.

Problem converting mixed selection into bulleted list if selection begins with list

Title notes in notes view not updated when notes are edited in other window

Fixed in update 5.0.13 (19 June 2008)

Cannot open rm4 file with links at the beginning of bullet points

Cannot print specific review 'Virtual reality training for surgical trainees in laparoscopic surgery'

Find and replace: leading spaces are stripped from replacement text

Finish button in New Summary of Findings Table Wizard invisible for long file name

Workaround: Resize wizard window

'judgment' should be spelled 'judgement' in UK English interface

Outcome properties - data type can be changed by clicking outside radio button

Pasting of plain text lists generates extra paragraphs around each line

Track changes should not stay on in the Find and Replace dialog

Unmatched tags in exported HTML

Fixed in update 5.0.12 (6 June 2008)

Cancelling the Save As dialog on close does not stop file from being closed

Feedback item not validated when added

Pasting into one line text boxes doesn't work

Problem copying inverse variance study data between outcomes on different scales (log to lin, lin to log)

Workaround: Make sure outcomes are set to the same scale (log or linear).

SE=0 should not trigger validation error for generic inverse variance data

Statistical calculcations not performed for newly created review

If you create a review in RevMan, the statistical calculations are not done until you save the file and open it again.

Validation is not checking abstract for empty sections

Fixed in update 5.0.11 (26 May 2008)

Text editing and cursor movement slows down every time you switch between RevMan and other programs

This is most noticeable in tables. Workaround: Save, close and open file again.

Analysis links are not updated when moving comparison up/down

Cells can be selected in more than one table

Content from a single table cell should not be copied to the clipboard as a table

Cursor moves to end of table after pasting cells

This makes it difficult to keep track of where you pasted the cells.

Cursor should move to new row when creating table row with tab

Files are sometimes saved with two tables in one additional table

This generates invalid files that cannot be checked in.

Internal links (e.g. reference links) pasted from Word turn into 'internet' links

Modification time for text sections does not bubble up to parent text section

For example, if you modify 'Types of studies' this should be recorded in 'Criteria for considering studies for this review'.

Mouse clicks in content pane not always registered

Happens if mouse is dragged just a little bit before releasing the button.

Problem reading *.rm4 file with bulleted list

Some decimal numbers do not use locale specific decimal point

Tables containing headings can be pasted into the text

Since tables are not allowed to contains headings, this generates invalid files that cannot be checked in.

Word count should work on selected table cells

Fixed in update 5.0.10 (16 May 2008)

Deleted text in front of activated subheading keeps reappearing

This happens if you delete an empty paragraph just before the activated subheading: 1 with backspace; or 2 by standing at the end of a heading line on the line before and pressing delete. When you save and open again the parent heading will contain the combined text of heading and subheading. Workaround: Delete the text but keep the empty paragraph.

Fixed in update 5.0.9 (15 May 2008)

Text in bullets may disappear on converting from RevMan 4

Only for sections containing nothing but a bulleted list. The first bullet item turns into a paragraph, the rest disappear.

Files sometimes reported modified right after they have been opened

This incorrectly brings up the 'Do you want to save your changes?' message.

Pasting table content from Excel may result in table that cannot be saved

This problem has to with non-breaking spaces in the table cells in Excel, and is probably rare.

Deleting last paragraph in table cell with multiple paragraphs using backspace corrupts table

Workaround: Undo if you see this happening.

Special symbols pasted from Word turn into question marks or other symbols

Will be fixed for symbols from the Symbol font.

Table cell selection very slow for large tables

For very large tables, cell selection is almost impossible to use.

Words cannot be selected by double clicking in abstract, tables etc.

This only works in the main body text.

Edit Study Characteristics is not expanding collapsed table

As a result, the cursor will end up in the wrong field.

Fixed in update 5.0.8 (8 May 2008)

Edits are no longer registered after cancelling closing a review

This is problem that has existed since the beta versions of RevMan 5. Because of the severity, a new update was released as soon as it was discovered.

Fixed in update 5.0.7 (8 May 2008)

Missing Licence for Publication Form

The temporary version has been included.

Improved loading speed for large reviews

Conversion from RevMan 4 does not create 'Characteristics of studies awaiting classification' table

Enter number of participants setting for IV outcomes is ignored by conversion from RevMan 4

The setting was always set to 'no' after a review had been converted.

