The role of AIDA in a primary care information system.

In this article the development of a computer system for General Practice, ELIAS, is described. The use of the 4th-generation software toolkit AIDA proved to be very helpful in increasing the speed of development as well as the quality of the ELIAS software. The programming support that AIDA offered, not only in increasing the rate of development but also in the flexible way in which parts of the system and the database can be adjusted (in prototyping as well as in the operational system) and its self-documenting functions, contributed to the ease of development. The consistent lay-out of the frames and uniform screen-handling, the opportunity of data validation and the availability of help information at every item in screen frames--all facilitated by AIDA--rendered ELIAS a very user-friendly system.