Class XMLParser

Direct Known Subclasses:
DefaultXMLParser

public abstract class XMLParser extends Parser
Parses and encodes HL7 messages in XML form, according to HL7's normative XML encoding specification. This is an abstract class that handles datatype and segment parsing/encoding, but not the parsing/encoding of entire messages. To use the XML parser, you should create a subclass for a certain message structure. This subclass must be able to identify the Segment objects that correspond to various Segment nodes in an XML document, and call the methods parse(Segment segment, ElementNode segmentNode) and encode(Segment segment, ElementNode segmentNode) as appropriate. XMLParser uses the Xerces parser, which must be installed in your classpath.
Author:
Bryan Tripp, Shawn Bellina
See Also:
  • Field Details

  • Constructor Details

  • Method Details

    • getEncoding

      public String getEncoding(String message)
      Returns a String representing the encoding of the given message, if the encoding is recognized. For example if the given message appears to be encoded using HL7 2.x XML rules then "XML" would be returned. If the encoding is not recognized then null is returned. That this method returns a specific encoding does not guarantee that the message is correctly encoded (e.g. well formed XML) - just that it is not encoded using any other encoding than the one returned. Returns null if the encoding is not recognized.
      Specified by:
      getEncoding in class Parser
      Parameters:
      message - message string
      Returns:
      string representing the encoding of the given message, i.e. "XML" or "ER7"
    • getDefaultEncoding

      Specified by:
      getDefaultEncoding in class Parser
      Returns:
      the preferred encoding of this Parser
    • setKeepAsOriginalNodes

      @Deprecated public void setKeepAsOriginalNodes(String[] keepAsOriginalNodes)
      Deprecated.
      Use ParserConfiguration.setXmlDisableWhitespaceTrimmingOnNodeNames(Set) instead. That method works exactly the same as this one but has been renamed for a more clear meaning.
      Sets the keepAsOriginalNodes The nodes whose names match the keepAsOriginalNodes will be kept as original, meaning that no white space treaming will occur on them
      Parameters:
      keepAsOriginalNodes - of the nodes to be kept as original
    • getKeepAsOriginalNodes

      Sets the keepAsOriginalNodes
    • parseDocument

      public abstract Message parseDocument(Document xmlMessage, String version) throws HL7Exception

      Creates and populates a Message object from an XML Document that contains an XML-encoded HL7 message.

      The easiest way to implement this method for a particular message structure is as follows:

      1. Create an instance of the Message type you are going to handle with your subclass of XMLParser
      2. Go through the given Document and find the Elements that represent the top level of each message segment.
      3. For each of these segments, call parse(Segment segmentObject, Element segmentElement), providing the appropriate Segment from your Message object, and the corresponding Element.
      At the end of this process, your Message object should be populated with data from the XML Document.

      Parameters:
      xmlMessage - DOM message object to be parsed
      version - HL7 version
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the message is not correctly formatted.
      EncodingNotSupportedException - if the message encoded is not supported by this parser.
    • doParse

      protected Message doParse(String message, String version) throws HL7Exception

      Parses a message string and returns the corresponding Message object. This method checks that the given message string is XML encoded, creates an XML Document object (using Xerces) from the given String, and calls the abstract method parse(Document XMLMessage)

      Specified by:
      doParse in class Parser
      Parameters:
      message - a String that contains an HL7 message
      version - the name of the HL7 version to which the message belongs (eg "2.5")
      Returns:
      a HAPI Message object parsed from the given String
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the message is not correctly formatted.
      EncodingNotSupportedException - if the message encoded is not supported by this parser.
    • parseStringIntoDocument

      Parses a string containing an XML document into a Document object. Note that this method is synchronized currently, as the XML parser is not thread safe
      Throws:
      HL7Exception
    • doEncode

      protected String doEncode(Message source, String encoding) throws HL7Exception
      Formats a Message object into an HL7 message string using the given encoding.
      Specified by:
      doEncode in class Parser
      Parameters:
      source - a Message object from which to construct an encoded message string
      encoding - the name of the HL7 encoding to use (eg "XML"; most implementations support only one encoding)
      Returns:
      the encoded message
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the data fields in the message do not permit encoding (e.g. required fields are null)
      EncodingNotSupportedException - if the requested encoding is not supported by this parser.
    • doEncode

      protected String doEncode(Message source) throws HL7Exception
      Formats a Message object into an HL7 message string using this parser's default encoding (XML encoding). This method calls the abstract method encodeDocument(...) in order to obtain XML Document object representation of the Message, then serializes it to a String.
      Specified by:
      doEncode in class Parser
      Parameters:
      source - a Message object from which to construct an encoded message string
      Returns:
      the encoded message
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the data fields in the message do not permit encoding (e.g. required fields are null)
    • encodeDocument

      public abstract Document encodeDocument(Message source) throws HL7Exception

      Creates an XML Document that corresponds to the given Message object.

      If you are implementing this method, you should create an XML Document, and insert XML Elements into it that correspond to the groups and segments that belong to the message type that your subclass of XMLParser supports. Then, for each segment in the message, call the method encode(Segment segmentObject, Element segmentElement) using the Element for that segment and the corresponding Segment object from the given Message.