Program may hang when attempting to paste text

Improved editing of bulleted and numbered lists

Error in spell checker dialog

After the spell checker reports 'Spell check completed', if you then click one of the buttons, e.g. 'Ignore', an error message is displayed. The spell checker should close after reporting 'Spell check completed'.

Undoing deactivation of Risk of bias item should restore data

Line breaks disappear when pasting plain text

Problem copying long heading into New Appendix Wizard title box

Find and mark links should work on selected table cells

Pasting search strategy from CLIB into appendix results in centered paragraphs

Don't create substantive amendment event for protocols on conversion

Bulleted lists and links in bulleted lists disappear when converting rm4 file

Easy access to backup files

Added backup file to Recent Files menu as long as the review is open (when review is closed it will be deleted).

Changes to backup interval are only effective after restart

Find and mark links should find longest links

E.g. if text is 'Figure 10' this could end up as a link to Figure 1 with a trailing 0. After bug fix 'Find and mark links' no longer marks text as a link if the character after the text is a letter or a digit.

Special message when trying to open empty file

Handbook link for figures is not working

Show/hide raw data columns on forest plot figure not working except for dichotomous data

Validation check should not report error if O-E and V study data has V=0

Fixed in update 5.0.6 (5 May 2008)

This update was not released to the public, but was only used in Archie.

Fixed in update 5.0.5 (23 April 2008)

Only numbers can be written in the Units field for continuous outcomes

The idea is to be able to write a short string, e.g. 'kg'.

URL for internet links changes to lower case when review is opened

This is a problem if the link is case sensitive.

Content pane not immediately updated when deleting studies or outcomes with associated figures

Workaround: collapse and expand the 'parent folder'.

Contact persons are given RevMan user's middle initials if they don't have their own

The user's initials are those entered under Tools > Preferences.

Note on severity: Any contact details with false initials are checked in to Archie as part of the review draft version, but they are are not transferred from the review to the person's record in Archie. Also, when the review is marked for publication in Archie and the contact details are updated, the false initials will disappear.

Workaround: It is recommended to remove your initials from RevMan until the next update has been released.

Program slows down and memory consumption grows as your type

At least one reason for this has been verified and will be fixed in the next update.

Fixed in update 5.0.4 (11 April 2008)

Study data that are not in subgroups are not loaded.

This but is not present in earlier versions. Warning: Do not use RevMan 5.0.3 but upgrade immediately to 5.0.4. See here for more information.

Fixed in update 5.0.3 (11 April 2008)

95% CI lines option for funnel plot on Figure Properties should be disabled when not available

Error when deleting rows or columns in table at the end of the appendices

Limits on number of test and analyses for diagnostic reviews

The limits will be raised from 99 to 999 in the next update.

Reviews using MH Risk Difference may (under rare circumstances) fail to convert to Revman 5

Program error: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: Array index out of range: 0
org.cochrane.revman5.document.review.reviewsection.analysis.intmet.outcome.NumericOutcome.calculateMantelHaenszel
(NumericOutcome.java:822)

Plain language summary title not always separated out when converting from rm4 file

Some tables cannot be pasted from Word

New Zealand addresses are displayed using continental European address style

Maximum length of items in the Recent Files menu should be limited

Fixed in update 5.0.2 (2 April 2008)

Find and Mark Links is unreliable

We suggest to save before using this function, and only using it on short sections of text until the next update has been released.

Error after moving study with reference expanded

The tree collapses after the move. When trying to expand it again, the following error is displayed:

Program error: java.lang.NullPointerException
org.cochrane.revman5.Main$1.dispatchEvent(Main.java:33)

Workaround: Ignore the error, then press F5 (Refresh view)

Opening RevMan by double clicking rm5 file fails (Mac OS X)

Workaround: Open RevMan first, then open the file.

References reported as unlinked

Validation may falsely report that references with some charaters in the ID (such as ü) as unlinked. Saving, and reopening the review will correct this.

Error cutting with track changes turned on

The error only appears sometimes, depending on the cursor position.

Text section may open as collapsed even though 'Allow test sections to be collapsed/expanded' is switched off

If, for instance, you have more than 10 additional tables.

