Mike has just release a new video for those of you who have been asking about the Source Code Manager in OpenInsight 9.2.1. Mike takes a look at turning on the source code manager, working with a program at various stages, setting versions and also at using the module facility and how that hooks into the RDK for easier RDK upgrades.
The video is well worth a look if you are an OpenInsight developer and it can be found by clicking here.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
Get email notification of updates.
A number of you have recently mentioned that you have missed postings and this has come to light when asking about something that has been covered on my blog. Whilst I have the RSS feeds for people to sign up to, we do not always have the time to check these every day in our RSS Feed Readers and if you are like me and become faced with a list of 100 or more feeds, then it is easy to miss and important one.
For this reason, I have now added a new facility whereby you can subscribe to have an email notification sent through to you when a new posting is published. I think that this will be more user friendly as we all tend to monitor email more closely than our RSS Feeds.
Please let me know what you think, by way of a comment to this posting.
For this reason, I have now added a new facility whereby you can subscribe to have an email notification sent through to you when a new posting is published. I think that this will be more user friendly as we all tend to monitor email more closely than our RSS Feeds.
Please let me know what you think, by way of a comment to this posting.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Should you use the UD 4.7?
Earlier this week Revelation released OpenInsight version 9.2.1 and as part of that the Universal Driver 4.7 was released in both standalone and bundled configurations. But what does this mean for people running older Revelation Network Products or none at all?
Let’s begin with those of you not running a network product at all on your multi-user ARev or OpenInsight systems.
Multi-user applications written in OpenInsight versions prior to 9.0 or ARev 3.12 require the Universal Driver. It protects your data against corruption, increases speed performance and reduces downtime. More details about the benefits of the Universal Driver can be found here.
If your application is based on OpenInsight 9 then there is no need to purchase the Universal Driver. The Universal Driver NUL (Network User License) is already included with OpenInsight 9 and later. The Universal Driver NUL edition is compatible with all existing database files but it is only forward compatible with the OpenInsight 9 development environment. For mixed environments with OpenInsight 9 and any prior Revelation Software development tool, the for-purchase Universal Driver is required since it is compatible with all supported versions of the Revelation Software development tool.
If you are an existing Universal Driver (UD) user then you should also take advantage of the new Universal Driver 4.7. Below is a list of what has changed since these older versions:
Using the UD 3.0 -
Some of the other great features of the Universal Driver include:
So in answer to the posting's title - Yes, I think that the benefits afforded by the UD 4.7 means that everyone should be using the Universal Driver 4.7 wherever possible.
Let’s begin with those of you not running a network product at all on your multi-user ARev or OpenInsight systems.
Multi-user applications written in OpenInsight versions prior to 9.0 or ARev 3.12 require the Universal Driver. It protects your data against corruption, increases speed performance and reduces downtime. More details about the benefits of the Universal Driver can be found here.
If your application is based on OpenInsight 9 then there is no need to purchase the Universal Driver. The Universal Driver NUL (Network User License) is already included with OpenInsight 9 and later. The Universal Driver NUL edition is compatible with all existing database files but it is only forward compatible with the OpenInsight 9 development environment. For mixed environments with OpenInsight 9 and any prior Revelation Software development tool, the for-purchase Universal Driver is required since it is compatible with all supported versions of the Revelation Software development tool.
If you are an existing Universal Driver (UD) user then you should also take advantage of the new Universal Driver 4.7. Below is a list of what has changed since these older versions:
Using the UD 3.0 -
- Versions of the Universal Driver after 3.0 are compatible with all previous versions of Linear Hash files.
- NSIS replaces Install Shield as the installer.
- Support for unlimited-length record keys removed (click here for more details).
- FIX_LH routine has been enhanced. The "Fix GFEs" option on the Verify LH menu silently considers any records with keys greater than 50 characters long to be GFEs and data can be lost when running Fix GFEs. This enhanced routine removes the "50-character-throwaway" functionality and replaces it with the "552-character-save" functionality.
- The UD Manager (see note below) is now compatible with 64bit systems.
- The ability to select and unlock multiple records from the Universal Driver Manager is now available. Previous versions allowed only one record to be selected during each unlock.
- Server side install program now recognizes Arev 3.12 as a valid installation location.
Some of the other great features of the Universal Driver include:
- Only one REVPARAM file no matter how many different subdirectories you have with .LK and .OV files.
- Support for files larger than 4 gigabytes.
- Support for large frame sizes up to 100K.
- You can 'hide' your .LK and .OV from your users.
- The LHVerify facility is integrated onto the server side, allowing much faster performance.
- Registry settings and REVPARAM file created automatically.