      Parameters:
      source - message
      Returns:
      the DOM document object of the encoded message
      Throws:
      HL7Exception
    • assertNamespaceURI

      protected void assertNamespaceURI(String ns) throws HL7Exception
      Throws:
      HL7Exception
    • parse

      public void parse(Segment segmentObject, Element segmentElement) throws HL7Exception
      Populates the given Segment object with data from the given XML Element.
      Parameters:
      segmentObject - the segment to parse into
      segmentElement - the DOM element to be parsed
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the XML Element does not have the correct name and structure for the given Segment, or if there is an error while setting individual field values.
    • encode

      public boolean encode(Segment segmentObject, Element segmentElement) throws HL7Exception
      Populates the given Element with data from the given Segment, by inserting Elements corresponding to the Segment's fields, their components, etc. Returns true if there is at least one data value in the segment.
      Parameters:
      segmentObject - the segment to be encoded
      segmentElement - the DOM element to encode into
      Returns:
      true if there is at least one data value in the segment
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if an erro occurred while encoding
    • parse

      public void parse(Type datatypeObject, Element datatypeElement) throws HL7Exception
      Populates the given Type object with data from the given XML Element.
      Parameters:
      datatypeObject - the type to parse into
      datatypeElement - the DOM element to be parsed
      Throws:
      DataTypeException - if the data did not match the expected type rules
      HL7Exception
    • keepAsOriginal

      protected boolean keepAsOriginal(Node node)
      Checks if Node content should be kept as original (ie.: whitespaces won't be removed)
      Parameters:
      node - The target Node
      Returns:
      boolean true if whitespaces should not be removed from node content, false otherwise
    • removeWhitespace

      Removes all unnecessary whitespace from the given String (intended to be used with Primitive values). This includes leading and trailing whitespace, and repeated space characters. Carriage returns, line feeds, and tabs are replaced with spaces.
    • getCriticalResponseData

      Returns a minimal amount of data from a message string, including only the data needed to send a response to the remote system. This includes the following fields:

      • field separator
      • encoding characters
      • processing ID
      • message control ID
      This method is intended for use when there is an error parsing a message, (so the Message object is unavailable) but an error message must be sent back to the remote system including some of the information in the inbound message. This method parses only that required information, hopefully avoiding the condition that caused the original error.

      Specified by:
      getCriticalResponseData in class Parser
      Parameters:
      message - the message
      Returns:
      an MSH segment
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if no MSH segment could be created
    • getAckID

      public String getAckID(String message)
      For response messages, returns the value of MSA-2 (the message ID of the message sent by the sending system). This value may be needed prior to main message parsing, so that (particularly in a multi-threaded scenario) the message can be routed to the thread that sent the request. We need this information first so that any parse exceptions are thrown to the correct thread. Implementers of Parsers should take care to make the implementation of this method very fast and robust. Returns null if MSA-2 can not be found (e.g. if the message is not a response message). Trims whitespace from around the MSA-2 field.
      Specified by:
      getAckID in class Parser
      Parameters:
      message - the message
      Returns:
      the value of MSA-2
    • getVersion

      public String getVersion(String message) throws HL7Exception
      Description copied from class: Parser
      Returns the version ID (MSH-12) from the given message, without fully parsing the message. The version is needed prior to parsing in order to determine the message class into which the text of the message should be parsed.
      Specified by:
      getVersion in class Parser
      Parameters:
      message - the message
      Returns:
      the value of MSH-12
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the version field can not be found.
    • parseLeaf

      protected static String parseLeaf(String message, String tagName, int startAt) throws HL7Exception
      Attempts to retrieve the value of a leaf tag without using DOM or SAX. This method searches the given message string for the given tag name, and returns everything after the given tag and before the start of the next tag. Whitespace is stripped. This is intended only for lead nodes, as the value is considered to end at the start of the next tag, regardless of whether it is the matching end tag or some other nested tag.
      Parameters:
      message - a string message in XML form
      tagName - the name of the XML tag, e.g. "MSA.2"
      startAt - the character location at which to start searching
      Throws:
      HL7Exception - if the tag can not be found
    • doEncode

      public String doEncode(Segment structure, EncodingCharacters encodingCharacters)
      Throws unsupported operation exception
      Specified by:
      doEncode in class Parser
      Parameters:
      structure - The structure to encode
      encodingCharacters - The encoding characters
      Returns:
      The encoded segment
      Throws:
      UnsupportedOperationException
    • doParseForSpecificPackage

      protected Message doParseForSpecificPackage(String theMessage, String theVersion, String thePackageName)
      Throws unsupported operation exception
      Specified by:
      doParseForSpecificPackage in class Parser
      Throws:
      UnsupportedOperationException
    • doEncode

      public String doEncode(Type type, EncodingCharacters encodingCharacters)
      Throws unsupported operation exception
      Specified by:
      doEncode in class Parser
      Parameters:
      type - The type to encode
      encodingCharacters - The encoding characters
      Returns:
      The encoded type
      Throws:
      UnsupportedOperationException
    • parse

      public void parse(Type type, String string, EncodingCharacters encodingCharacters)
      Throws unsupported operation exception
      Specified by:
      parse in class Parser
      Parameters:
      type - The type to encode
      string - The string to parse
      encodingCharacters - The encoding characters
      Throws:
      UnsupportedOperationException
    • parse

      public void parse(Segment segment, String string, EncodingCharacters encodingCharacters)
      Throws unsupported operation exception
      Specified by:
      parse in class Parser
      Parameters:
      segment - The segment to encode
      string - The string to parse
      encodingCharacters - The encoding characters
      Throws:
      UnsupportedOperationException
    • getTextEncoding

      Returns the text encoding to be used in generating new messages. Note that this affects encoding to string only, not parsing.
      Returns:
      text encoding
    • setTextEncoding

      public void setTextEncoding(String textEncoding)
      Sets the text encoding to be used in generating new messages. Note that this affects encoding to string only, not parsing.
      Parameters:
      textEncoding - The encoding. Default is the platform default.