Terminology Syndication Feed Implementation Guide
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Terminology Syndication Feed Implementation Guide - Local Development build (v0.1.0) built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) Build Tools. See the Directory of published versions

Category Schemes

Category Schemes

Each <entry> carries one or more <category> elements that classify the artefact:

<category term="SCT_RF2_FULL"
          label="SNOMED CT RF2 Full"
          scheme="http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0"/>
Attribute Cardinality Meaning
term 1..1 Machine-readable code from the scheme.
scheme 1..1 URI identifying the controlled vocabulary the term comes from.
label 0..1 Human-readable form.

NCTS ASF scheme

Scheme URI: http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/ncts/syndication/asf/scheme/1.0.0

This is the primary classification scheme. At least one category on each entry SHOULD use this scheme so consumers can determine the artefact type without inspecting the artefact itself.

The full set of terms is defined as a CodeSystem in this guide: SyndicationContentType.

Term Label Meaning
SCT_RF2_ALL SNOMED CT RF2 All RF2 release package containing both Snapshot and Full release types.
SCT_RF2_FULL SNOMED CT RF2 Full RF2 release package containing the Full release type only.
SCT_RF2_SNAPSHOT SNOMED CT RF2 Snapshot RF2 release package containing the Snapshot release type only.
SCT_RF2_DELTA SNOMED CT RF2 Delta RF2 release package containing the Delta release type only.
FHIR_CodeSystem FHIR CodeSystem A single FHIR CodeSystem resource.
FHIR_ValueSet FHIR ValueSet A single FHIR ValueSet resource.
FHIR_ConceptMap FHIR ConceptMap A single FHIR ConceptMap resource.
FHIR_StructureDefinition FHIR StructureDefinition A single FHIR StructureDefinition resource.
FHIR_Bundle FHIR Bundle A FHIR Bundle resource. The entry's bundleInterpretation element, when present, hints at the publisher's view of the Bundle (batch or collection).
FHIR_Package FHIR Package A FHIR NPM (tgz) package.
LOINC LOINC A LOINC release artefact.
BINARY_RETRACT Binary Index Retract Retracts a previously-published Ontoserver RF2 binary index. See Retraction.
LOINC_RETRACT LOINC Retract Retracts a previously-published LOINC artefact.
FHIR_CodeSystem_RETRACT FHIR CodeSystem Retract Retracts a previously-published FHIR CodeSystem.
FHIR_ValueSet_RETRACT FHIR ValueSet Retract Retracts a previously-published FHIR ValueSet.
FHIR_ConceptMap_RETRACT FHIR ConceptMap Retract Retracts a previously-published FHIR ConceptMap.
FHIR_StructureDefinition_RETRACT FHIR StructureDefinition Retract Retracts a previously-published FHIR StructureDefinition.

Ontoserver RF2 binary index scheme

A second scheme is used for entries publishing a pre-built Ontoserver RF2 binary index — a zip containing the on-disk index Ontoserver derives from a SNOMED CT RF2 release, ready to be loaded directly without re-indexing. This is not a SNOMED CT release in RF2 form; it is an Ontoserver-specific index file.

The scheme URI is versioned by binary index format, not by the SNOMED CT release version it indexes:

  • http://ontoserver.csiro.au/syndication/rf2/1.0.0
  • http://ontoserver.csiro.au/syndication/rf2/2.0.0

A consumer MUST match the scheme URI exactly. Indexes from the 1.0.0 and 2.0.0 schemes are not interchangeable. Consumers that do not recognise either scheme MUST ignore the entry.

The single term used in this scheme is BINARY, conventionally labelled Binary Index. See OntoserverRf2Index.

<category term="BINARY" label="Binary Index"
          scheme="http://ontoserver.csiro.au/syndication/rf2/2.0.0"/>

The accompanying entry's ncts:contentItemIdentifier and ncts:contentItemVersion SHOULD identify the underlying SNOMED CT module and version that the index represents (i.e. the content), exactly as for an RF2 release entry. The binary-index-format version is carried by the scheme URI, separately from the content version.

Multiple categories

An entry MAY carry additional categories from other schemes — for example, jurisdiction tags, edition tags, or publisher-internal classifications. Consumers SHOULD ignore categories whose scheme they do not recognise.

Retraction

Six terms in the NCTS ASF scheme — collectively the *_RETRACT terms — mark an entry as a retraction of a previously-published artefact:

  • BINARY_RETRACT
  • LOINC_RETRACT
  • FHIR_CodeSystem_RETRACT
  • FHIR_ConceptMap_RETRACT
  • FHIR_ValueSet_RETRACT
  • FHIR_StructureDefinition_RETRACT

Semantics:

  • A retract entry targets the exact contentItemVersion named in the entry. Retraction is not blanket: a publisher wishing to withdraw multiple versions of the same contentItemIdentifier MUST issue one retract entry per version.
  • A retract entry is a unilateral assertion. It does not require a matching previously-published non-retract entry in the same feed. A consumer that never installed the named contentItemVersion MUST silently no-op.
  • A retract entry MUST NOT carry any <link rel="alternate"> — there is nothing to download. It MAY carry <link rel="related"> links (e.g. a deprecation notice).
  • For FHIR_*_RETRACT, the ncts:fhirVersion rule still applies: the entry MUST carry ncts:fhirVersion.
  • sct:packageDependency and ncts:bundleInterpretation SHOULD be absent on retract entries.

Note: BINARY_RETRACT lives in the NCTS ASF scheme, even though the corresponding non-retract BINARY term lives in the Ontoserver RF2 binary index scheme.

See Retraction entries for the field-by-field rules.

Constraints

When the NCTS ASF category term is FHIR_CodeSystem, FHIR_ValueSet, FHIR_ConceptMap, FHIR_StructureDefinition, FHIR_Bundle, FHIR_Package, or any FHIR_*_RETRACT counterpart, the entry MUST also carry ncts:fhirVersion.