Edit

Share via

Extending Enumerations

  • Article

You can add values to the enumerations that establish accepted values for many fields, segments, and data types in HL7 message body, acknowledgment, and message body schemas. This involves changing the set of values in a specific table in the common table values schema file for the HL7 version in which you are working (the Tablevalues_<version>.xsd schema file).

You add to the enumeration in a different way for the message header schema than you do in other schemas, such as the message body schema. For the message header schema, you must change the table within the MSH_25_GLO_DEF.xsd file. For other schemas, you change the table in the table values schema file (tablevalues_<version>.xsd).

To add an enumeration value to the table values common schema file

  1. You first need to determine the table that contains the enumeration that you want to add to. In Solution Explorer of Visual Studio, open the schema file that contains the element that you want to change. In BizTalk Explorer, click the field element that you want to add a value for.

    Note

    When you change an enumeration in the table values common schema file, all objects that reference that enumeration are affected.

  2. In the Properties pane, note the name of the table in the Base Data Type field.

    Note

    If there is no table listed in Base Data Type field, and the Derived By property is not set to Restricted, then the field does not have an enumeration associated with it.

  3. In Solution Explorer, open the Tablevalues_<version>.xsd, and then click Open.

    Note

    You must perform this procedure separately for each version of the HL7 schema that you want to change.

  4. In BizTalk Editor, browse to the table you want to change, and then click that table node.

  5. In the Properties window, in the Restriction section, click Enumeration, and then click the ellipsis (…) button to open the Enumeration Editor.

  6. In the Enumeration Editor, add the new value to the list of existing values, and then click OK.

To add an enumeration value to a message header schema

  1. In Solution Explorer, open the MSH_25_GLO_DEF schema, and then click Open.

  2. Right-click the MSH node, point to Insert Schema Node, and then click Child Field Element. Visual Studio adds a field node to MSH, called Field. Click ENTER.

  3. In the Properties window, click the Data Type node, then from the drop-down list, select the table to which you want to add the enumeration value.

  4. In the Properties window, in the Restriction section, click Enumeration, and then click the ellipsis (…) button to open the Enumeration Editor.

  5. In the Enumeration Editor, add the new value to the list of existing values, and then click OK.

    When you add a value to the enumeration for any node, such as the Field node, you add that value globally for all objects that use that table. As a result, you can now delete the Field node, and the value will still be present for the table. You can verify this by scrolling in the right pane of BizTalk Editor to the table, and verifying that the value that you added is present.

  6. Right-click the Field node in BizTalk Editor, click Delete, and then click Yes.

See Also

Table Values Common Schemas
Extending HL7 2.X Schemas with Z Objects
Creating Declared Z Segments
Creating Custom Data Types in Schemas
Creating Custom Tables in Schemas
Handling Undeclared Z Segments