Article
· Jan 21 2m read
Archiving my OEX packages

Over the last 9 years, I published more than 90 packages in OEX.
And over this time, conditions and environments changed.
In the beginning, there was

  • no Docker
  • no IPM/ZPM
  • no embedded Python, no AI
  • Caché, Ensemble, CSP, ZEN, .... were dominating

As time changed, also product versions and external languages changed.
Adjustment of a few packages was no issue in the beginning,
and was a matter of support quality to my "consumers".

2 0
0 27

As applications grow, every database eventually hits scaling limits. Whether it's storage capacity, concurrent users, query throughput, or I/O bandwidth, single-server architectures have inherent constraints. This guide explains fundamental approaches to database scalability and shows how InterSystems IRIS implements these patterns to support enterprise-scale workloads.

We'll explore two complementary scaling strategies: horizontal scaling for user volume (distributing computational load) and sharding for data volume (partitioning datasets). Understanding the general principles behind these approaches will help you make informed decisions about when and how to scale your IRIS applications.

The examples in this guide use InterSystems IRIS in Docker containers.

6 2
3 53

There are numerous excellent tools available for testing your REST APIs, especially when they are live. Postman, various web browser extensions, and even custom ObjectScript written with %Net.HttpRequest objects can get the job done. However, it is often difficult to test just the REST API without inadvertently involving the authentication scheme, the web application configuration, or even network connectivity. Those are a lot of hoops to jump through just to test the code within your dispatch class. The good news is that if we take our time to understand the inner workings of the %CSP.REST class, we will find an alternative option suited for testing only the contents of the dispatch class. We can set up the request and response objects to invoke the methods directly.

8 5
7 174

If one of your packages on OEX receives a review, you get notified by OEX only of YOUR own package.
The rating reflects the experience of the reviewer with the status found at the time of review.
It is kind of a snapshot and might have changed meanwhile.
Reviews by other members of the community are marked by * in the last column.

3 0
0 30

Over the last year, the CCR development team has prioritized changes to the CCR application to better expose and encourage best practices for using CCR. This article will highlight some of the areas that we've focused on:

  • Organization Dashboard
  • System Alerts
  • Branch Hygiene

In each of these areas, we have increased the visibility of potential CCR usage issues and given users tools to proactively address them.

Organization Dashboard

We have continued to build out the available information on the Organization details page

2 0
0 24

What is a FHIR Profile?

A FHIR profile is a collection of rules and constraints used to customize and refine a base Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) resource. Profiling is a vital process that adapts the base FHIR resource standard to satisfy the unique requirements of a specific use case, geographic region, medical institution, or clinical workflow.

While the base FHIR specification provides generic, flexible definitions for resources (such as Patient, Observation, or Medication), profiles transform these generic resources into more precise ones. This ensures consistent and interoperable data exchange tailored for a particular community or implementation.

FHIR is designed to cover various healthcare scenarios globally. Profiles allow implementers to adapt this general platform without losing the benefits of standardization.

2 1
1 63

InterSystems IRIS is built on an architecture that separates the logical organization of data (namespaces) from its physical storage location (databases). Understanding this separation and the distinction between Namespaces and Databases is crucial for effective data management, security, and especially, high-performance data sharing.

In this article, I will discuss these foundational components and provide a practical guide on leveraging global mappings to share native data structures (globals) across different logical environments.

Databases: Physical Reality

A database represents the physical reality of where the data is stored on the disk. First and foremost, it’s a file in a file system called IRIS.dat (e.g., <Install folder>\mgr\user\IRIS.DAT). The maximum size of this file is 32TB. It is the container for all the actual data and the code. Databases are managed by the IRIS kernel, which handles caching, journaling, and transaction logging at the physical file level.

When you install InterSystems IRIS DBMS, the following databases are installed automatically:

4 0
2 63

Sometimes it is more convenient, more efficient, and more secure, to limit FHIR Searches per pre-defined "Lists" of Resources.

Since v2025.1 we support several List-related features in our FHIR Server.

I will highlight these here, and provide some samples.

6 2
1 60

If one of your packages on OEX receives a review, you get notified by OEX only of YOUR own package.
The rating reflects the experience of the reviewer with the status found at the time of review.
It is kind of a snapshot and might have changed meanwhile.
Reviews by other members of the community are marked by * in the last column.

2 0
0 53

You probably know this situation:
Some time ago, you found a very special $ZU function for a very specific type of problem. Some kind of mystical formula. It became popular and was used by many developers throughout your code and across all your installations.

Several versions and updates later, you are informed by ISC that your mystical $ZU is deprecated and no longer supported. You are advised to replace it with a new $something().

3 2
0 82

When working with InterSystems Interoperability (Iris / Health Connect / Ensemble), configuration data is often spread across many production items: services, processes, operations, adapters, and their settings.

A common operational or security need is to answer questions like:

9 0
2 75

Embeddedpy-bridge: A Toolkit for Embedded Python

Overview

Embedded Python is a game-changer for InterSystems IRIS, offering access to the vast Python ecosystem directly within the database. However, bridging the gap between ObjectScript and Python can sometimes feel like translating between two different worlds.

2 1
2 63