Avitek Medical Records Development Tutorials

Configuring Domains and Servers

Tutorial 2: Starting the PointBase Development Database

This tutorial describes how to start the PointBase database management system so that the MedRec application can use it to store application data.

In particular, the tutorial describes how to:

Start the PointBase database.
Use the PointBase console to view the tables in the database used by the MedRec application.

The installation of PointBase shipped with WebLogic Server is already set up with the database tables and data used by the MedRec application. To view these tables, see Step 2: Use the PointBase console to view the MedRec tables and data.

WARNING:

The PointBase database management system shipped with WebLogic Server is meant to be used for evaluation purposes only. You cannot use it in production without a license from PointBase.

The tutorial includes the following sections:

Prerequisites

Create the MedRec domain and MedRec server instance. See Tutorial 1: Creating a WebLogic Domain and Server Instance for Development.

Procedure

To start and use PointBase:

Step 1: Start the PointBase database.

Open a command prompt window.
Go to the PointBase tools directory:

prompt> cd c:\bea\wlserver_10.0\common\eval\pointbase\tools

Start the PointBase database:

prompt> startPointBase.cmd

Once the PointBase database server starts, you see a message:

Server started, listening on port 9092, display level: 3 ...

Leave this command window open to keep the PointBase database running. If you close the window, the PointBase database will shut down.

Step 2: Use the PointBase console to view the MedRec tables and data.

The installation of PointBase shipped with WebLogic Server is already set up with the database tables and data used by the MedRec application. To view these tables, use the PointBase console.

Note:

You must start the PointBase database before you can start the PointBase console. See Step 1: Start the PointBase database.

Launch the PointBase console:

From the Start menu:

StartProgramsBEA ProductsExamplesWebLogic ServerPointBase Console

From a script:

In a command-line shell, go to the bea_home\wlserver_10.0\common\eval\pointbase\tools directory where bea_home is the main BEA home directory, typically c:\bea. For example:

prompt> cd c:\bea\wlserver_10.0\common\eval\pointbase\tools

Invoke the startPointBaseConsole.cmd command to launch the PointBase console:

prompt> startPointBaseConsole.cmd

This command also sets the CLASSPATH to find the PointBase JAR files.

In the Driver field, enter com.pointbase.jdbc.jdbcUniversalDriver.
In the URL field, enter jdbc:pointbase:server://localhost/demo.
In the User field, enter medrec.
In the Password field, enter medrec.
Select Open Specified Database.
Click OK.
In the left pane, expand SchemasMedRec.
Browse the tables that make up the MedRec database.
Click FileExit to close the PointBase console.

Best Practices

Use the scripts in the PointBase tools directory to start the database and invoke its console. See:

c:\bea\wlserver_10.0\common\eval\pointbase\tools

Automatically start dependent processes, such as the PointBase database, by updating the scripts that start WebLogic Server and adding calls to the relevant scripts, such as startPointBase.cmd, at the beginning of the WebLogic Server start script. Alternatively, create a master script to handle the control of starting all required processes for development, including a call to start WebLogic Server.

See Step 4: Start the MedRec Administration Server. in Tutorial 1 for information about the WebLogic Server start scripts.

The Big Picture

The MedRec application uses the PointBase database management system:

To store information about patients, physicians, and administrators who manage the workflow of the MedRec application
As the JMS JDBC store that contains persistent JMS messages

Patient, Physician, and Administrator Data

The MedRec application uses container-managed entity EJBs to automatically persist information about patients, physicians, and administrators in the PointBase database. The following table lists these entity EJBs, the application that uses each EJB, and the PointBase tables in which the information is persisted.

Table 3-1 Relationship Between MedRec Entity EJBs and PointBase Tables
Entity EJB	Application That Uses the EJB	Corresponding PointBase Table	Description
AdminEJB	Administration	ADMIN	Information about the administrators that manage the workflow of the MedRec application. Administrators handle patient requests.
AddressEJB	Administration, Patient	ADDRESS	Used by the PATIENT, PHYSICIAN, and ADMIN tables to store their respective addresses.
PatientEJB	Administration, Patient	PATIENT	Patient information such as name, address reference to the ADDRESS table, SSN, and so on.
PhysicianEJB	Administration	PHYSICIAN	Physician information such as name, address reference to the ADDRESS table, phone, and email.
PrescriptionEJB	Patient	PRESCRIPTION	Describes a prescription, such as the prescribed drug, the dosage, frequency, instructions, and so on. Also includes the patient ID, the ID of the prescribing physician, and the particular visit that instigated the prescription.
RecordEJB	Patient	RECORD	Describes a single patient visit to a physician. Includes the patient ID, the physician ID, the date, the symptoms, diagnosis, and the vital signs of the patient.
UserEJB	Administration, Patient, Physician	USER	Lists all users (patients, physicians, and administrators) who are authorized to log into the MedRec application. After a user is authenticated, the application retrieves additional information from the appropriate table (PATIENT, PHYSICIAN, OR ADMIN).
VitalSignsEJB	Patient	VITALSIGNS	Describes the vital signs of a patient for a particular visit. Vital signs include temperature, blood pressure, height, weight, and so on.

Persistent JMS Message Storage

The MedRec application uses persistent JMS messaging, which means that any JMS messages that are put in a queue are also stored in a database so that the messages can be retrieved in case a problem occurs (such as a server crash) before the message-driven bean (MDB) can process them. The messages are stored in the MEDRECWLSTORE PointBase table.

This table is generated automatically when you use the Administration Console to create the JMS JDBC store. The table is used internally by JMS.