Re: database schema, was Re: LinuDent and tk_fp and odontolinux
[Andrew]
> All software systems describe a certain data structure (if in database, it
> would be a database structure). At some point, if we want to move
> information between systems, we need to map one data structure to another.
> I doubt implementing an all encompassing set of database tables will be a
> viable solution. As Thomas Beale (GEHR) and I repeatedly stated in our
> OpenHealth list postings, no set of database tables/schema will ever be
> comprehensive. New medical knowledge will always need to be incorporated!
I don't see how this argument is really valid or helpful. I
can counter it easily with another equally invalid argument by
showing you an all-encompassing table structure that is
capable of holding the world's current and future medical
knowledge, no matter what:
table medical_data (
item_id : serial primary key,
ref_id : integer references medical_data(item_id),
item_name : varchar,
item_type : varchar,
item_value: varchar
);
Not very useful, indeed (and not very original, either).
An actual schema does not need to be comprehensive let alone
complete to be useful (this is, btw, your very own principle).
Designed smartly (which we hope to do but, of course, we
aren't total ZEN either...) such a schema is easily and
cleanly extendable by additional tables with foreign keys (as,
incidentally, OIO does to my understanding).
I doubt there will be much difference between mapping of
arbitrary (and hopefully well thought out) open schemata such
as GNUMed's and less strictly predefined schemata such as
OIO's.
> Sharing the DB is a good idea. However, is the DB schema easy to extend
> and manage over time? For example, if I take the GNUmed DB and modify a
> few of its tables (e.g. for psychiatry),
If you have to do that (modify, that is) we screwed up. You
shouldn't have to.
> How do I make sure
> what I added will work with other people's ideas for describing
> the psychiatry domain?
You don't. And incidentally you don't enforce that with OIO
either lest you explain me how. The same way there could be
two different tables describing a particular psychiatric
aspect from two points of view there could be two different
forms in OIO covering the same range of data. They aren't
automatically compatible either. Both are, however,
"compatibable".
Nevertheless, Nirvana shall eventually be reached by walking
the One True Path, that which lieth beyond OpenEHR.
Regards,
Karsten
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