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This section includes information about general topics related to SNOMED CT release file including:

Children Display

The detailed specification of release file is provided in the two section that follow this one:

  • 3. Component Release Files Specification
    • Files that represent the main SNOMED CT components

      • Concepts

      • Descriptions

      • Relationships
  • 4. Reference Set Release Files Specification
    • Files that can be used to customize and enhance SNOMED CT by representing
      • Subsets
      • Maps to other code systems
      • Language and dialect preferences for different terms
      • Annotation of components
      • Associations between components
      • Other forms of configuration and extensibility

Related Terminology Service Documentation

 

Info
titleHistorical Note

Current and Previous Release File Formats

The standard format in which 

Gloss
Spacetrue
tSNOMED CT
has been distributed since 2012 is known as 
Gloss
tRelease Format 2
(RF2). It was developed in response to extensive feedback on the original release file format, now known as
Gloss
tRelease Format 1
(RF1), in which
Gloss
Spacetrue
tSNOMED CT
was distributed between its first release in 2002 and 2012. The SNOMED CT International Edition no longer supported or distributed in RF1. However, a conversion tool to general RF1 style files from the RF2 release files is available.

The key enhancements in

Gloss
Spacetrue
tRF2
were:

  • More robust and consistent version representation;
  • Inclusion of a moduleId and module dependency mechanism, which together enable modularization of releases while representing dependencies between modules;
  • Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tReference sets
    to provide an extensible and versionable way to configure 
    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tSNOMED CT.
    Including support for subsets, maps, annotations, alternative hierarchies, etc.;

  • Use of an added

    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    thierarchy
    to represent metadata about the structure of
    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tSNOMED CT
    itself.

In common with the earlier release format

Gloss
Spacetrue
tRF2
specifies files that: 

  • Represent the components of

    Gloss
    tSNOMED CT:

    • Gloss
      tConcepts

    • Gloss
      tDescriptions

    • Gloss
      tRelationships

  • Provide standard representations for subsets, language preferences and maps to other codes and classifications.

  • Are distributed as tab-delimited text files - which represent character content in accordance with the  Unicode UTF-8 specification;
  • Use

    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tSNOMED CT Identifiers
    as the permanent
    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tIdentifier
    of released core components;

  • Support

    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    textensions
    to the
    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tInternational Release
    using
    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tnamespaces
    allocated to licensees to denote the provenance of added components and to ensure
    Gloss
    Spacetrue
    tIdentifier
    uniqueness.