So in answer to the posting's title - Yes, I think that the benefits afforded by the UD 4.7 means that everyone should be using the Universal Driver 4.7 wherever possible.
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
OpenInsight 9.2.1 Released
Revelation Software released OpenInsight 9.2.1 today (incorporating O4W version 1.1), along with the Universal Driver 4.7. The 9.2.1 version is now available as a free upgrade to all OpenInsight WORKS members, and for everyone else an evaluation version can be downloaded from our OpenInsight Evaluation page..
This is the culmination of months and months of work and it really is another sterling piece of work by the team at Revelation.
More information can be found within the 9.2.1 readme file and the US press release can be viewed by clicking here. The EMEA press release can be found here.
This is the culmination of months and months of work and it really is another sterling piece of work by the team at Revelation.
More information can be found within the 9.2.1 readme file and the US press release can be viewed by clicking here. The EMEA press release can be found here.
Monday, 14 February 2011
OpenInsight and NoSQL
As many of you will no doubt know, the NoSQL technology has been steadily gaining ground as organisations move to super fast and highly flexible technologies for their web solutions. These organisations include some huge names such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay and many more.
So why do I mention this on a blog about Revelation Software?
Well, NoSQL presents OpenInsight developers (well any MultiValue developer) with a new edge to their sales pitch. NoSQL is now being referred to as ‘No’ SQL and also ‘Not Only’ SQL and most MultiValue systems, like OpenInsight, fit very nicely into the second camp. Not only do we have a flexible, scalable and fast multi-dimensional database (rather than a structured, slower relational database), but we can also play with SQL as well. In effect we bring the best of both worlds together and enable developers to do more, faster and therefore more economically.
MultiValue is not the be all and end all and neither are the Relational databases. Your MultiValue database is like your sports car hurtling along twisty country roads, whereas your relational database is like an articulated truck trundling efficiently along the highway with a large load – the truck can’t deviate easily but it is efficient at handling large loads.
In IT talk, this correlates to the sports car providing you with a system that can move and adapt with your ever changing business needs. This helps you to keep ahead of your competition and to maintain your competitive edge. Whereas the truck correlates to the data store that your business intelligence and data mining teams will work against.
Of course, both operate perfectly well in each others environments. Countless MultiValue systems have been written over the years and each efficiently and robustly handle thousands of users with millions of rows of data and likewise for the SQL based systems.
Putting an environmentally friendly slant on things, with your NoSQL based solution you can work more efficiently, benefit from the speed and sharding features and only work with the data that you 'need' to work with. Then, when you do need to work with the large datasets you can bring into play your SQL tools.
So back to our sports car and truck analogy. Your data will get to where it needs to get to, but the sports car will zip around and navigate the fastest route working with only the ‘NECESSARY data, whereas the truck will take the long route and lumber into the depot with everything - that depots delivery (your required data) and that of countless other deliveries (unnecessary but associates data). Smaller, refined and faster requests results in lower resource requirements, lower bandwidth use on both desktop and web systems and in most instances this correlates to a lower cost to your business.
So why compromise when you can have both? With MultiValue tools, like OpenInsight from Revelation Software, you can have the sports car with it’s small fuel tank and low running costs AND easy access to the truck when it’s needed.
For those of you who are not already benefitting from OpenInsight, please go to http://www.revsoft.co.uk/ or http://www.revelation.com/ to learn more about one of the leading MultiValue (NoSQL) databases. In addition, you can find out more about the NoSQL technology and what it has to offer in Prospectus’s new two part video.
So why do I mention this on a blog about Revelation Software?
Well, NoSQL presents OpenInsight developers (well any MultiValue developer) with a new edge to their sales pitch. NoSQL is now being referred to as ‘No’ SQL and also ‘Not Only’ SQL and most MultiValue systems, like OpenInsight, fit very nicely into the second camp. Not only do we have a flexible, scalable and fast multi-dimensional database (rather than a structured, slower relational database), but we can also play with SQL as well. In effect we bring the best of both worlds together and enable developers to do more, faster and therefore more economically.
MultiValue is not the be all and end all and neither are the Relational databases. Your MultiValue database is like your sports car hurtling along twisty country roads, whereas your relational database is like an articulated truck trundling efficiently along the highway with a large load – the truck can’t deviate easily but it is efficient at handling large loads.
In IT talk, this correlates to the sports car providing you with a system that can move and adapt with your ever changing business needs. This helps you to keep ahead of your competition and to maintain your competitive edge. Whereas the truck correlates to the data store that your business intelligence and data mining teams will work against.
