HL7 Tooling Challenge

This page is to record information about the first HL7 Tooling Challenge. The intent of this initial challenge is to produce tooling to help implementers implement V3 standards which are expressed in Model Interchange Format.

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Tooling Challenge 2012

The following solution has been selected as the FIRST HL7 TOOLING CHALLENGE

• Produce a UML Profile for MIF Static Models - This is a task so that other modeling tools have a chance to be configured to understand MIF
  • Document a UML Profile for the semantics in the MIF representation of the RIM and other derived models - identifying those concepts that cannot be expressed in UML Profile language to provide to OMG for possible extension of UML
  • Using the resulting UML Profile, adapt Enterprise Architect to express the proper HL7 stereotypes as a proof of concept. An example would be enumerations for the drop down stereotypes for a concept domain, code system or value set. A further example would be a class could be an Act, Entity, or Role

  See Tooling Challenge contest rules

Background

The Model Interchange Format is organized as a set of XML Schema files that describe the key metadata to express published standards. The MIF is used to transform the approved models as serialized XML files. The MIF was designed to meet the requirements of the V3 Methodology to express concepts that could not be expressed in XMI.

• Link to Requirements for MIF [1]
• Sparx Systems blog entry

Judging Criteria

• The criteria on which the submissions will be judged will be:
  • The proposed UML profile will be reviewed by representatives from the HL7 Tooling Work Group to ensure that it is a valid and complete expression of the extensions to UML that are part of the HL7 MIF representation of static models
  • The proposed UML profile will be reviewed by an OMG representative (Richard Soley for the 2012 Challenge) to ensure it's validity and its interoperability with other OMG standards
  • The proposed UML profile is successfully applied to Enterprise Architect such that EA can produce class models that can represent the semantics described in the UML profile - documenting any difficulty in applying the profile.
  • Demonstrated application on more tools will be considered an advantage
  • The UML profile is well documented and easy for newcomers HL7 V3 to understand
  • How extensible the profile is in order to keep the profile up with changes in the methodology
• An intent to submit a solution to the HL7 Challenge should be announced to the Tooling listserve by the May Working Group Meeting. A discussion with potential submitters during the May Working Grouping Toolinng sessions should be supplemented by a webinar for participants not attending the WGM.
• Submissions will be accepted until July 1, 2013
• The AWARD will be given to the team submitting the best solution - in case of more than one team submitting an equaly valid solution, the team submitting a validated UML profile first will be accepted. Announcement of the successful team is desired to be at the September 2013 Working Group during the plenary. If no team submits a successful solution the contest will continue.

Additional objectives

• The following tooling objectives would also add value, and will be used to solicit existing or contributed tools - and potentially be the subject of a different HL7 Tooling Challenge in the future.
  1. Produce a MIF to XMI XML transform consistent with the updated UML Profile.
  2. Produce a viewer that can browse MIF schemas (Meta level)- this task makes it easier to understand the relationship among the MIF files and their elements.
  3. Produce a viewer that can browse MIF based models (model level)- this task makes it easier to understand the serialized models expressed in MIF XML.
  4. Produce a viewer that can browse instances from MIF based models (instance level) - this task makes it easier to evaluate instances based on serialized MIF models.(there is some work that already exists)
• From RIMBAA, which has its own tools page at Tools for RIM based software development: #1 is certainly a key issue for software developers. We already have an example of #2 as an educational tool made available by a commercial party, #4 is probably already (mostly) availble as the Instance Editor. The MIF based 'evaluation' of instances, without validating the instance, doesn't sound terribly attractive.

Communication Plan

• Write article for upcoming HL7 Newsletter (published late this summer, just before the Plenary meeting) - August 2012
• Ken to announce the Tooling Challenge on Tuesday morning at the Sept Plenary Working Group Meeting - 2012-09-11
• Ken to announce the Challenge at the Monday evening Co-chairs dinner/meeting - 2012-09-10
• Embargoed press release sent to targeted press in advance of the Tuesday morning announcement (trying to get them to attend the event) - 2012-09-07
• Press release issues from the HL7 office the same morning - 2012-09-11
• Appropriate tweets and LinkedIn announcements that morning - 2012-09-11
• Announcement via member/nonmember HL7 eNews (should occur several times during the challenge) - 2012-October and 2012 December, 2012 March
• Follow up article in the post Baltimore WGM newsletter - 2012December
• Prominent link/banner on the HL7 website to the Tooling Challenge page - 2012 September
• Outreach to colleges/universities that have requested the use of our material or have expressed interest in HL7 - 2012 October
• Push to have affiliates make similar announcements on their websites and through their communications channels - 2012 October
• Promote the Tooling Challenge through our eLearning courses (e.g. UML track planned by Education) - 2012 October
• Promote the Tooling Challenge on the HL7 webinars (the screen that displays as participants are joining the webinars) - 2012 October
• Host 2-3 Webinars explaining the Tooling Challenging and allowed those interested in responding to ask questions and receive answers from our panel of judges/Sparx representative - 2012 October, 2013 February, 2013 June
• Have OMG announce the Tooling Challenge through their channels (as the UML profile is to be OMG compliant) - 2012 October
• Add the link to the Tooling Challenge to the staff email signatures - 2012 October
• Ken to announce the winner at the 2013 Plenary Meeting (maybe large cardboard check or some other memorable way) - 2013 September
• Press release distributed from HL7 following the winning announcement - 2013 September
• Newsletter article on winner/winning submission - 2013 December

Media:ToolingChallenge_CommPlan_Gantt.pdf