Cut, Copy and Paste buttons for data tables are only updated when selected row changes (not column)

Cannot delete table cell text with Delete when selecting text from start to end

Cannot delete table cell text with Backspace when selecting text from end to start

Full stop at the end of imported reference titles should be removed

Program hangs after importing many references if destination outline section is expanded

If, for instance, you inport into Classification Pending and that section is expanded in the tree.

Fixed in update 5.0.1 (26 March 2008)

Version numbers from RM4 files are not imported - 55263

If a RevMan 4 review is converted by opening the file with RevMan 5, the version gets the version number '0.0'. If a user who is not a Super User in the CRG then tries to check in the review, they get a version error.

Recommended resolution: do not convert reviews this way. It should be done by having the latest version in Archie, and then converting the review on Archie by the CRG, or by checking it out using RevMan 5.

Opened windows may extend beyond visible screen area

If, for instance, the screen resolution has been lovered.

Date, Time and Number Style list is not sorted

Under preferences, e.g. English US is at the end of the list.

Proxy user name and password are ignored

Error when stopping renaming outline item by clicking outside edit box

Error when right clicking the Journal/book/source field in Reference Wizard

Link to RevMan web site points to beta page

Saved PDF images may be cropped

Release Candidate 3

12 February 2008

Features

• Date fields can now be cleared
• Import References recognises different character encodings of imported text files (ANSI, UTF-8, UTF-16)
• 'What's new event' has been renamed to 'Event'
• The word 'recommended' has been removed from the GradeProfiler option in the Summary of Findings table wizard
• The template for Summary of Findings tables has been updated
• Warning when checking out reviews (including an option under Preferences to hide warning)
• Validation warning if no sources of support exist
• Validation warning at comparison level if one or more outcomes have no studies
• Validation warning for empty text sections has been removed if subsections have text in them
• Validation warning when additional references are not linked
• Context menu on plain text areas, e.g. on About screen
• No Amended event is created when unpublished protocols are converted from RevMan 4

Bugs fixed

• If more than one review was open, only one of them could be printed
• Error message when changing bias item to sort by on forest plot
• Copying a study to same section did not copy study characteristics
• Event column of What’s new table was not wide enough to see all text
• Unwanted punctuation appeared in citations for book/book section/conference proceedings when some field were empty
• Deleting rows/columns from table with spanned cells could result in invalid table
• Tables pasted from other programs could produce invalid save files
• Incorrect confidence intervals for diagnostic reviews with zero cells
• Calculator for diagnostic reviews calculated incorrect integer values
• Error when trimming image and selection was zero pixels wide or high
• Find and Replace omitted first space in replaced text
• Study/reference identifiers with colons generated invalid XML files

Release Candidate 2

20 December 2007

• Shortcuts to print single sections
• Preferences for recent file history size/ability to clear the history
• Reference wizard auto completes source field for Cochrane review references
• Context menu on all text fields
• Various bug fixes

Release Candidate 1

10 December 2007

• Allowed selection of live server, and made it the default for fresh installs.
• Check Out no longer defaults to Download a Copy
• Copy button on Check In report
• Renamed Server tab to Connection
• Validation of withdrawn reviews
• Validation warning for broken number sequences for figures etc.
• Welcome screen added
• Both notes and other tool tips texts are now visible in outline
• Reference type pull down list shows all options without a scroll bar
• Renumber functions are disabled when not required
• Hourglass cursor when pasting, copying figure to clipboard, and using Replace All
• Edit characteristics available in study context
• Special RM5 document icon
• View status of RM4 reviews
• Disabled memory usage status bar panel
• Show studies with zero weight as line on forest plot
• Warning about 'review not checked out' does not appear when review is downloaded - only when opened from file
• Preference for default number of expanded outline levels
• User defined font size in outline
• Various bug fixes

Beta 09

16 November 2007

• Delete notes function
• Name of local author editable
• Import SoF table from menu undoable
• Total events line in Dichotomous forest plots
• Undo cut tree item (by clicking)
• First item in journal source list activated
• Validation report says "No errors found" instead of showing an empty table
• Improved import of RIS files
• And numerous bug fixes...

