Architecture & Components

Frontend

Locator 2.0 frontend is delivered as a generic JavaScript library, which can be incorporated into any web development or even a mobile application. This allows for a better experience, as organizations using the solution can keep users on the same URL and customize the style to present a cohesive user experience.

Open

Locator solution architecture

Backend

The information shown in Locator 2.0 can be sourced from either a DHIS2 server or a FHIR server.

When connecting to a FHIR backend, information can be efficiently fetched from a FHIR server without any further development. This includes searches based on proximity to the client’s current location.

For DHIS2-based implementations, the DHIS2 API does not provide a mechanism to query Organization Units (DHIS' representation of locations) based on a given geo-location. Hence, we have developed an API that accesses the Postgres database that DHIS uses, using a special geospatial library to optimize geo-queries (PostGIS).

Additionally, we recommend the use of OpenHIM to connect to either the DHIS2 Locator API or FHIR backend. OpenHIM provides security and detailed logging on the use of the backends.