Bridge - Gendex VixWin (new)
Gendex VixWin is imaging software. The new VixWin bridge is a direct bridge that uses the command line. See also VixWin old or VixWinBase41.
Website: www.gendexxray.com
To activate the bridge, in the Main Menu, click Setup, Program Links. Double click on VixWin (new) in the list. Check the Enabled box, then verify the Path of file to open and Additional Properties. Click OK. You will now have a button in your Chart module labeled 'VixWin'.
Command Line: An example of the command line function that we use would be:
c:vixwinvixwin -I 123ABC -N Bill^Smith
Everything after the c:vixwinvixwin is the "command" that is sent to VixWin.
This follows the Technical Specs below which were provided by Gendex.
Patient ID: We do pass the I parameter, and this is how VixWin knows which patient we are referring to. If you have been using EZ2000 Plus Dental from the start, this won't be a problem. But if you had a conversion done, then you will need to pay close attention to the patient IDs. It is critical that the patient IDs in VixWin exactly match the patient IDs (most likely PatNums) in EZ2000 Plus Dental. If they don't match for some reason, then you have to determine why. You have to either change all the IDs in VixWin, or start using the ChartNumber in EZ2000 Plus Dental. See below.
Enter 0 to use PatientNum, or 1 to use ChartNum: If this value is 0, then you are using the EZ2000 Plus Dental PatNum as the Patient ID. But if the value is 1, you are using the EZ2000 Plus Dental ChartNumber as the Patient ID. Both the PatNum and the ChartNumber are visible in the Patient Edit window. The ChartNumber is rarely used because a ChartNumber must be manually entered for each patient.
Optional Image Path: Hardly used and will usually be blank. If used, you must use a mapped network drive and the drive letter must be the same on all computers using VixWin. VixWin does not support UNC paths. This path will override any storage path set in VixWin.
Contrary to what the technical specs below might say, EZ2000 Plus Dental doesn't "own" or "store" the patient images. VixWin is entirely responsible for handling the acquisition, organization, and storage of images. All that EZ2000 Plus Dental does is to trigger VixWin to open the correct patient. Once VixWin is open to the correct patient, EZ2000 Plus Dental does not get involved and knows nothing about the individual images.
Technical Specs
Here are all the relevant excerpts from the Gendex website:
http://www.gendex.com/downloads/manuals/Manual_VixwinPlatinum_En.pdf
Page 14:
Database
To configure the database:
From the menu bar:
1. Click Options and select Preferences.
2. Click the Database tab.
3. Select an Operating Mode:
• Bridge – Activates the VixWin bridge to the Practice Management (PM) software that will be used. In Bridge mode, the Practice Management software owns and stores the patient database.
Note: If you need information about Practice Management (PM) software, contact your Practice Management Provider.
• Stand Alone – VixWin will store the patient data and images on the selected database drive.
4. If the operating mode selected is Stand Alone, click the Database drive arrow and select the drive where the patient/image database will be physically located:
• Disk “C” local if the patient database will be stored on the local computer.
• The appropriate shared network drive, if the patient database will be stored on the network.
5. If the operating mode selected is Bridge Mode, click the Image drive arrow and select the drive where the patient/image database will be physically located.
Page 30:
Standalone Mode
To start your VixWin Platinum software when configured in Standalone mode:
1. Open VixWin Platinum from Start ? All Programs ? Gendex Imaging or click the VixWin icon on the desktop:
2. Wait a few seconds until the Patient Folder window appears.
3. Continue to the Accessing and Creating a New Patient section in this manual.
Bridge Mode
Note: Properties related to the dental Practice Management software are set up independently from VixWin. The Bridge mode feature enables communication between the imaging software and the Practice Management software. Refer to your Practice Management software user manual for more information.
In Bridge mode, the Practice Management software owns and stores the patient database.
To start your VixWin Platinum software when configured in Bridge mode:
1. Click on the link in the Practice Management software to launch the VixWin program.
2. Wait a few seconds until VixWin Platinum opens and the patient name appears in the title bar.
3. Continue to the Creating and Managing Mounts – for Full mouth View section in this manual.
From some other source:
VixWin accepts the following command line parameters in bridge mode:
<VIXWIN PATH> -I <Patient ID> [<OPTIONAL>]
Example:
c:vixwinvixwin -I 123ABC -N Bill^Smith -P C:VxImages
NEEDED:
-I Patient ID : max 64 alphanumeric characters)
OPTIONAL:
-N Patient's Name : Name^Surname
-P Storage Path The drive letter will be over-written with that configured in the VixWin's preferences
NOTE 1: Use the printable ASCII character set. No spaces allowed.
NOTE 2: The maximum combined length of the command-line arguments (including spaces and the program name itself) is 256 characters.
NOTE 3: If the image storage pathname is not sent then VixWin uses the last one received (default is C:Vximages).
NOTE 4: The directory structure for the storage pathname must be created by the calling program. VixWin will only create single level directories.
Troubleshooting
Problem: You converted to EZ2000 Plus Dental from another software and Vixwin images do not load when using the bridge.
Solution: The issue is probably due to Vixwin formerly being used in standalone mode, whereas with EZ2000 Plus Dental it will be used in bridge mode. Our conversion department can help resolve this by updating the chart number field for all of the patients with the VixWin patient ID. If this solution is implemented, then any new patients will need a manually entered chart number matching their patient ID. (automating this is feature request #2137). An alternative solution is to pay for a conversion, which would renumber all of the image files from the 6-digit hexadecimal patient ID to the EZ 2000 Dental patnum.
Problem: Receive this error: Unable to find image path []
Solution: Make sure you are using a mapped network drive and that the drive letter is the same on all computers using VixWin. VixWin does not support UNC paths.
Other Guidance
When you configure Vixwin in bridge mode, it creates two files: one called Unassigned and the other called VxImages. If, for some reason, when they configured Vixwin they used the default settings, the files were created at the root of the C drive. They have to make sure that they share the C drive accordingly and give the "Everyone" user and authenticated users full control. That is why I create a folder, share it, and then map it at the server itself. That way, I don't have to compromise the security of my C partition. For some reason VixWin (especially in XP) has this problem. After talking to Gendex support for a couple of hours. It all came down to resetting the permission and adding the "Everyone" user and authenticated users to the share. You may have to take ownership of it to re-apply the permission.
A Forum Post on 7/20/2012 describing UAC
You should map a network drive that points to the drive where vixwin's VxData folder is. UAC (Windows User account control) will prevent Vixwin from seeing the networked drive properly, so it needs to be turned off. Go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Change User Account Control Settings > and move the slider to 'Never notify'. Then click 'OK' and reboot.
