CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
The development of the University of California Automated
Vital Statistics System (AVSS) began
in 1980 using the most appropriate computing technology available
at that time. A conscious decision was made then to build upon
a MUMPS platform that would insure portability in the face of
rapid technological change. After a decade of development, this
strategy has paid dividends since the same version of AVSS
is operational over a wide range of computer hardware, ranging
from large VAX minicomputers to a variety of IBM-PC compatibles.
Operating multi-user/multi-tasking software in a variety of hardware
environments has placed additional burdens on the AVSS
system maintenance functions. Yet AVSS has been designed
to give users a high degree control over their hardware/software
resources.
This manual is to be used by the individual responsible for the
daily operation of a facility utilizing AVSS. This person
is commonly referred to as the AVSS "System Manager."
It is assumed that the System Manager is familiar with the AVSS
User's Manual and has basic knowledge of the computer equipment
that supports AVSS. The terminology introduced in the User's
Manual is used here and the reader is encouraged to review
the User's Manual since this manual will assume a certain
level of knowledge and has less detail in describing AVSS
procedures.
Many of the capabilities needed to perform system maintenance
activities are contained in the SYSTEM MAINTENANCE option. A major
goal of AVSS Version 4 was to introduce uniformity in the
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE suboptions over the entire range of hardware
that AVSS presently operates. Previous minicomputer versions
of AVSS required that some of these functions be performed
outside of AVSS, thus making it more difficult for novice
system managers to perform their tasks. This inconvenience was
eliminated in Version 4.004 where the standard SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
suboptions were grouped in a functionally related order for all
sites as follows:
Managing Terminals And Other Computer Resources
SYSTEM STATUS
BROADCAST MESSAGE
JOB KILL
UNFREEZE ANOTHER TERMINAL (XON)
SHUTDOWN AVSS
MIRROR ANOTHER TERMINAL
INITIALIZE MODEM
HOW MUCH DISK SPACE REMAINS
Assuring Data Reliability
OPERATING SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECKER
AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY CHECKER
ERROR ENTRY LISTING
Reporting AVSS Systems Data
LIST OVERRIDE PROCESSING
COMMUNICATIONS LOG PROCESSING
DAYTIME COMMUNICATIONS STARTUP
USER REPORT BY ACTIVITY INDEX
Managing AVSS Records
BACKUP RECORD DATA
SET LAST FULL BACKUP DATE
DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP
INCREMENTAL BACKUP
VERIFY RECORD DATA
KILL RECORD DATA
RESTORE RECORD DATA
SELECTIVE RECORD RESTORE
Managing Security
DEVICE TABLE
CLASSIFICATION FILE
ID FILE
SECURITY REPORT
Special Suboptions
PERIPHERAL FILE
EXPAND DATABASE
The use and capabilities of these suboptions are discussed
in Chapter 2. All except two of these suboptions apply to all
sites; the two exceptions are UNFREEZE ANOTHER TERMINAL (XON),
which is presently unavailable for AVSS-PC, and EXPAND
DATABASE, which is not applicable at minicomputer sites.
CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW OF STANDARD SUBOPTIONS
The SYSTEM MAINTENANCE suboptions will be discussed
by functional group. The order of discussion follows the screen
display in AVSS and is not necessarily in order of importance
in terms of system maintenance activities. Examples are taken
from an AVSS-PC implementation and will differ somewhat
from minicomputer versions.
2.1 MANAGING TERMINALS AND OTHER COMPUTER RESOURCES
These suboptions allow the system manager to monitor the multi-user
and multi-tasking aspects of the AVSS hardware/software
system.
2.1.1 System Status
The SYSTEM STATUS suboption allows you to determine the number
and status of the active jobs on your system:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [SY][ENTER]STEM
STATUS
MSM - System Job Status
12:13 PM 26-JUL-91
Max Partitions: 6 Current in Use: 4
JOB UCI/VOL ROUTINE P-SIZE STATUS #-COMMANDS DEVICES
NUM NAME NAME CURR/MAX TOTAL/INCR OWNED
--- ------- -------- -------- ------- ---------- -------
1 * * * M S M * * *
2 MGR,AVS %SS 2.9/20.0 RUNNING 7370/937 1pc
3 MGR,AVS FSPCTIM 1.1/20.0 CLOCK 898/873
5 MGR,AVS FSF 3.0/20.0 TERMI-4 1266/0 4pc
p - Principal Device
c - Current Device
Total Buffers In System: 162, Modified#=0
Flush threshold=(4,8), Flush interval=2, flush count=1
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
The most important columns headings are highlighted in
bold letters, i.e., JOB NUM, ROUTINE NAME, and DEVICES OWNED.
On AVSS-PC implementations, Job Number 1 is always the
MSM MUMPS operating system and owns no devices. The PC console
is always Device 1. In this example, Job Number 2 is associated
with the ROUTINE NAME %SS, indicating that Device 1 (the console)
is running the system status job that created this output. Since
AVSS has multi-user capability, there can be other jobs
operating simultaneously, such as the "time job" or
routine FSPCTIM, which should always be active on AVSS-PC
implementations and usually does not own a device. The term "device"
refers to a computer communications port, which can be attached
to a terminal or printer. You should have a table of the communications
devices on your computer summarizing their baud rates and other
communications parameters. In the example above, we see that Device
4 is running the routine FSF, which is part of the AVSS
program since all AVSS routines begin with the two letters
"FS," standing for "Forms System."
In summary, when you perform a SYSTEM STATUS, you should note
the values for JOB NUM, ROUTINE NAME, and DEVICES OWNED since
you may need this information for other SYSTEM MAINTENANCE suboptions.
For most activities you do not need to know the meaning of the
remaining information produced by SYSTEM STATUS.
2.1.2 Broadcast Message
The BROADCAST MESSAGE suboption can be used to interactively
send messages to users with active jobs, such as Job Number 5
above on Device 4. For example, if you wanted the user corresponding
to Job Number 5 to logoff for system maintenance reasons, you
might perform the following procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [BR][ENTER]OADCAST
MESSAGE
MSM - Terminal Broadcaster Utility
Enter Message: [?][ENTER]
Enter the text of the message that you wish to broadcast.
It may
be up to 255 characters and should not include control characters.
Enter <RETURN> or '^' or '^Q' to exit this utility.
Enter Message: [PLEASE SIGN OFF ASAP TO ALLOW SYSTEM MAINTENANCE,
THANKS!][ENTER]
Enter target terminal(s): [?] ENTER]
Enter 'ALL' to broadcast to all active terminal devices, or
the number of a single active terminal device. The number must
be
within one of the following ranges: 1,3-19,64-199 inclusive.
You may enter a list of these numbers separted by commas, or
a range of these numbers with the low and high element separated
by a hyphen.
You may enter any combination of lists and ranges.
Enter '^D' to get a list of all active jobs and their principal
devices.
Enter <RETURN> or '^' to return to the previous question,
or
'^Q' to exit this utility.
Enter target terminal(s): [4][ENTER]
Your message was broadcast to terminal 4.
Enter Message:[ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
Note that many of the AVSS commands such as [?],
[^], [^D] [^L], and [^Q] are in force
within many SYSTEM MAINTENANCE procedures, even though the operations
are implementation-specific and are frequently taking place within
MUMPS operating system utilities.
2.1.3 Job Kill
Occasionally it will be necessary to terminate a job. For
example, due to electrical disturbances a device may become "locked,"
or a user may abandon a terminal, or you may need to stop the
FSPCTIM job in order to expand the MUMPS database on AVSS-PC
(see Section 2.6.2). You should first run the SYSTEM STATUS
suboption, then use the following procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [J][ENTER]
OB KILL
MSM - Job Termination/Device Release
Job number to be HALTed? [3] [ENTER]
Job #3 being HALTed.
Job #3 has terminated
Job number to be HALTed? [ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
2.1.4 Unfreeze Another Terminal (XON)
If a terminal becomes "frozen" due to spurious electronic
noise that produces an "XOFF" or [CTRL-S] and
if the user is unable to "unfreeze" the terminal using
an "XON" or [CTRL-Q] (please refer to Section
2.6 of the AVSS User's Manual), then with certain minicomputer
implementations, it is possible for the System Manager to free
up the communication line using the following example procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [UN][ENTER]
FREEZE ANOTHER TERMINAL (XON)
Simulate an XON condition for a terminal that has issued an XOFF.
Terminal => [?][ENTER]
[Terminal number 1 or 4 or 64-95.]
Terminal => [65][ENTER] [No XOFF was pending.]
Terminal => [78][ENTER]
OK. In a few seconds the terminal should be all right.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
Note that this suboption is not yet operational on AVSS-PC.
2.1.5 Shutdown AVSS
It is very common to shutdown the AVSS-MUMPS system
so as to perform backups and other system maintenance functions.
