MIDM Configuration Components

You can configure several properties of the MIDM to display the information you want in the way you want, to define the way searches can be processed, and to define the criteria that can be used for each search. Certain implementation options are also configured in midm.xml, such as application server information, debug options, and security information.

The configurable properties of the user interface fall into these categories:

• Object and Field Properties

• Relationship Properties

• Display Properties

• Implementation Configuration

Object and Field Properties

In midm.xml, you specify which objects appear on the MIDM windows and the order in which they appear. You can also specify the fields displayed in each object and configure properties for each field. This file controls the configuration of a field’s name, length, order of appearance on the MIDM, required data type, whether text can be entered into a field or if it must be selected from a predefined value, whether a field or combination of fields must be unique to a parent or child object, and whether the value of the field is hidden under certain circumstances. You can also specify whether the format of a field is dependent on the value of a related field (for example, the format of a credit card number field could be dependent on the type of credit card specified).

Relationship Properties

In midm.xml, relationships define the hierarchy of the object types listed on the MIDM. By specifying relationships, you define parent and child nodes. The parent and child nodes you specify in the relationships element must also be defined in the node elements of the file. You can specify one parent object; the remaining objects must be child objects to the parent you define. The relationships section is dependent on the relationships section in object.xml, and should only be changed if corresponding changes are made to object.xml.

Display Properties

You can configure these display options for the MIDM: the appearance of pages, audit log availability, local ID field labels, and the configuration of the search pages.

Page Display Properties

You can configure several display properties for the pages that appear on the MIDM. For example, you can specify whether certain system fields are visible, the type of object to display on a page, and the name of the tabbed headings. You can also rearrange the order of pages or sub-pages.

Audit Log

In the display configuration, you can specify whether an audit log is maintained of all instances in which object information was accessed from the MIDM. If the log is maintained, then information about each instance of access can be viewed on the MIDM. This is especially useful in healthcare implementations, where privacy of information is mandated.

Local ID Labels

A local ID is a unique identification code assigned to a record by the system in which the record originated. By default, the fields that display the local IDs are named “Local ID” on the MIDM pages. This name can be modified to a name more recognizable by MIDM users.

Search Page Configuration

Of the configurable pages, the pages that might require the most configuration are the search pages. In addition to defining the number of records to display in the search results list, you can also specify the search criteria that appear and the types of searches allowed from the MIDM.

You can define and name several search pages for each primary MIDM window, each with their own configuration. For each search page, you specify groups of fields that are displayed in boxed areas. Each boxed area can represent a different type of search, such as a demographic search, address search, EUID search, and so on. For the Records Details page searches, you must also specify the search types available for each search you define, such as alphanumeric or phonetic. You can configure searches by specifying a name for the search, the maximum number of records to return, whether the results are weighted, and whether wildcard characters can be used.

When you define the search types for the Records Details page of the MIDM, you must specify a query for each type you define. The queries you specify must already be defined in query.xml.

Implementation Configuration

The midm.xml file defines certain information about the application server for the master index implementation, such as the names of certain validation and management components, and debug parameters. Most of the implementation information is predefined.