Table of ContentsTable of Contents
File/Application Toolbar
File Operations
Open - Open a file containing HL7 Messages
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
- Clicking the Open button displays the standard Windows Open File Dialog. The Open File Dialog allows you to multi-select files to be opened
- Clicking just under the Open button will display a list of most recently opened files for quick access.
- You can also open files by dragging and dropping files into HL7Spy, or by using the "Open Folder" tool
New - Create a new, empty, HL7 file
- You can create a new file and copy and paste messages into the Editor
Open Folder - Open multiple files
- Directory - The location of the folder you wish to search for matching files
- File Search - A semicolon delimited list of file extensions to search for
- Recurse Subdirectories - Whether or not nested sub folders should be searched
- Content Search - Look at the contents of the file to see if there is a match. This is useful, for example, if you are search for a specific patient ID.
- Use Regex - Specify a more complex search by using a Regular Expression
- Match Case - Whether or not the case of the text should be considered in the match
- Merge files into a single file before loading - If you are opening many little files, it is best to merge them into 1 before loading them in HL7Spy
Open Hex - Open a file and display its contents in the Hex Editor
- Clicking the Open button displays the standard Windows Open File Dialog.
- Clicking to the right of the Open button will display a list of most recently opened files for quick access.
Save As - Save the contents of the current tab to a file
- Files in HL7Spy are always read only. Modifying a message in the editor does NOT edit the underlying file. This is by design.
- To save changes you must save the file to another file
- Clicking on the “Save File” toolbar button displays the following dialog which provides control over the location and format of the files being saved.
-
When the “Save” button is clicked, each message in the message collection will be written to the file specified in the “File Path” textbox, using the specified character encoding. The Frame Start/Frame End specify how messages are delimited. By default, Standard HL7 Message Framing is used with each message preceded by the byte 0x0B and proceeded by 0x1C0X1D. This results in messages stored with the following format: 0BMSH....1C0D0BMSH...1C0D...
Eport Xml - Export the contents of the Editor to Xml
- Version of Xml that should be generated
- Message Range - Allows you to select a subset of messages to export
- Generated File Name - Determine what is used to generate the file name of the Xml document
- Directory - Where the Xml files should be written
- Sample Message - Shows what the current message in the editor converts to in Xml
HL7 Communications
Receive HL7 - Receive HL7 Messages over TCP/IP using the MLLP Protocol
- Welcome Port - The Windows Network Port that HL7Spy will listen on for incoming connections.
- Network Interface (to the right of the Welcome Port) - Network Interfaces available on the local machine. By default all interfaces are listened on.
- Inactivity Timeout - Time in minutes before the a connection will be closed due to inactivity
- Max Message Size - The maximum size in KB that HL7Spy will receive. A setting of 0 means there is no size limit.
- Support BHS/FHS Messages - Turn on/off HL7 batch message protocol option
- Acknowledgement - Set the HL7 ACK return code and message send back to the sending party
- Debug Logging - Turn on/off logging of the HL7 protocol. This is good for troubleshooting connectivity issues.
- File Path - The location that will be used to store the incoming messages
- Delete File on Close - When selected, the file containing the messages will automatically be deleted when the tab is closed
- Exclusive Access - Turn on/off sharing of the file
Options
Application Options - Set options that affect the visual and operational characteristics of the application
- Order Tabs by MSH-7 - When enabled, tab are sorted in order of the date time value (MSH-7) found in the first message of each tab.
- Hide Application Tooltips - When you hover over buttons within the application tooltips that describe the functionality of button are displayed. This option allows you to disable these tooltips.
- Hide Button Group Title - The text below groups of buttons (for example "File Operations" under the "Open Hex" button) can be hidden to free up vertical display area.
- Show Partial Load Dialog - When loading a very large file, you might want to turn this feature on to only load a portion of the file instead of the entire contents
- Explorer - Start New HL7Spy Instance - When enable, a new instance of HL7Spy will be launched when opening a file from Windows Explorer. Otherwise; an existing instance of HL7Spy will be used to display the file
- Use Strict Message Detection - HL7Spy by default uses heuristics to determine the start and end of HL7 messages in a file. Turning on strict mode forces HL7Spy to use a less forgiving algorithm for this.
- Troubleshooting - Increase Logging - When you encounter a problem with HL7Spy our support team may ask you to turn this feature on to increase the amount of logging the application generates. Log files are located in Documents\HL7Spy\logs.
- Use Windows Aero Glass - Change the visual appearance of the application by turning on/off Windows Aero Glass
- Shadow Main Window - Turn on/off a shadow along the border of the main HL7Spy application window that makes it easier to see when HL7Spy is the active application
- Look And Feel - Change the application's coloring and how elements such as windows, buttons, and menus look and feel
- Reset Layout - Set the application back to its default layout.
