Archetype Definition Language 1.4 (ADL1.4) STABLE

The format and syntax for archetype definitions, widely deployed in production systems and adopted as ISO 13606-2:2008. ADL 1.4 defines the constraint syntax, terminology binding rules, and file format used by many existing archetype repositories and tooling. ADL 2 is the successor introducing differential specialisation and an improved constraint model. Implementers maintaining or migrating existing archetype tooling should refer to this specification together with AOM 1.4.

Purpose

This document describes the design basis and syntax of the Archetype Definition Language 1.4 (ADL 1.4). It is intended for software developers, technically-oriented domain specialists and subject matter experts (SMEs). ADL is designed as an abstract human-readable and computer-processible syntax. ADL archetypes can be hand-edited using a normal text editor.

The intended audience includes:

  • Standards bodies producing health informatics standards;

  • Academic groups using openEHR;

  • The open source healthcare community;

  • Solution vendors;

  • Medical informaticians and clinicians interested in health information.

Related Documents

Prerequisite documents for reading this document include:

Related documents include:

Nomenclature

In this document, the term 'attribute' denotes any stored property of a type defined in an object model, including primitive attributes and any kind of relationship such as an association or aggregation. XML 'attributes' are always referred to explicitly as 'XML attributes'.

Feedback

Feedback may be provided on the openEHR ADL forum.

Issues may be raised on the specifications Problem Report tracker.

To see changes made due to previously reported issues, see the AM component Change Request tracker.