Set Up a Program Link/Bridge 

EZ 2000 Plus Dental interacts with many external programs that can be beneficial to your practice.  All you need to do to is set up a program link (also called a bridge) and enable it within EZ 2000 Plus Dental. Often you can select to show a button in a module toolbar to quickly launch the program from EZ 2000.

To activate a bridge, in the Main Menu, click Setup, Program Links. 

Double click on a program to edit settings and enable the bridge. If the program is not listed, see Custom Links below.

For each bridge, the following options are available:

Description:  How the program is listed in the Program Links window.

Enabled:  Check this box to enable the bridge. Uncheck it to disable the bridge.

Path of file to open:  Enter the path to the program's executable (.exe) on your computer or network.  It can be a local path or a server path. This path will be used by all computers connected to the database, unless you enter a local path override on an individual machine.  If the path is inaccurate, and EZ 2000 cannot find the .exe file, then the program bridge will not work. 

Local Path Override:  On an individual machine you can enter a path to a program's executable (.exe) that will override the Path of file to open.  This is usually left blank.

Optional command line arguments:   If a program bridge requires a command line argument, it will be specified in the Notes area.  Otherwise this is usually left blank.

Text on Button:  The text that will appear on the toolbar button, if you select to display a button in a module.

Plug-in dll name:  See Plug-n Framework.

Additional Properties:  You can edit values, but cannot add new properties.  To change a value, double click on a row.

Notes:  Any program specific details.

Add a button to these toolbars:  Highlight the module(s) where you would like a button to appear in the toolbar.  Press Ctrl while clicking to select more than one module.

Custom Links
Occasionally, a power user will want to add a bridge to a program we don't currently include.  For instance, you could create a link called Outlook with a path of outlook.exe to launch Outlook each time you click that button in the toolbar. You could even add a command line argument such as [PatNum]. You would have to create a macro in Outlook to recognize the command line argument containing the patient number. The macro would open up the patient in your contact list.

Other possibilities include bridges to Excel or to your own custom program. You might have a web-based program, for instance, that you use to build special customized treatment plan layouts. Your program could take the PatNum, and use queries to load all the other necessary info. Your program would then function like an extension of EZ 2000. It would be seamless.

To add a custom bridge, on the Program Links window click Add, then enter the settings.  Do not click Add to activate a bridge we already support.

We have only scratched the surface of the many exciting ways that you can use this feature.