However, before you attempt a shutdown, you should inform all
users in advance and make sure that there are no active jobs,
except for the FSPCTIM routine. NOTE: You should always perform
a shutdown before turning off the power on your computer or re-booting.
As suggested above, you can broadcast a message to any users who
have not yet terminated their interactive session. The procedure
is then as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [SH][ENTER]UTDOWN
AVSS
MSM - System Shutdown
1 other user still on system.
Do you want to force a shutdown? <N> [Y][ENTER]
System Going Down Immediately
On AVSS-PC systems, the FSPCTIM job is always active
and shows as one other user on the system, so it is permissible
to force a shutdown. If there is more than one other user on the
system, you should run a SYSTEM STATUS and attempt to determine
the nature of the remaining job and, if possible, terminate it
before attempting to shutdown.
2.1.6 Mirror Another Terminal
As a System Manager, you have the capability in most AVSS
implementations to monitor the ongoing activities of users. This
is especially helpful for training new users in remote locations
and troubleshooting real or perceived problems that may be difficult
for users to explain to you by telephone. You will need to know
the number of the device that you wish to monitor, and the user
should be logged onto AVSS before you begin. You may wish
to run SYSTEM STATUS before beginning. The procedure is then as
follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [M][ENTER]IRROR
ANOTHER TERMINAL
MSM - Terminal Monitor Utility
Device Number: [?][ENTER]
Enter the device number of the device to be monitored. The
device
number must be a terminal type device (i.e., 1, 3-19, 64-199),
or
Enter <RETURN>, '^', or '^Q' to exit utility.
Device Number: [4][ENTER]
Ready to start monitoring device 4? <Y>:[ENTER]
Monitoring begun for device 4.
Enter CTRL/C to terminate monitoring.
At this point everything that appears on Device 4 will
also appear on your video screen. It is important to remember
to use [CTRL-C] when you have completed monitoring.
2.1.7 Initialize Modem
If a modem line becomes inoperative, you should turn the modem
power off and re-initialize the modem by determining the correct
Device Number and running the following procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [INI][ENTER]TIALIZE
MODEM
INITIALIZE MODEM ON LINE NUMBER > [4][ENTER]
Note: There will be about a 1 minute
delay at this point.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION
>
2.1.8 How Much Disk Space Remains
An important function of the System Manager is to monitor
the usage of disk storage space. As time progresses more and more
data consumes more and more disk space and it is possible to entirely
fill your computer's disk. When this occurs, all data entry must
necessarily come to a halt. To avoid this problem it is necessary
to regularly monitor disk usage. If a disk is in danger of becoming
full, you must immediately plan to archive and delete existing
records, or expand disk capacity. At least weekly you should obtain
a report on the remaining disk space by the following procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [H][ENTER]OW
MUCH DISK SPACE REMAINS
MSM - Disk Space/Free Space Utility
Volume Group: AVS Index: 0
Vol Maps Tot Blks Free Spc %-Free Host File Name
--- ---- -------- -------- ------ --------------
0 12 6048 148 2.45 c:\avss\avss4106.msm
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
In this example, the disk has only 148 MSM blocks (Blks),
or 148,000 characters remaining. When the space remaining falls
below 100 blocks, AVSS will automatically issue a warning
upon sign-on, and when it drops below 50 blocks, data entry will
no longer be permitted. It is advisible to begin immediate plans
for providing more usable space as soon as the free space falls
below 500 blocks or 0.5 megabytes. If you manage an AVSS-PC
facility, please refer to Section 2.6.2 for instructions on how
to expand a database.
2.2 ASSURING DATA RELIABILITY
Another important function of the System Manager is to maintain
the integrity of the AVSS-MUMPS database. Database structures
are inherently quite complex involving sophisticated indexes into
individual records to allow for rapid storage, retrieval, and
updating. When a record is stored in AVSS, a number of
consistent pieces of information must be written to disk. If,
for example, a power failure occurs during the process of writing
these components, and only some of them are successfully stored,
then there will result a database inconsistency or error. NOTE:
This is but one reason why you should never power down your computer
equipment without performing a shutdown as described in Section
2.1.5. The suboptions is this section were designed to help
you maintain an error-free database.
2.2.1 Operating System Integrity Checker
Although with proper system maintenance database errors are
quite infrequent, we recommend that you perform the OPERATING
SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECKER on a regular basis. Ideally this would
be daily, but no less frequent than once a week. It is an easy
procedure that you can perform as you are leaving the office at
the end of each day, and check the results the following morning.
It is as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION> [O][ENTER]PERATING
SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECKER
MSM - Database Integrity Utility
Enter UCI to validate <ALL>:[ENTER]
Enable ZTRACE <N> [ENTER]
Enter output device <1>: [3][ENTER]
Validating Routines from [MGR,AVS]
Validating Globals from [MGR,AVS]
% %E %HELP FS FSD FSF FSF2
FSI FSL FSLOG FSO FSQ FSR FSSYS
FSTEMP FSU FSUL FSX HELP LOG SYS
T UTILITY Z90018 Z90028 Z90033
Done
Note that we overrode the default device of <1> (console)
and wrote the results to Device 3, which is the system printer
on most AVSS-PC implementations. This will direct the output
of the integrity check to hard copy so that you will have a permanent
record of the results. Thus, you may move on to other activities
after you have responded with [3] [ENTER] above. A successful
integrity check will report "NO ERRORS FOUND" while
a problem in the database will produce a list of errors that should
be reported to the AVSS Project for technical support.
The time required to complete the database integrity check will
vary from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the size
of the database and the speed of the computer system. NOTE:
You should always run the OPERATING SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECKER before
performing any kind of backup.
2.2.2 AVSS Data Base Integrity Checker
In addition to the OPERATING SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECKER, there
is the AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY CHECKER. This is an additional
validity check that examines the internal consistency of the data
stored within the AVSS program structure. There is less
likelihood of an error here assuming no error was found in the
operating system, and since the AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY CHECKER
takes much longer to run, you need no run it as frequently. Once
a week is often enough or even monthly. However, if you have any
reason to suspect that there is a problem with the AVSS
data structure, you should run it immediately; and you should
run the AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY CHECKER before backing up and
deleting AVSS records (see Sections 2.4.1 and 2.4.6).
The procedure is as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [A][ENTER]VSS
DATA BASE INTEGRITY CHECKER
FOR WHICH SITE <*> [ENTER]
(E) ERRORS ONLY, (A) ALL ERRORS AND WARNINGS,
OR (N) NO REPORTING <E> [ENTER]
RUN IN BACKGROUND <N> [Y][ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <IC072991> [ENTER]
DESCRIPTION <INTEGRITY CHECK FOR 07/29/91> [ENTER]
DELAY UNTIL <NOW> [1800][ENTER]
Because it usually takes a considerable length of time
to complete, it is advisible to run this procedure in the background.
As shown above, AVSS will automatically assign a Save Output
Code (beginning with IC followed by the MMDDYY date) and a textual
description. It is advisible to accept the defaults here as well.
Finally, since this procedure is a heavy consumer of computer
resources, you may wish to delay the startup until after normal
working hours; you should specify the startup time in military
syntax as shown above with the example of 1800 Hours or 6:00 PM.
When you begin work the following day, you can review the results
using the OUTPUT SAVED REPORT suboption under the REPORT GENERATOR
as follows:
REPORT GENERATOR OPTION > [O][ENTER]UTPUT
SAVED REPORT
ID. ID CODE# <4> [ENTER] MANAGER,SYSTEM
OUT. OUTPUT REPORT CODE > [I][ENTER]C072991 = INTEGRITY
CHECK FOR 07/29/91
IC072991 =INTEGRITY CHECK FOR 07/29/91
IC072991 =[ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY OUTPUT:
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR 07/29/91
FOR SITE: * BY: MANAGER,SYSTEM FROM DEVICE: 1
STARTED ON: 7/29/91 AT 6:00 PM
FINISHED ON: 7/29/91 AT 7:37 PM
ELAPSED TIME: 1 HOUR 36 MINUTES 50 SECONDS
STEP 1: CHECK EACH DATA FILE FOR ITS CORRESPONDING INDEXES
STEP 1: CHECKING SITE 34 FOR INDEXING INFORMATION.
7/29/91 1059.31 FORM:LCA FILE#:18934018813 => INDEX NODE UNDEFINED:
%FI (REGISTRATION FILE DATE) SETTING...
7/29/91 1059.32 FORM:LCA FILE#:18934018813 => INDEX NODE UNDEFINED:
%UP (LAST UPDATE) SETTING...
