VistA System » VISN 20 Build Directory

VISN 20 Build Directory

The following reports on a VISN 20 Build Directory built from the build file (9.6) of 8 VistAs: Anchorage [463], Boise [531], Portland [648], Roseburg [653], Puget Sound [663], Spokane [668], Walla Walla [687], White City [692]. Together they hold 14,112 distinct builds using 99,537 build file entries.

This directory should show [1] how VistA built up over time, [2] the extent to which the build system captures the contents of VistA and how [3] common VistAs are and the components that make them different.

Build Breakdown

The directory holds 14,112 distinct builds in 247 packages. The builds create, change or populate 3,657 files which represents 53.97% of the files in VISN 20 systems. As can be seen here, most builds specify a distribution date and are in a package but a minority contain files

The graphic below shows the total number of builds in each system as well as a breakdown of whether those builds are unique to that system (exclusive), in some but not all systems (some) or in every (all) other systems in the directory. While the bigger systems like Puget Sound (PUG) have more builds, the vast majority of builds - 11,589 (82.12%) - are shared by every VistA.

The following shows the same information but instead of totals, each system’s representation distinguishes the percentage of its builds that are unique from those that also appear elsewhere. It highlights that bigger systems have most of the exclusive builds, that there is something distinctive about them. These distinctions need to be investigated.

Build Additions over Time

Here are the yearly trends using a “365 day rolling mean”. The build system started in 1996 and from then until 2006 produced the most builds. There was a sharp and steady decline until 2010. From that point on, build creation has been low but steady with a small blip in 2018.

When the data is resampled by month, you can see the 2018 “blip” …

Finally, a simple set of totals for the last five years …

VistA Clone Details

Data from 8 VistAs was parsed. The VistAs are copies of production VistAs cut on the dates given below …