4.6. Extensibility
The XML file format is portable and platform independent. It
is both human readable and machine processable. The format
also facilitates logical data management. The original content
and integrity of the data in clinical notes can be more
closely preserved and represented, without the need to break
down the data into different tables/columns which is often
required in relational and NoSQL database schemas. Another
advantage of the XML approach is the potential interoperability
with other systems. For example, the international
Health Level Seven messaging standard (including the HL7CDA specification used in this study) commonly used in health
information systems is specified in XML format, and the
proposed XML data structure is expected to integrate well with
systems developed with this standard with minimal development
effort. This is a clear advantage of the XML approaches
when compared to the NoSQL approaches.