INDEX: DT (DATE OF BIRTH)
7/29/91 1059.32 FORM:LCA FILE#:18934018813 => ERROR: UNDEFINED
VARIABLE: I4A FOR INDEX: NM (CHILD'S NAME)
STEP 2: CHECK EACH INDEX ENTRY FOR COMPATIBILITY WITH DATA FILE
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:%FI SITE:34
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:%UP SITE:34
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:DR SITE:34
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:DT SITE:34
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:FN SITE:34
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:MN SITE:34
STEP 2: CHECKING INDEX:NM SITE:34
DATA BASE STATISTICS AND REPORT SUMMARY:
SITE: 34 FORM: LCA HAS 2990 ENTRIES IN DATA BASE.
FOR SITE: * BY: MANAGER,SYSTEM FROM DEVICE: 1
STARTED ON: 7/29/91 AT 6:00 PM
FINISHED ON: 7/29/91 AT 7:37 PM
ELAPSED TIME: 1 HOUR 36 MINUTES 50 SECONDS
REPORT GENERATOR OPTION >
In the example above AVSS found two missing indexes
for one record and, using data available within the records, reconstructed
these indexes. Thus, by running the AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY
CHECKER not only are inconsistencies detected, but whenever possible,
they are corrected. However, there are some problems that AVSS
is unable to correct; these are referred to as "errors."
In the example above, record 18934018813 is missing the date of
birth and the missing index cannot be constructed without this
information. It is advisible to contact a member of the AVSS
Project for technical assistance whenever an error is uncovered.
Usually the error can be corrected quickly, but it is important
that it be corrected using the most appropriate means.
2.2.3 Error Entry Listing
The two integrity checkers described above are designed to
search systematically for database inconsistencies which usually
arise from electrical disturbances or hardware malfunctions. These
are the most common malfunctions for an AVSS implementation.
Another less frequent type of problem is the result of a software
error in AVSS or MUMPS. Although both or these products
are at a state of maturity and have undergone a decade of development
and operational usage, there is always the possibility of an error.
This generally occurs when an unusual set of circumstances occur
that was not foreseen by the AVSS Project design team,
and are most likely to be observed soon after a new release of
AVSS. When a software error occurs, AVSS begins
a recovery mechanism and asks you to help document the circumstances
that triggered the error: see Section 4.3 of the AVSS User's
Manual for a description of the procedure. The information
generated as a result of the error may be viewed using the ERROR
ENTRY LISTING suboption. If any errors are listed, please contact
a member of the AVSS Project.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [E][ENTER]
RROR ENTRY LISTING
OUTPUT DEVICE <T> [ENTER]
<UNDEF>*XECUTE*^FSF:::4:0: ERROR OCCURRED ON 1/23/91
AT 04:44 PM
FORM: CONFIDENTIAL MORBIDITY REPORT OPTION: REGISTER CONFIDENTIAL
MORBIDITY
REPORT
USER: NELSON,MARY CLASSIFICATION: COUNTY SYSTEM MANAGER
CURRENT VARIABLE AT TIME OF ERROR WAS: REPORTER
COMMENT:
1> I WAS ATTEMPTING TO SKIP THE REPORTER NAME.
2.3 REPORTING AVSS SYSTEM DATA
A significant aspect of AVSS is its capability of automatically
creating systematic logs of user and communications activities.
The System Manager should examine the contents of these logs on
a regular basis. Performing these functions every week is recommended.
2.3.1 List Override Processing
AVSS maintains extensive lists of choices for many
data items; examples include: all the states in the U.S. and countries
in the world, all zip codes in California and its surrounding
states, and the attending physicians in a particular hospital.
Users are encouraged to make use of these lists by entering the
first few characters of the name, letting AVSS perform
a match, and then completing the necessary information. Occassionally,
however, there will not be a match and the user will override
the list and enter non-list information. There are two principal
reasons for such an override: an AVSS list needs to be
updated, or the user needs additional training in use of the list
processing feature. In both cases it is important that the System
Manager be aware of the override. In the former case, such as
the appearance of a new zip code, there is a need to update AVSS
and this information needs to be communicated to the AVSS Project
staff. In the latter case, a minor amount of user followup training
is usually necessary.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [L][ENTER]IST
OVERRIDE PROCESSING
PRINT OR SCRATCH VERIFICATION TABLE <P> [ENTER]
ENTER FORM CODE <*> [ENTER]
ENTER FIELD NAME <*> [ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T> [ENTER]
FORM: HCA - HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD
FIELD: 7 - FATHER'S STATE OF BIRTH
SITE: 033
INDEX: 202539 BY: SMITH,MARTHA,CLERK ON 1/27/91
VALUE: FIJI ISLA
In this example the user entered the text "FIJI ISLA"
rather that simply "FIJI" as contained in the AVSS
list for Item 7. The user could not complete "ISLAND"
since there is room for only nine characters on the paper form.
In this case the System Manager should contact the user for some
followup training in AVSS list processing.
A second example of output from the LIST OVERRIDE PROCESSING suboption
is:
FORM: HCA - HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD
FIELD: 13D - NAME, TITLE AND MAILING ADDRESS OF ATTENDANT
SITE: 033
INDEX: 223330 BY: TORREZ,FARINA,CLERK ON 6/23/91
VALUE: AGNES B. HOWARD, MD 5TH AVE. AND ESPLANADE CHICO
INDEX: 224657 BY: MARTIN,MARIE,CLERK ON 7/26/91
VALUE: AGNES HOWARD, M.D. W. 5TH AVENUE AND ESPLANADE
In this example two birth clerks have entered the entire
birth attendant's name and address and did not take advantage
of the AVSS list for Item 13D. Although this too may be
the result of incomplete training, the fact that two clerks have
overrode the list processing for the same birth attendant indicates
that it is a new birth attendant whose name and address is not
on the list for Item 13D. The System Manager should therefore
check the list for this item. If the attendant is not on the list,
then the two records that contained new attendant's name (file
numbers 223330 and 224657) should be displayed using the DISPLAY
RECORD suboption under the HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD option (see Section
3.3.2 of the AVSS User's Manual). From these displays one
can obtain the new attendant's name, degree, address, and license
number. Using this information, it is an easy task to add the
new birth attendant data to the Item 13D list by means of the
MODIFY USER LISTS suboption (see Section 3.3.18 of the AVSS
User's Manual).
After you have reviewed and resolved all the entries in LIST OVERRIDE
PROCESSING, then you should delete them. This not only frees up
disk storage space, but also reserves this list for problems that
need to be resolved, and since you must delete entries individually,
you will wish to keep the number to a minimum.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [L][ENTER]IST
OVERRIDE PROCESSING
PRINT OR SCRATCH VERIFICATION TABLE <P> [S][ENTER]
ENTER FORM CODE <*>[ENTER]
ENTER FIELD NAME <*>[ENTER]
FORM: HCA - HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD
FIELD: 7 - FATHER'S STATE OF BIRTH
SITE: 033
INDEX: 202539 BY: SMITH,MARTHA ON 1/27/91
VALUE: FIJI ISL SCRATCH <N> [Y][ENTER] SCRATCHED
2.3.2 Communications Log Processing
In many implementations, AVSS automatically executes communications
tasks during the evening hours with other AVSS sites. Typically
a local registration district computer will telephone and connect
to a hospital computer, then transfer electronic hospital birth
records. The process is more involved than ordinary electronic
"bulletin boards" since not only is the connection with
another computer made automatically and information transferred
using error-correction techniques, but the receiving computer's
database is updated to reflect indexed information contained in
the sending computer's database. An even more complex process
involves the reallocation of electronic birth certificates from
the district of birth occurrence to the district of mother's residence.
Although these communications occur automatically and require
no human effort, it is the responsibility of the System Manager
to monitor them to identify any difficulties. The most common
problems are related to the inability of your computer to successfuly
connect and sign-on to its target computer. This can occur if
the target computer is powered off, or powered on but not running
AVSS, or if its modem is not in an auto-answer state. Here
is an example of a successful hospital data transfer:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [CO][ENTER]MMUNICATIONS
LOG PROCESSING
WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW OR DELETE MESSAGES > [V][ENTER]
DISPLAY ALL LOGGED MESSAGES > [Y][ENTER]
CHOOSE OUTPUT DEVICE FOR DISPLAY
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
RECEPTIONS HAVE OCCURRED ON LINE: 5
1 THURSDAY 4/18/91 AT 11:53.58 PM DIALING: Memorial Center (222),
NUMBER: 599-3900
2 THURSDAY 4/18/91 AT 11:54.23 PM PHONE CONNECTION MADE TO SITE
NAME: Memorial Center
l (222) PHONE NUMBER:599-3900
3 THURSDAY 4/18/91 AT 11:54.31 PM SUCCESSFUL LOGON TO: Memorial
Center (222) JOB:2
4 THURSDAY 4/18/91 AT 11:54.35 PM START RECEIVED
5 THURSDAY 4/18/91 AT 11:55.35 PM QUIT RECEIVED. FILED:2 AVG.
TIME:30.0
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
An example of a successful receipt of reallocated electronic
certificates is as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [CO][ENTER]MMUNICATIONS
LOG PROCESSING
CHOOSE OUTPUT DEVICE FOR SUMMARY REPORT
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
REALLOCATIONS HAVE OCCURRED ON LINE: 4
THERE ARE 398 LOG ENTRIES FROM TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 08:13.29 AM
TO TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:16.58 AM
WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW OR DELETE MESSAGES > [V][ENTER]
DISPLAY ALL LOGGED MESSAGES > [N][ENTER]
REALLOCATIONS
LINE 4 398 ENTRIES.
