Friday 8 February 2008

HL7V3 and ebXML - Part 1

In 2003 HL7 Board of Directors approved usage of ebXML for transporting HL7V3 messages as Draft Standard for Trail Use (DSTU) . The English Connecting for Health is one of the first major users of this transport and all HL7V3 asynchronous messages communications in that project is performed using ebXML. This is the first of blogs to understand the relationship between HL7v3 and ebXML . In this process we will also discuss the structure of HL7V3 message as well.


Figure below shows the general structure and composition of an ebXML message



The ebXML Message is a MIME/Multipart message envelope structured in compliance with the SOAP Messages with Attachments specification and is referred to as Message Package.

The Message Package is divided logically into two MIME parts


  • A MIME part, referred to as Header Container containing one SOAP 1.1 compliant message. This message is referred to as SOAP message


  • Zero or more additional MIME parts referred to as Payload Containers containing application level payloads

The SOAP Message is an XML document that consists of the SOAP Envelope element. The SOAP Envelope element consists of the following:


  • SOAP Header element - This is a generic mechanism for adding features to a SOAP Message, including ebXML specific header elements.


  • SOAP Body element. - This is a container for message service handler control data and information related to the payload parts of the message.

In this post let’s discuss the first MIME part containing the SOAP envelope. Let me take an example of ebXML wrapper and run through so that the context can be understood.


Now let us analyse the wrapper in detail


--------------------------------------------------------

<soap-env:Envelope

xmlns:soap-env="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:eb="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/schema/msg-header-2_0.xsd" xmlns:hl7ebxml="urn:hl7-org:transport/ebXML/DSTUv1.0" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xsi:schemaLocation="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/ http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/schema/envelope.xsd" >
<soap-env:Header>
<eb:MessageHeader soap-env:mustUnderstand="1" eb:version="2.0">
<eb:From>
<eb:PartyId eb:type="urn:org:names:partyIdType:xxx">HOSP1 </eb:PartyId>
</eb:From>
<eb:To>
<eb:PartyId eb:type="urn:org:names:partyIdType:xxx">HOSP2</eb:PartyId>
</eb:To>
<eb:CPAId>ABC22</eb:CPAId>
<eb:ConversationId>36E66A20-1DD2-11B2-90FA-80CE4046A4A7</eb:ConversationId>
<eb:Service>urn:org:names:services:MPI</eb:Service>
<eb:Action>PRPA_IN040000UV15</eb:Action>
<eb:MessageData>
<eb:MessageId>36E66A20-1DD2-11B2-90FA-80CE4046A4A7</eb:MessageId>
<eb:Timestamp>2007-12-23T15:51:33.5</eb:Timestamp>
</eb:MessageData>
<eb:DuplicateElimination/>
</eb:MessageHeader>
<eb:AckRequested soap-env:mustUnderstand="1" eb:version="2.0" eb:signed="false" soap-env:actor="urn:oasis:names:tc:ebxml-msg:actor:toPartyMSH" />
</soap-env:Header>
<soap-env:Body>
<eb:Manifest eb:version="2.0">
<eb:Reference xlink:href="cid:payload@hl7.com">
<eb:Schema eb:location="http://www.info.org.uk/schema/HL7-Message.xsd" eb:version="15" />
<hl7ebxml:Payload style="HL7" encoding="XML" version="3.0" />
</eb:Reference>
</eb:Manifest>
</soap-env:Body>
<soap-env:Envelope>


----------------------------------------------------

1. The wrapper starts with name space declaration


<soap-env:Envelope
xmlns:soap-env="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:eb="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/schema/msg-header-2_0.xsd"
xmlns:hl7ebxml="urn:hl7-org:transport/ebXML/DSTUv1.0" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xsi:schemaLocation="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/schema/envelope.xsd >


Name space declaration for the ebXML SOAP extensions may be included in the SOAP Envelope, Header or Body elements, or directly in each of the ebXML SOAP extension elements.

The SOAP namespace: “http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/ “ resolves to a W3C XML Schema specification. The ebXML OASIS ebXML Messaging TC has provided an equivalent version of the SOAP schema conforming to the W3C Recommendation version of the XML Schema specification
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/schema/envelope.xsd

The XML schema-instance namespace qualified schemaLocation attribute in the SOAP envelope to indicate to validating parsers a location of the schema document should be used to validate the document is also included.
xmlns:xsi=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance

xsi:schemaLocation="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/ http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/schema/envelope.xsd


[HL7-ebXML] extends the ebXML headers within the HL7 ebXML namespace. The namespace declaration for the extensions has a required value of:
xmlns:hl7ebxml=”urn:hl7-org:transport/ebxml/DSTUv1.0”

2. The next is SOAP Header Element


<soap-env:header>

The SOAP Header element is the first child element of the SOAP Envelope element. The SOAP Header contains MessageHeader which is required element containing routing information for the message as well as other context information about the message. The other element is SyncReply which is a element indicating the required transport state to the next SOAP node.