Of course, both operate perfectly well in each others environments. Countless MultiValue systems have been written over the years and each efficiently and robustly handle thousands of users with millions of rows of data and likewise for the SQL based systems.
Putting an environmentally friendly slant on things, with your NoSQL based solution you can work more efficiently, benefit from the speed and sharding features and only work with the data that you 'need' to work with. Then, when you do need to work with the large datasets you can bring into play your SQL tools.
So back to our sports car and truck analogy. Your data will get to where it needs to get to, but the sports car will zip around and navigate the fastest route working with only the ‘NECESSARY data, whereas the truck will take the long route and lumber into the depot with everything - that depots delivery (your required data) and that of countless other deliveries (unnecessary but associates data). Smaller, refined and faster requests results in lower resource requirements, lower bandwidth use on both desktop and web systems and in most instances this correlates to a lower cost to your business.
So why compromise when you can have both? With MultiValue tools, like OpenInsight from Revelation Software, you can have the sports car with it’s small fuel tank and low running costs AND easy access to the truck when it’s needed.
For those of you who are not already benefitting from OpenInsight, please go to http://www.revsoft.co.uk/ or http://www.revelation.com/ to learn more about one of the leading MultiValue (NoSQL) databases. In addition, you can find out more about the NoSQL technology and what it has to offer in Prospectus’s new two part video.
Friday, 4 February 2011
OI QSG - The Grande Finale
OK – So I was not done with the OpenInsight Quick Start Guide Video Series. As a few of you have rightly pointed out, I hadn't done anything with the table on the Consultations tab on the Patient Entry window. Well, that just happened to leave a nice topic for a finale, encore, or whatever.
The 24th lesson (could this now be 'learn OpenInsight in 24 hours') is a feature length lesson in which we look at creating the facility to capture consultations (appointments), hook them up to the Patient window and we create a report for our hypothetical receptionists and doctors to see appointments for any given day.
In this final video (before I look at O4W), the lesson will pretty much summarise the whole series by working with the Table Builder, Forms Designer, Indexes, User Interface Workspace, Scripts and the Report Builder.
I hope that you find the series useful and that this last lesson puts the cherry on the cake.
The 24th lesson (could this now be 'learn OpenInsight in 24 hours') is a feature length lesson in which we look at creating the facility to capture consultations (appointments), hook them up to the Patient window and we create a report for our hypothetical receptionists and doctors to see appointments for any given day.
In this final video (before I look at O4W), the lesson will pretty much summarise the whole series by working with the Table Builder, Forms Designer, Indexes, User Interface Workspace, Scripts and the Report Builder.
I hope that you find the series useful and that this last lesson puts the cherry on the cake.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
O4W 'Run First' Option
Did you know, that you can enhance an O4W Report with the "Run First" option?
The O4W Report tool, in addition to all the flexibility it normally provides the user when generating a report, also allows you to specify a statement to "run first" before any other sort/selection is performed. This can be any R/List command that generates an active list, for example the report designer could pre-select data for particular users, or a particular month, or activate a previously saved list, before the O4W Report runs any user-entered selection criteria. READ ON.
Article first published in the January 2011 edition of the Revelation Software Newsletter.
The O4W Report tool, in addition to all the flexibility it normally provides the user when generating a report, also allows you to specify a statement to "run first" before any other sort/selection is performed. This can be any R/List command that generates an active list, for example the report designer could pre-select data for particular users, or a particular month, or activate a previously saved list, before the O4W Report runs any user-entered selection criteria. READ ON.
Article first published in the January 2011 edition of the Revelation Software Newsletter.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
The final page of the final chapter is complete and the book is now closed.
For those of you that have been following my OpenInsight Quick Start Guide series of videos, the last few videos have just been completed and they are either now uploading to my YouTube Channel or rendering for then uploading. Once uploaded, I will add them to the main OI QSG playlist and also link to them from our web site.
The last few videos look at using Query By Form (QBF) within our Patient Entry window, creating reports and making them available to our users, making use of Index Lookups in OpenInsight and finally we wrap up the application. I’ve not covered wrapping up with the RDK as that is a big subject in its own right and people often choose different deployment methods to meet their own needs. I’ll therefore leave that for the official training.
I hope that you find the series useful and I will be beginning work on the O4W QSG series very, very soon.
The last few videos look at using Query By Form (QBF) within our Patient Entry window, creating reports and making them available to our users, making use of Index Lookups in OpenInsight and finally we wrap up the application. I’ve not covered wrapping up with the RDK as that is a big subject in its own right and people often choose different deployment methods to meet their own needs. I’ll therefore leave that for the official training.
I hope that you find the series useful and I will be beginning work on the O4W QSG series very, very soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)