DISPLAY RANGE > [392--398][ENTER]
CHOOSE OUTPUT DEVICE FOR DISPLAY
OUTPUT DEVICE <T> [ENTER]
REALLOCATIONS ON LINE 4:
392 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:15.40 AM FILED:34,LCA,19134021087 ORIGIN
SITE=34
393 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:15.58 AM FILED:34,LCA,19134021140 ORIGIN
SITE=34
394 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:16.19 AM FILED:48,LCA,19148001462 ORIGIN
SITE=48
395 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:16.39 AM FILED:61,LCA,19161000975 ORIGIN
SITE=61
396 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:16.58 AM FILED:34,LCA,19034019615 ORIGIN
SITE=34
397 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:16.58 AM QUIT RECEIVED. FILED:371 AVG.
TIME:18.9
398 TUESDAY 5/14/91 AT 10:16.58 AM REALLOCATION PROCESS TERMINATED.
DISPLAY RANGE > [^Q][ENTER]
Here are two examples of unsuccessful communications:
1 FRIDAY 6/28/91 AT 12:03.01 AM DIALING:
Memorial Center (222), NUMBER: 599-3900
2 FRIDAY 6/28/91 AT 12:09.42 AM PHONE CONNECTION RETRY EXCEEDED.
3 SATURDAY 6/29/91 AT 12:20.05 AM DIALING: Memorial Center (222),
NUMBER: 599-3900
4 SATURDAY 6/29/91 AT 12:20.59 AM UNABLE TO LOGON TO: Memorial
Center (222), HANGING UP...
In the Friday example, there was no answer by the Memorial
Center modem, suggesting that either the modem power was off,
or the modem was not in an auto-answer mode, or that it needed
to be reset. You should contact Memorial staff and instruct them
to check all modem connections, turn off the modem power and power
it back on, then run the INITIALIZE MODEM suboption as described
in Section 2.1.7.
In the Saturday example, a successful connection was made to the
Memorial Center modem, but there was no response by the computer,
thus indicating that the computer was powered off, or if the power
was on that it was not running AVSS at 12:20 AM. You should
therefore contact the Memorial staff and instruct them to be sure
that AVSS is left running during during the appropriate
evening/early morning hours.
Clearly the communications log can become large and consume much
disk space. You should therefore examine it frequently (ideally
on a daily basis, but at least weekly), resolve any difficulties,
then delete it. If you wish, you could output it to a printer
by responding with a [P] or [3] (or other appropriate
device number) in response to the OUTPUT DEVICE > prompt.
Once in the COMMUNICATIONS LOG suboption, the following procedure
should be used:
WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW OR DELETE MESSAGES
> [D][ENTER]
DELETE ALL LOGGED MESSAGES > [?][ENTER]
ENTER 'Y' TO DELETE ALL MESSAGES LOGGED,
OR 'N' TO DELETE A PARTICULAR SET OF MESSAGES.
DELETE ALL LOGGED MESSAGES > [Y][ENTER]
FINAL CONFIRMATION. DELETE ALL MESSAGES <N> [Y][ENTER]
DELETED.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
2.3.3 Daytime Communications Startup
If you have experienced difficulty in establishing a connection
with an AVSS hospital computer, have followed the troubleshooting
procedures described in the previous section, and wish to test
the communications process without delay, then you can use the
DAYTIME COMMUNICATIONS STARTUP suboption in lieu of waiting for
AVSS to automatically attempt the process. To run this
option you must know the Device Number that is programmed to initiate
automated communications. You can determine this by examining
the output from the COMMUNICATIONS LOG PROCESSING suboption (frequently
this will be Device 4). Then use the following procedure.
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [D][ENTER]AYTIME
COMMUNICATIONS STARTUP
SOURCE FOR COMMUNICATION PARAMETERS
LINE NUMBER > [4][ENTER]
SITE NUMBER > [?][ENTER]
SELECT FROM ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SITES:
SITE: 1 = Memorial Center (222)
SITE: 2 = Community Hospital (270)
SITE: 3 = Central Health Clinic (300)
SITE: 4 = St. Ignacio (368)
SITE NUMBER > [1][ENTER] TRANSFER STARTED: Memorial
Center (222)
EXIT
Your screen will be cleared, AVSS will automatically
logoff this session, and then begin dialing the target site. You
can logon again, and monitor the process using the SYSTEM STATUS
suboption described in Section 2.1.1. If you observe the Routine
Name associated with Device 4 to be FSRECR4 then there is good
evidence that successful communications are progressing. You may
also examine the output from the COMMUNICATIONS LOG PROCESSING
for evidence of a successful connection.
2.3.4 User Report By Activity Index
There is a USER REPORT BY ACTIVITY INDEX suboption under each
of the form-specific options supported at a particular site; for
example, the birth certificate (LCA), the hospital birth record
(HCA), and the confidential morbidity report (CMR). Examples of
this report for the HCA form were given in Section 3.3.14 of the
AVSS User's Manual. There may be instances however, where
it is desirable to run a user report for more than one form. To
do this you must run the USER REPORT BY ACTIVITY INDEX suboption
under the SYSTEM MAINTENANCE option as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [US][ENTER]ER
REPORT BY ACTIVITY INDEX
INITIALIZING..
SELECT THE FORMS AND SITES TO BE REPORTED ON:
FORM. SELECTION > [^L][ENTER]
CMR= CONFIDENTIAL MORBIDITY REPORT
HCA= HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD
LCA= BIRTH CERTIFICATE
FORM. SELECTION > [*][ENTER]
FORM. SELECTION >[ENTER]
XIND. SITE CODES > [34][ENTER]
XIND. SITE CODES >[ENTER]
THE FOLLOWING SITES / FORMS WILL BE REPORTED ON:
34 CMR
34 HCA
34 LCA
BEGINNING DATE <1/1/91> [7 1 91][ENTER] (7/1/91)
ENDING DATE <TODAY> [7 7 91][ENTER] (7/7/91)
SUMMARY REPORT ONLY <Y> [ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T> [ENTER]
SEARCHING DATABASE **************
Please refer to the AVSS User's Manual for examples
of the output format.
2.4 MANAGING AVSS RECORDS
Equal in importance to the assuring database integrity is
the System Manager's responsibility in maintaining backups of
AVSS data. There are two basic types of backups that you
need to be concerned with: a full (or complete) system backup
as opposed to a backup of only AVSS records. The former
backs up your entire AVSS implementation including the
MUMPS operating system and associated programs as well as all
AVSS programs and data. In some cases a full system backup
will also contain all PC-DOS files. These backups are necessarily
dependent on specific system resources such as the type of backup
tape drive, size of floppy diskette, or specialized backup software.
In short, they are varied, cannot be standardized, and are not
easily described in an general-purpose manual. This section concerns
procedures to backup and otherwise manage selected AVSS
records. These procedures are designed to be complementary to
complete system backups and to allow a second level of backup
redundancy.
2.4.1 Backup Record Data
The BACKUP RECORD DATA suboption allows you to select a target
group of AVSS records to be backed up to tape or diskette.
This is most frequently used to archive data so that it can be
purged from disk to free up space and restored at a later date
if necessary. It also provides for redundant backup. For example,
as shown below, you could backup the birth certificates (LCA forms)
for a particular month:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [BA][ENTER]CKUP
RECORD DATA
INITIALIZING..
FORMS. SELECTION > [LCA][ENTER] = BIRTH CERTIFICATE
(Entering an asterisk "*" here will select
all forms resident on the system.)
FORMS. SELECTION > [ENTER]
XINDS. SITE CODES > [34][ENTER]
(Entering an asterisk "*" here will select
all site codes resident on the system.)
XINDS. SITE CODES > [ENTER]
THE FOLLOWING SITES / FORMS WILL BE OUTPUT :
34 LCA,
INDEX TO SEARCH > [DT][ENTER] (DT) DATE OF BIRTH
ENTER BEGIN VALUE FOR DATE OF BIRTH <1/1/90 >[9 1 89][ENTER]
(9/1/89)
ENTER ENDING VALUE FOR DATE OF BIRTH < T > [9 30 89][ENTER]
(9/30/89)
RUN ARCHIVE IN THE BACKGROUND <Y> [ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <ARCHIV01> [ENTER]
WHEN FINISHED, YOUR OUTPUT CAN BE VIEWED BY USING 'OUTPUT
SAVED REPORT
UNDER THE REPORT GENERATOR OPTION.
