Stream: terminology
Topic: UCUM
Carol Macumber (Sep 21 2020 at 13:23):
HTA, in collaboration with LOINC and Health Data Standards, Regenstrief Institute, has registred the Unified Code for Units of Measure (UCUM) Code System.
Information can be found here - https://confluence.hl7.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=91986468
HTA asks that if anyone has comments or concerns regarding this information, including the designated URL (which will be supported by UTG as preferred), to please comment here or on the HTA confluence page
@Jessica Snell @Swapna Abhyankar @Ted Klein @Julie James @Reuben Daniels
Lloyd McKenzie (Sep 21 2020 at 15:00):
@Grahame Grieve
Grahame Grieve (Sep 21 2020 at 15:49):
@Robert McClure @Swapna Abhyankar @Carol Macumber I do not understand this at all. If "http://unitsofmeasure.org" remains acceptable for use as the canonical URL, why say that the canonical URL is something else? It just guarantees confusion for no other purpose, so far as I can see.
Where do you think that http://ucum.org will be used?
Swapna Abhyankar (Sep 21 2020 at 15:52):
@Grahame Grieve l please see discussion/explanation on https://confluence.hl7.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=91986468&focusedCommentId=91990663
Grahame Grieve (Sep 21 2020 at 15:52):
I read it. I don't see any explanation of my question
Swapna Abhyankar (Sep 21 2020 at 15:55):
Did you see my last post? Regenstrief doesn't have control of http://unitsofmeasure.org and we would rather have the canonical URL be a site that we maintain and ensure is active rather than one that is not stable or maintained consistently.
Grahame Grieve (Sep 21 2020 at 15:56):
how does that answer my questions?
Lloyd McKenzie (Sep 21 2020 at 16:00):
The conversation and decision about what's "best" needs to include the implementer community. I think we'd rather a URL that resolved to old content or didn't resolve at all to one that requires code to change. In the end, the authoritative source for content is the terminology server, not the URL. The resolvable URL is just a "nice convenience".
Swapna Abhyankar (Sep 21 2020 at 16:17):
- If "http://unitsofmeasure.org" remains acceptable for use as the canonical URL, why say that the canonical URL is something else? --> http://unitsofmeasure.org is not acceptable as the canonical URL. I'm simply saying it won't break anything.
- Where do you think that http://ucum.org will be used? --> ideally would be used everywhere from now on
Bottom line - Regenstrief doesn't control http://unitsofmeasure.org and never has.
@Lloyd McKenzie - I don't understand this: "I think we'd rather a URL that resolved to old content or didn't resolve at all to one that requires code to change." You would rather have a URL that doesn't work?
@Ted Klein @Julie James @Carol Macumber @Reuben Daniels , any thoughts?
Grahame Grieve (Sep 21 2020 at 16:19):
so at this point I'm confused. The discussion in page indicated that implementers could continue to use 'http://unitsofmeasure', even though that's not documented, but now this implies that that's not true
Lloyd McKenzie (Sep 21 2020 at 16:28):
Yes, I'd rather have a URL that doesn't work than change the one that's used throughout existing production systems. The URL resolving is a nice-to-have. All FHIR systems using the same URL for UCUM is critical. There's no way to change it without tremendous cost and without significant risk to interoperability.
Vassil Peytchev (Sep 21 2020 at 17:07):
I don't know if it makes a difference, but both http://unitsofmeasure.org and http://ucum.org redirect to https://ucum.org/trac
Grahame Grieve (Sep 21 2020 at 17:08):
sure. I think that the underlying page is confused between 'web site URL' and 'canonical URL'
Swapna Abhyankar (Sep 21 2020 at 17:40):
Am I the "underlying page"? ha ha.
Okay, let's put the URL update on pause (I'm posting a message to the HTA page as well) while we attempt to get ownership of unitsofmeasure.org. I'll keep you posted.
Grahame Grieve (Sep 21 2020 at 17:42):
ok thanks. But our issues are not directly related to the unitsofmeasure.org ownership. It's certainly cleaner, though, if you can sort that out
Swapna Abhyankar (Sep 21 2020 at 17:44):
I understand that.
Julie James (Sep 22 2020 at 08:43):
All. We have just gone through the Equinox for another year; wherever we are in the world, the seasons are changing in some way. Change is a fundamental reality and we ignore it at our peril. If somehow we have constructed something that is unable to cope sensibly (and therefore expensively) with change, we have been foolish. Better to face it and deal with it before it breaks us.
We (the HTA) have established policies which we trust come as close as we sensibly can to the requirements (because sometimes, requirements are actually unwise as all good analysts know). One of those policies is respect for code system owners. This policy costs nothing; please all involved in this conversation, abide by it.
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
