Previous versions of the MWB were delivered with a folder that included version specific message profiles for standard messages. This feature became very difficult to maintain and to keep current. This version of the MWB does away with the fixed set of standard messages and replaces it with version specific lists of standard message structures that may be selected and compiled into standard message profiles. This new feature is admittedly a little bit slower in that it forces a new message compilation each time it is invoked, but this small impact is offset by other benefits.
Re-compiling each time a standard profile is desired ensures that the latest segment and data type library changes/corrections/extensions are incorporated into the profile. For those that prefer to work with completed profiles and avoid the compilation requirement, it is suggested that they load and compile the message profiles of interest, and to save them. Afterward, the complete profile(s) may be loaded directly as before. This new feature also facilitates the capability to create local lists of messages or to extend the standard message structure list.
To use the new feature requires a bit of setup. Select the Maint/Options menu item, and select the new Msg Structs tab. In the Structure Store field, enter “HL7 2.4”. Click on the Load Text File button, and navigate to the MWB \Lib folder. Locate the “HL724Structs.txt” file and open it. The list box will fill with the contents of the file.
Note that the elements on the list are in the form of “MsgType_EventType=Structure”. To create a local message structure store, you could create a file using Notepad, enter the local structures in the same format, and load it into this utility in the same way. This same method may be used to extend an existing message structure store.
The structure store lists may also be modified directly using the Message Type, Event Type and Structure fields on the form to Add or Edit structures on the list. To edit an existing entry, simply select it from the list, make the field edits, and click the Edit button. The edited entry will be displayed in the list. To delete an entry, select it from the list and press the Delete button.
When the additions, edits and deletions are complete, you may set attributes for the list that are applied each time the MWB is started. Click the “default” check box if this list will be the default. The “Struct Only” and “Struct and Desc” buttons determine how the list will be displayed in the MWB. Selecting “Struct Only” will display the message structure aside of the MessageType_EventType line items in the list when the mouse is moved over the entry. This feature serves to remind the user of what the entry looks like structurally. The “Struct and Desc” option causes both the message structure and the event description to be displayed next to the list entry. This feature is more user friendly especially to those unfamiliar with HL7, but takes a significantly longer time for the list to load.
Click the “Auto Compile” checkbox if it is desired that the message structure be automatically compiled into a profile when selected. If the box is not checked, then the structure will be loaded into the Structure field of the Message Definition tab, but the user will be required to click on the Compile button to produce the profile. While this may require the user to execute an additional button click, the benefit is that it affords the user an opportunity to edit the structure (e.g. remove unnecessary segments, seg groups or add Z segs etc) before the profile is produced.
For the purposes of this initial setup, click the Save button. This adds the message structure store to the MWB properties file that is loaded each time that the MWB is started. Repeat the procedure for the other structure files provided (HL7231Structs.txt etc). It is not necessary to reiterate the Default, Auto Compile, and display properties once they are set the first time. The SaveAs button is used to save an existing list with a different structure store name. This is useful for creating a new list by extension of an existing one.
The structure store list procedure just described will be necessary only infrequently. For day-to-day application, a particular structure will simply be selected from the list on the “File/Load Msg Structure…” menu. The list of structures displayed on start-up of the MWB will be those from the default structure list. To change the structure list as for example to use a list of messages for a different standard version, select “File/Change Structure List”. This will allow you to select another list of structures. The currently selected structure list is indicated by a bullet next to the item in the menu list.