WorkPlace

Among the methods of customizing client startup, GNUmed has implemented a construct of "workplaces". Workplaces make it possible, within a single praxis, to perform a variety of jobs (modes of work) in a consistent way.

A workplace is designated to be loaded by use of the name = parameter positioned within the [workplace] group within a config file. A workplace

• is a named entity storing, in the backend, a combination – a "set", if you like – of the following:
  • the workplace name
  • which plugins to load, and in what order, in the toolbar
  • (indirectly, via the plugins) the self-attachment of plugins to various GNUmed menus
  • many of the GNUmed menu configuration settings concerning encounters and episodes
• may be
  • provided as part of a GNUmed client release
    • effective with release 0.5, these include
      • Front Desk
      • Clinician
      • Local Default (when none was already specified; plugin load list and load order will be determined by what was available at creation)
  • created or modified by users via GNUmed > Master data > Workplace profiles
  • emulated, as a workaround in the case of broken plugin problems, by temporary use of the special name System Fallback

Examples might be "Ultrasound Room", "Exam Room 3", "Front Desk", "Medical Records Clerk" – whatever you want.

To configure the plugins go to the menu item "Office > Master data > Workplace profiles" to see a list of existing workplaces (the active one being pre-selected). Press the "Edit" button. You will be presented with a list of available plugins, with those configured to be loaded shown as pre-selected. To alter this,

• select the plugin(s) to be loaded the next time the client is restarted:
• a discontinuous selection may depend on your holding down a modifier key, or key combination (ctrl-shift, space etc.) while clicking
• if you wish to set the position (left to right) among them, you can do so by adding one at a time, exiting the editor and re-entering it e.g inside the "GNUmed default" workplace:
  • select only one plugin (the one you want loaded first... suggest either gmProviderInbox or gmWaitingListPlugin which are useful at login without regard to patient pre-selection)
  • click OK (alt-O) which exits you to the list of workplaces
  • click Edit (alt-E) to re-open the "GNUmed default" workplace
  • hold the correct key combination (Gnome currently likes ctrl-shift) to discontinuously add the plugin you would like positioned second
  • click OK (alt-O) to exit to the list of workplaces
  • repeat until you have finished selecting the plugins that you want loaded, in the order that you want them loaded
  • the change will take effect the next time this workplace is loaded

Deletion of a workplace offers the choice of whether to delete the name only (as a result of which it will disappear from the list), or whether to delete the entire workplace, complete with associated (saved) configurational settings. As long as the latter has not been deleted, the old workplace with settings can be restored by re-designating the exact original workplace name into a configuration file.

For more on config files, see here. For more on customizing client startup, see here.

From an email of Karsten's re gnumed.conf on Dec 30, 2005

The workplace is determined by the config file. The clientcan be started with different config files - also concurrently. So I could have a client instance configured for the reception area and another configured for an exam room running side by side on the same machine. It simply depends on which configuration file the client is started with. $home/.gnumed/gnumed.conf is just the default config file which is used in the absence of an explicit command line option. It is also this value which determines some of the options in the backend.

Just set up two links with different config files in which you define the workplace you want and click on the one you want to run.

Say, Tuesday afternoon you are doing ultrasound scans in room A while the rest of the week you ain't doing any scans there but rather do standard physical exam work.

So on the machine in room A you set up two entries in the GNUmed menu under your account. You might name them "GNUmed - Ultrasound" and "GNUmed - PE". The first is called with --conf-file=$home/.gnumed/gm-ultrasound.conf while the second is called with --conf-file=$home/.gnumed/gm-pe.conf.

Now, every Tuesday afternoon you startup a client instance "GNUmed - Ultrasound". You can leave the "GNUmed - PE" clients you started in the morning running alongside w/o problems.