Interfaces

Version 4, last updated by markcopenhaver at September 23, 2010 05:10 UTC

An Interface is a connection between EncounterPRO-OS and some other information system.

Like everything in EncounterPRO-OS, an interface consists of a set of components tied together with config objects. The specific components needed depends on the nature of the interface, and the specific config objects needed depends on how the interface should be incorporated into the practice workflow.

The primary component types used in interfaces are:

Component Type	Role in interfaces
Document	Document components can be used in outgoing interfaces and in device interfaces. For outgoing interfaces, the document component creates a document from data in the EncounterPRO-OS database and the Document Manager delivers it to the appropriate destination. For device interfaces, the document component is wrapped by a Device Interface (aka External Source) config object and called by various data entry services.
External Source	An External Source component is like a document component except that it has extra methods for handling initialization, connection status and events. An External Source component is always wrapped by a Device Interface config object. We used to call both the component and the config objects "External Source" but that can be confusing. You may still see some documentation refer to the config object as "External Source" though so just be aware that it means "Device Interface".
Service	A Service component is the unit of work in the workflow model and is the primary user interface (UI) component. If the interface requires a UI, then a service component may be needed. Ideally, an interface would use only document and sender/receiver components and not require user interaction at runtime.
Document Receiver	A Document Receiver component is a component that polls an external information system and returns any documents back to EncounterPRO-OS. Making web service calls or monitoring a directory are good examples. If the interface requires constant listening, such as a IP port listener, then that is implemented as a stand-alone agent rather than an EncounterPRO-OS component.
Document Sender	A Document Sender component is the component type used by the Document Manager to send a document to a recipient. This includes printing, faxing, uploading, etc.