Introduction

InterSystems IRIS allows you to build REST APIs using ObjectScript classes and the %CSP.REST framework. This enables the development of modern services to expose data for web apps, mobile apps, or system integrations.

In this article, you'll learn how to create a basic REST API in InterSystems IRIS, including:

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Article
· Jun 18 2m read
Options for Python Devs + Poll!

I am writing this post primarily to gather an informal consensus on how developers are using Python in conjunction with IRIS, so please respond to the poll at the end of this article! In the body of the article, I'll give some background on each choice provided, as well as the advantages for each, but feel free to skim over it and just respond to the poll.

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If you're migrating from Oracle to InterSystems IRIS—like many of my customers—you may run into Oracle-specific SQL patterns that need translation.

Take this example:

SELECT (TO_DATE('2023-05-12','YYYY-MM-DD') - LEVEL + 1) AS gap_date
FROM dual
CONNECT BY LEVEL <= (TO_DATE('2023-05-12','YYYY-MM-DD') - TO_DATE('2023-05-02','YYYY-MM-DD') + 1);

In Oracle:

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It helps to remove special characters, such as non-utf-8 characters either control characters or unicode characters from text that is not printable or can't be parsed by downstream systems.

There is also $C(32) in this condition; sometimes NBSP appears in the text and it will not be recognized by TIE, but downstream it displays as "?".

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The Good Old Days

The %Library.DynamicObject class has been in IRIS since before it became IRIS. If you have been using it since the Cache days, you may want to brush up on some of its changes.

In Cache 2018, the %Get method only had one argument. It was the key to retrieving from the JSON, meaning that if your JSON object called myObj, it would look like the following:

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Introduction

As AI-driven automation becomes an essential part of modern information systems, integrating AI capabilities into existing platforms should be seamless and efficient. The IRIS Agent project showcases how generative AI can work effortlessly with InterSystems IRIS, leveraging its powerful interoperability framework—without the need to learn Python or build separate AI workflows from scratch.

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Hi Community,

In this article, we will explore the concepts of Dynamic SQL and Embedded SQL within the context of InterSystems IRIS, provide practical examples, and examine their differences to help you understand how to leverage them in your applications.

InterSystems SQL provides a full set of standard relational features, including the ability to define table schema, execute queries, and define and execute stored procedures. You can execute InterSystems SQL interactively from the Management Portal or programmatically using a SQL shell interface. Embedded SQL enables you to embed SQL statements in your ObjectScript code, while Dynamic SQL enables you to execute dynamic SQL statements from ObjectScript at runtime. While static SQL queries offer predictable performance, dynamic and embedded SQL offer flexibility and integration, respectively.

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Article
· Feb 26 6m read
The Case for IRIS and JavaScript

Introduction

My guess is that most IRIS developers create their applications using its native ObjectScript language or, if using an external language, then most likely using either Java, Python or perhaps C++.

I suspect that only a minority have considered using JavaScript as their language of choice, which, if true, is a great shame, because, In my opinion and experience, JavaScript is the closest equivalent to ObjectScript in terms of its ability to integrate with the IRIS's underlying multi-dimensional database.

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Hi colleagues!

Yet another time I figured that there is no super-simple way to display error from %Status variable, but I need it relatively often in a terminal.

Yes, I know about $$$ Macro, but they are not superhelpful in a terminal.

My usual behavior is to try to remember by heart or copy from somewhere the formula:

USER>w $System.Status.DisplayError(st)

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In this article, exceptions are covered.

Working with Exceptions

Instead of returning a %Status response, you can raise and throw an Exception. You are then responsible for catching the exception and validating it. IRIS provides five main classes to handle exceptions effectively. Additionally, you can create custom exception class definition based on your needs.

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Introduction

A REST API (Representational State Transfer) is an interface that allows different applications to communicate with each other through the HTTP protocol, using standard operations such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. REST APIs are widely used in software development to expose services accessible by other applications, enabling integration between different systems.

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Article
· Dec 21, 2024 13m read
Taking up Collections in IRIS

Imagine you’re walking down the street on a nice summer’s day, and someone walks up to you and says “Hey, you work at InterSystems, right? I’ve been hearing more and more about InterSystems IRIS lately. I know IRIS has its own programing language called ObjectBook? or InstaScript? OK, I admit it, I know it’s called ObjectScript! I know IRIS also supports Python. I’m a Python developer, so that sounds great to me. But I’m also interested in ObjectScript. For example, Python and other languages support collections. Does ObjectScript support collections?”

You’d answer “Of course!”

And then your new friend might get excited and start firing off more questions:

  • How many kinds of collections does ObjectScript support?
  • Can ObjectScript use Python collections?
  • Can Python use ObjectScript collections?
  • Which collection is best?

How would you answer? Well, you don’t have to worry about answering. All you’d have to do is send your new friend the URL of this long page.

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Your Mission

Let's pretend for a moment that you're an international action spy who's dedicated your life to keeping the people of the world safe from danger. You recieve the following mission:

Good day, Agent IRIS,

We're sorry for interrupting your vacation in the Bahamas, but we just received word from our London agent that a "time bomb" is set to detonate in a highly populated area in Los Angeles. Our sources say that the "time bomb" is set to trigger at 3:14 PM this afternoon.

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A benefit of using Doxygenerate is that Doxygen does more than just HTML output. Tweak the Doxyfile that tells Doxygen what to do and you can easily create a PDF. Our example MARINA application yielded a 524-page PDF. Here's what page 94 looks like:

You can browse the whole file here.

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As we keep updating our software, we often realize that we require more and more modern solutions. So far, only one major piece of our software relies on reading barcodes in documents and images. Since Cache did not have a means of reading barcodes in the past, we have always achieved our goals by using a Visual Basic 6 application. However, it is no longer an ideal solution because it is currently complicated to maintain it. IRIS also lacks this capability, but it has recently got an option that makes up for it: embedded Python!

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