News & Recent Events

This is a continuation of the most recent News and Recent Events found on the home page.  Entries are shown in reverse chronological order.

• Chapter 2 for the VistA Install - Starting CPRS.
  
  
• VA Technology: A Federal Threat to Private Sector Health Care IT? - Article in iHealthBeat.org.
  
  
• Health IT connectivity hinges on VA software - So goes the claim in the article in Modern Physician. Thanks to a sharp Hardhat for bringing this to our attention.
  
  
• VistA in Rural Hospitals - an article at NewsForge explores the issues of opensource solutions in rural hospitals.
  
  
• Vista Lite - A potentially huge development for the use of the VistA outside the federal government has been announced in the form of VistA Lite. A co-operative effort among several government agencies is preparing a version of VistA for easier adoption by the public sector. Here is an article from the CMS division of Health and Human Services.
  
  
• VPE version 12 - VPE now offers support on GT.M. It has been tested by several early adopters, so it is now time to release to the rest of us.
  
  
• VPE Commands Cheatsheet - Thanks to Jim Confer for sharing his handy VPE cheatsheet of neat VPE keystrokes and features.
  
  
• HHS exploring VistA - A recent Health Affairs article, Federal Health Information Policy: A Case Of Arrested Development, mentions "...HHS is exploring how to make VistA, the VA CPR, and a CPR developed by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) available on an open-source basis to physicians and hospitals that cannot afford commercial installions...".
  
  
• Projects Page - A new page has been created to hold links to the various Hardhats projects (see the new link in the left hand column). One of the newest projects is the VistA Installation documentation that is invaluable for setting up a demonstration of CPRS for prospective adopters.
  
  
• VPE version 11.1 Patch 1 - A VPE patches page has been added to hold the first patch and it is a sweetheart. VPE now supports non-standard sized terminal windows. So if you have a large monitor and set your terminal emulator's screen size to 48 lines by 80 characters wide, VPE can be instructed to follow you. This makes for easier editing and viewing of globals, routines, DDs, etc.
  
  
• VPE version 11 - Exciting times! VPE v. 11 now supports FM 22 new style indexes and keys and has added a number of very useful features in the routine editor. For the details, visit the VPE page and download it today. Dave says version 12 is scheduled to include support for GT.M, so keep an eye out for its release.
  
  
• Utility Tables- A couple of folks from the VA have helped us get two handy reference tables into the Programmer Toolkit area. One covers M utilities and the other VA utilties.
  

• Diamond 3.0 Released - After much effort on the part of some generous Hardhats, Diamond 3.0 is ready. It is a more completely patched version of Diamond 2.0. Read all about it!
  

• Searching - Greg Woodhouse, one of the original Hardhats volunteers, has wired up our site with the PicoSearch service to bring you indexed searching!

• ERD Extract Tool - The set of routines that create .SML files for programs, like ERWIN, to create Entity Relationship Diagrams is now available for download.

• Diamond 2.0 Released - After much effort on the part of some generous Hardhats, Diamond 2.0 is ready to serve as a platform for your launch into even more GUI RAD tools to develop and support your VistA-based applications. What a great start to a new millennium. Read all about it!
  
  

• GUIMail 2.1 Released - The CAIRO team in the VA has created a GUI mail client that takes full advantage of the new APIs in Mailman patch 50. It is a good example of what a RPC Broker based application can do.

• Web-FixIT 3.0 Released - The Hardhats in Finland have released the Free FixIT GUI RAD components for Java.  These components are built on the standard VA RPC Broker, so you have maximum freedom of choice in doing client/server development with Java or the Delphi-version of FixIT.
  
  

• FixIT 3.0 Released - The Hardhats in Finland have released the Free FixIT GUI RAD components for Delphi and are planning to release the Java counterparts in early 2000.  These components are built on the standard VA RPC Broker, so you have maximum freedom of choice in doing client/server development.  Seeing the FixIT Form Wizard in action is a treat! The Demo is a tantalizing image of what you can do with your VistA applications.

