Re: [Gnumed-devel] may help

[Carlos Moro]

   Hi all,

catmat wrote:

>    tomcat and struts are popular and I just wanted to stay fashionable.

   I fully agree. Java + struts (and JSF in a close future) is one of 
the most optimal solutions (and the preferred for me) at the moment to 
develop web applications. It's a proven, efficient solution with 
hundreds of open source and industry complex developments running 24x7 
and managing critical transactions. Also,  development process is 
relatively easy, completely open source and with tons of related docs...

   Thanks mostly to open source community and the efforts of fundations 
like Apache and  groups like JBoss... well and many many more, Java is 
the standard 'de facto' in relation with www, xml, web services 
technologies  and in general server side programming. I don't mean other 
option are worse or not valid. They exists and work very well: Zope, 
Php... But none of them provides the developer with such huge spectrum 
of IT technologies, frameworks, libs, standards...

   In the same line  i'm 100% convinced Python is a great programming 
language, ready for both client and server side programming and also 
with tons of development resources, so I feel completely happy working 
with it. Undoubtly, it's essentially much more open source than Java... 
(although wish things will evolve in future with sun and with 
www.classpath.org...).

   This thread, without any intention of annoying or creating bad 
discussion, more just an informal chat,  arised from imaging how (at 
least in future, for 0.5? ;) ) could we enable our code for interaction  
in and independent language way. If anyone wants to develop any kind of 
client (eg. pathology or hospital focused client) for use with Gnumed , 
would be able to provide our business functional classes in any way, or 
the code must be ported to other languages? Backend schema is really  
robust, efficient and provides lots of services and security... One 
approach can be: you'll be using Gnumed by using its SQL schema, as a 
lot of logic and constraints is into it.. Another approach could be: you 
can user Gnumed by using SQL schema + business classes (cPatient, 
cClinicalRecord...), which we offer to you eg. as corba services... or 
other options... I personally use to hate recoding what has been done... 
I will however endorse the efforts when anyone decides to rewrite the 
code in other language (that's the essence of free software) but if that 
situation can be chosen or not effort duplications might be 
avoided,along the difficulties with maintining  different versions of 
the code...
 

> BTW,  could Carlos give me hints about how to use eclipse RCP ? What 
> do you need to learn to use it?

   Eclipse RCP framework is at the current time, one of the most 
advanced, powerful, open source and easy to use graphical frameworks to 
develop desktop rich clients. It's also very easy to learn, allows 
programming at a very high level (perspectives, views, widget viewers, 
resource managing, pluggable architecture, great extensivility) and 
facilitates a clean programming, as endorses concerns separation.
   Some resources:
      1. SWT and JFace: http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~eclipse/
      2. Eclipse Rich Client Tutorial 1,2,3: 
http://www.eclipse.org/articles/index.html (and more articles)
      3. IBM developer works RCP tutorials (two or three): 
https://www6.software.ibm.com/developerworks/education/os-rcp1/index.html
      4. Graphic designer: ww.swtdesigner.com -> provides advanced 
JFace widgest and in a close future, Eclipse Forms.
      5. Addison Wesley's: Building commercial quality eclipse plugins 
(i can send to anyone interested)
      6. Of course, Eclipse platform and rcp newsgroups.

> I'm guessing  that EMF isn't really for database backed application 
> where there's tens of thousands of objects if one has a file based 
> root object, but for


I think so. Let's db technologies manage high volumes of data (i would 
think in hibernate in java world). EMF is intended as a generic 
framework to make easier the development of specific modeling languages 
applications. UML2 and i think Omondo UML is built upon it. For example 
it may be suitable for  intermed sharable computer interpretable 
guidelines based applications using GLIF (Guideline Interchange Format, 
http://www.glif.org).

> Has Carlos got any ideas how to use RCP for gnumed ?


Its early now but i (in confidence ;) ), we're working in a problem 
oriented hospitalary focused client prototype, under demand of a 
centre... The prototype is getting functional. UI is working and quite 
functional (perspectives -problems, episodes...- views, pluggins) 
functional. It's a RCP application, but working at the moment with 
simulated data (taken from some relatively complex use cases provided by 
the centre). We have not middleware or backend model, we've 
concentrated, as required, in client design.  My wish is try convince 
the project's leads to open source it and, of course, use/integrate 
Gnumed as backend and/or middleware... OpenEHR reference model is also 
an attractive approach for middleware/client business model and could be 
used together with Gnumed also... but i'm deeping in the area of dreams 
now... ;)

Respect Gnumed i'm (an will be) concentrated at the moment in 
coolaborating to make our reference wxpython client closer to 0.1... 
There's a lot of work yet and think it must be the most and first 
important objective...  Time will say about future, integrated clients 
and so... but our wxpython client and web client must be in production 
asap ;)


Best regards,
carlos