- Reset Permissions - This option is enabled when HL7Spy is run as a user with Administrator rights to the machine. It resets the permissions on folder and registry entries that are used by HL7Spy and have been corrupted
Editor Options - Change operational characteristics of the editor
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
- Mask PHI Settings - Controls which fields are masked when Masking is turned on in the editor. See Mask PHI Settings...
- HL7 Keyboard Tips - Turn on/off the tooltip that is displayed when a fields is selected in the editor. Tip: These tooltips are also displayed when you hold the shift key down while hovering the mouse over a field.
- Word Wrap - Turn on/off word wrapping when lines in the editor are longer than the display area
- Whitespace - Show/hide the whitespace within the message
- Line Numbers - Show/hide the line numbers that are displayed in the editor
- Dock Navigation Bar to top - This option allows you to control the location of the message navigation control. By default, the message slider, search box, and navigation controls are docked just below the editor. Some users prefer to have these controls docked on top of the editor.
- Font - Change the font family and size used by the editor.
Registration and Help
Register HL7Spy - Register your license to activate HL7Spy
Bug Report - Generate a zip file containing debugging information
- Clicking this button will open a new window that will allow you to enter information about an HL7Spy bug that you have found.
- When you select "Generate" a zip file will be created on your desktop that contains the information you entered as well as the log files from your c:\users\<your account>\Documents\HL7Spy\log directory
- When reporting a bug, please email us this file. It will help us troubleshoot the problem
About HL7Spy - Shows information about your copy of HL7Spy
- Hardware ID - An identifier for your instance of HL7Spy
- Licensee - The email address, or owner of this copy of HL7Spy
...
Home/Editor Toolbar
The Home/Editor Toolbar is a convenient way to access commonly used commands. Please see below for labelled close up of the Editor Toolbar.
File
Open - Open a file containing HL7 Messages
Tools
Tool Views - Show/Hide the tool windows
...
Options
Editor Options - Change operational characteristics of the editor
- See Editor Options
Mask PHI - Mask Private Health Information
...
- Which fields are masked are control by settings under: "Editor Options\Mask PHI Settings..."
- Default Masking - All fields in segments that are not mentioned in "Fields to Mask" and "Fields to NOT Mask" and "Free Text Fields" are fully masked.
- Fields to Mask - Fields specified in this section will be masked. Other fields in the message will remain unmasked.
- Fields to NOT Mask - Fields specified in this section will NOT be masked. To NOT mask an entire segment, specify just the segment name.
- Free Text Fields - Fields identified here will have PHI text automatically masked. Any text that matches any field that was masked in other parts of the message will be masked.
- Mask Character - Specify the character that will be used to "mask" the PHI.
HL7 Standard Version - Version of HL7 Standard used in the editor
- Specifies the version of HL7 that is being used to display keyboard tooltips, searches, and other tools that rely on knowledge of the HL7 data types and field names.
- When set to "Auto" the version will automatically be chosen based on the value in MSH-12 from the message currently displayed in the editor.
Find
5. Search - In addition to the Quick Search functionality provided in the Navigation Bar, HL7Spy provides another, more robust search tool. See Search Messages for more details.
6. Sort - Allows messages within a Message Collection to be sorted by one or more HL7 fields, or by message size/offset. Changing the order of the messages in the Message Collection affects the order in which messages are used in other parts of the application such as HL7 Send, the Message Editor, etc. See Sort Messages for more details.
7. Merge Message Collections - Messages from multiple tabs can be merged together into a single tab using the “Merge Messages” dialog. See Merge Messages for more details.
8. Split Message Collections - Break messages out from one message collection into separate files or messages collections. See Split Messages for more details.
9. Clean-up Messages - The “Clean-up Messages Dialog” provides options to remove duplicate messages, remove ACKs, or messages that match a user defined specification, from the current message collection. A screen shot of this dialog follows. The options should be self evident.
10. Send HL7 - Allows one or more messages in a Message Collection to be sent to another HL7 system using the Minimal Lower Layer Protocol (MLLP) protocol as defined in the HL7 2.x standard. You can also send messages between message tabs within HL7Spy. See Send HL7 (MLLP) for more details.
11. Receive HL7 - Sets up HL7Spy as a HL7 Receiver using the Minimal Lower Layer Protocol (MLLP) protocol as defined in the HL7 2.x standard. You can also receive messages from another messages tab within HL7Spy. See Receive HL7 (MLLP) for more details.
12. Sub-Component Statistics - Provides statistics for a specific HL7 sub-component for all messages in a Message Collection. This is a very powerful feature of HL7Spy because it gives you the distribution of all values found in a given field. This functionality can also be accessed by holding down the Control key and double-clicking on a sub-component in the Message Editor, by right-clicking a field in the Message Editor and selecting the “Sub-Component Statistics” menu option, or by selecting “Tools/Calculate Subcomponent Statistics” from the main menu. See Toolbar Statistics for more details.
