Outbound file thread file locking

[Mike Strout]

When I have an outbound fileset local thread that I am dumping messages to, is the file opened and locked as the thread is running, or does the thread simply open the file for appending as needed, dump the text in and then close it?

If the answer is the latter, how bad would it be for me to have separate script write to it in the middle of the night? What would happen if there was contention…I was writing to it when Cloverleaf wanted to?

Here is the scenario for those who care…

Our immunization registry doesn’t allow us to send immunization administration records for infants with generic names… “Doe, Baby Boy Jane”. They want me to hold them and send them when the baby’s name is known.

We submit files to our registry on a weekly basis, so I was thinking about writing a proc that would…

1. locate the generically named patients

2. query Epic via CURL to Interconnect web interface to get name from MRN

3. If Name is changed, modify the message and send it along to ImmTrac.

4. If Name is still generic, write the message to the next week’s immunization log that is being populated real-time by an Epic to fileset local thread.

Topic