Scripting Made Logical
Boston WorkStation has been designed for easy use by your staff regardless of their level of experience – from the non-technical to the serious programmer. Boston WorkStation offers a unique feature for developing scripts to automate workflow. It simply mimics written instructions for an end user. Based on the simple logic one would use to develop any process, script development begins with outlining the general Steps to completion, such as Connect, Login, Open File, etc. From there the specific Rules detailing what happens within those Steps are filled in. As the user proceeds, BWS is writing code in VBA and presenting a graphical tree-style representation of the development process, allowing developers to see where exceptions might take place, and create the appropriate mechanisms for handling them.
Within the main user interface, the developer has several views of the tools he uses. From the graphical outline, he may focus in on the specific detail of the script as it is built. He can also see the application he is working with in the application viewer as it is manipulated, and have a clear view of specific data as it is parsed.
Integrated Development Environment
Boston WorkStation's unique “integrated scripting environment” offers up all the scripting features and capabilities needed to allow you to develop, test and run your script. As they are written, the steps and rules are automatically recorded to Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications® which is embedded in the product. While VBA comes with your Boston WorkStation license, Boston WorkStation is also fully compatible with Visual Basic 6® or VB.Net®.
Executive Dashboard
Boston WorkStation’s new centralized executive dashboard provides a visible way to manage, change or analyze the performance of any scripts running throughout a hospital. By logging in error rates and task time for each script, the dashboard allows staff to evaluate the efficiency of procedures and of users. Quick drill-down to supporting details helps identify most productive or problem areas, and enhance operational efficiency. The dashboard can offer executive management a strategic overview of the productivity within the hospital, with an analysis of the performance of scripts or users involved in specific processes.
Universal Data Parsing
DataStation is Boston WorkStation’s built in, graphical parser that supports a wide range of file and message formats. These include fixed length and delimited, Microsoft Office (Excel, Access, Word), printed text reports, ASTM, HL7, X.12 and XML. Once parsed, the developer can select individual data fields to be keyed into an application. In addition, Boston WorkStation provides a graphical data formatter that handles common manipulation tasks, like trim, pad, field splitting, and pattern based formatting such as date, time, numeric, currency or custom.
ION Projects
Boston WorkStation’s ION feature allows development of applications that overlay your processes to watch to be sure that specific actions are taken. Using an ION Project, developers can construct a process to monitor and react to a user’s interaction in much the same way as they would create a Rules based script. ION provides the ability to create rules that react to screen conditions and to the keystrokes and mouse clicks that a user sends to an application. Data can be selectively captured from the screen as a user performs a task and easily sent to the Boston WorkStation Dashboard database, allowing “user time” reporting on their activities.
Scripting the Internet
Boston WorkStation is a scripting environment for Internet users, allowing them to automate the operation of their Web browser. It watches users call up Web pages and read and update the information on those pages. Meanwhile it generates the script commands which repeat the activity. Boston WorkStation also generates data handling commands to read and write information on the web page and to create, remove and modify data.
Web Services
Boston WorkStation scripts can easily call Web Services using SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). The Web Services Bridge (WSB) allows scripts in Boston WorkStation Projects to be exposed as Web Services.
Logging and Reporting
To assist with testing and maintenance, Boston WorkStation provides built in logging. Boston WorkStation keeps track of the steps through which the script proceeded, every action performed, user defined notes and even display information about the screens it encountered. The log can be written to constantly or on a conditional basis, so for a script entering in thousands of transactions, only entries that contained exceptions could be logged. For scripts that are reading from a file, Boston WorkStation can provide a report displaying the selected items that were entered by the script, the record number and its status as well as user defined fields. The report can be generated in Excel, Access, CSV or human readable report format.
Easy Script Scheduling
Using the Scheduler, your scripts can be set up to run unattended at a set time, in real time, or on a batch basis. Scripts may be scheduled to run only once, once an hour, a day, a week, a month or at a frequency stated in seconds, minutes, hours or days. The Scheduler is easy to use and it provides the user with feedback to immediately see the implications of scheduling changes; predictability in future actions, a log of past events so that script behavior may be monitored; and the capability of operating multiple schedule engines on the same PC.
Message Management
Boston WorkStation provides a variety of messaging pathways for external communication, including email via SMTP, FTP, TCP/IP, SOAP, SNMP, and the Citrix shared clipboard. Boston WorkStation can interact with message queuing systems such as MSMQ and also provides an internal queuing system, allowing the creation of by-directional scripts that interact with messages from interface engines or by listening / sending directly to a port.
Universal Connectivity
Boston WorkStation is PC-based software that offers universal connectivity giving you the flexibility of PC, minicomputer or mainframe connectivity and easy development on any Microsoft operating platform. Boston WorkStation contains a unique set of scripting components to connect to any screen that could run on a Windows PC such as off the shelf terminal emulators, Windows applications, or websites. It can even interact with purely graphical screens like Citrix sessions. In addition, the WorkStation has built in connections to specific HIS displays like CPSI, IDXTerm, McKesson HBOWem, Meditech Client Server, and all versions of Meditech Remote WorkStation. Boston WorkStation is proven to connect with all integration engines including Microsoft BizTalk®. It is also backward compatible with earlier versions of Boston WorkStation.
