Upgrading to IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1

Migration advice for applications and interfaces that use the MRM HL7 message set.

Take account of the following advice when you upgrade to IBM® Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1 from any of the following previous versions of Healthcare:

IBM WebSphere® Message Broker Connectivity Pack for Healthcare Version 7.0
IBM WebSphere Message Broker Connectivity Pack for Healthcare Version 8.0
IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0

1.1 Change of behavior when parsing repeating items

The parsing of repeating (maxOccurs > 1) fields and components in HL7 messages has changed in IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1.

In Healthcare versions before IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1, an empty occurrence of a repeating field or a repeating component causes the parsing of the repeating item to terminate. Any remaining data for the repeating item is assigned to the next field or component. This behavior is consistent with the documented behavior of the MRM parser, but it is not ideal for HL7.

In IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1, if a field or a component can repeat (maxOccurs > 1), it is marked as nillable in the message set. All empty occurrences of the item are put into the message tree with the value NULL. Occurrences that are not empty are parsed normally.

1.2 Impact analysis

Most message flows are not affected by this change of behavior. However, you might have modified some message flows that deal with repeating fields and components to compensate for the behavior of a previous version of Healthcare. Some of these message flows might be affected by the change in behavior.

If you have developed message flows in a previous version of Healthcare, you are advised to carry out the following impact analysis:

Identify all of the message flows that use the HL7v25P message set. All instances of the Healthcare: HL7 to HL7 and Healthcare: HL7 to Reports patterns use this message set, but there might be others.
For each message flow, check whether the flow contains logic for processing repeating fields or components. This logic is contained in ESQL or Java code, or in Mapping node configurations.
For each flow that processes repeating items, check whether the flow logic is dependent on the behavior of a previous version of Healthcare.

1.3 Migration options

If existing HL7 applications are not dependent on the behavior of a previous version of Healthcare, you can use the message set that is supplied with IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1.

If you modified code in existing message flows to compensate for the behavior of a previous version of Healthcare, you must use your existing version of the HL7v25P message set. You must not use the HL7v25P message set that is shipped with IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1. Using the message set for your existing version of Healthcare preserves the behavior of the existing version and avoids unplanned changes in message flow behavior.

2. Migration advice for applications and interfaces that use the DFDL model for HL7

The DFDL schemas for HL7 are used by the HL7DFDLInput node, and by all of the DFDL-based patterns. In IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1, when an empty repeating field is encountered, these schemas insert a NULL into the message tree; non-repeating fields and components are not affected. The insertion of a NULL maintains consistency with patterns that use message sets. The insertion of a NULL might cause a field or a component to show in the IBM Integration Bus Healthcare Pack Version 3.0.0.1 message tree when it would have been omitted by the DFDL schema in a previous version of Healthcare. No special migration steps are required.

Last updated : 2015-12-07 16:17:39

Concept topic | Version 3.0.0.1 | ha03170