• OpenSource Healthcare - A mailing list dedicated to the crafting of Open Source Healthcare software is generating a lot of interest in VistA. If you are interested in contributing to the efforts to craft a model EMR, etc. or simply monitoring where things are headed, subscribe today.

• IHS RPMS online - The Indian Health Service based their healthcare application software on VistA's infrastructure to create RPMS.   Visit their web site to download the software, available under FOIA.

• VistA FOIA coming online - The information from the VistA FOIA CD is starting to appear online.  More and more will be available in the coming weeks, but at least the folder that holds the patch folders is here.

• More photos of Michael Distaso - As the MTA staff prepared to leave, they had Ed de Moel scan in some photos.  You can view them on the page dedicated to Michael. 

• MTA 99 and the Hardhats Track - Check the news and photos that tell about all the excitement at the meeting.

• Diamond installation under Cache 3.1 - New instructions are available, with screen captures, for installing Diamond under Cache 3.1. Also, a KIDS distribution is available for updating Diamond 1.2 to include the PROTOCOL file.

• Faster than Sneaker Net - Hardhats is no longer distributing a CD. Thanks to the generosity of Art Smith for his time and the University of Missouri-Columbia for their server, the Hardhats value-added elements are now available for download.

  • Diamond 1.2 - infrastructure only install of VistA.

  • Learn M and FM v21 for free.

  The VistA software is still available on CD directly from the VA via the FOIA.

• Fileman v 22 is here - Fileman 22, including patch 1 and documentation, is now available for download from the Fileman shop.

• VPE 10 released - Dave Bolduc, creator of this major time saver for programmers and support persons, has released a new version!

• Mailman POP3 for Cache - A Hardhat submitted their easy way to make Lee's POP3 Mailman Server work on Cache.

• RPC Broker Patch 4 - This full release is RPC Broker 1.1 patched to support Delphi 3 and Delphi 4.

• Taming AltaVista Discovery - the Hardhats/FOIA CD recommends using the free Discovery software from AltaVista to index the entire CD. While this is a great time saver, recent versions have added a feature that if not disabled, can dramatically affect your system's performance. Hardhats gives you the scoop on how to disable it.

• Diamond v1.0 brought from the mines - One of the Hardhat volunteers has finely cut and polished a Cache install of the VistA Infrastructure.  Inspired by VistA's Precious Metal series names (e.g. fully populated Platinum), Hardhats has started a Gem series with this install named Diamond.

• Data Extraction Techniques - Robert Williamson graciously agreed to the posting of his treatise on how to extract data from VistA Applications.

• Privacy Policy - Hardhats has published its privacy policy concerning information collected from visitors.

• Toolkit Patch workaround - There is a dependency for running Toolkit patch XT*7.3*23 that can't be resolved with the FOIA CD contents. This workaround tricks the patch, permitting later patches to be installed.

• Hardhat Links added - As a service to the Hardhat community, we have added links to related companies, organizations, etc. The new Links button, on the left border of this page, provides access to the links and rules for consideration.

• KB SQLI Visual Interdev Whitepaper - Kevin Magee presented this white paper, dated Feb. 1999, with this objective. "This white paper describes the San Francisco VA Medical Center's (SFVAMC) experience using KB_SQL to access VISTA data from the SFVAMC Intranet. I will discuss the development of 3 web applications, created with Visual InterDev 1.0, interfaced through KB_SQL'S ODBC driver, to KB_SQL running within our VISTA environment."

• Y2K Documents - A recent question resulted in some great information being uncovered on guidance on Y2K issues for VistA applications.

• Java, CORBA and Broker - Bob Yacobucci  has been doing some exciting R&D with leading edge technologies. VISTA will never be same again.

• Procedures for Modifying Applications - VISTA Applications can be modified and safely stay out of the way of new version installations, if you know HOW.