The SOAP Header element is the first child element of the SOAP Envelope element. The SOAP Header contains MessageHeader which is required element containing routing information for the message as well as other context information about the message. The other element is SyncReply which is an element indicating the required transport state to the next SOAP node.

3. The Message Header starts with Version and SOAPUnderstand attribute as shown below

<eb:MessageHeader soap-env:mustUnderstand="1" eb:version="2.0">


The REQUIRED version attribute indicates the version of the ebXML Message Service Header Specification to which the ebXML SOAP Header extensions conform. Its purpose is to provide future versioning capabilities. For conformance to the current published specification, all of the version attributes on any SOAP extension elements defined in this specification MUST have a value of "2.0".

The REQUIRED SOAP mustUnderstand attribute on SOAP Header extensions, namespace qualified to the SOAP namespace (http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/), indicates whether the contents of the element MUST be understood by a receiving process or else the message MUST be rejected in accordance with SOAP [SOAP]. This attribute with a value of '1' (true) indicates the element MUST be understood or rejected.

4. The next element is the From Element

<eb:From>
<eb:PartyId eb:type="urn:org:names:partyIdType:xxx">HOSP1</eb:PartyId>
</eb:From>

The REQUIRED From element identifies the Party that originated the message. It can contain logical identifier such as DUNS number or other identifiers that also imply a physical location such as an email address. It contains the Party Id element. The PartyId element has a single attribute, type and the content is a string value. The type attributeindicates the domain of names to which the string in the content of the PartyId element belongs. The value of the type attribute MUST be mutually agreed and understood by each of the Parties. It is RECOMMENDED that the value of the type attribute be a URI.

5. The next element is the To Element

<eb:To>
<eb:PartyId eb:type="urn:org:names:partyIdType:xxx">HOSP2</eb:PartyId>
</eb:To>

The REQUIRED To element identifies the Party that is the intended recipient of the message. It can contain logical identifier such as DUNS number or other identifiers that also imply a physical location such as an email address. It contains the Party Id element. The PartyId element has a single attribute, type and the content is a string value. The type attribute indicates the domain of names to which the string in the content of the PartyId element belongs. The value of the type attribute MUST be mutually agreed and understood by each of the Parties. It is RECOMMENDED that the value of the type attribute be a URI.

6.The CPAId element is a string that identifies the parameters governing the exchange of messages between the parties.

<eb:CPAId>ABC22</eb:CPAId>

The recipient of a message MUST be able to resolve the CPAId to an individual set of parameters, taking into account the sender of the message. The value of a CPAId element MUST be unique within a namespace mutually agreed by the two parties. The value ABC22 reference the contract properties assigned to each service/action.


7. The ConversationId element is a string identifying the set of related messages that make up a conversation between two Parties. It MUST be unique within the context of the specified CPAId.

<eb:ConversationId>36E66A20-1DD2-11B2-90FA-80CE4046A4A7 </eb:ConversationId>

The Party initiating a conversation determines the value of the ConversationId element that SHALL be reflected in all messages pertaining to that conversation. The ConversationId enables the recipient of a message to identify the instance of an application or process that generated or handled earlier messages within a conversation. It remains constant for all messages within a conversation. The value used for a ConversationId is implementation dependent.


8. The Service element identifies the service that acts on the message and it is specified by the designer of the service

<eb:Service>urn:org:names:services:MPI</eb:Service>

The designer of the service may be:
• a standards organization, or
• an individual or enterprise

The above value indicates that it has something to do with the Master Patient Index


9.The Action element identifies a process within a Service that processes the Message. Action SHALL be unique within the Service in which it is defined

<eb:Action>PRPA_IN040000UV15</eb:Action>

The value of the Action element is specified by the designer of the service. The above value is the message interaction that is sent with this ebXML wrapper and used for the MPI service.

10. The MessageData element provides a means of uniquely identifying an ebXML Message. It contains the following:

MessageId element
Timestamp element
RefToMessageId element


<eb:MessageData>
<eb:MessageId>36E66A20-1DD2-11B2-90FA-80CE4046A4A7</eb:MessageId>
<eb:Timestamp>2007-12-23T15:51:33.5</eb:Timestamp>
</eb:MessageData>


MessageId is a globally unique identifier for each message conforming to MessageId.

