#InterSystems IRIS

When using standard SQL or the object layer in InterSystems IRIS, metadata consistency is usually maintained through built-in validation and type enforcement. However, legacy systems that bypass these layers—directly accessing globals—can introduce subtle and serious inconsistencies.

The most upvoted idea on the InterSystems Ideas Portal—garnering 74 votes—requests a lightweight version of IRIS. While the platform has grown into a powerful data engine, many projects require only its SQL database capabilities. This article demonstrates how to build an unofficial, compact IRIS Community Edition image focused solely on core database functionality, reducing the image size by over 80%.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This project produces an unofficial, experimental image of InterSystems IRIS Community Edition.

• Not supported or endorsed by InterSystems.
• Use at your own risk. The modifications remove core platform features and may break compatibility with tools, APIs, and expected behaviors.
• No warranties or guarantees apply, including fitness for production use.
• Intended only for educational and experimental purposes by advanced users.

Why a Lightweight IRIS?

While IRIS today includes rich functionality—interoperability, analytics, machine learning, system management, etc.—many projects only require its core SQL capabilities. The official Community Edition Docker image is approximately:

• Disk usage: 3.5–3.8 GB
• Compressed size: ~1.1 GB

IRIS Light reduces that to:

• Disk usage: ~575–583 MB
• Compressed size: ~144–148 MB

This makes it suitable for:

• Microservice or containerized SQL use
• CI pipelines with faster startup and pull
• Horizontal scaling where full features are unnecessary

Has anyone been able to successfully implement a business service to pull files from Azure Blob storage?

In Part 1, we explored how window functions operate. We learned the logic behind PARTITION BY, ORDER BY, and such functions as ROW_NUMBER() and RANK(). Now, in Part 2, let's delve into more window functions with practical examples.

Parallel query hinting boosts certain query performances on multi-processor systems via parallel processing. The SQL optimizer determines when this is beneficial. On single-processor systems, this hint has no effect.

Parallel processing can be managed by:

1. Setting the auto parallel option system-wide.
2. Using the %PARALLEL keyword in the FROM clause of specific queries.

%PARALLEL is ignored when it applied to:

The Interoperability user interface project has continued from 2025.1 and has incorporated many of the items that you – our customers and partners – have suggested and observed. We are continuing to invest in feedback and updating this important user experience. In the latest relea

We're excited to announce the Early Access Program for IntegratedML Custom Models, a powerful new capability coming in IRIS 2026.1!

Inevitably, you will eventually need to move your code up from one version of IRIS or Cache to a more recent version of IRIS. There are a few good steps you can take to set yourself up for success in that process.

The 2025.3 release of InterSystems IRIS® data platform, InterSystems IRIS^® for Health, and HealthShare^® Health Connect is now Generally Available (GA). This is a Continuous Delivery (CD) release.

Release Highlights:

gj :: configExplorer is a new VS Code extension integrating with Server Manager and leveraging Structurizr to produce configuration diagrams of your servers.

Here's a short introductory video.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WHkoZsg6P-A
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Hello!!!

Data migration often sounds like a simple "move data from A to B task" until you actually do it. In reality, it is a complex process that blends planning, validation, testing, and technical precision.

Over several projects where I handled data migration into a HIS which runs on IRIS (TrakCare), I realized that success comes from a mix of discipline and automation.

Here are a few points which I want to highlight.

1. Start with a Defined Data Format.

Before you even open your first file, make sure everyone, especially data providers, clearly understands the exact data format you expect. Defining templates early avoids unnecessary bank-and-forth and rework later.

While Excel or CSV formats are common, I personally feel using a tab-delimited text file (.txt) for data upload is best. It's lightweight, consistent, and avoids issues with commas inside text fields.

PatID   DOB Gender  AdmDate
10001   2000-01-02  M   2025-10-01
10002   1998-01-05  F   2025-10-05
10005   1980-08-23  M   2025-10-15

Make sure that the date formats given in the file is correct and constant throughout the file because all these files are usually converted from an Excel file and an Basic excel user might make mistakes while giving you the date formats wrong. Wrong date formats can irritate you while converting into horolog.

Hello word!

I am new in this field and i am coming from the dot net and angular world.
So hello to everyone!

As part of improvements regarding CCR usage and usability, certain transitions are now blocked when a CCR Record has undeployed ItemSets for required Environments.

When I was younger (a question about exactly how much younger is outside the scope of this article), the word “token” meant fun. You see, just a couple of times a year, I would get to go to an arcade and play some amusing video games with my friends.