Re: [Gnumed-devel] Forms redux, was: Re: Keeping gnumed focussed toward 0.1

[Karsten Hilbert]

> >- it is reinventing an object database inside a RDBMS
> Indeed, isn't that what the whole business object layer is about? ;-)
No, I have tried to take care to let relational data be
relational data. The middleware is the translating layer.
Maybe I misunderstand but in your proposal it sounded like you
wanted to store opaque data.

> >- form definition and form data is not independant of form code
> >  - this is my biggest grief
> I suppose I can't see how you can ever get that independence, but (as 
> always) I'm happy to be corrected.
Well, the commercial EMR my parents are using IS using
data-only forms that are text files. So it certainly is
possible. We won't be any worse than that.

> >- you are proposing to mix middleware and UI code
> At some point UI code needs to exist, and needs to talk to
> the laTeX engine, I don't see inheriting classes, with defined interfaces
> is really any different.
Tell you what, one concept taken from your current proposal I
really like: Have a base cForm class, have engine classes
(cLaTeXForm, cTextForm). The latter would be able to run most
stock forms, eg they'd be initialized with a form name and load
that definition from the database and work from there. Some
forms may need special handling. Those would have subclasses
derived, eg. cDESickLeaveForm(cLaTeXForm), which then
implement the handling. And then one might have GUI form
classes that work with the middleware classes. Whether those
inherit from the middleware or drive an instance of the
middleware doesn't really make much difference, does it ?

> >Personally, I do think with some effort form defs *can* be
> >made quite passive.
> I agree this is the ideal. Please come up with a proposal
I won't do so before 0.1. But after that it's one of the
topmost things. I may end up in the same place you are in now
so you can go "told you so" :-)

> P.S. to me, a reasonable demostrable version (which isn't exactly
> the same as 0.1)
0.1 should be demonstrable.

> include printing scripts and referral letters.
That would mean useful ! :-)

Karsten
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