Timestamp is a value representing the time that the message header was created conforming to a dateTime [XMLSchema] and MUST be expressed as UTC

RefToMessageId element has a cardinality of zero or one. When present, it MUST contain the MessageId value of an earlier ebXML Message to which this message relates. If there is no earlier related message, the element MUST NOT be present. For example if is present the Message Data will be something like

<eb:MessageData>
<eb:MessageId>36E66A20-1DD2-11B2-90FA-80CE4046A4A7</eb:MessageId>
<eb:Timestamp>2007-12-23T15:51:33.5</eb:Timestamp>
<eb:RefToMessageId>39E66A20-2DD3-22B3-91FA-81CE4147A4A7 </eb:RefToMessageId>



11.The DuplicateElimination element, if present, identifies a request by the sender for the receiving MSH to check for duplicate messages

<eb:DuplicateElimination/>


12. The AckRequested element is an OPTIONAL extension to the SOAP Header used by the Sending MSH to request a Receiving MSH, acting in the role of the actor URI identified in the SOAP actor attribute, returns an Acknowledgment Message. The AckRequested element contains the following:

• a version attribute
• a SOAP mustUnderstand attribute with a value of "1"
• a SOAP actor attribute
• a signed attribute


<eb:AckRequested soap-env:mustUnderstand="1" eb:version="2.0" eb:signed="false" soap-env:actor="urn:oasis:names:tc:ebxml- msg:actor:toPartyMHS" />


The SOAP mustUnderstand attribute on SOAP Header extensions, namespace qualified to the SOAP namespace (http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/), indicates whether the contents of the element MUST be understood by a receiving process or else the message MUST be rejected in accordance with SOAP [SOAP]. This attribute with a value of '1' (true) indicates the element MUST be understood or rejected.

The version attribute indicates the version of the ebXML Message Service Header Specification to which the ebXML SOAP Header extensions conform. Its purpose is to provide future versioning capabilities. For conformance to the current published specification, all of the version attributes on any SOAP extension elements defined in this specification MUST have a value of "2.0".


The AckRequested element MUST be targeted at either the Next MSH or the To Party MSH (these are equivalent for single-hop routing). This is accomplished by including a SOAP actor with a URN value with one of the two ebXML actor URNs defined in sections 2.3.10 and 2.3.11 or by leaving this attribute out. The default actor targets the To Party MSH.


The REQUIRED signed attribute is used by a From Party to indicate whether or not a message received by the To Party MSH should result in the To Party returning a signed Acknowledgment Message – containing a [XMLDSIG] Signature element . Valid values for signed are:
true - a signed Acknowledgment Message is requested, or
false - an unsigned Acknowledgment Message is requested

13.The Manifest element identifies the payload messages that are carried with the ebXML message. Manifest is included in the SOAP:Body. These references can be:


· References to the attached MIME parts using the cid reference mechanism.
· References to remote content not included in the message but accessible via other means and referenced via a URI


<eb:Manifest eb:version="2.0">
<eb:Reference xlink:href="cid:payload@hl7.com">
<eb:Schema eb:location="http://www.info.org.uk/schema/HL7-Message.xsd" eb:version="15" />
<hl7ebxml:Payload style="HL7" encoding="XML" version="3.0" />
</eb:Reference>
</eb:Manifest>


The version attribute indicates the version of the ebXML Message Service Header Specification to which the ebXML SOAP Header extensions conform. Its purpose is to provide future versioning capabilities. For conformance to the current published specification, all of the version attributes on any SOAP extension elements defined in this specification MUST have a value of "2.0".

The Reference element is a composite element consisting of the following subordinate elements:
• zero or more Schema elements – information about the schema(s) that define the instance document identified in the parent Reference element
• zero or more Description elements – a textual description of the payload object referenced by the parent Reference element

The Reference element itself is a simple link [XLINK]. In this context it has the following attribute content

xlink:href – this REQUIRED attribute has a value that is the URI of the payload object referenced. It SHALL conform to the XLINK [XLINK] specification criteria for a simple link.

The schema element provides a means of identifying the schema and its version defining the payload object identified by the parent Reference element. The Schema element contains the following attributes:
• location – the REQUIRED URI of the schema
• version – a version identifier of the schema


The final element is the payload element. This element contains style or standard to which the message in the payload conforms. In this case it is “HL7". It contains the encoding method for the standard which is used to encode the message in the payload. For HL7v3.0 we use "XML". Finally the version of the standard to which the payload message conforms and for HL7V3.0 its 3.0.


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