Beta 08

1 November 2007

• Allow tables in notes
• Availability of Rename button on context toolbar
• Cancelling Close leaves document half closed
• Changes to notes collapses tree view
• Close file after check in
• Context toolbar buttons not updated when moving up/down
• Embed forest plots selected as figures
• Generate Reference ID when moving study reference to other
• Identifiers with type 'Other' are not saved correctly
• Lists in table cells corrupts table
• Rename 'Search results' to 'Results of the search' in diagnostic reviews
• Study identifiers are not loaded correctly
• Total events not calculated using IV for dichotomous data

Beta 07

12 October 2007

Important changes

• Structural revisions for diagnostic reviews

  A number of text and table headings have been renamed, and some text section have been made recommended instead of mandatory.

  Note: Since this is a change to the review format, you will get an error in RevMan when you try to open diagnostic reviews produced in previous beta versions. To circumvent this, you can open Preferences first and remove the check mark in 'Validate format of opened files'. Any text under the old headings will be lost.

Features

• 'Studies awaiting assessment' renamed to 'Studies awaiting classification'
• 'Date of last search' renamed to 'Date of search'
• 'Summary title' renamed to 'Plain language title'. The intention of this field is that it should contain the title of the review translated into plain language rather than a headline for the summary.
• Modified study characteristics headings for diagnostic reviews:
  'Presenting conditions' changed to 'Clinical features and setting'
  'Location' changed to 'Participant characteristics'
  'Method of selection' changed to 'Study design
  'Target condition' changed to 'Target condition and reference standard(s)'
  'Participant follow-up' changed to 'Follow-up'
• 'Risk of bias' used consistently (not 'Risk-of-bias')
• Summary of Findings table template. A new option in the New Summary of Findings Table Wizard is to import a template file included with RevMan, and continue editing the table in RevMan.
• Affiliation for group authors is now shown like for person authors.
• Identifiers in references are now rendered like this: [MEDLINE: 12345678; PudMed: 9876543210]
• Sample Intervention Handbook (with a single draft chapter) included.
• Support for translation of interface. A sample translation in Danish is included. Unavailable translations removed from list in Preferences
• Move up, Move down, and Renumber have becoem avalaibe for Tests (in Diagnostic reviews)
• Risk of bias / quality graphs now include more information in the legend.
• Validation check for completion of Published Notes for withdrawn reviews.
• Modified quality table items for diagnostic reviews. 'Uninterpretable results' changed to 'Uninterpretable results reported', and 'Withdrawals' changed to 'Withdrawals explained'.
• Squares on forest plots. Algorithm for calculation of size of squares from weights is now to that of RevMan 4 / CLIB, and areas are now directly proportional to weight.

Bugs Fixed

• Changes not saved when closing program
• Could not undo various edits, e.g. deletion of row in Additional Table
• Error running validation report for Overview reviews
• Quality graph not dymamically updated
• Changes done using Replace are discarded when dialog is closed
• Import References can import invalid characters
• 'Date assessed as up-to date' considered to be in the future
• First character of recent file name missing when file is in root folder
• Find box does not get initial focus for Replace
• Replace should prompt to search from beginning
• Test data wizard displays wrong labels
• RIS format import: problems with Editors and Source
• Notes do not count as changes that you are prompted to save
• Reference edit error

Beta 06

11 September 2007

• Pending

Beta 05

4 September 2007

• Pending

Beta 04

27 August 2007

• More validation checks on What's new
• Rendering of study data source and primary reference
• The default group labels in the New Outcome Wizard will be those use for other outcomes under the same comparison (if these are all identical).
• Last page in wizards now allows decide further action, for example, the New Study Wizard let you continue with the Add Reference Wizard
• Edits to review properties are now undoable
• Bug fixes:
  • Figure properties were never available.
  • Validation not always updated live, for example, when moving events between History and What's new.
  • Error copying other data outcome.
  • Problems with Undo and actions carried out in wizard windows.
  • Endnote RIS import problem
  • Risk-of-bias item editable when no items listed
  • Problems with generated reference IDs
  • Possible to cut and paste tree section to own parent

Recent, previous versions:

• Major changes in beta 03, 15 August: Draft Tutorial included. Renaming of text headings ('Implications...' (all review types), 'Effects of interventions' (intervention, overviews), and 'Effects of methods'(methodology)). 'Options' renamed to 'Preferences'. Acknowledgements no longer be greyed out for protocols.