Chameleon supports three types of interfaces, static (using stubcode), a dynamic runtime interface, and XML translation. This table summarizes the types of interfaces:

Interface Type	Stubcode	Description
Dynamic		Tables are discovered at runtime. Offers more flexibility, but is harder to use.
Static interface		Uses generated stubcode which describe tables and messages in the message definition file. Less flexible but easier to use.
XML Translation		Simple functions to translate from HL7 to XML and back again.

In most cases, dynamic runtime interfaces are not that advantageous to use instead of static interfaces. Although a dynamic interface is able to handle new tables at runtime, code must still be added to the application that employs the dynamic interface to actually make use of the newly discovered tables. This situation is no different if one were to employ a static interface for their application.

However, there are some instances where a dynamic interface might be better to use. Such as for an application where screens can be redefined by field deployment staff using meta data or configuration files.

The message definition file is important for each of these types of interfaces since the file contains the actual messages, tables, and mappings defined for a given interface.

We will start by discussing how the static interface of Chameleon can be used with Delphi.