PREPARE PC-DOS FILE AND HIT RETURN > [ENTER]
PLEASE BE SURE TO RUN 'VERIFY RECORD DATA' OPTION TO ENSURE
A RELIABLE
BACKUP PRIOR TO DELETING THIS DATA.
ENTER OUTPUT FILE NAME <BU073091.C09> [A:SEPT89.LCA]
[ENTER]
(You could accept the default name, but here the
A: was used to indicate that the file would be written
to floppy disk, and a more meaningful file name was specified.)
Note that AVSS automatically generates a report that
logs the backup activity and assigns a default name of ARCHIV01,
ARCHIV02, etc. (of course you may override the default name if
you wish). You may check on the progress of the backup job by
running a SYSTEM STATUS suboption as described in Section 2.1.1
and looking for the Routine Name FSARCHV2 using Device 51. When
the job is no longer active then you may use the REPORT GENERATOR
to examine the backup log as follows:
REPORT GENERATOR OPTION > [O][ENTER]UTPUT
SAVED REPORT
ID. ID CODE# <4> [ENTER] MANAGER, SYSTEM
OUT. OUTPUT REPORT CODE > [A][ENTER]RCHIV01 = GENERAL
BACKUP LOG [9/30/90 12:09 PM]
ARCHIV01 =GENERAL BACKUP LOG [9/30/90 12:09 PM]
ARCHIV01 = [ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T> [ENTER]
GENERAL BACKUP LOG [9/30/90 12:09 PM]
*** 9/30/90 12:09 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA
USER: MANAGER,SYSTEM
GENERAL ARCHIVE DATA FOR: 34(LCA) , VOL=1
PC FILE NAME: A:SEPT89.LCA
SEARCH METHOD: DATE OF BIRTH
BEGINNING RANGE > 9/1/89
ENDING RANGE > 9/30/89
*** 9/30/90 12:10 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA
(N=674, TOTAL=674)
*** 9/30/90 12:27 PM ***
END ARCHIVE (SPACE=1210639, TOTAL=674, VOL=1)
We see that it took 17 minutes to backup 674 LCA records
or about 2 seconds per record. This time can vary considerably,
however, depending on the inherent speed of your AVSS computer.
We also find that the 674 records required 1,210,639 byte of diskette
storage (about 1,800 bytes per record), and thus just fit on a
single 5 1/4 inch high density diskette, which can store 1,213,952
bytes. Note that AVSS does not have the capability of spreading
a backup across multiple diskettes, so that to be safe, you should
specify a date range that corresponds to fewer than 600 LCA records
for 5 1/4 inch high density diskettes or fewer than 700 LCA records
for 3 1/2 inch high density diskettes. For example if your site
had 1,200 births per year, you could run the BACKUP RECORD DATA
suboption in two six-month increments onto two 5 1/4 inch high
density floppies. However, if there were 1,500 annual births,
you would run three four-month intervals.
2.4.2 Set Last Full Backup Date
As discussed above, the ability of AVSS to backup individual
records is complementary with a full system backup using other
general purpose backup software. To insure this complementarity,
AVSS needs to know the date of the last full system backup.
Thus, you should run the following procedure after each full system
backup:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [SET][ENTER]
LAST FULL BACKUP DATE
LAST FULL BACKUP DATE > 9/1/90
ENTER THE DATE OF THE LAST FULL BACK-UP <9/1/90> [9 7 90][ENTER]
9/7/90
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
2.4.3 Differential Backup
One successful backup strategy is to intermix full system
backups with AVSS record-specific backups. For example,
you could perform a full system backup weekly and an AVSS
backup daily. The DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP suboption will backup all
AVSS records that have been added from the date of last
full backup (as set by the procedure described above) until today.
Note this applies to the date the records were entered, not
to the date of the event. By combining the full backup and
the differential backup, you can restore the entire database.
Running a differential backup daily is least disruptive, since
as opposed to a full backup, you do not have to shutdown AVSS,
and it can run as a background job, having little impact on users.
The procedure is as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [DIF][ENTER]FERENTIAL
BACKUP
INITIALIZING..
DATE RANGE FOR THIS DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP: 9/7/90 TO 9/10/90
RUN ARCHIVE IN THE BACKGROUND <Y> [ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <ARCHIV01> [ENTER]
WHEN FINISHED, YOUR OUTPUT CAN BE VIEWED BY USING 'OUTPUT
SAVED REPORT'
UNDER THE REPORT GENERATOR OPTION.
PREPARE PC-DOS FILE AND HIT RETURN > [ENTER]
PLEASE BE SURE TO RUN 'VERIFY RECORD DATA' OPTION TO ENSURE
A RELIABLE
BACKUP PRIOR TO DELETING THIS DATA.
ENTER OUTPUT FILE NAME <BU091090.D57> [A:MONDAY1.DIF][ENTER]
(Note: You should always write the name of the file
on the diskette or tape.)
Again, you may retreive the log of activity using the REPORT
GENERATOR:
REPORT GENERATOR OPTION > [O][ENTER]UTPUT
SAVED REPORT
OUT. OUTPUT REPORT CODE > [A][ENTER]RCHIV01 = DIFFERENTIAL
BACKUP LOG [9/10/90 03:47 PM]
ARCHIV01 =DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP LOG [9/10/90 03:47 PM]
ARCHIV01 =[ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP LOG [9/10/90 03:47 PM]
*** 9/10/90 03:47 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA
USER: MANAGER,SYSTEM
DIFFERENTIAL ARCHIVE DATA FOR: 34(LCA) , VOL=1
PC FILE NAME: A:MONDAY1.DIF
SEARCH METHOD: LAST UPDATE
BEGINNING RANGE > 9/7/90
ENDING RANGE > 9/10/90
*** 9/10/90 03:48 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA
(N=39, TOTAL=39)
*** 9/10/90 03:48 PM ***
END ARCHIVE (SPACE=70548, TOTAL=39, VOL=1)
2.4.4 Incremental Backup
The INCREMENTAL BACKUP suboption is very similar in function
to the DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP suboption, differing only in the date
range of records that is selected. Differential backups always
cover records that were entered during the time period from the
date of last full backup to today's date, and thus will span a
longer period as time progresses until the date of last full backup
is reset. The time range for incremental backups is based on the
date of the last incremental backup and covers that date
until today. If you perform incremental backups daily, they will
cover one day of data entry activity. Thus incremental backups
tend to remain about the same size, while differential backups
will grow larger until another full system backup is performed.
However, incremental backups require more careful management since
in order to restore a system due to an equipment malfunction,
it is necessary to combine the full system backup with many incremental
backups, and if any one is missing then an incomplete restoration
results. For this reason it is recommended that you perform differential
backups using a different diskette for each day of the week and
possibly have several different weeks of different diskettes.
An example of an incremental backup is:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [INC][ENTER]REMENTAL
BACKUP
INITIALIZING..
DATE RANGE FOR THIS INCREMENTAL BACKUP: 9/10/90 TO 9/11/90
RUN ARCHIVE IN THE BACKGROUND <Y> [ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <ARCHIV03> [ENTER]
WHEN FINISHED, YOUR OUTPUT CAN BE VIEWED BY USING 'OUTPUT
SAVED REPORT'
UNDER THE REPORT GENERATOR OPTION.
PREPARE PC-DOS FILE AND HIT RETURN >[ENTER]
PLEASE BE SURE TO RUN 'VERIFY RECORD DATA' OPTION TO ENSURE
A RELIABLE
BACKUP PRIOR TO DELETING THIS DATA.
ENTER OUTPUT FILE NAME <BU120389.H11> [A:IN091190.BAK][ENTER]
Use the same procedure described above to view the
results of the backup activity with the OUTPUT SAVED REPORT suboption
under the REPORT GENERATOR.
2.4.5 Verify Record Data
To insure that the data that was written to backup magnetic
media (either tape or diskette) agree exactly with what is contained
on permanent disk storage, you should run the VERIFY RECORD DATA
suboption. This is especially important before you purge records
from the system. To run this procedure, mount the tape or insert
the diskette to be verified while noting the name of the file,
then perform the following:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [VER][ENTER]IFY
RECORD DATA
PREPARE PC-DOS FILE WRITE DISABLED AND ONLINE.
HIT RETURN WHEN READY OR '^Q' OR 'Q' TO QUIT >[ENTER]
ENTER INPUT FILE NAME > [A:SEPT90.LCA][ENTER]
REWINDING ...
