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Topic starter
Other than the Help Documentation of the symbols/functions that you can reference on Centricity EMR Help.
Does anyone know where can I find some documents explaining specifics of keywords of MEL (I think its an interpreted language similar to JavaScript) but I want to know details about the logic the engine that executes the MEL scripts, when it is inferring variable types, if there is a NULL (which I think MEL has the NOTHING keyword), Boolean logic mechanism of inference when comparing number VS numbers string, or NOTHING vs TRUE/FALSE. Error handling , etc , etc
In summary something that will detail the lifecycle and inner working of the MEL language
THANKS !
e. Vazquez
Posted : August 3, 2018 2:59 am
If you look on the GE Portal there should be a document called "Creating Clinical Content". This might help you a bit. However, I don't think there is anything as comprehensive as what you are looking for. I think many of us here have learned a lot through this message board and testing while doing our own work.
As you go along if you have a specific question, I would post it here. People are very happy to help others.
Brad
Posted : August 3, 2018 3:19 am
Topic starter
Thanks for the tip Brad, I have reviewed the document you mentioned it the past, it is very helpful.
I will post as I have issues/findings, and compile them for later use/post
Cheers,
e. Vazquez
Posted : August 3, 2018 3:24 am
Sorry I forgot to respond to the other part of your message.
Regarding variable types. My rule of thumb is I always declare everything as local unless it needs to be set as something else
local = form specific
global = all forms in the visit can access
Also a good thing to remember is that the variables above stay within memory while the visit is open. When the visit is put on hold and then taken off of hold the variable will reset (usually). So if you need a value to stay persistent while a visit is on hold either use a document variable or a obs term. You can set a value in them like this:
document.thisvalue = "myvalue"
OBSNOW("THISVALUE","MyValue")
OBSNOW will write the value to the flow sheet and the database. If you have many obs terms in a form it can slow the visit down. I have found this with forms with more than 40 obs present.
The document variable value will just stay for the visit. You can always write the value to the note, but you can't access it again programmatically.
I hope that is helpful.
Posted : August 3, 2018 3:32 am
Topic starter
Thanks for the PRO tips ; )
Posted : August 3, 2018 3:35 am
Here is a document on using the MEL language. It is a little bit dated (published in 2004), but I believe it is the most recent publication on the subject of MEL syntax and coding. See the attached file below:
Cheers,
Greg
Posted : August 6, 2018 12:26 am
Topic starter
Just what I was looking for thank you Mr. Sir virtualHitman/Gregg
Posted : August 6, 2018 3:35 am
You are welcome. Another tip I will share which is not addressed in the documentation is that when making comments in your code (comments are preceded by //), avoid special characters including single quotes (') and double quotes ("). While your code will compile without errors, it will not execute properly. I used the word "can't" one time in a comment and it took me half a day to track down that the reason the code wasn't working was because I had an apostrophe character in a comment. Another common mistake folks make is that when comparing dates using the DURATIONDAYS() function, they forget to convert the date to a string.
Posted : August 7, 2018 3:21 am
Topic starter
Thanks for the extra tips, good to know about the comments issues, and I did had an issue with the dates, funny how MEL behaves . . . .sigh : S !!
Posted : August 7, 2018 3:50 am