13. Component Statistics - Provides the same functionality as Sub-Component Statistics, except the statistics are at the Component level instead of the Sub-Component level. This functionality can also be accessed by double-clicking on a Component in the Message Editor, by right-clicking a Component in the Message Editor and selecting the “Component Statistics” menu option, or by selecting “Tools/Calculate Components Statistics” from the main menu. See Toolbar Statistics for more details.
14. Repeat Statistics - Provides the same functionality as Sub-Component Statistics, except the statistics are at the Repetition separator level instead of the Sub-Component level. This functionality can also be accessed by double-clicking on a Repetition separated section in the Message Editor, or by right-clicking a Repetition separated section in the Message Editor and selecting the “Repeat Statistics” menu option. See Toolbar Statistics for more details.
15. Field Statistics - Provides the same functionality as Sub-Component Statistics, except the statistics are at the Field level instead of the Sub-Component level. This functionality can also be accessed by double-clicking on a Field in the Message Editor, by right-clicking a Field in the Message Editor and selecting the “Field Statistics” menu option, or by selecting “Tools/Calculate Field Statistics” from the main menu. See Toolbar Statistics for more details.
16. Advanced Statistics - Allows you to be a bit more granular with your statistic results. You are given the option of the four above (Sub-Component, Component, Repeat, or Field) and further filter options. See Toolbar Statistics for more details.
17. Add Watch - This button adds the field currently selected in the Message Editor window to the active Watch List. See Watch Window for more details.
18. Highlight Fields by Field Name - Use this feature to highlight a particular field by the name of the field. For instance, typing in “doctor” in the pop-up dialog will highlight all the doctor fields in the message, e.g. Attending Doctor, Referring Doctor, etc.
19. Field Tooltips - By default, tooltips are displayed when you move the cursor around, or click on fields, in the Message Editor. Tooltips can be disabled by clicking on this button.
20. Change Character Encoding - Use this option to change the character set that HL7Spy uses to display messages.
21. Change Message Framing - Messages within a stream, such as a file, are identified with a start signature, and an end signature. In HL7Spy this is called Message Framing. This option allows control over how HL7Spy interprets the start and end of a message. See Message Framing for more details.
22. Message Properties/Hex Editor - Displays a hexadecimal display of the current message in the Message Editor as well as some information about it's character encoding, the file the message belongs to, the message offset and size, and whether it has been modified or not. See Message Properties for more details.
23a. Show Messages Using Standard Encoding - HL7 allows messages to be encoded using characters other than the beloved |^~\& characters found in most HL7 Messages. Why anyone would use characters other than these is beyond understanding, however; the standard permits it. If you are used to seeing messages using the standard encoding characters, your brain gets used to viewing and automatically parsing this format. Switch the encoding characters and your brain suddenly has a very difficult time processing what it sees. Enabling this feature (the default), automatically displays any message using the default encoding. It does not change how the message is sent stored on disk, or how it is sent out via MLLP, just how it is displayed in the Message Editor.
23b. Mask Private Health Information 
- Turn on/off whether or not the fields specified in "Options/Mask PHI Fields Settings..." are used to hide fields within the HL7 Editor.
"Fields to Mask" - Identify specific fields that will be masked in the HL7 message.
"Fields to NOT Mask" - All fields in the HL7 segment that are not identified here will be masked
"Fields to Mask" - Fields identified here will have PHI found in the "Fields to Mask" and "Fields to NOT Mask" sections masked.
"Mask Character" - Specify the character that will be used to "mask" the PHI.
24. Specify HL7 Message Version - This allows you to specify the version of HL7 you are using, versions 2.1-2.7 are supported. You may also opt to have HL7Spy automatically detect the version for you.
25. Cut Current Message - Cuts the currently displayed message in the Message Editor, to the clipboard.
26. Copy Message To Clipboard - Copies the currently displayed message in the Message Editor, to the clipboard.
27. Paste Message - Pastes the message currently in the clipboard into the current Message Collection. When “Paste Message” is selected, a dialog pops up and asks whether the message should be 1) inserted before the current message, 2) inserted after the current message, or 3) overwrite the current message.
28. Delete Current Message - Removes the current message from the active Message Editor.
Note: the message data on disk is not removed, it is just removed from the visible Message Collection. However, saving the file will remove the message.
29. Insert New Message Before - Inserts a new, empty HL7 Message. The new message is placed before the current message in the Message Editor.
30. Insert New Message After - Inserts a new, empty HL7 Message. The new message is placed after the current message in the Message Editor.
31. Send Current Message to Left Compare Window - Sends the current message to compare window on the left to find the differences between it and the message in the right compare window. See HL7 Compare for more details.
32. Send Current Message to Right Compare Window - Sends the current message to compare window on the right to find the differences between it and the message in the left compare window. See HL7 Compare for more details.
33. Show/Hide MainMenu - Allows you to show or hide the MainMenu shown to the right. 
...