ARCHIVE HEADER: GENERAL ARCHIVE DATA FOR: 34(LCA) ,VOL=1
CREATED ON: 9/30/90
CONTINUE (C) OR QUIT (Q) > [C][ENTER]
RUN VERIFY ARCHIVE IN THE BACKGROUND <N> [Y][ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <VERIFY1> [ENTER]
You may examine the results of the verify process using
the REPORT GENERATOR:
REPORT GENERATOR OPTION> [O][ENTER]UTPUT
SAVED REPORT
ID. ID CODE# <4> [ENTER] MANAGER,SYSTEM
OUT. OUTPUT REPORT CODE > [V][ENTER]ERIFY01 = AVSS TAPE
ARCHIVE VERIFY
VERIFY01 =AVSS TAPE ARCHIVE VERIFY (9/30/90 10:27 AM)
VERIFY01 =[ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
AVSS TAPE ARCHIVE VERIFY (9/30/90 2:27 PM)
USER: MANAGER,SYSTEM
*** 9/30/90 2:27 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=SM
BEGINNING VERIFICATION.
HEADER:GENERAL ARCHIVE DATA FOR: 34(LCA) ,VOL=1
CREATED:9/30/90 JOB:5 DEVICE:51
*** 9/30/90 2:27 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA
SUCCESSFUL VERIFICATION - NO ERRORS. JOB:5 DEVICE:51
NUMBER OF RECORDS VERIFIED: 674
2.4.6 Kill Record Data
Sooner or later your disk storage space will be exhausted
and it will be necessary to delete some records. However, before
doing this, you should run the AVSS DATA BASE INTEGRITY CHECKER
(Section 2.2.2), then backup and verify the target records according
to the procedures described in Sections 2.4.1 and 2.4.5. For AVSS-PC
implementations it is also a good idea to make DOS copies of the
backup diskettes and store them in a different physical location
to have redundant backups. For minicomputers this redundancy must
be provided by running a second tape using BACKUP RECORD DATA,
and then verifying it. After you are certain that you have a valid
backup and preferably a redundant copy as well, then you may proceed
with the KILL RECORD DATA as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [K][ENTER]ILL
RECORD DATA
PASSWORD > [SPECIAL PASSWORD][ENTER]
(lease contact the AVSS Project if you do not know
the special password.
INITIALIZING..
FORMS. SELECTION > [LCA][ENTER] = BIRTH CERTIFICATE
FORMS. SELECTION >[ENTER]
XINDS. SITE CODES > [34][ENTER]
XINDS. SITE CODES >[ENTER]
*** WARNING ***
THIS ROUTINE PERMANENTLY REMOVES RECORDS FROM THE DATABASE.
ARE YOU SURE <N> [Y] [ENTER]
DELETE RECORDS FROM DATE <1/1/89> [9 1 89] [ENTER]
TO DATE <T> [9 30 89][ENTER]
RUN THIS PROGRAM IN THE BACKGROUND <N> [Y][ENTER]
FINAL CONFIRMATION.
DELETE RECORDS FROM 9/1/89 TO 9/30/89
FOR THE FOLLOWING SITES/FORMS:
34 LCA,
OK <N> [Y][ENTER]
2.4.7 Restore Record Data
If you should need to reload the records that you have backed
up and deleted, then you can use the RESTORE RECORD DATA suboption
as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [RES][ENTER]TORE
RECORD DATA
LOAD BACKUP MEDIA. HIT RETURN WHEN READY, Q TO QUIT >[ENTER]
ENTER INPUT FILE NAME > [A:SEPT89.LCA][ENTER]
REWINDING...
GENERAL ARCHIVE DATA FOR: 34(LCA)
OK TO RESTORE <N> [Y][ENTER]
R)EPLACE OR S)KIP DUPLICATE RECORDS <S>[ENTER]
RUN RESTORE IN BACKGROUND <Y> [ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <RESTOR01>[ENTER]
The results of the restore activity are stored in a
report that is automatically given the name RESTORE01, RESTORE01,
etc. As usual, you can review the results using the REPORT GENERATOR:
REPORT GENERATOR OPTION > [O][ENTER]UTPUT
SAVED REPORT
ID. ID CODE# <4> MANAGER,SYSTEM
OUT. OUTPUT REPORT CODE > [R][ENTER]ESTOR01 = ARCHIVE
RESTORE LOG (12/4/90 12:14 PM)
RESTOR01 =ARCHIVE RESTORE LOG (12/4/90 12:14 PM)
RESTOR01 =[ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
ARCHIVE RESTORE LOG (12/4/90 01:26 PM)
*** 12/4/90 01:26 PM ***, XIND=34
USER: MANAGER,SYSTEM
*** 12/4/90 12:26 PM ***, XIND=34, RESTORED=0
*** 12/4/90 12:43 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA, INDX=18934145600
RESTORE COMPLETE: RECORDS SKIPPED:0, RECORDS RESTORED:674
2.4.8 Selective Record Restore
There may be unusual circumstances where you may wish to select
individual records to be restored using the following procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [SEL][ENTER]ECTIVE
RECORD RESTORE
ENTER FILE NUMBERS TO BE RESTORED
> [18934013272][ENTER]
> [18934013286][ENTER]
> [18934013316][ENTER]
>[ENTER]
LOAD BACKUP MEDIA. HIT RETURN WHEN READY, Q TO QUIT >[ENTER]
ENTER INPUT FILE NAME > [A:SEPT89.LCA][ENTER]
GENERAL ARCHIVE DATA FOR: 34(LCA)
OK TO RESTORE <N> [Y][ENTER]
R)EPLACE OR S)KIP DUPLICATE RECORDS <S> [ENTER]
RUN RESTORE IN BACKGROUND <Y>[ENTER]
SOC. SAVE OUTPUT CODE <RESTOR02>[ENTER]
Againl, you should check the restore log using the
REPORT GENERATOR:
OUT. OUTPUT REPORT CODE > [R][ENTER]ESTOR02
= ARCHIVE RESTORE LOG (12/4/90 01:26 PM)
RESTOR02 =ARCHIVE RESTORE LOG (12/4/90 01:26 PM)
RESTOR02=[ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
ARCHIVE RESTORE LOG (12/4/90 01:26 PM)
*** 12/4/90 01:26 PM ***, XIND=34
USER: MANAGER,SYSTEM
*** 12/4/90 01:26 PM ***, XIND=34, RESTORED=0
*** 12/4/90 01:26 PM ***, XIND=34, FORM=LCA, INDX=18934018695
RESTORE COMPLETE: RECORDS SKIPPED:0, RECORDS RESTORED:3
2.5 MANAGING SECURITY
Another important aspect of system management is protecting
against unauthorized use. This is especially pertinent since much
of the data stored in AVSS is confidential and protected
by state law. Access to AVSS options and data is limited
by user identification and by communication device number. Only
those individuals with authorized passwords are permitted to logon
to the system, and their passwords tell the system not only who
they are by name and facility, but also the degree to which they
have access to AVSS options and suboptions. Similarly,
communication devices can be restricted in terms of access to
certain options and suboptions. For example, as System Manager,
you are authorized to access all AVSS functions, but you
may attempt to perform an activity by means of a modem line that
does not allow entry into the SYSTEM MAINTENANCE option. Alternatively,
a birth clerk might use a terminal connected directly to the AVSS
computer, which allows access to all options and suboptions, but
their password limits access to only the BIRTH CERTIFICATE option.
It is the responsibility of the System Manager to control access
by means of both password and device security.
2.5.1 Device Table
As discussed earlier, a "device" is a communications
port on your computer that can be used to support a terminal or
printer, either by direct cable or by means of telephone modems.
Although terminals and printers conform to the American Standard
Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) character codes, there
remains a considerable variation in the protocols that control
enhanced features. The DEVICE TABLE suboption allows you to customize
device ports to the specific characteristics of the terminals
or printer on your system. It also allows you to control access
to AVSS functions by device number. Using the DEVICE TABLE
is somewhat more complex than other suboptions and will therefore
be described in several phases. First, an overview:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [DE][ENTER]VICE
TABLE
LINE NUMBER > [^L][ENTER]
1 : CONSOLE
4 : MODEM 894-4326
5 : WORKSTATION IN NH 2207
51 : PC-DOS FILE
LINE NUMBER > [4][ENTER] OLD LINE BEING EDITED.
LOCATION <MODEM 894-4326> [ENTER]
TERMINAL TYPE > [?][ENTER]
ENTER THE TERMINAL TYPE OR ^L FOR A LIST OF SUPPORTED TERMINALS.
TERMINAL TYPE >[ENTER]
LINE LENGTH <80>[ENTER]
PAGE SIZE <24>[ENTER]
SOFT OR HARDCOPY <S> [?][ENTER]
ENTER 'S' IF THIS TERMINAL IS A CRT, 'H' IF IT PRINTS ON PAPER
SOFT OR HARDCOPY <S>[ENTER]
PRINTER TYPE <> [?][ENTER]
ENTER THE PRINTER TYPE OR ^L FOR A LIST OF SUPPORTED PRINTERS.
