[mdr-users] Repository Questions

Dear All @ MDR,

Please excuse the multiple questions in one message & the length of the 
message.

I am working with an organization called HL7 ( www.hl7.org ) who have an 
eponymous health care modeling standard.

The model is expressed in an XML file called a MIF. We are trying to get 
steadily closer to the OMG e.g.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/NewsArticleView.aspx?ContentID=1754&ContentTypeID=3&IssueID=12

However at present it's not an expression of MOF.

At the moment we are undergoing a process of renewing our tooling from a 
visio plugin/vb base to a java/eclipse base & a large part of that is 
looking for a replacement for the current Access mdb + vb api model 
repository.

I spotted the MDR & at first glance it seems to do just about everything 
we require, especially as the alternative is to create our own model 
repository system.

Basically we need a model repository which can operate both as a simple 
to install local file(s)/db & as a network shareable system/db.

i.e. if I am pottering about with my laptop I will need a local copy but 
the central model will need to be on a proper database accessed & 
possibly updated by quite a few people.

At the moment we're looking at a apache derby or similar for the local 
instance & then any solid DBMS with JDBC drivers for the server level. 
The modeling app can then access via a std jdbc based api & this can be 
either directed to the local or the network server as required.

There is more to it (e.g. rebuild local db from network db followng 
changes to the central model etc.) but that's the basic need (i.e. 
common api for the apps & the ability for the app to switch between a 
local (unshared) repository & a global (shared) repository.


So my short list of questions:



1) Can the MDR contain multiple models similar models? For example the 
central model for HL7 is called the RIM but in addition we'd like to be 
able to hold locally defined variations, datatypes,vocabs etc. Can each 
model be updated separately? How easy is it for the application to 
identify a given model (e.g. if I create a Locab vocab model & call it 
"LocalVocab" can I pass that in as as string taken from a value in a 
properties/XML file?


2) Easy loading. How easy is it to load a model into the repository (esp 
given the above local additional models which would need to remain 
untouched if say the RIM was updated).The repository needs to be 
manageable by modellers who are mostly from a clinician backgroound 
rather than an IT/Technical background.

i.e. if we had a MIF<>MOF profile & the RIM was updated & we were to 
export the new RIM as a MIF, could the MDR replace the current RIM-MIF 
in the local repository with the updated one easily?

Equally if a local vocab had been updated & the MIF was sent out, could 
the MDR just update/replace the local vocab?

3) Does MIF<>MOF profile need to be generated, does the MIF need to be a 
MOF variant or can some other route be taken e.g. XSD > EMF > EMOF > MDR?

4) Does the JDBC implementation allow for concurrent multi-user access? 
Can you export from the JDBC to the local Btree easily? At all?

In the "We do it ourselves using derby" there'd be a simple SQL script & 
2 connections to the 2 databases (i.e. the central network one & the 
local derby one) & data could be transfered like that. Possibly all the 
data associated with the RIM might be dropped (from the local db) & the 
new data inserted.


5) Is it easy to pack up & copy (e.g. zip), install etc?

The most obvious way of transferring the data from the cenral copy to 
the local copy would be via a single large XML-MIF file & then rely upon 
the local engine to absorb it (assuming that the localend is not JDBC 
compliant).

Would it be simpler to autocreate a repository instance (e.g. via ant 
scripts running on the server) & then offer that for download? If so 
again would the install/absorbtion etc be easy (given the clinician & 
not technical background of the users)?


TIA

Adam