Iguana and Chameleon normally expect incoming messages to be in the HL7 message format. If your messages, such as the sample messages shown here, are in a different format, you can use a Global Inbound Script to convert the messages to HL7 format. This script must:

• Define an MSH segment to be the first segment of the incoming message, since all HL7 messages must start with MSH;
• Convert the incoming message data into custom Z-segments.

In this example, one custom segment, ZSU, has been defined. Each line of message data in the incoming message will be converted into a separate ZSU segment.

To create the Global Inbound Script:

• From the Chameleon menu, select Global Inbound Script.
• In the Global Inbound Script window, type or copy the following Python script:

import time

# function to return a string containing a timestamp to the millisecond.
# typically used to append to the MessageControlID to guarantee uniqueness
def GetTimestampMsecs():
   now = time.time()
   milliseconds = '%04d' % int((now - int(now)) * 1000)
   return time.strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S') + milliseconds


prefix = 'ZSU|'
fakedMSH = 'MSH|^~\\&|SURGFILE||VLFILEIMP||{0}||ZZZ^001|FileImport|Z|2.2||||||'

rows = value.split('\r')
# feel free to replace \r above with any other end of line indication
# that is applicable to your data file structure

for row in rows:
    rows[rows.index(row)] = prefix + row

# pay attention to empty trailing segments which may be added due to data file structure
# deal with them or ignore them, as applicable to you

rows.insert(0, fakedMSH)

value = '\r'.join(rows)

• Click Ok to save the Global Inbound Script.

This Python script does the following:

• It creates an MSH segment, and includes it as the first segment of the transformed message.
• It adds ZSU| to the beginning of each row of message data. This transforms each row of data into a custom ZSU segment.
• It defines a function named GetTimeStampMsecs() that returns a time stamp, accurate to the millisecond.

The GetTimeStampMsecs() function enables you to define the message control ID for the MSH segment that you are creating. Each message control ID uniquely defines a specific HL7 message. To define the message control ID, create a Segment Inbound Script for field 10 of the MSH segment in your VMD file. To do this:

• In the Workspace, double-click the MSH segment. The MSH segment window appears.
• Locate the Message Control ID row. In this row, locate the Inbound Script column. Click the ... (ellipsis) button in this column.
• In the Segment Inbound Script window, type or copy the following Python script:

MessageControlID = value + "_" + GetTimestampMsecs()

• Click Ok to close the window.

This script takes the timestamp returned by GetTimestampMsecs() and appends it to the value of MessageControlID that was already defined in the message. The result is a unique message ID for this message.

When the Global Inbound Script and the Segment Inbound Script defined above are run on the sample messages in this tutorial, the result looks something like this:

MSH|^~\&|SURGFILE||VLFILEIMP||{0}||ZZZ^001|FileImport_20091124-4356|Z|2.2||||||
ZSU|[11/13/2009 10:26]        |1|0001533008|4071917902|DOE|JOHN||LESB #3 W/C-ARM|ANESTHESIA|Jones, Frank G|002782|
ZSU|[11/13/2009 10:26]        |1|0000451253|4071468583|ROE|MARY|L|MED CHECK/POSS PROCEDURE|ANESTHESIA|Jones, Frank G|002782|
ZSU|[11/13/2009 10:26]        |1|0001472549|4046188712|SMITH|TOMMY|J|PUMP REFILL|ANESTHESIA|Jones, Frank G|002782|

This message is in HL7 format, and can be processed by a message definition in a VMD file. The next step is to create the message definition.