Issue Summary

Key Definitions:

Entry - A single notebook instance, Structured data, notes, instructions graphics and images can be added here as a Benchling goes about their day-to-day work in the lab

Entry Section (or Entry Day – these terms are synonymous on tenants with the Sections feature enabled) - A collapsible section in an Entry, can include a title, and/or denoted by the day of an experiment being captured in the entry

What Happened?

Benchling introduced an issue during the implementation of Entry Sections (e.g., by adding a user-editable title), which affected the creation of Entry Templates and subsequent entries they were used for. Some Entry Days were incorrectly given a title of “true” or “false”  upon entry or template creation. Starting from when Entry Sections are enabled on a tenant, these erroneous Entry Day titles began to render and become visible in UI. 

• For entries with “true” Entry Sections: The user was initially trying to make a fill-in template, which was not respected during entry creation. When an end-user thought they were working within a fill-in only entry, Benchling did not respect that template choice and defaulted to a modifiable entry. This means the downstream entry author may not have realized that they were working in a regular, non-fill-in template. Any downstream entries that would have been created by “Create entry from Template” or “Clone this version” of an impacted entry would also not have respected the fill-in template. Benchling presented visual indicators on each impacted entry including the  “Modifiable” toggle in UI to indicate this (see screenshot below), but the behavior was not expected and users may have deviated from the desired template as a result. Benchling recommends reviewing each of these entries carefully for compliance concerns, and Benchling can provide a list of affected entries upon request.

• For entries with “false” Entry Sections: Newly created entries or templates from during the time period the issue was present will have Entry Day titles of “false”. When Entry Sections are enabled on the tenant these titles become visible in the UI for users. Any downstream entries created via  “Create entry from Template” or “Clone this version” of an impacted entry/template would also show the “false” Entry Day title. Unlike the “true” case above, this is a purely cosmetic issue regarding Entry functionality.

What does this mean for you?

For non-validated tenants this issue would have impacted any new Entry Template or Entry created between June 15th 2023 and August 2nd 2023.

For validated/GxP tenants this issue would have impacted any new Entry Template or Entry created between October 10th 2023 and January 12 2024.

Any affected Entry Template or Entry created in this time window and any subsequent entries created or cloned from them may have an invalid Entry Day title. This was not visible until Entry Sections was turned on in a tenant. This impacts both current and old template/entry versions. This could include reviewed/accepted entries that may potentially show “true” or “false” as Entry Day titles, which would not have been present in UI during the Entry review process (because Entry Sections had not yet been enabled on the tenant).

Entry Templates created in the time window with the “Fill-in Only” option checked in the template creation modal would have been instead created as “Modifiable” (and displayed as such). Entries created from these Entry Templates would be modifiable, unless you re-selected the “Fill-in” option from the dropdown in the template editor after creating the template and before creating an Entry from the Entry Template. You should review any Entry Templates created during the affected time window and verify that their fill-in/modifiable status is as you intend.

What Happens next?

For all non-GxP clients and select CI/CD clients, Benchling has developed a solution and rolled out the fix on Thursday, July 11th at 9AM PT. The fix will search for all Entry Days with a non-null date (meaning it's a bonafide Entry Day and not an Entry Section) and a title matching the string “true” or “false” and reset that title to empty as it should have been all along. For clients with an Entry Section title of “true”, Benchling recommends reviewing all impacted Entry Templates and Entries for compliance issues and can provide a list of impacted Entry Templates and Entries for you.

Benchling will be reaching out to impacted customers proactively to ensure they are aware of the issue and can escalate concerns if appropriate. This communication will be sent on Wednesday, July 10th at 9AM PT. 

For GxP clients, Benchling will notify you of an upcoming patch window and provide further communication on a resolution timeframe. 

FAQs

Will the fix update Entries I have already accepted? 

Yes, the script Benchling has developed to resolve the issue will remove erroneous Entry Section titles from all impacted entries, including accepted entries and entry templates. Depending on the date timing of when the entry was reviewed/accepted and when Entry Sections was enabled in your tenant, users may or may not have seen these during Review. If any impacted entries were exported from Benchling, Benchling recommends re-exporting them after the fix has been applied. 

Will the resolution impact my data in any way?
No, Benchling has developed the resolution script in such a way that only Entry Section titles with the exact string true or false will be updated to the intended empty title. No structured data, metadata, or other aspects of the entry will be modified.

Can Benchling provide me with a list of impacted entries? 

Yes, Benchling can provide you with a list of impacted entries, after running the resolution script. Because the issue can continue to be propagated to new entries via “Create entry from Template” or “Clone this version” of an impacted entry, Benchling cannot provide a definitive list of impacted entries until after the issue has been resolved. Please reach out to support@benchling.com if you would like a list of affected entries provided.

What if a user manually corrected or updated the Entry Day title already? 

In this case, the more recent user action will persist and Benchling will not update the title since it no longer matches on either of the exact strings true or false.

Please contact Benchling Support via the in-app chat or by emailing support@benchling.com if you have further questions.