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SNOMED CT® Release Format 1 (RF1) Guide - ihtsdo

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138 | <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT <strong>Release</strong> <strong>Format</strong> 1 (<strong>RF1</strong>) <strong>Guide</strong> July 2012<br />

distinction between items rendered inactive by the process of developing the <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT First <strong>Release</strong><br />

and those that were already non-current in the source terminologies.<br />

3.2.8. Distribution Files<br />

3.2.8.1. Distribution Media<br />

The <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT International <strong>Release</strong> is distributed to most Affiliates by an IHTSDO Member National<br />

<strong>Release</strong> Center . The core files are in the standard flat file structure for healthcare terminology. See the<br />

readme.txt file for a complete list of files included in the release. These files can be loaded into the specific<br />

file or database system used at your location.<br />

3.2.8.2. File <strong>Format</strong>s<br />

<strong>SNOMED</strong> CT files are UTF-8 encoded to support character sets from around the world. Some database<br />

products, such as Oracle, require UTF-8 to be specified in advance; if UTF-8 is not specified, there may be<br />

some difficulty with using and displaying the special characters used in some of the terms. Note that these<br />

special characters are used occasionally in the <strong>SNOMED</strong> CT English language edition, as well as in non-English<br />

editions. Some English languagemedical terms are eponyms, based on the name of an individual, which may<br />

contain special characters.<br />

The file format standard used starting in 2002 is now called "<strong>Release</strong> <strong>Format</strong> One" or <strong>RF1</strong>. There is now a<br />

draft format that will eventually replace it, known as "<strong>Release</strong> <strong>Format</strong> Two" or RF2. During the testing and<br />

transition phase, files in both formats may be available, and therefore it is important to have a file naming<br />

convention that distinguished them. This is done using the number 1 or 2 in the FileType Element. As an<br />

example, here is the file name of the concepts file for the January 2010 release, in the current <strong>Release</strong> <strong>Format</strong><br />

(<strong>RF1</strong>):<br />

• sct1_Concepts_Core_INT_20100131.txt.<br />

The various parts of the concepts table name are given in the table below:<br />

Table 61: File Naming Elements<br />

Element<br />

FileType<br />

ContentType<br />

ContentSubType<br />

Country or Namespace<br />

Version Date<br />

Extension<br />

Value<br />

sct1<br />

Concepts<br />

Core<br />

INT<br />

20100131<br />

txt<br />

Explanation<br />

A terminology data file in <strong>Release</strong><br />

<strong>Format</strong> 1<br />

The data rows each represent a<br />

concept<br />

The file is part of the International<br />

<strong>Release</strong> (<strong>Release</strong> <strong>Format</strong> 1)<br />

The file is part of the International<br />

<strong>Release</strong><br />

an 8-digit number in the pattern<br />

"YYYYMMDD", in compliance with<br />

the ISO 8601 standard<br />

The file is in text format<br />

© 2002-2012 International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation CVR #: 30363434

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