Database Organization
Database Organization
Here at the College of Veterinary Medicine, the databases that I have used are Microsoft SQLServer, Microsoft Access, and ProISAM. ProISAM is the type of database that Vetstar (our Hospital system) uses. It is the proprietary database for the PROIV programming environment that Vetstar is written in. The main problem with this database is that it is not ODBC compatible which just means that you cannot connect to it and query it directly with other programming languages such as Visual Basic. ODBC which stands for open database connectivity, is an industry standard for connecting to databases. We are planning to move the Vetstar database to a PostgreSQL database sometime in the next year. This will be ODBC compatible. Meanwhile we are now copying Vetstar tables to text and then loading them into a SQLServer database in order to be able to do the ad hoc queries that are needed. Other databases we maintain on SQLServer are the Personnel database which keeps track of employee information which, by the way, is the source for the college directory for CVM on our Web page and for the picture directory that is published each fall among other things; the Student Services databases which hold all of the information about our students ( personal, student schedules, grades, Web Admissions to the college); the Medical Records database which holds all of the abstract information for procedures and diagnosis pertaining to animal visits. We also have a SQLServer database which holds all of the archived data from VSI which is the hospital system we had before Vetstar.
We are using MS Access databases in a variety of ways too. The Medical Records Depatment uses a record tracking and census database which are Access. The Business Office at the College of Veterinary Medicine, both in the Large and Small Animal Clinics’ has Access databases for keeping track of things related
Here at the College of Veterinary Medicine, the databases that I have used are Microsoft SQLServer, Microsoft Access, and ProISAM. ProISAM is the type of database that Vetstar (our Hospital system) uses. It is the proprietary database for the PROIV programming environment that Vetstar is written in. The main problem with this database is that it is not ODBC compatible which just means that you cannot connect to it and query it directly with other programming languages such as Visual Basic. ODBC which stands for open database connectivity, is an industry standard for connecting to databases. We are planning to move the Vetstar database to a PostgreSQL database sometime in the next year. This will be ODBC compatible. Meanwhile we are now copying Vetstar tables to text and then loading them into a SQLServer database in order to be able to do the ad hoc queries that are needed. Other databases we maintain on SQLServer are the Personnel database which keeps track of employee information which, by the way, is the source for the college directory for CVM on our Web page and for the picture directory that is published each fall among other things; the Student Services databases which hold all of the information about our students ( personal, student schedules, grades, Web Admissions to the college); the Medical Records database which holds all of the abstract information for procedures and diagnosis pertaining to animal visits. We also have a SQLServer database which holds all of the archived data from VSI which is the hospital system we had before Vetstar.
We are using MS Access databases in a variety of ways too. The Medical Records Depatment uses a record tracking and census database which are Access. The Business Office at the College of Veterinary Medicine, both in the Large and Small Animal Clinics’ has Access databases for keeping track of things related