Epic Skills Assessment Epic Skills Assessment: Software Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the role of the 'Interconnect' server in an Epic deployment?
- It acts as the primary web server handling Hyperspace thin-client connections
- It serves as Epic's middleware layer, exposing web services and FHIR APIs to external systems (Correct answer)
- It manages the load balancing of Cache database connections across multiple servers
- It provides the VPN tunnel for remote Hyperspace client access
Correct answer: It serves as Epic's middleware layer, exposing web services and FHIR APIs to external systems
Epic Interconnect is the middleware web services server that exposes Epic data and workflows to external systems via HL7, SOAP, and FHIR interfaces.
Question 2: A developer writes a custom Epic web service. Which technology stack does Epic's Interconnect server natively support for hosting it?
- Node.js with Express running on a Linux container
- ASP.NET on Windows Server using IIS (Correct answer)
- Python Flask deployed via Apache WSGI
- Java EE on a JBoss application server
Correct answer: ASP.NET on Windows Server using IIS
Epic's Interconnect server is built on Microsoft's ASP.NET stack hosted on Windows Server with IIS, which is the native environment for Epic web services.
Question 3: In Epic development, what is 'Studio' primarily used for?
- Writing and testing Epic's internal programming language (EPL/magic) (Correct answer)
- Designing and configuring Hyperspace form layouts and navigation
- Building and deploying custom FHIR app integrations via App Orchard
- Monitoring real-time system performance and Cache database metrics
Correct answer: Writing and testing Epic's internal programming language (EPL/magic)
Epic Studio is the IDE-like environment used by Epic developers to write, test, and debug code in Epic's proprietary programming language (EPL, also called 'magic').
Question 4: What distinguishes a 'compiled' record from a 'non-compiled' record in Epic's Chronicles database?
- Compiled records are stored in binary format for faster read performance by the Cache engine
- Compiled records have their configuration logic pre-processed into an optimized form, improving runtime evaluation speed (Correct answer)
- Compiled records are locked from editing in production and require a change control ticket to modify
- Compiled records are replicated synchronously to the Clarity database, while non-compiled records are not
Correct answer: Compiled records have their configuration logic pre-processed into an optimized form, improving runtime evaluation speed
Compiled records in Chronicles have their logic pre-processed and optimized so the runtime engine can evaluate them faster than interpreting raw configuration each time.
Question 5: When configuring an Epic print group, what determines which printer a document routes to during a workflow?
- The user's default printer set in Windows Device Manager
- A combination of context factors such as location, encounter type, and printer assignment rules (Correct answer)
- The document template's hardcoded printer ID set at build time
- The active Directory Group Policy applied to the Hyperspace workstation
Correct answer: A combination of context factors such as location, encounter type, and printer assignment rules
Epic's print routing uses context-aware rules — evaluating the user's location, encounter type, and configured assignments — to dynamically route documents to the correct printer.
Question 6: Which Epic tool allows developers to compare two versions of a record to identify configuration changes between environments?
- Sherlock (Correct answer)
- Record Viewer
- Diff Detective
- Audit Trail
Correct answer: Sherlock
Sherlock is Epic's internal tool that allows developers to compare records across environments or versions, highlighting configuration differences.
Question 7: A developer is troubleshooting an Epic interface that intermittently drops HL7 messages. Which log should they examine first?
- The Windows Event Viewer Application log on the Hyperspace server
- The Interface Engine's activity log showing message receipt, processing status, and errors (Correct answer)
- The Clarity ETL job log for the previous night's data extraction
- The Cache database transaction journal for rollback events
Correct answer: The Interface Engine's activity log showing message receipt, processing status, and errors
The Interface Engine's activity log records each message's receipt, processing steps, and any errors or drops, making it the first place to diagnose HL7 message loss.
Epic Skills Assessment Epic Skills Assessment: Software Development 3
What is the role of the 'Interconnect' server in an Epic deployment?