Install Guide

Author : Ashley G Trüter
Updated: 18-Jul-2007
Purpose: Describes the installation and setup of RecordMan.

Contents:

1. What is RecordMan?

RecordMan is a comprehensive software solution enabling you to transfer your paper-based record keeping into a digital environment by allowing you to create digital equivalents of your existing forms and records.

1.1 Digital Forms

At the heart of RecordMan are digital forms, each as large as an A4 page. These forms are created and modified with the built-in Form*Designer and include a comprehensive set of form elements (such as a field or tick-box) and attributes (such as alignment) to mimic almost any paper-based form.

1.2 Files and Records

RecordMan, like ImageMan (our Digital Image Management system), uses a two-tier file structure where file numbers are used to group record dates. Files typically represent “entities” such as customers, clients, patients, etc; while records typically represent dates of interaction with that entity such as visit, consultation or inspection dates.

The software lets you customize these terms to suit your particular field or industry.

1.3 Attachments

In today's increasingly digital world it is a fact of life that more sources of information are being generated and transmitted than ever before. RecordMan helps organize and reference these resources by allowing you to attach digital files to your files and records. These attachments could be Word documents, PDF files, spreadsheets, images, videos, faxes, emails or any other digital file you wish to store.

1.4 Database

While RecordMan uses the underlying file-system to organize your files and records, and stores its form definitions as files, your form data is stored in a relational database (often, erroneously, referred to as a SQL database).

2. Getting Started

While not mandatory, there are some aspects of running a comprehensive digital records management solution, like RecordMan, that you should be aware of.

2.1 Hardware

RecordMan is an extremely lightweight program (less than 1MB) that will run quite well on almost any PC, but you should consider the risks of theft, power failure, dead hard drives, etc before permanently destroying your paper records!

At the very least, consider the following:

• Daily backups
• Weekly off-site backups
• UPS
• RAID
• Paper-based fall-back procedures

2.2 Software

2.2.1 Operating System (OS)

RecordMan is a standalone executable (no DLL or registry settings) that requires one of the following operating systems to run:

• Windows - we recommend Windows 2000 or better using the NTFS file-system
• Mac OS X – we recommend 10.4 (“Tiger”) or later
• Linux - we recommend the 2.6 kernel or better using a Journaling file system

2.2.2 Third Party Software

Although not required, RecordMan can make use of the following third party software:

• AbiWord for reporting
• Adobe Reader for documentation
• A browser for help files

The distribution CD contains these and other free software components for those that require them.

2.3 Security

Much like your word processing documents, RecordMan's data is only as secure as the infrastructure you run it on. At the very least you should enable OS password protection on all your PC's and use a firewall if you have an Internet connection to the outside world.

3. Installing RecordMan

Insert the installation CD and follow the on-screen instructions. Contact Dobeash Software when prompted for an activation key.

4. Settings

The Settings menu option opens a window with a tab-panel consisting of a Change look & feel button and five tabs:

1. User
2. DB
3. Lists
4. Attachments
5. Import

Each of these tabs are covered in detail below.

4.1 User

This is where you specify your business name and state, and choose the nomenclature that best describes your files and records. Here you can also choose the substitution text for the three check states (Unknown, Yes and No).

Clicking Save implements your changes immediately.

4.2 DB

This tab is used to specify database settings, including the location of your "Files" directory and the SQLite database file. The Template setting allows you to specify the default strings assigned when a new file is created (if an OPM file location is specified then you can safely ignore this setting).

Note

The Restore and Check options are used to diagnose and fix SQLite database problems. They should only be used if instructed to do so by technical support.

4.3 Lists

This tab provides you with quick access to RecordMan's default lists. Please review these lists prior to running with real forms.

4.4 Attachments

This tab is used to specify up to five attachment locations (both their description and physical location). These are used in the Patient Summary dialog described elsewhere.

4.5 Import

This tab is used to import data from other sources. Usage notes follow.

4.5.1 ImageMan

The ImageMan file index, typically located under c:\ImageMan\Files\index.dat, will be read and for each file number the following actions will be taken:

1. Delete matching file row from sys_files
2. Insert ImageMan patient row into sys_files
3. Read patient's index file and insert one row into sys_records for each ImageMan consultation record present

Note that as ImageMan only stores a consultation date (and not a description) such rows will have a default description of “ImageMan” assigned to them. These can be updated via the Patient Summary dialog described later.

4.5.2 OPM

An OPM import will perform the following steps:

1. Read the OPM NAMES.DBF file
2. Delete all rows from sys_files with an ID <= OPM record count
3. For every OPM record:
• Insert a row into sys_files
• Create a numbered directory under the Files directory
• Create an empty alert.txt file in this directory if not already present

Note that an OPM import does not create any consultation records, but even so, will create as many directories as you have patient records.

4.5.3 Optomate

Not implemented.

5. Directory Structure

RecordMan uses a simple directory structure to group the various files that it requires.

5.1 RecordMan

This is the “root” directory that stores the files required by RecordMan.

File	Description
RecordMan.db	The SQLite database file where all your form data is stored. If this file does not exist, or is deleted, RecordMan will create a new empty one when it is next run.
RecordMan.exe	The RecordMan program file.
RecordMan.ini	RecordMan settings.
sqlite3.dll	The SQLite Dynamic Link Library used by RecordMan to access and manage the RecordMan.db file.
sqlite3.exe	Command line SQL console. The sqlite.org site contains further information.

5.2 Files

This directory and its sub-directories provides the file number and record date structure that RecordMan uses.

5.3 Forms

This directory stores your form definition files (with a .frm extension).

5.4 Images

This directory stores your diagram background images.

5.5 Lists

This directory stores your text lists, all with a .txt extension.

5.6 Print

This directory stores your print images, all with a .png extension. These files are created when you click the Print button within a form.

5.7 Reports

This directory stores your AbiWord reports, all with a .abw extension. These files are created when you select a report from the reports drop-list within a form.

5.8 Templates

These directories, of the same name as the forms they belong to, contain one or more AbiWord report templates.

6. Database Structure

There are three system tables used to manage the RecordMan database, described below.

6.1 sys_files

Stores file numbers and associated header information.

+-----+---------------+
| cid | name          |
+-----+---------------+
|   0 | ID            |
|   1 | Title         |
|   2 | Firstname     |
|   3 | Surname       |
|   4 | Medicare      |
|   5 | DOB           |
|   6 | Street        |
|   7 | State         |
|   8 | City          |
|   9 | Suburb        |
|  10 | Phone1        |
|  11 | Phone2        |
|  12 | Email         |
|  13 | Note          |
|  14 | Recall_Date   |
|  15 | Recall_Type   |
+-----+---------------+

6.2 sys_records

Stores consultation records.

+-----+---------------+
| cid | name          |
+-----+---------------+
|   0 | ID            |
|   1 | Date          |
|   2 | User          |
|   3 | Description   |
+-----+---------------+

6.3 sys_forms

Stores the names of forms used in consultations.

+-----+--------+
| cid | name   |
+-----+--------+
|   0 | ID     |
|   1 | Date   |
|   2 | Name   |
+-----+--------+

6.4 Form data

Each form uses its own table to store its data.

+-----+---------+
| cid | name    |
+-----+---------+
|   0 | ID      |
|   1 | Date    |
|   2 | Seq     |
|   3 | Value   |
+-----+---------+