Using the hl7simulator Command Line Application |
The command-line version of the HL7 Simulator is named hl7simulator. Where it is located depends on the operating system that you are using:
- In the Windows environment, hl7simulator is located in the directory in which Chameleon is installed (for example, C:\Program Files\iNTERFACEWARE\Chameleon).
- As of version 4.1 of Iguana, hl7simulator is provided for the Linux, Unix and Mac OS X environments. It is located in the directory in which Iguana is installed.
When you start hl7simulator from the command line, you must provide three parameters:
- The host IP address or name to which messages are to be sent;
- The port number to use;
- The file containing the HL7 messages to be sent.
The syntax for hl7simulator is:
hl7simulator --host <host> --port <portnum> --source_file <filename> [<additional optional parameters>] |
The following table provides a complete list of the parameters that can be provided to hl7simulator. These parameters can appear in any order.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| --host <host> | The host to which messages are to be sent. <host> can be an IP address or a host name. This parameter must be provided. |
| --port <portnum> | <portnum> is the port number to use when sending messages. This parameter must be provided. |
| --source_file <filename> | The file containing the HL7 messages to be sent. <filename> specifies the path and file name of the file. If no path is specified, the file is assumed to be in the current directory. This parameter must be provided. |
| --multiple_connect | Disconnect from the host after sending a message, and reconnect when sending the next message. |
| --reconnect_attempts <num> | If not able to connect to the host, try to reconnect <num> times before giving up. If <num> is 0, or if this parameter is not specified, keep trying to reconnect forever. |
| --retry_count <num> | If a message is not sent successfully, try to resend the message <num> times before giving up. If this parameter is not specified, a retry count of 10 is used. |
| --run_once | Only send the messages once; stop when the end of the message file is reached. If this parameter is not specified, hl7simulator sends the messages in the message file repeatedly until terminated. |
| --time_delay <time> | The amount of time to wait, specified in milliseconds, before sending the next message. If this parameter is not specified, a delay of 100 milliseconds is used. |
| --timeout <time> | The amount of time to wait for an ACKnowledgment message from the host before resending a message. <time> is specified in milliseconds; if <time> is 0, hl7simulator will not wait for an ACK. If this parameter is not specified, a timeout of 1000 milliseconds is used. |
Here is an example of the output from hl7simulator:
D:\sample>hl7simulator --port 1234 --host localhost --source_file messages.txt --run_once hl7simulator 1.0.4 -------------HL7 Simulator Started at 17/2/2009 13:31:15------------- Connected to host. Message #82 Time Taken : 9 seconds TPS : 9.111112 |
As messages are sent, a running count of the message total is displayed in your command prompt window. When hl7simulator stops running or is terminated, it displays the total elapsed time and the number of messages sent per second (shown here as TPS, or transactions per second).
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To terminate hl7simulator, type Ctrl-C (press the Ctrl and C keys simultaneously). | ||
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If you try to run hl7simulator when there is no Iguana channel listening on the port you specify, you will see messages similar to the following:
D:\sample>hl7simulator --port 1234 --host localhost --source_file message.txt --reconnect_attempts 3 hl7simulator 1.0.4 -------------HL7 Simulator Started at 17/2/2009 13:39:31------------- Error: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. Retrying connect in 1000 ms Error: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. Retrying connect in 1000 ms Error: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. Retrying connect in 1000 ms Connection failed: Connection attempts failed Error: Unable to send a message. Time Taken : 6 seconds TPS : 0.166667 |
In this case, the --reconnect_attempts parameter specifies how often hl7simulator will try to send the message before giving up.