PRINTER TYPE <>[ENTER]
MODEM =HAYES
Note: If the device is connected to a modem this should
almost always be "HAYES".
MODEM =[ENTER]
UPDATE DEVICE RESTRICTIONS? <N>[ENTER]
SETTING DEVICE TABLE ENTRY ...
LINE NUMBER >[ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
In this overview, we have examined the settings for Device
4, but have not made any changes. Note that there was not a terminal
type or printer type specified, resulting in Device 4 as a generic
communications port that is unable to take advantage of any special
terminal or printer features such as reverse video or enhanced
printing. In most cases, however, you will want to tailor a device
to a specific brand/model of terminal and printer. Assume it is
a Wyse Model 60 terminal and an IBM Proprinter Model II that you
wish to use exclusively on Device 4. The proper procedure would
then be:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [DE][ENTER]VICE
TABLE
LINE NUMBER > [4][ENTER] OLD LINE BEING EDITED.
LOCATION <MODEM 894-4326>[ENTER]
TERMINAL TYPE > [^L][ENTER]
C-4520
C-ADDS
C-ADM22
ETC.
C-TI820
C-VT100
C-VT132
C-VT220
ETC.
C-WY50
C-WY60
C-WY75
ETC.
TERMINAL TYPE > [C-WY60][ENTER]
PRINTER TYPE <> [^L][ENTER]
P-DESKJET
P-FX80
P-HPLJ2
P-HPLJ3
ETC.
P-PROPRNT
P-PROPRNT2
ETC.
PRINTER TYPE <> [P-PROPRNT2][ENTER]
MODEM =HAYES
MODEM =[ENTER]
UPDATE DEVICE RESTRICTIONS? <N>[ENTER]
SETTING DEVICE TABLE ENTRY ...
LINE NUMBER >[ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
Just as you can customize a device to match certain models
of terminals and printers, you can also tailor it to the needs
of specific users. Assume, for example, that Device 4 will be
used only by a hospital to produce birth certificate forms. You
would wish to restrict the use of that port by the following procedure
using a [0] to indicate no access, an [*] to indicate
access to all suboptions, and a [1] to allow access to
some suboptions:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [DE][ENTER]VICE
TABLE
LINE NUMBER > [4][ENTER] OLD LINE BEING EDITED.
LOCATION <MODEM 894-4326>[ENTER]
TERMINAL TYPE <C-WY60>[ENTER]
PRINTER TYPE <P-PROPRNT2>[ENTER]
MODEM =HAYES
MODEM =[ENTER]
UPDATE DEVICE RESTRICTIONS? <N> [Y][ENTER]
ENTER RESTRICTIONS FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING:
OLD BIRTH CERTIFICATE <0>[ENTER]
CONFIDENTIAL MORBIDITY REPORT <*>[0][ENTER]
CENSUS TRACTING UTILITIES <0>[ENTER]
DEATH CERTIFICATE <0>[ENTER]
DELIVERY RECORD <*>[0][ENTER]
FETAL DEATH CERTIFICATE <0>[ENTER]
OLD HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD <0>[ENTER]
HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD <0> [*][ENTER]
BIRTH CERTIFICATE <1>[0][ENTER]
MAILBOX <*> [ENTER]
OLD CONFIDENTIAL MORBIDITY REPORT <0>[ENTER]
YOUR PASSWORD <*> [ENTER]
REPORT GENERATOR <*> [1][ENTER]
QUERY DATABASE <0> [1][ENTER]
REPORT EDITOR <0>[ENTER]
GENERATE REPORT <0> [1][ENTER]
OUTPUT SAVED REPORT <0> [1][ENTER]
LIST SAVED REPORTS <0> [1][ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE <0> [1][ENTER]
SYSTEM STATUS <0> [ENTER]
BROADCAST MESSAGE <0>[ENTER]
LIST OVERRIDE PROCESSING <0>[ENTER]
Use [0] for the remainder of the SYSTEM
MAINTENANCE suboptions until:
CLASSIFICATION FILE <0>
[ENTER]
ID FILE <0> [1][ENTER]
SECURITY REPORT <0>[ENTER]
PERIPHERAL FILE <0>[ENTER]
EXPAND AVSS DATABASE <0>[ENTER]
SETTING DEVICE TABLE ENTRY ...
LINE NUMBER >[ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
In this example, we allowed Device 4 to access all suboptions
under the HOSPITAL BIRTH RECORD, MAILBOX, and YOUR PASSWORD. For
the REPORT GENERATOR we allowed access to all suboptions except
REPORT EDITOR, and for SYSTEM MAINTENANCE, we restricted access
to only the ID FILE suboption.
2.5.2 Classification File
The CLASSIFICATION FILE limits access to AVSS options
and suboptions for certain user classifications in the same manner
the the DEVICE TABLE limits access for specific devices. In addition
to the System Manager classification, which allows access to all
AVSS options and suboptions, there are nine standard classifications
that come automatically with every implementation. These classifications
should suffice in most instances, but there may be special circumstances
the require you to create a custom classification. The procedure
is as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [CL][ENTER]ASSIFICATION
FILE
CLASSIFICATION NUMBER > [?][ENTER]
ENTER THE CLASSIFICATION NUMBER TO BE ADDED OR EDITED,
OR '^L' FOR A CURRENT LIST OF CLASSES.
THIS SHOULD BE A THREE DIGIT NUMBER GREATER THAN 99.
CLASSIFICATION NUMBER > [^L][ENTER]
1 : SYSTEM MANAGER
100 : SITE SYSTEM MANAGER
200 : COUNTY SYSTEM MANAGER
300 : HOSPITAL SYSTEM MANAGER
400 : REMOTE HOSPITAL MANAGER
500 : COUNTY DATA ENTRY
600 : HOSPITAL DATA ENTRY
700 : REMOTE HOSPITAL DATA ENTRY
800 : ANALYST
900 : RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE
CLASSIFICATION NUMBER > [601][ENTER] NEW CLASSIFICATION
BEING ADDED
CLASSIFICATION NAME > [SPECIAL HOSPITAL USER][ENTER]
TIME OUT VALUE > [?][ENTER]
ENTER THE TIME OUT VALUE FOR ALL READS IN SECONDS.
TIME OUT VALUE > [300][ENTER]
The time out value, which is usually set to 300
seconds (5 minutes) , is the time AVSS will stay active at your
current prompting level. If there are several time out lapses,
AVSS will gradually "back out" and terminate the interactive
session.
ENTER RESTRICTIONS FOR EACH OF
THE FOLLOWING:
OLD BIRTH CERTIFICATE <0>
CONFIDENTIAL MORBIDITY REPORT <0>[ENTER]
CENSUS TRACTING UTILITIES <0>[ENTER]
(You may tailor the AVSS options and suboptions
to this new classification using [0], [1], or
[*] as described in Section 2.5.1 above.)
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE <0> [ENTER]
ENTERED INTO CLASSIFICATION FILE.
CLASSIFICATION NUMBER >[ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
2.5.3 ID File
The System Manager controls user access to AVSS by
means of the ID FILE suboption. Individuals may be admitted, deactivated,
reactivated, or have identifying characteristics edited. It can
be used to list those persons having access using the following
procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [ID][ENTER]
FILE
ID FILE FUNCTION > [?][ENTER]
ENTER 'A' TO ADMIT A PERSON,
'E' TO EDIT A PERSON,
'D' TO DEACTIVATE A PERSON,
'R' TO REACTIVATE A PERSON,
'L' TO LIST ID FILE ENTRIES.
ID FILE FUNCTION > [L][ENTER]IST
ID# A/D LAST,FIRST,TITLE ACKNOWLEDGE CLASSIFICATION SITE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2 A CHAVEZ,PATRICIA,AA PATRICIA HOSPITAL DATA ENTRY CNTY-0|HOSP-0
3 A MARTIN,JOAN A,RN JOAN HOSP SYSTEM MANAGER CNTY-0|HOSP-0
5 A SMITH,ROBERT, BOB COUNTY DATA ENTRY CNTY-0|HOSP-*
1 D GOTTFRED,RONALD, RON COUNTY SYS MANAGER CNTY-0|HOSP-*
4 A MANAGER,SYSTEM CHIEF SYSTEM MANAGER
ID FILE FUNCTION > [ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
The ID# is an arbitrary number assigned to each person
admitted to a particular AVSS implementation. Once admitted,
an individual cannot be removed since an audit trail must be preserved
of past user activity for future reports. However, if a person
changes employment status and is longer to be permitted access
to AVSS, they should be deactivated. The A/D column reports
on each user's active/deactive status. The name column is self-explanatory,
and the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT column lists the name or phrase that the
user desires AVSS to use for acknowledgement upon sign-on,
etc. Classification was discussed above, and the SITE column indicates
the site(s) within the AVSS database that the user is allowed
to access. An asterisk (*) indicates all sites at that level.
