How do I export things from a VistA system ?

If you want to export on the lowest level, you would use global save archives and routine save archives. These files typically will have the file name extensions .GSA and .RSA but other variants exist.

The .GSA files are hard to import without overlaying your data in the old system accidentally. If there are global nodes that are in the .GSA File, and which already exist in your system, you are guaranteed to overlay those nodes.

The .RSA files also have the same risk when importing. If there is already a routine with the name of the file being imported by a .RSA file, you are almost guaranteed to overlay it. The only way you will not overlay either routines or global nodes is if you use a program different than the standard program supplied by the MUMPS implementation.

If you want to export on the FileMan level, there are several ways to do this.

First, you can just find out what the underlying MUMPS data and routines are for the information you want to export from FileMan, and use the .GSA and .RSA format files.

Second, you could create *INIT routines to save the FileMan data structures that you are interested in exporting. There is a FileMan program named ^DIFROM which creates routines that select the global nodes from your database which are part of your data structures and create a program which consists of several routines that recreate those same global nodes on the new system when the *INIT program is run.

Third, you could create a .KID file to save the Kernel level software elements that you are interested in exporting. There is a Kernel Menu option named Edits and Distribution ... [XPD DISTRIBUTION MENU] which is in the menu named Kernel Installation & Distribution System ... [XPD MAIN] which manages the process of creating and editing entries in the BUILD File #9.6 which allow you to select what you want to export from your system. This internally creates global nodes that represent the information from your database which are part of your data structures and allow you to export these BUILDs as MailMan mail messages or Host File System .KID files. After the .KID File or mail message is loaded on the new system, there are menu options in the Installation ... [XPD INSTALLATION MENU] which allow you to recreate those same software elements on the new system. Depending upon how you setup the BUILDs, you might overlay the existing elements or you might add them as new elements on your system.