The OpenEMR API

Overview

The OpenEMR API is divided into many modules, few of which have been documented.

There is presently a documentation project underway. please see OpenEMR API for an overview.

Core API

globals.php

The prefered method of including globals.php is to use require_once, providing a relative path from where your file is located, to interface/globals.php. for instance: require_once('../../globals.php');.

globals.php defines SEVERAL global variables, most of which are editable via the 'Administration->Globals' page.

The following variables are common to use everywhere in OpenEMR:

Variable	Use	Default Setting
$GLOBALS['srcdir']	locate libraries providing functionality to the OpenEMR Interface.	$webserver_root/library

api.inc

The prefered method of including api.inc is to use require_once. for instance: require_once($GLOBALS['srcdir'].'/api.inc');.

The following functions are common to use everywhere in OpenEMR:

Function	Use	Accepts	Returns
acl_check	Check if a user has a given type or types of access to an access control object	A category/subcategory describing a specific ACO, and optionally, a username to check, and type or types of access being requested	TRUE or FALSE if a single type of access is being checked, or an array of TRUE/FALSE values coresponding to the types of access requested

htmlspecialchars.inc.php

htmlspecialchars.inc.php includes functionality for handling escaping of characters in html received from the client, and stored in the database.

The preferred method of including htmlspecialchars.inc.php is to use require_once. for instance: require_once($GLOBALS['srcdir'].'/htmlspecialchars.inc.php');.

patient.inc

patient.inc includes functions for manipulating patient information.

The preferred method of including patient.inc is to use require_once. for instance: require_once($GLOBALS['srcdir'].'/patient.inc');.

The following functions are common to use everywhere in OpenEMR:

Function	Use	Accepts	Returns
getPatientData	Get a patient's demographic data.	A patient ID, and optionally a subsection of the patient's demographic data to retrieve.	The requested subsection of a patient's demographic data. If no subsection was given, returns everything, with the date of birth as the last field.

Forms API

The Forms API includes all of the functions required to create both per-encounter and non-encounter forms in the OpenEMR system. see The Forms API for more information.

Notes API

The Notes API manages non-medical notes, attached to a client's medical record. see The Notes API for more information.