FileMan Overview

Introduction to VA FileMan

VA FileMan is a Database Manager written in MUMPS by George Timson It has had many versions over the years, and is the engine that supports the VistA Hospital Information System, the US Department of Defense's CHCS Hospital Information System, and the US Indian Health Service's RPMS Hospital Information System. FileMan has been characterized as a polymorphic Database.

Components of VA FileMan

As a database management system, the VA FileMan supports common operations via a text based user interface, and computer programmer accessible subroutines called the VA FileMan APIs (Application Programmer Interfaces).

• Finding a single data record via the ^DIC APIs
• Changing data records via the ^DIE APIs
• Output of data records via the ^DIP APIs
• Searching for multiple data records via the ^DIS APIs

Example Code

typical FileMan Lookup in MUMPS:

S X="FIND,ME" SET DIC=200,DIC(0)="AEQMZ" D ^DIC Q:Y<0

Use of Fileman

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Using Templates

Fileman Templates