This cheat sheet provides an instant snap-shot of the steps and techniques we use to create CDA documents. Use this as a quick reference when you work through your own CDA implementation.
Recommended Procedure
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Customize the CDA template | Edit the ‘cda’ module’s CdaSchema table to produce a template that matches your own CDA requirements. |
| 2. Create an empty CDA | Use cda.new() to produce an empty CDA based on the template. |
| 3. Populate the empty header elements/attributes | Create and execute a “fill” function to do the heavy lifting: FillHeader()
Leverage the CDA API “set” functions to develop up your “fill” function. Use Lua “dot syntax” to assign values: |
| 4. Append and populate the remaining header elements | Leverage the CDA API “add” functions to create and append the missing elements.
You can also use a combination of |
| 5. Create the CDA body | Use addElement() to create and append the ‘component’ and ‘structuredBody’ elements that compose the CDA body. |
| 6. Append and populate the body elements | Leverage the CDA API “add” functions to develop the CDA body contents.
You can also use a combination of |
Techniques:
| Task | Option | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Create an empty CDA | local Doc = cda.new() |
|
| Update existing attributes | Recommended | CD.id.extension = 'TT998' |
| Alternative | setAttr(CD.id, 'extension', 'TT998') |
|
| Update existing elements | cda.time.set{target=CD.effectiveTime, time='20070415000000+0500'} |
|
| Update existing elements when no “set” function exists | Recommended | CD.setId.extension = 'BB35' |
| Alternative | setAttr(CD.setId, 'extension', 'BB35') |
|
| Create your own | Create a new “set” function like cda.id.setid.set() |
|
| Add an attribute to an element | setAttr(CD.id, 'extension', 'TT998') |
|
| Set a text element | setText(CD.title, 'Good Health Clinic Consultation Note') |
|
| Append a new element | cda.time.add{target=A, element='time', time='20070415000000+0500'} |
|
| Append a new element when no “add” function exists | Add element | addElement(CD, 'languageCode') |
| Set attributes | setAttr(CD.languageCode, 'code', cda.codeset.language["English - US"]) |
|
| Create your own | Create a new “add” function like cda.id.setid.add() |
|
| Create the CDA body | ‘component’ | local Body = CD:addElement('component') |
| ‘structuredBody’ | local SB = Body:addElement('structuredBody') |
|
| Insert external content into an encapsulated text (ED) element | setInner() |
Additional Information
Want to see these processes and techniques in action? Check out the Iguana CDA tutorial for a step-by-step explanation!