Terminology Syndication Feed Implementation Guide
0.1.0 - ci-build International flag

Terminology Syndication Feed Implementation Guide, published by Australian e-Health Research Centre. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 0.1.0 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/FHIR/fhir-syndication-ig/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

Examples

Examples

Annotated feed fragments illustrating the format.

A SNOMED CT International Edition entry

<entry>
  <title>SNOMED CT International Edition-April 2023 v1.0 (RF2 FULL PACKAGE)</title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="application/zip"
        href="https://mlds.ihtsdotools.org/api/releasePackages/167/releaseVersions/966543/releaseFiles/966545/download"
        length="533422481"
        sct:md5Hash="0290ad7f6e431063166afd91cd2b8c37"/>
  <link rel="related" type="application/pdf"
        href="https://mlds.ihtsdotools.org/api/releasePackages/167/releaseVersions/966543/releaseFiles/966825/download"
        length="80605"
        sct:md5Hash="505ca7d8bca26770e1e310c0a49a65f3"/>
  <category term="SCT_RF2_FULL" label="SNOMED CT RF2 Full"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <author>
    <name>SNOMED International</name>
    <uri>https://www.snomed.org</uri>
    <email>info@snomed.org</email>
  </author>
  <id>urn:uuid:3cca1feb-16f8-4c34-b5e4-692e70ae30ca</id>
  <updated>2023-09-20T14:02:22Z</updated>
  <published>2023-04-28T00:00:00Z</published>
  <summary>SNOMED International April 2023 SNOMED CT International Edition release package</summary>
  <rights>© International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation 2002-2023. …</rights>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://snomed.info/sct/900000000000207008</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://snomed.info/sct/900000000000207008/version/20230430</ncts:contentItemVersion>
</entry>

Notes:

  • The primary download is rel="alternate"; release notes are rel="related".
  • contentItemIdentifier is the unversioned International Edition module URI; contentItemVersion adds /version/20230430.
  • No <sct:packageDependency> because Editions have no dependencies.
  • Hash uses legacy sct:md5Hash.

A SNOMED CT extension entry with dependencies

<entry>
  <title>SNOMED CT-International Spanish Extension 2022-10-31 (RF2 SNAPSHOT)</title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="application/zip"
        href="https://mlds.ihtsdotools.org/api/.../download"
        length="266118090"
        sct:md5Hash="a8fc30a504960ce9e5adc956368f49ce"/>
  <category term="SCT_RF2_SNAPSHOT" label="SNOMED CT RF2 Snapshot"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <id>urn:uuid:f9df5b1f-bbd3-4b25-ac7c-13a2cfaa3184</id>
  <updated>2022-08-01T06:00:00Z</updated>
  <published>2022-08-04T06:00:00Z</published>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://snomed.info/sct/450829007</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://snomed.info/sct/450829007/version/20221031</ncts:contentItemVersion>
  <sct:packageDependency>
    <sct:editionDependency>http://snomed.info/sct/900000000000207008/version/20220731</sct:editionDependency>
    <sct:derivativeDependency>http://snomed.info/sct/816211006/version/20220131</sct:derivativeDependency>
  </sct:packageDependency>
</entry>

Notes:

  • Spanish Extension depends on a specific International Edition version and a derivative version. Both must be loaded first.

A SNOMED CT-AU entry using SHA-256

<entry>
  <title>SNOMED CT-AU 30 November 2022 (RF2 FULL)</title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="application/zip"
        href="https://api.healthterminologies.gov.au/syndication/v1/au/.../...-FULL.zip"
        length="274406331"
        ncts:sha256Hash="8130cc90b38e8608380dd80e3b94740584270da5ae79f58d1a5281ac80809095"/>
  <category term="SCT_RF2_FULL" label="SNOMED CT RF2 Full"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <id>urn:uuid:5cfaebe3-c1dd-312a-a15a-79bfd9e4d9bb</id>
  <updated>2022-11-23T10:50:00Z</updated>
  <published>2022-11-23T10:50:00Z</published>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://snomed.info/sct/32506021000036107</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://snomed.info/sct/32506021000036107/version/20221130</ncts:contentItemVersion>
</entry>

Notes:

  • Uses ncts:sha256Hash instead of sct:md5Hash. Both are permitted; SHA-256 is preferred for new feeds.