In the example above, both Patricia Chavez and Joan Martin can
access only Hospital 0 in County 0, whereas both Robert Smith
and Ronald Gottfred can access all hospitals but only within County
0. Users classified as SYSTEM MANAGER can by definition access
all sites.
As System Manager, you can edit user attributes in using the ID
FILE suboption. For example, suppose that Robert Smith has forgotten
his password. Since all passwords in AVSS are encrypted
and users are to protect the knowledge of their passwords from
all other persons, the only recourse is to assign a temporary
password to Mr. Smith so that he can sign-on again and run the
CHANGE PASSWORD suboption under the YOUR PASSWORD option. Assume,
also that Mr. Smith requests that you change his acknowledgement
name from "BOB" to "ROBERT" and you are authorized
to give him access to data from all counties stored on your AVSS
computer. To do this, you would apply the ID FILE suboption
as follows:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [ID][ENTER]
FILE
ID FILE FUNCTION > [E][ENTER]DIT
NAME (LAST,FIRST) > [S,R][ENTER]
ID# A/D LAST,FIRST,TITLE ACKNOWLEDGE CLASSIFICATION SITE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
5 A SMITH,ROBERT, BOB COUNTY DATA ENTRY CNTY-0|HOSP-*
IS THIS THE PERSON? <Y>[ENTER]
NAME (LAST,FIRST MIDDLE,TITLE) <SMITH,ROBERT>[ENTER]
CLASSIFICATION <500>[ENTER]
LOG-IN PASSWORD <722540> [NEWPASSWORD][ENTER]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT NAME <BOB> [ROBERT][ENTER]
ALL COUNTYS <N> [Y][ENTER]
ALL HOSPITALS <N> [Y][ENTER]
DISPLAY HELP > [?][ENTER]
ENTER 1 TO ENABLE AUTOMATIC HELP DISPLAY FOR THIS USER.
DISPLAY HELP >[ENTER]
DISPLAY LISTS > [?][ENTER]
ENTER 1 TO ENABLE AUTOMATIC LIST DISPLAY FOR THIS USER.
DISPLAY LISTS >[ENTER]
LAST,FIRST MIDDLE,TITLE > SMITH,ROBERT,
CLASSIFICATION > 500
PASSWORD > NEWPASSWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT NAME > ROBERT
INDEX > CNTY-*|HOSP-*|
DISPLAY HELP >
DISPLAY LISTS >
OK? (Y/N) > [Y][ENTER]
SETTING UP ID FILE ENTRY ...
ID FILE FUNCTION >
You may also add a new user to AVSS using the ID
FILE as follows:
ID FILE FUNCTION > [A][ENTER]DMIT
NAME (LAST,FIRST MIDDLE,TITLE) > [TYPICAL,USER A,MS][ENTER]
SEARCHING USER FILE USING 'TYP,US'
PERSON NOT FOUND
NAME (LAST,FIRST MIDDLE,TITLE) <TYPICAL,USER A,MS>[ENTER]
CLASSIFICATION > [500][ENTER]
LOG-IN PASSWORD > [TEMPORARYPASS][ENTER]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT NAME > [USER][ENTER]
ALL COUNTYS <N>[ENTER]
CNTY. COUNTY > [0][ENTER] = TEST COUNTY
ALL HOSPITALS <N> [Y][ENTER]
DISPLAY HELP >[ENTER]
DISPLAY LISTS >[ENTER]
AVSS will continue in the same manner as above for
the Edit ID FILE function.
Next, assume you need to reactivate a user that has been re-hired
following the restoration of funding for a staff position. You
would execute the following procedure:
ID FILE FUNCTION > [R][ENTER]EACTIVATE
NAME (LAST,FIRST) > [G,R][ENTER]
ID# A/D LAST,FIRST,TITLE ACKNOWLEDGE CLASSIFICATION SITE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 D GOTTFRED,RONALD RON COUNTY SYS MANAGER CNTY-0|HOSP-*
IS THIS THE PERSON? <Y>[ENTER]
***NOTE*** GOTTFRED,RONALD IS CURRENTLY DEACTIVATED.
GOTTFRED,RONALD OK TO REACTIVATE <N> [Y][ENTER] REACTIVATED.
ID FILE FUNCTION >
A similar procedure would be used whenever you need to
deactivate a user upon termination of employment or other reason
for discontinuing AVSS activities:
ID FILE FUNCTION > [D][ENTER]EACTIVATE
NAME (LAST,FIRST) > [G,R][ENTER]
ID# A/D LAST,FIRST,TITLE ACKNOWLEDGE CLASSIFICATION SITE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 A GOTTFRED,RONALD RON COUNTY SYS MANAGER CNTY-0|HOSP-*
IS THIS THE PERSON? <Y>[ENTER]
GOTTFRED,RONALD OK TO DEACTIVATE <N> [Y][ENTER]
DEACTIVATED.
ID FILE FUNCTION >
2.5.4 Security Report
When signing on to AVSS, users are given three attempts
to successfully enter their passwords. If they fail three consecutive
times, then AVSS pauses and files a security report. As
System Manager you should review the contents of the SECURITY
REPORT suboption at least weekly for evidence of attempts
at unauthorized access:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [SEC][ENTER]URITY
REPORT
PASSWORD >[SPECIAL PASSWORD][ENTER]
Please contact the AVSS Project if you do not know
the special password.
DELETE ENTRIES OLDER THAN 30 DAYS
<N>[ENTER]
OUTPUT DEVICE <T>[ENTER]
SECURITY REPORT OF FAILED PASSWORD ATTEMPTS
LINE DATE TIME ATTEMPTS
--------------------------------------------------
4 12/2/90 08:05.44 AM AVSS,USER,HACKER DELETE <N>[ENTER]
4 12/5/90 06:26.29 PM NEWPASSWORD,TEST,SYSTEM DELETE <N>[ENTER]
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
2.6 SPECIAL SUBOPTIONS
Special suboptions may appear on some AVSS implementations.
Two are described here.
2.6.1 Peripheral File
This suboption is used to identify the parameters of special
features of terminals and printers for use in the DEVICE TABLE
suboption. The values of these parameters are set by the equipment
manufacturer and are programmed into AVSS by means of the
PERIPHERAL FILE suboption. Since these values remained fixed,
there is very rarely, if ever, a need for this suboption to be
accessed by System Managers.
2.6.2 Expand Database
This section applies only to AVSS-PC sites. For these
implementations all AVSS-MUMPS routines and data reside
in a single DOS file usually stored in the \AVSS directory and
usually named AVSSCXX.MSM, where XX is the standard county code
(01=Alameda, 02=Alpine, 03=Amador, ..., 58=Yuba). This file is
initialized upon installation to store several months or up to
one year of data. It is purposely left of modest size since the
larger it is, the longer it takes to perform a full system backup
(and more backup media is required as well). As your database
grows, the capacity to store information in this file will be
reduced, and you should regularly monitor its reserve capacity
using the HOW MUCH DISK SPACE REMAINS suboption described in Section
2.1.8. When the space remaining falls below 500 blocks, you should
either backup, verify, and delete records as described in Sections
2.4.1, 2.4.5, and 2.4.6, or you should expand the DOS file database.
If you elect to do the latter, you should first run the OPERATING
SYSTEM INTEGRITY CHECKER described in Section 2.2.1, and (if there
are no errors) perform a full system backup, have all users sign-off
and power off all modems and terminals attached to the AVSS
computer, kill the time job (FSPCTIM) using the procedure described
in Section 2.1.3, then follow the following procedure:
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION > [E][ENTER]XPAND
AVSS DATABASE
PASSWORD >[SPECIAL PASSWORD][ENTER]
Please contact the AVSS Project if you do not know
the special password.
WARNING!!! USE THIS OPTION CAREFULLY!!!
BE SURE TO KILL THE TIME JOB (FSPCTIM) BEFORE PROCEEDING.
OK TO PROCEED? <N> [Y][ENTER]
Select volume number to be expanded: [0][ENTER]
How many 1K blocks do you wish to expand by: [100][ENTER]
Database will be expanded by 100 1K blocks
OK to proceed <N>? [Y][ENTER]
Current space in volume group:
Volume Group: AVS Index: 0
Vol Maps Tot Blks Free Spc %-Free Host File Name
--- ---- -------- -------- ------ --------------
0 32 16048 314 1.96 c:\avss\avssc00.msm
Expanding Database:
16147
Database expansion completed
Expanded space in volume group:
Volume Group: AVS Index: 0
Vol Maps Tot Blks Free Spc %-Free Host File Name
--- ---- -------- -------- ------ --------------
0 32 16148 414 2.56 c:\avss\avssc00.msm
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OPTION >
Updated September 17, 1996 by RL Williams
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