• M Functions in Delphi - Michael Brutsch has made his D3 unit code and examples available for download at the new Delphi Aids page.

• Fileman Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - the Fileman shop is sporting a list of those questions that commonly cross the mind when learning about Fileman for the first time.

• Finland sites advancing with the Broker - the University at Kuopio in Finland is developing a set of GUI tools called FixIT, based on RPC Broker, for use with Borland's Delphi and JBuilder (Java). (Visit the Client/Server area of Hardhats)

• InterDev, ASP, SQL, SQLI and Fileman - Kevin Magee shares code examples that illustrate how to put a dynamic browser interface on your Fileman data with Active Server Pages. (Visit the Client/Server area of Hardhats)

• SQLI on the move - the SQL Interface (SQLI) patch provides a robust layer between SQL implementations and Fileman to provide even better SQL services. Keep an eye on the SQLI page to stay on top of the latest developments.

• RPC Broker 1.1 released! - The 32-bit version of the Broker has been released and is available in the Client Server area of Hardhats.  This pivotal software permits Windows GUI applications to speedily access data stored in Fileman files. Future enhancements will provide access from other GUIs, such as browsers and Java applications.

• Customized %INDEX - Ed de Moel, in the spirit of our community, has submitted his notes on how to convert the VISTA %INDEX program (in the XIND* namespace) to run without VISTA support routines.

• VISTA Adopter Details added to the VISTA Adopters page, based on information from the adopter.

• New Version of VPE (9.3) Version 9.3 of VPE fixes a few problems when running under OpenM.

• VA Standard's and Conventions (SAC) added - If you want to understand the nuts and bolts of the VA's software architecture, you need to study the 'shop' standards. The SAC lays out the VA's current guidelines on required and suggested programming practices. (These standards are also linked to the Programmer Toolkit area of the Hardhats site.)

• Computerizing Large Integrated Health Networks : The VA Experience (Computers and Health Care) by Robert M. Kolodner
  Hardcover, 515 pages      Published by Springer Verlag
  Publication date: March 1,1997       ISBN: 0387948376

• VISTA software on CD-ROM - VISTA software is now available on CD-ROM for a minimal fee under the Freedom of Information Act. The enormous amount of information, at such a low cost, makes this CD-ROM a tremendous value.

• FileMan Documentation Online - As an example of the online documentation available for VISTA software, the Fileman online manuals have been added to the Fileman area of the site.

• VPE Programmer Mode Tool - The VPE programmer mode tool has been added to the Programmer Toolkit area of the site. VPE provides a very rich programming environment enhanced for the VISTA environment (routine editor, global lister, online DD lister, etc.) and is postcardware (free to use, just send the author a postcard).

• Hardhats in the News: Hardhats web site mentioned in US. Medicine March 1997 issue. This issue includes articles on DHCP's 15 year anniversary.

• PROPOSAL FOR A PUBLIC HEALTH CARE INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR WORLDWIDE USE
  Daniel L. Maloney, Director, Technology Innovations, presented a proposal for a public health care information system for worldwide use during the January 27-28, 1997 Group of Seven (G7) Global Healthcare Applications meeting. Representatives from the G7 partners (United States, Canada, England, France Germany, Italy, and Japan), and the European Commission attended the meeting hosted by the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.
  
  The goal of the project is to assemble a medical information system using VA public domain applications (VISTA), commercial software, and a standards-based communication system that will carry medical data over the Internet. Countries outside the G7 countries will be invited to participate in advising on the project development and in adapting and improving the system.

• MTA Affiliation: Hardhats.Org is a non-profit, volunteer project affiliated with the M Technology Association (MTA) and is funded by donations to the MTA that are designated for this web site. Surplus donations will benefit the MUMPS community by supporting the MTA.

Search | Home | MUMPS | Fileman | Kernel | C/S, Mailman, Web | Programmer Tools | Applications