API is short for "Application Programming Interface". An API specifies how software components should interact with each other.

See Application programming interface (Wikipedia)

An application is a piece of software built to perform a specific task. An application may contain modules. As opposed to a module, an application is able to run stand-alone, i.e. it does not depend on any other piece of software. An application may have interfaces to external systems, but these interfaces are not essential for the operation of the application.

A Binary Large OBject (BLOB) is a collection of binary data stored as a single entity in a database management system. In TOPICA, documents of any kind may be uploaded and stored in BLOB fields in the database in 2 ways:

• The framework with build-in functionality to upload BLOBS and relate them to organizational units.

• A configurator may add fields of type FileUpload to configured forms. This enables the end user to upload documents and store them as part of form instances (records).

See Binary large object (Wikipedia)

A Configuration is a set of configuration items, that define an Application. A Configuration may consist of:

• Form definitions.

• A structure file.

• Report definitions.

• Custom webforms (.ASPX-files) defining pre-processing, post-processing, custom reports, etc..

• Plug-ins (.DLL-files).

A "Context Manager" is in this documentation set used to denote an external application (i.e. not a TOPICA application) that handles context. This context consist of (as a minimum) a current user and a patient.

The Context Manager has some way of "embedding" external modules. In this context the modules are built using TOPICA. Since TOPICA generates web-modules, it follows, that the Context Manager must be able to "embed" web-modules. The necessary context information (i.e. logged-in user, current patient, etc.) should be passed in the query string (part of the URL) as a "GET"-request - or in the "forms" collection as part of a "POST" request.

Most healthcare data should be "owned" by an organizational unit - the organizational unit that is responsible for the examination or treatment of a patient. This organizational unit is called the "Data Owner".

When a subrecord is created below a parent record that has a data owner, the newly created subrecord - as a general rule - will automatically get the same data owner as the parent record.

All encounters must by definition have a data owner. It follows that all subrecords below an encounter record normally will have the same data owner as the encounter.

A DSL is a langauge developed for one specific purpose. TOPICA Basic is an example of a DSL, because TOPICA Basic is used only to configure TOPICA applications.

Healthcare systems normally use the term "encounter" to group healthcare data. An encounter is where a patient comes in contact with a specific organizational unit in the healthcare system (e.g. a hospital department). An encounter is related to one patient and one organizational unit.

In TOPICA, an encounter is any form with StructureElement.OrgUnitRelation = OrgUnitRelation.Select in the structure file. This has the effect, that an organizational unit must be selected by the user, when an instance of the form is created. The selected organizational unit is called Data Owner.

An instance of an encounter form is called an encounter record in TOPICA.

An environment consists of one configuration and one database. An application is defined by a configuration - so in order to run an application in N environments, you need N copies of the application's configuration, each connected to its own database.

Often, a given application is set up in the following environments:

• Development

• QA (= Quality Assurance, internal testing)

• Hotline (= copy of production environment)

• Test (= customer's test environment)

• Production

ETL = "Extract, Transform, Load" refers to a process in database usage and especially in data warehousing that:

• Extracts data from homogeneous or heterogeneous data sources.

• Transforms the data for storing it in proper format or structure for querying and analysis purpose.

• Loads it into the final target (database, more specifically, operational data store, data mart, or data warehouse).

See Extract, transform, load (Wikipedia)

A Framework is a system, that has the following characteristics:

• A framework contains some standard functionality.

• A framework is very configurable - it can be adapted to many different applications.

• A framework is not necessarily something that can be used "out of the box". Often a framework is a collection of "building blocks", that must be put together to create useful applications.

• Frameworks exist to make development of new applications easier, faster, and more reliable - compared to if you had to build an application from scratch. You use tried and tested building blocks to get something running quickly.

Internet Information Services is Microsofts web server software.

A module is a piece of software, that runs as part of something larger - e.g. a "context manager application". It cannot operate stand-alone.

The organization structure in a TOPICA database is a strict hierarchy consisting of organizational units.

Each organizational unit has one and only one parent organizational unit. Except, naturally, for the root of the hierarchy: the organizational unit called SYSTEM, which does not have any parent organizational unit. SYSTEM is automatically created when a new database is created. SYSTEM is the only organizational unit guaranteed to exist in any database.

See Organization Administration.

A plug-in is a compiled .NET-assembly (a .DLL-file).

When such a .DLL-file is developed to support certains interfaces defined in the framework, and physically placed in the appropriate place in the folder structure within the TOPICA website, the framework will detect the plug-in and execute code in the plug-in a appropriate times

SSRS = "SQL Server Reporting Services". This is a standard tool that ships with SQL Server. Reporting Services has lots of functionality that makes it possible to develop report functionality, that cannot be realized using TOPICA's built-in report format.

SSIS = SQL Server Integration Services. This is a standard tool that ships with SQL Server. SSIS is Microsofts primary ETL-tool.

SSIS has lots of functionality built in - some of the most relevant ones are:

• Running SQL queries (select) and commands (including insert, updates, etc.) against databases.

• Import/export of comma- and tab-separated text files.

• Import/export of XML files.

• Import/export of Excel files (spreadsheets).

• Copying files using FTP.

• Calling webservices.

SSIS contains workflow and dataflow editors, making it possible to construct complex workflows.

TOPICA contains a "core" data model (database tables and relations for organization, users/employees, patients, etc.) This core model makes it possible to build applications with configured input forms for patient data and corresponding physical data model.

In addition to code handling the "core" data model, the framework contains code for handling the following sub-systems: Blog, and Accreditation.

In version 4.21 and earlier, Document references was a sub-system, too. But as of release 4.22, it is an integral part (built-in) of TOPICA.

The functionality in a module is invisible in the user interface, until the corresponding data model is installed.

Microsoft's IDE (Integrated Development Environment). It is used to develop:

• .NET code (as in TOPICA framework, pre- and postprocess, custom webforms and webservices, plug-ins etc.)

• Reporting Services reports

• SSIS packages

In IIS you may configure websites and virtual directories (virtual directories may be configured as "applications" in IIS). A web application (including the TOPICA framework) may be run in either a website or a virtual directory configured as application. The term "web home" is used as a common term for website and virtual directory.