A FHIR ValueSet entry

<entry>
  <title>Australian Body Sites</title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="application/fhir+json"
        href="https://example.org/fhir/ValueSet?url=http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites&version=1.2.0"
        length="83291"
        ncts:sha256Hash="9c9b…"/>
  <category term="FHIR_ValueSet" label="FHIR ValueSet"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <id>urn:uuid:1e7c3f92-6e2a-4c03-9f70-aa20b91b2c04</id>
  <updated>2024-06-15T09:00:00Z</updated>
  <published>2024-06-15T09:00:00Z</published>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites|1.2.0</ncts:contentItemVersion>
  <ncts:fhirVersion>4.0.1</ncts:fhirVersion>
</entry>

Notes:

  • <published> matches ValueSet.date; contentItemIdentifier matches ValueSet.url; contentItemVersion matches ValueSet.url|ValueSet.version.
  • <ncts:fhirVersion> is required because the category term is FHIR_ValueSet.

A retract entry

<entry>
  <title>Australian Body Sites — RETRACTED</title>
  <category term="FHIR_ValueSet_RETRACT" label="FHIR ValueSet Retract"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <link rel="related" type="application/pdf"
        href="https://example.org/notices/au-body-sites-1.2.0-retraction.pdf"
        length="14238"
        ncts:sha256Hash="ee44…"/>
  <id>urn:uuid:5c1f…</id>
  <updated>2024-08-02T11:00:00Z</updated>
  <published>2024-08-02T11:00:00Z</published>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites|1.2.0</ncts:contentItemVersion>
  <ncts:fhirVersion>4.0.1</ncts:fhirVersion>
</entry>

Notes:

  • Retracts exactly the 1.2.0 version. To also retract 1.1.0, a separate retract entry is needed.
  • No <link rel="alternate">, by rule. The optional rel="related" link points to a deprecation notice.
  • <ncts:fhirVersion> is still required (rule applies to any FHIR_* term, retract or not).
  • A consumer that never had 1.2.0 installed silently no-ops.

A dual-conformant CRMI withdrawal entry

This is the retract entry above, extended so that the same entry is also understood by an HL7 CRMI syndication consumer. See Relationship to HL7 CRMI for the full mapping.

<entry xmlns:ncts="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/extensions/1.0.0"
       xmlns:hl7="http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/crmi/syndication">
  <title>Australian Body Sites — RETRACTED</title>
  <category term="FHIR_ValueSet_RETRACT" label="FHIR ValueSet Retract"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <hl7:artifactType>resource</hl7:artifactType>
  <hl7:publishAction>unpublish</hl7:publishAction>
  <id>urn:uuid:5c1f…</id>
  <updated>2024-08-02T11:00:00Z</updated>
  <published>2024-08-02T11:00:00Z</published>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://example.org/fhir/ValueSet/au-body-sites|1.2.0</ncts:contentItemVersion>
  <hl7:artifactVersion>1.2.0</hl7:artifactVersion>
  <ncts:fhirVersion>4.0.1</ncts:fhirVersion>
  <hl7:fhirVersion>4.0.1</hl7:fhirVersion>
  <!-- CRMI delete transaction Bundle, offered as related (NOT alternate) -->
  <link rel="related" type="application/fhir+json"
        href="https://example.org/fhir/Bundle/delete-au-body-sites-1.2.0"/>
</entry>

Notes:

  • ASF signals the withdrawal via the FHIR_ValueSet_RETRACT category; CRMI signals it via <hl7:publishAction>unpublish. Both are present, so either consumer recognises it.
  • The delete transaction Bundle is delivered at rel="related", not rel="alternate" — this keeps the entry valid as an ASF retraction (which forbids rel="alternate") while still exposing CRMI's action Bundle. This is the one point requiring a CRMI consumer to honour rel="related"; see the harmonisation note.
  • <hl7:artifactVersion> is included even though CRMI's own unpublish example omits it — making the exact retracted version explicit on the entry rather than only inside the Bundle.

A FHIR Bundle entry

<entry>
  <title>Australian Concept Maps Bundle</title>
  <link rel="alternate" type="application/fhir+json"
        href="https://example.org/bundles/au-concept-maps-2024-06.json"
        length="2841920"
        ncts:sha256Hash="aa11…"/>
  <category term="FHIR_Bundle" label="FHIR Bundle"
            scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
  <id>urn:uuid:7a44…</id>
  <updated>2024-06-15T09:00:00Z</updated>
  <ncts:contentItemIdentifier>http://example.org/fhir/Bundle/au-concept-maps</ncts:contentItemIdentifier>
  <ncts:contentItemVersion>http://example.org/fhir/Bundle/au-concept-maps|2024-06</ncts:contentItemVersion>
  <ncts:fhirVersion>4.0.1</ncts:fhirVersion>
  <ncts:bundleInterpretation>collection</ncts:bundleInterpretation>
</entry>

Notes:

  • Because the category is FHIR_Bundle, the entry MUST carry <ncts:fhirVersion>. The <ncts:bundleInterpretation> element is optional; when present (batch or collection) it hints at the publisher's view of the Bundle. The consumer remains free to handle the Bundle however it sees fit.