Important Notice to all HIMSA Members Companies
With the release of Noah 4.12 HIMSA will start enforcing validation of legacy data formats. HIMSA is encouraging all HIMSA member companies to forward this information on to the appropriate product and technical staff members that deal with Noah integration.
Impacted Data Type Codes
Q: What types of data does this change impact?
A: Please see the below table for complete details
- Testing Only = Only applies to Noah 4.10. Noah can be configured to test required validation
- Workaround Available = With this version of Noah validation is enabled for this data type. If a Noah compatible application is found to not be compliant the HIMSA member company can provide support to that customer by providing a HIMSA supplied workaround. HIMSA will provide more details closer to the release of Noah.
- Required = With this version of Noah the required validation is turned on for this data type. If the a Noah compatible application is not storing valid data there is no workaround. The member company will need to correct the error.
- Not included = This version of Noah is not able to require validation.
- Known Issues = HIMSA is aware of issues that need to be resolved by HIMSA.
| Data Type | Noah 4.10 | Noah 4.12 | Noah 4.13** | Noah 4.14 | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audiogram (format 100,200) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required | |
| Admittance (format 100) | Known Issues | Not included | Workaround Available | Required | Known issues with the format converter to enabled required validation, HIMSA needs to provide an updated converter and will plan to do so with the next release of Noah |
| Hearing Instrument Test (format 100, 200) | Known Issues | Not included | Workaround Available | Required | Known issues with the format converter to enabled required validation, HIMSA needs to provide an updated converter and will plan to do so with the next release of Noah |
| Real Ear Measurement (format 100, 200) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required | |
| Hearing Instrument Selection (format 100) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required | |
| Hearing Instrument Fitting (format 100) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required | |
| Remote Control Selection (format 100) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required | |
| Otoacoustic Emissions (format 100,200) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required | |
| Loudness Scaling (format 100) | Testing Only | Workaround Available | Required | Required |
Q: What has caused this topic to be raised?
A: Many years ago HIMSA implemented an updated strategy with our data standards to help ensure that data would be validated before being allowed to be stored within Noah 4. This was accomplished by companies utilizing our XML/XSD based data standards. Some companies have adopted the use of the new standard format but there are still many companies that have not.
HIMSA has noted an increased number of support issues where applications making use of the new formats and run-time converters are receiving data based on older formats that contain incorrectly formatted data. This is of course a regrettable situation and HIMSA feels that we must do all that we can do to ensure applications can expect to read data in a predictable fashion.
Q: What data formats does this change impact?
A: The legacy data formats are format 100 or 200. Data formats 500 or higher are XML formatted and Noah already validates this data when saved to Noah.
Q: What will Noah do in the future to validate data formatted with one of the legacy formats?
A: All legacy formats have 1-to-1 mapping to XML (as format 500). When a legacy format is saved, then Noah will step in and run-time convert the data for format 500 and then run the validation method against this data. If the data is found to be valid, it will then be allowed to be saved in the legacy format. HIMSA will not permanently store the legacy data in the converted format.
Q: Will Noah validate legacy formatted data already saved in Noah?
A: No. This project is focused on new data being saved to Noah.
Q: What will the Noah user experience be if the data is found to not validate when saving new impacted data to Noah?
A: Noah will throw an exception and will not allow the data to be saved to Noah. How the module displays this fact will depend on each application's development.
Q: What can my company do to be best prepared for this change?
A: There are several proactive steps you can take advantage of:
- For the longer term, make plans to start storing data using updated formats (500 and higher).
- Install Noah 4.10 and follow the directions on how to turn on the validation feature. This feature is not turned on for the general public but rather a feature that can be turned on for special testing. HIMSA member companies are not allowed to turn this feature on for hearing care business installations.
- If your software is storing invalid data, resolve the issue please in the format you are using or make plans to move to a current data format.
Q: How is the forced validation feature turned off (if applicable, see table above) with Noah 4.12?
A: ForcedValidation.zip
- Unzip and run the "ForcedValidation.bat" file with administrative rights, answer the prompts accordingly.
- Reboot your computer so that the changes take effect OR Restart the Noah Server and Noah Client Services
Q: How does this topic impact HIMSA certification testing?
A: A long standing certification rule is that data must be compliant with the corresponding data standard. If data is not following a data standard correctly it is deemed critical and certification is not granted. HIMSA's certification test sites will have forced validation turned on by default with Noah 4.10 to be used as an additional testing method.
Q: What can I do if I have more questions or issues?
A: Please submit a support issue here