InterSystems Ensemble is a complete and easy-to-use integration platform that enables users to connect people, processes, and applications in record
time.
When managing critical healthcare data through an integration engine you want to know the moment a queue starts backing up or a service drops.
Unfortunately, this usually leads to an email inbox stuffed full of notifications that can sometimes seem impossible to maintain.
Well, I’ve not solved that problem.
But I have created something that could help...
When we need to integrate Caché/IRIS with other relational databases, one common question arises: “How do I set up the JDBC connection?”.
The official documentation doesn’t always provide a straightforward step-by-step guide, which can be frustrating, especially for beginners.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the entire process of configuring a JDBC connection with MySQL, from downloading the connector to linking tables in Caché/IRIS.
Note: JDBC connections in Caché/IRIS have some limitations, especially regarding caching and the use of ResultSet
Starting out with ObjectScript, it is really exciting, but it can also feel a little unusual if you're used to other languages. Many beginners trip over the same hurdles, so here are a few "gotchas" you'll want to watch out for. (Also few friendly tips to avoid them)
NAMING THINGS RANDOMLY
We have all been guilty of naming something Test1 or MyClass just to move on quickly. But once your project grows, these names become a nightmare.
➡ Pick clear, consistent names from the start. Think of it as leaving breadcrumbs for your future self and your teammates.
I am regularly contacted by customers about memory sizing when they get alerts that free memory is below a threshold, or they observe that free memory has dropped suddenly. Is there a problem? Will their application stop working because it has run out of memory for running system and application processes? Nearly always, the answer is no, there is nothing to worry about. But that simple answer is usually not enough. What's going on?
Consider the chart below. It is showing the output of the free metric in vmstat
Working in healthcare IT as a young developer, especially on InterSystems TrakCare, you quickly realize one thing: it’s not just about HL7 messages or backend integrations. A hugepart of making TrakCare work smoothly for hospitals comes down to how it’s configured, customized, and supported on the application side.
That’s where people like me come in—techno-functional developers who understand both the tech and how it impacts actual hospital workflows.
Our role sits right in the middle.
Welcome to the finale of our journey in building MAIS.
Now, the stage is set. Our agents are ready, defined, and eager to work. However, they remain frozen in time. They require a mechanism to drive the conversation, execute their requested tools, and pass the baton to one another.
Today, we will assemble the Nervous System
Some concepts make perfect sense on paper, whereas others require you to get your hands dirty. Take driving, for example. You can memorize every component of the engine mechanics, but that does not mean you can actually drive.
You cannot truly grasp it until you are in the driver's seat, physically feeling the friction point of the clutch and the vibration of the road beneath. While some computing concepts are intuitive, Intelligent Agents are different. To understand them, you have to get in the driver's seat.
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().
So, how do you find and document the usage of this mysterious code?
It might be located in classes, in MAC, INT, or INC code.
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:
The ObjectScript utility below solves exactly that problem by exporting selected configuration settings into a CSV file.
You send an HTTP request and get back an HTTP error but with an HTML error page which you didn't expect... what's happening?... 🤔
Specifically for example, perhaps you tried to READ a FHIR Resource (e.g. /Patient/123) and you get back a 404 error page, even though with other Patient IDs, you get back the Resource payload, so "the page" definitely does exist... why should you be getting a 404 error page? 🙄
InterSystems FAQ rubric
If you try to kill a global that is mapped at the subscript level from the top node, you will get a <SLMSPAN> error and it will not be deleted. This is because the kill command for subscript-level mapped globals cannot be used across mappings.
// Suppose subscript-mapped globals exist in different databases, as shown below:^TESTKTo delete only the global in the current namespace (database), use the following:
NAMESPACE>Globals mapped at the subscript level must be moved to the database and killed directly.
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.
By using the InterSystems IRIS Native API for Node.js it avoids the need for any support code to be installed on the servers. This technology choice also qualifies it for entry into the current Developer Community contest.
The initial release focuses on two aspects of server configuration:
Suggestions for what to add next are welcome, as is general feedback.
Terminal Commands for Production:
Do ##class(Ens.Director).StartProduction(“ProductionName”)
Do ##class(Ens.Director).StopProduction()
Do ##class(Ens.Director).UpdateProduction()
Do ##class(Ens.Director).RecoverProduction()
Do ##class(Ens.Director).CleanProduction()
Abort Messages in the queue:
d ##class(Ens.Queue).AbortQueue(“Component Name”)
Get InstanceName :
W !,##class(%SYS.System).GetUniqueInstanceName()
Get Node Name:
W !,##class(%SYS.System).GetNodeName()
Terminate JobId :
d $SYSTEM.
In my previous article, I structured network communications
in these 3 possible layers, and covered the last
In fact, you have the most control over the last one.
The IRIS side as a server is yours and under your full control.
Up to now, the Transport layer was assumed to be as passive as a bare wire.
This assumption should be verified. I once met a Windows environment with
a quite surprising setup where a Firewall-like filter was isolating internal
processes and causing a lot of trouble.
Chasing errors or misbehavior in the network can be quite a challenge.
Differently to a local application on the DB server, you always have at least 3 players:
This results in a minimum of 3 possible communication layers
The last one is probably the easiest to check, while the other
two deal with the same counterpart just from opposite sides.
When exporting using the Export() method of the %Library.Global class, if the export format (fourth argument: OutputFormat) is set to 7, "Block format/Caché block format (%GOF)," mapped globals cannot be exported (only globals in the default global database of the namespace are exported). To export mapped globals in "Block format/Caché block format (%GOF)," specify the database directory to which you want to map them in the first parameter of %Library.Global.Export().
An example of execution is shown below.
This web interface is designed to facilitate the management of Data Lookup Tables via a user-friendly web page. It is particularly useful when your lookup table values are large, dynamic, and frequently changing. By granting end-users controlled access to this web interface (read, write, and delete permissions limited to this page), they can efficiently manage lookup table data according to their needs.
The data managed through this interface can be seamlessly utilized in HealthConnect rules or data transformations, eliminating the need for constant manual monitoring and management of the lookup tables and thereby saving significant time.
Note:
If the standard Data Lookup Table does not meet your mapping requirements, you can create a custom table and adapt this web interface along with its supporting class with minimal modifications. Sample class code is available upon request.
To manage the accumulation of production data, InterSystems IRIS enables users to manage the database size by periodically purging the data. This purge can apply to messages, logs, business processes, and managed alerts.
Please check the documentation for more details on the settings of the purge task:
https://docs.intersystems.com/irislatest/csp/docbook/DocBook.UI.Page.cls?KEY=EGMG_purge#EGMG_purge_settings
An issue that many users ran into is still finding old messages after running the purge task for messages. For example, a user has a purge task for messages that has NumberOfDaysToKeep=45.
UPDATE: since version 0.0.4 of the extension was published on 2025-11-23 it is now possible to use gj :: configExplorer directly in VS Code on Windows.
In my previous article introducing gj :: configExplorer I flagged up how an apparent bug in the Windows elements of the Native API for Node.js means it's not currently available to run in VS Code on a Windows desktop. In a comment on that article I offered a workaround, but this requires a Docker-equipped Linux host you can SSH to.
If you don't have a suitable target it's now possible to leverage your local Windows Docker Desktop.
InterSystems FAQ rubric
The ^%GCMP utility can be used to compare the contents of two globals.
For example, to compare ^test and ^test in the USER and SAMPLES namespaces, it would look like this:
*In the example below, 700 identical globals are created in the two namespaces, and the contents of one of them is changed to make it the detection target.
HL7 messages often contain multiple repeating segments such as NTE, AL1, OBX, ZTX, DG1, and others. These segments sometimes require individual processing and routing to different downstream systems. This technical paper introduces a configurable template designed to automate the splitting of these repeating HL7 segments, improving message handling and integration efficiency.
InterSystems FAQ rubric
One way to optimize query performance is to use query parallelism on a per-query or system-wide basis (a standard feature).
This is a technique for dividing the execution of a particular query among processors on a multi-processor system. The query optimizer will execute parallel processing only if there is a possibility of benefiting from parallel processing. Parallel processing is only applicable to SELECT statements.
Note that the number of parallel processes cannot be specified, as it is automatically adjusted according to the number of CPUs.
If you’ve ever watched a true artisan—whether a potter turning mud into a masterpiece or a luthier bringing raw wood to life as a marvelous guitar—you know that magic isn’t in the materials, but in care, craft, and process. I know this firsthand: my handmade electric guitar is a daily inspiration, but I’ll admit—creating something like that is a talent I don’t have.
Yet, in the digital world, I often see people hoping for “magic” from generative AI by typing vague, context-free prompts like “build an app.” The results are usually frustratingly shallow—no artistry, no finesse.
If you are investigating complex structured Globals this can become
a rather boring typing exercise. Different from Global Explorer in
System Management Portal Global-Inspector allows a kind of drill-down
to dig deeper and deeper by subscript levels.
You also have the option to see the stored content or to show only
the subscript structures.
Globals storing SQL Tables are probably not so thrilling, but in SYSTEM
space you find real trees with completely different branches and twigs.
Global-Inspector can run in browser or from terminal command line.
My intention is to show how simple it is to generate a lookup table taking into account the information received in our HL7 messaging. The HL7 message lookup table provided by IRIS is certainly sufficient for most of the searches we want to perform, but we always have that special field in our HIS, LIS, RIS, etc. that we'd like to search by. But that's in a segment outside of that lookup table. That field forces us to generate a specific search using the expanded search criteria. We'll likely have many messages, and we'll also have to filter by date and time so we don't timeout.