Archetype Definition Language 2 (ADL2) STABLE

The format and syntax for archetype definitions: the computable specifications that describe what clinical data a system may record. ADL 2 expresses constraints on Reference Model instances covering differential specialisation, terminology binding, and annotations, enabling archetype definitions to be authored, validated, and shared across tools and repositories. ADL 1.4 is the predecessor widely deployed in production systems; ADL 2 extends it with a cleaner constraint model and is adopted as ISO 13606-2:2019. Implementers building authoring tools, validators, or repository services should read this specification alongside AOM 2.

Purpose

This document describes the design basis and syntax of the Archetype Definition Language (ADL) 2.x, a new major version of ADL, containing structural changes with respect to the ADL 1.x versions.

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-processable syntax. ADL archetypes can be hand-edited using a normal text editor.

The intended audience includes:

  • Standards bodies producing health informatics standards;

  • Research groups using openEHR, ISO 13606, and other EHR or EHR exchange architectures;

  • The open source healthcare community;

  • EHR 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'.

We also use the word 'archetype' in a broad sense to designate what are commonly understood to be 'archetypes' (specifications of clinical data groups / data constraints) and 'templates' (data sets based on archetypes, since at a technical level, an ADL/AOM 2 template is in fact just an archetype. Accordingly, statements about 'archetypes' in this specification can be always understood to also apply to templates, unless otherwise indicated.

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.