News Article:Rochester Institute of Technology

In July the Rochester Institute of Technology held the following two M Programming courses:

• Introduction to M Programming;
• Intermediate M Programming.

These courses are appropriate for programmers, systems analysts, information system managers, managers of clinical laboratories, educators, and others involved in the development or use of application software written in M.

Attendees taking the Introductory course should have been familiar another programming language though they were not expected to be familiar with M.

Those taking the Intermediate course should have either completed the "Introduction to M Programming" (first 3 days) or have equivalent experience with M.

CEU Credits were available to those who took the Course.

All Classes were from 8:30 a.m. - noon and 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. at RIT in the Max Lowenthal Building, Room 1245. The room is air conditioned and equipped with a network of Windows-based microcomputers which are also connected to a DEC VAX.

These two concentrated courses, offered in sequence, provide hands-on study of M (previously MUMPS). M is an ANSI Standard programming language with unique database management capabilities particularly suited for interactive handling of large dynamic files of textual information, such as medical records, flight reservations, etc. Although it was developed for use in the health care field, it is now equally used in business, industry and government. It is a powerful and versatile programming language which is easy to learn and use. Beginners start writing useful programs the first day and experienced programmers can develop large and complex applications in a fraction of the time required by other programming languages. M has powerful database capabilities and can also run as its own operating on some minicomputers, thus reducing system overhead. It can run as a single-user or multi-user system on microcomputers, minicomputers, or large mainframes from major computer companies such as IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, Data General and others.

All the important features of M are taught and attendees develop M programs and databases daily under supervision. The first three days (Introduction) will provide participants with the basic tools for writing M programs. The following two days (Intermediate) will be a continuation with emphasis on M file structures, database capabilities, and the creation of larger and more sophisticated programs. By the end of the two courses (5 days), attendees were able to begin using M productively at their jobs.

July 1997 Course Outline

INTRODUCTION

• History and general con
• Multi-user partitions, Routine Libraries, local and global variables
• Direct Mode, statements, commands & arguments
• The SET, READ, & WRITE commands
• Numeric data and arithmetic operations
• String data, concatenation & ASCII codes
• Indirect Mode-- Writing programs & routines
• M Editors
• Numeric & string relational operators
• Saving, retrieving & executing routines
• Z Commands
• Controlling routine execution--DO, GOTO, IF, ELSE, FOR, QUIT
• Block structuring
• Post-conditional syntax
• Pattern Matching
• Subscripted variables--local & global arrays
• Parameter passing & extrinsic functions
• String manipulation functions--$EXTRACT, $FIND, $LENGTH, $PIECE
• Building files with multilevel & string subscripts
• the $ORDER function

INTERMEDIATE

• Second level subscripts as unique identifiers
• Input/Output using devices--OPEN, USE, CLOSE
• Input/Output Special Variables
• Database Capabilities
• Primary and Cross Reference files
• Creating, editing, and searching Subfiles within a Primary file
• Displaying Menus
• Error trapping & the Debugger
• Report Formatting
• Writing generalized programs with INDIRECTION
• Library Utilities
• Invoking External Procedures

Nicolas Thireos, Course Instructor

Mr. Nicolas Thireos, M.S., Biomedical Computing Program Director at the RIT Department of Allied Health Science has worked in the computing field for thirty years. He has taught programming languages and other computer science courses. His work in academia as well as in private and defense industry has involved teaching, consulting, developing software, managing computing services and directing an academic program.

In 1986, he developed and started teaching a MUMPS credit course for the Biomedical Computing program at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The graduates of this program have had very attractive career opportunities many which require the knowledge of M. He has also taught M short courses to attendees of diverse backgrounds.

E&OE