In this exercise, we will use Python, JavaScript, and InterSystems ObjectScript to interact with the data from different contexts:

• First, we will use Python to create our table schema using standard SQL statements.
• Then, we will modify the underlying ObjectScript class for that table to allow it to receive and persist JSON data directly.
• Next, we will create a simple Node.js application that will send JSON files to our instance of InterSystems IRIS.
• Finally, we will query that database using Python again to see how the same data could be accessed in multiple languages from multiple contexts.

Install Python

1. This exercise requires the 64-bit version of Python 3.
   • If you already have Python installed, make sure to check what bit version you are using. To do this, launch the Python shell by typing python. If you are using version 2, quit the shell (control-z + enter on Windows, control-d on Mac) and enter python3.
   • Install Python: https://www.python.org/downloads/. Be sure to check Add Python to environment variables in the Advanced Options section of the installation.
   • Note: Do not click the Download Python 3.7.4 button directly on that site, as it might download the 32-bit version of Python, which will not work with the exercise. Make sure to select the link to your operating system and download the 64-bit Python file.
   • You may need to restart your terminal or even add Python to the PATH environment variable if the Python command does not work after installation.
2. Begin by downloading this repository to your local machine:
   git clone https://github.com/intersystems/multi-model-exercise.
3. Open the connections.config file in the top-level directory.
4. Enter the InterSystems IP and port listed for your InterSystems IRIS instance and click Save. If you are using the InterSystems IRIS Learning Labs instance, enter the IP and port listed under External Connections. If you are using the InterSystems IRIS community edition through Docker, perform the following steps:
   • Install Docker.
   • Run docker run --name my-iris2 -d -p 52773:52773 -p 51773:51773 store/intersystems/iris-community:2019.3.0.302.0.
   • Navigate to http://localhost:52773/csp/sys/%25CSP.Portal.Home.zen and update your password. If necessary, replace localhost with your computer’s IP address.
   • Change your password in the connections.config file to the one you chose.
   • Change the port value to 51773 and change the IP to localhost or your computer’s IP address.

Create the table schema using Python

1. Install and configure python.
   • Run cd ./python.
   • If you are on a Mac:
     • Install homebrew.
     • Run brew install unixodbc
     • Run odbcinst -i -d -f pyodbc_wheel/odbcinst.ini
     • Run pip install pip==7.1.2
     • Run pip install --upgrade --global-option=build_ext --global-option="-I/usr/local/include" --global-option="-L/usr/local/lib" --allow-external pyodbc --allow-unverified pyodbc pyodbc
   • If you are on a Windows:
     • Run ./pyodbc_wheel/ODBC-2019.1.0.510.0-win_x64.exe
     • Run pip install pyodbc
       • If the pip command is not recognized, you can also use py -m pip install for any pip installation command.
2. In your preferred IDE or text editor, open python/createSchema.py and scroll down to the create_employee function. Below the function declaration, insert the following code:

   create_employee = """
       	CREATE TABLE Demo.Employee(
       	    ID Integer PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
       	    Name varchar(256),
       	    Title varchar(256), 
       	    Department varchar(50)
       	)
           """

   As you can see, this is a standard SQL create statement that will generate an Employee table on your InterSystems IRIS instance.

3. Run python createSchema.py.
   • Note: This exercise is configured for Python 3.
   • If the python command defaults to Python 2, you may need to run python3 createSchema.py.
4. Open the Management Portal by following the link given to you when you created your instance of the InterSystems IRIS learning labs. If you are using the Docker container, go to http://localhost:52773/csp/sys/%25CSP.Portal.Home.zen, navigate to System Explorer > SQL and expand the Tables section. Observe that the Demo.Employee table has been created.

Modify the table class using InterSystems ObjectScript

Setting up Atelier

If you have not installed InterSystems Atelier, follow these instructions. Once you have Atelier downloaded and installed, connect your InterSystems IRIS instance to it. Atelier allows you to edit InterSystems IRIS classes directly so that you can customize how they behave. When you ran createSchema.py earlier, InterSystems IRIS automatically created an ObjectScript class that represents that table. We will need to modify this class to enable it to receive JSON data.

1. In the Atelier perspective, navigate to the Server Explorer and select the green + to create a new server. Name it and supply it with the IP, port, and login info you used in your connections.config file.
2. Switch to the Atelier Explorer and create a project in Atelier to store a local copy of your Demo.Employee class so that you can edit it.
3. Next, back in the Server Explorer, right-click the Demo.Employee class, click Copy to Project and select the project you just created.

Modifying classes with Atelier

1. At the top of the Demo.Employee class, change Extends %Persistent to Extends (%Persistent, %JSON.Adaptor). InterSystems ObjectScript is an object-oriented programming language that supports multiple inheritance. This means that by inheriting the %JSON.Adaptor class, your table is now automatically able to import JSON data into instances. You can find more information on the %JSON.Adaptor class in InterSystems documentation.
2. Because our table includes an auto-incremented primary key, we need to tell the JSON.Adaptor class not to look for that field in incoming JSON files, but to output it as a field when exporting class instances to JSON format. To do this, find the ID property in the Employee class and add (%JSONINCLUDE = "outputonly") after %Library.AutoIncrement.
3. Before we can run this file, we need to add one small class method to expose the functionality of the %JSON.Adaptor class to the Native API — and, by extension, to our Node.js application. Below the Property and Parameter declarations in the Demo.Employee class, paste the following code:

   ClassMethod fromJSON(jsonString as %String) As %Status
       
       {
           set employee = ..%New() 		//create a new class instance
           do employee.%JSONImport(jsonString) 	//call the %JSON.Adapter instance method to import JSON string
           set employee.ID = 0 			//this field must be set to 0 for the %Library.AutoIncrement class to increment correctly
       
           set status =  employee.%Save() 		//this persists the instance
       
       
       
       
           return status
       }
   

4. Make sure to recompile the Demo.Employee class by saving it. You have now configured your SQL table class to receive JSON data and automatically create a new record from it.

Create a Node.js app to send JSON files to your database

1. If you do not have Node.js installed locally, download and install it here.
   • Note: Once Node.js is installed, you may need to restart your terminal in order for it to recognize node commands.
2. Run cd ../nodeApp.
3. Run npm install ip.
4. Run npm install --save intersystems-iris-native. This installs the InterSystems IRIS Native API, which enables you both to access the underlying data structures in your database, and to call ObjectScript class methods directly from your code.
5. Open the app.js file and paste the following lines below body = querystring.parse(body):

   	  //call the classmethod in the Employee class to create and persists a new database record
             Iris.classMethodValue("Demo.Employee", "fromJSON", JSON.stringify(body))

   This code calls a class method using the Native API and passes a JSON string as a parameter. For more information, see Calling ObjectScript Methods and Functions.

6. In the terminal, type node app.js.
7. Navigate to the IP address outputted to the terminal. You should see a simple HTML form with inputs for all of the fields in your Demo.Employee table.
8. Enter JJ Smith, Software Engineer, and Engineering for the three fields and click Submit.

Query the database with Python

14. Quit the Node.js server by pressing control-c and cd back into the Python directory (cd ../python).
15. Run python query.py. You should see outputted the results of the SQL query, which includes the record of JJ Smith that you inserted using Node.

Troubleshooting Guide