[Gnumed-devel] Gnumed-client ... ability to call another gnumed as slave

[Jim Busser]

Hi... is it possible for an instance of gnumed-client to drive (and  
instantiate, if not yet running) an instance of gnumed as "slave"?

From my downloaded tarball (rc3) and with no instance of the client  
already open, I did run

        ./gm-from-cvs.sh --slave

and this did open an instance of GNUmed with both debug check-boxed  
(maybe remembering a previous setting?) but also newly with the  
"Slave mode" checkboxed.

As described on the wiki, this ignores the user effort to set focus  
in the patient search.

However, it is not clear to me what if any is the "application" or  
"process" (is it the calling instance of the terminal) that is  
"remote-controlling" this slave?

I was wondering...

1) is there a way for a "normal" mode gnumed-client to be able to be  
instantiated and, itself, instantiate an additional instance of the  
client in slave mode? What I am thinking is that this can simulate,  
to the developers of practice management systems (which lack an EMR)  
how their own application could likewise "drive" GNUmed. The approach  
would be:

- show the two instances
- find a patient in the "normal mode" instance of GNUmed
- watch the slave move to the same patient

2) a means to permit a patient to view their record, without the  
ability to modify it:

a) create a GNUmed user account "patient"
b) disable this user
c) patient requests to review their record
d) administrator enables user account "patient" with adequately  
strong password
        wishlist: support for user expirations "one time" and "datetime"
        agreed worth adding?
e) we also need a read-only user level (no write permissions)
        agreed also add to wishlist?
f) administrator instantiates gnumed client as "patient"
        brings patient of interest into focus
        launches instance of gnumed in slave mode
        exits controlling instance of gnumed-client

Patient can now view their record
a) without the ability to write changes in the database
b) without the ability to search another patient

Caveats:

a) need to ensure that this workspace does *not* load plugins that  
breach the privacy of other patients, and which also link /load to  
other patients despite that the patient who is viewing their record  
cannot use the search tool i.e.
        do not include inbox or waitlist or reports generator

b) ideally (but maybe complex and post 1.0) there could be sufficient  
user account granularity to constrain the account to certain  
workplaces or plugins or even to an individual patient so that the  
patient could login distinctly from anyone else

c) it would be wise to set up special machines and/or network  
"roaming" accounts that the administrator would login to the desktop  
and this special user account would be where the gnumed client would  
have been configured to be launchable from the menu or icon with less  
chance for user error (once properly configured)