Some time ago I announced that I would make ESI's assets available to the MUMPS community. I would like to announce that I've finally accomplished that. It required much work on my part – hopefully it will be of use to you who want to learn about MUMPS technology.
Rather than release the material a little at a time, I decided to make all of the relevant material available on a Guest OS that runs on VMWare Player. I used Ubuntu 11.04 OS since it has a nice, simple GUI interface. Future releases of material can be dropped into this environment.
I would like to thank LD Landis and Jerry Goodnough for helping with the details of making this accessible. Jerry's company Stormwoods LLC will be hosting the download area.
Guest OS ContentsI installed two software packages we developed at ESI over the years:
- EsiObjects - A sophisticated Object Oriented implementation layer for MUMPS
- Computer Based Instruction Package – Comprehensive on-line instruction package for MUMPS and related technologies such as File Manager, etc.
Because all ESI software was written in conformance with the Veteran Administration's name space naming conventions, the CBI software was installed within the context of the EsiObjects environment taking advantage of that structure. Our name space assignment is VES.
Additionally, the
Mumpster directory structure contains all material for course material contributions, that is, student guides, backups, etc.
Note: The Guest OS is a 1.2 gigabyte file that will expand to about 5 gigabytes after it is imported.
How to DownloadClick
here (or Right Click and select Save Target As or Save Link As) to download the
Mumpster.7z file. It contains the Installation_Guide.pdf and the Guest OS.
Note: If your our current file expander may not support the 7z format, go to
http://www.7zip.org for more information.
Once the download has completed, extract the Installation_Guide.pdf. It contains the rest of the installation instructions.
The Installation Guide contains the following sections:
- The first section of the guide is dedicated to installing the system. It will give you all the necessary URL's for accessing the needed installation materials. Go there to complete the installation.
- The second section is dedicated to setting up user files for students who will use the CBI's as well as initial instructions in getting started with the CBI's.
- The third section outlines what you need to do to start the EsiObjects listener (xinetd) and to install the client IDE (if you have a Windows system).
If you have problems, post the problem description on this thread. Please include your environment description and as much information as you can. If you have solved the problem, share it with us
Using the CBI'sThe CBI's are quite comprehensive in their treatment of each subject. However, if you have questions, please post them on the
http://www.mumpster.org, in the appropriate topic area. Currently, only 3 topics have been set up:
- Introduction to MUMPS CBI
- Intermediate MUMPS CBI
- Advanced MUMPS CBI.
If you would like to see other discussion topics available, please make you wishes known.
Some Other Things- As additional material is converted, it will be released as updates (imports). A new Guest OS will not be issued each time. The documents will be posted to the download site and made available through the Mumpster Forum.
- Some CBI Student Guides have not been converted for obsolete CBI's, specifically MSM and DTM System Management. However, the course content has been included.
- Do not upgrade the Guest OS to the new version 11.10. In fact do not do anything to change the underlying Guest OS.
- Make sure you backup the system periodically.
- If you are interested in exploring EsiObjects, there is additional information on the EsiObjects Web Site at http://www.esiobjects.org
- If you use EsiObjects, unfortunately, you will need a Windows system on the network. The EsiObjects IDE is necessary to do actual development and it only runs on a Windows box. Several attempts have been made in the past at rewrite this using Open Source technology. However, sometimes things don't happen the way you plan them Anyone want a challenge
Enjoy the contribution, I hope it is beneficial to the MUMPS community!
Go forth and multiple...