It occurred to me after the recent exchanges that there may be some people out there who do not realise something basic about openEHR, which is that it is working at two levels. The first level is "abstract specifications" - i.e. the technology- and platform-independent specifications mentioned by Dave and Tom C. earlier. The specifications which you see on the openEHR website (Documentation>specifications) are all in this category (these will all be upgraded significantly in the next week or so, so if you are a first timer, it might be best to wait for the next release).
Anything to do with expressions in certain languages like XML, C++, Java or whatever, are all in the second level - "Implementation Technology Specifications" - ITSs (this is the term HL7 uses for the same purpose by the way, and in the interests of reducing jargon, we use it too). So - any actual system or data model is an ITS, not a abstract specification. All the abstract specifications are in UML. The roadmap document currently on the Deep Thought openEHR draft page ( http://www.deepthought.com.au/health/openEHR/specifications/roadmap/roadmap_1_4_2.pdf) may help people understand the general approach to modelling. Please note that this page contains draft specifications which are some way ahead of the existing ones on the openEHR.org site. You are welcome to look at them, but they are in mid-review, and will undoubtedly contain changes by the time they appear on www.openEHR.org in a couple of weeks or so. That said, the models and formal class definitions are thought to be pretty correct. Don't say I didn't warn you! (in the future such drafts will normally be on www.openEHR.org, but the website work has not been finished to accommodate this). - thomas beale - If you have any questions about using this list, please send a message to d.lloyd at openehr.org
