New Features

Import reference sets from spreadsheets and delimiter separated values files

Besides the standard RF2 format, Snow Owl now supports importing reference sets from spreadsheets and delimiter separated values (csv, tsv) files. The import can be invoked from the generic Snow Owl Import Wizard. After selecting the file to import, the user can set the file specific attributes (eg. skipping header or empty lines from import). The import creates a regular RF2 Simple type reference set, with an identifier concept within the SNOMED CT metadata hierarchy.

Import reference set from file

The errors found during the import are presented to the user after the reference set has been created. The log can be exported into a text file, or dragged and dropped into any files for future review.

Error log of reference set import

Export reference sets to delimiter separated values files

Simple type reference sets can now be exported to a delimiter separated file. You can choose what kind of delimiter will be used to separate columns (e.g. comma, tab, semicolon, or your own favorite character). Based on the Machine Readable Concept Model Snow Owl allows exporting the attributes of the reference set members as well. A user-friendly dialog assists the user in selecting the concept attributes to export, and specifying the output file format.

Select attributes to export

Specify output file details

The delimiter separated values files can later be imported into Microsoft Excel.

Additional documentation

Two new chapters were added to the Getting Started with Snow Owl guide.

Collaborative Authoring

After a short introduction to working in a collaborative fashion, this chapter will take you through the different stages of the task life cycle from the initial creation of a task through an authoring and reviewing stage to the final approval. You will also learn how users with different work areas and levels of authority are integrated in the work flow. At the end of the chapter the basics of dual independent authoring will be explained. The following topics will be covered:

Getting Started with Semantic Queries

This chapter will give an introduction the SNOMED CT Extended Compositional Grammar (ESCG) and show how to use Snow Owl for semantic queries.

In the first part, you will learn how to set up an environment for doing queries:

The second part will give a step-by-step introduction to ESCG. Various examples will help users that are not familiar with ESCG to understand the different operators and the way the syntax is structured. The query examples are included in the B2i examples folder of Snow Owl so that they can be executed to emphasize the training. For more advanced users, we included a summary of the ESCG operators for easy reference at the end of the chapter. The following topics are covered: