Standalone OpenMRS

Step One - Download the Standalone Edition

    

From this page, download the most recent OpenMRS Standalone Edition zip file.

Step Two - Unzip

This part is pretty straight forward... unzip the folder that you just downloaded

Step Three - Navigate to the OpenMRS folder

• Go to the unzipped OpenMRS folder.

• Upon inspecting the items in this folder, I saw the file "README.txt".

• README files tend to be a good file to read first, as they usually explain what the contents of that folder include.

• One of the first lines in the README file says that the most up-to-date versions of the install guide is located at http://go.openmrs.org/standalone-readme

Step Four - Read the Install Guide

The online install guide has two easy to follow steps.

• "Download and unzip the standalone file"
• "Execute the jar file in that folder"

Step Five - Run the Jar File

Following the installation guide, I executed the jar file in the folder. Nicely enough, the online installation guide has even provided the command that executes said jar file.

"java -jar openmrs-standalone.jar"

Step Six - GUI Setup

Running the jar file will eventually cause a nice little window to pop up. Two options are presented; one for an actual setup, and one for a development setup. I selected the development setup, as it fills the database with made up data.

Step Seven - Login

Login to the system with username "admin" and password "Admin123". This gives you access to the entire OpenMRS Standalone system.

Step Eight - Explore

Right now, my next step is to explore the system. I will try to find a problem to work on, try to replicate it, and hopefully fix it! 

Fix All the Internets!

This last week, we have taken a bit of a detour in Software Engineering. This semester, Berea college has been experiencing an almost crippling problem with it's internet connectivity. As a class that relies heavily on the usage of the internet, we took it upon ourselves to devise a way to make it better. I chose to work on a team to try to find some forms of alternate, internet free, activities for students on campus. We had many great ideas, and decided to reach out to the groups and individuals who could help us put our plans into action. Some of the ideas that we devised were: pottery workshops, coding workshops, ultimate frisbee workshops, and many others! We have been so focused on brainstorming these ideas, and figuring out who to talk to about them, that I seem to have forgotten to blog this last week... whoops! In our endeavour to fix the internet, my group has contacted groups like Student Life. Alas, the groups and individuals that we talked to liked our ideas, but said that they were too busy to get to them this semester. Until we find a (or a few) group(s) willing to help us with these multiple workshops, the internet will continue to be the Berea student's only distraction from their school work.

Communicate Clearly

After reading about how to communicate clearly; I am prompted to recall not only a time that I feel I was successful in my communication, but also a time that I feel I failed in my communication. As someone who finds it difficult to even hit the "publish" button on a blog post, or even "like" on Facebook, it is going to take me some time to think of an example where I was successful in communicating. It is for this reason that I will start off with the latter: a time that I have failed in my communication. 

The Failure

I first noticed early in my Sophomore year at Berea, that I was not approaching any of my professors with questions or concerns about my work. If I ran into a problem in one of my classes, I would usually sit in my room and try to work through it by myself. I knew that this was a problem with some of my friends in our first semester at Berea, but they all seem to have gotten over it by their second semester. I knew that if I did not take care of this problem, it would likely progress and hinder me academically. As it turns out, I am better at telling the future than fixing my communication problem. Shortly after I noticed this problem, my grades started to drop and I found myself in a state of slight disarray. However; I was soon able to change my habits.

From Failure, Comes Success

One of my professors who was concerned about this steep drop in my performance, asked me to set up a meeting with them before the midterm. After discussing this problem with my professor, we were determined to discover the underlying reasons to my lack of communication. About 2 meetings in as many weeks later, my professor and I came to the conclusion that this problem was really just a matter of pride. Will my professors think I am stupid if I ask them for help outside of class? Will they turn me away for asking a question that they had already explained? After further discussion on the topic, my professor assured me that questions were always welcomed and actually well received. With this new knowledge in hand, my grades no longer suffered at the hands of personal pride.