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PRTG Manual: HL7 Sensor

The HL7 sensor monitors the availability of Health Level 7 (HL7) interfaces. It sends an HL7 message to the target device and checks for a valid response.

You can define your own messages in HL7 format as .hl7 files in the PRTG program directory. This sensor sends them to the HL7-capable system with each scanning interval.

For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

Dutch: HL7
French: HL7
German: HL7
Japanese: HL7
Portuguese: HL7
Russian: HL7
Simplified Chinese: HL7
Spanish: HL7

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark	Description
.NET 4.7.2 or later	This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later from Microsoft on the probe system. In a cluster, install it on every cluster node. If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?
IPv6	This sensor supports IPv6.
Performance impact	This sensor has a medium performance impact.
Lookups	This sensor uses lookups to determine the status values of one or more channels.

Basic Sensor Settings

The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:

dicom
hl7

For more information about basic sensor settings, see section Sensor Settings.

Connection Settings

Setting	Description
Port	Enter the port of the HL7 interface that the sensor uses for the connection. The default port is 1204.
Timeout (Sec.)	Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes). If the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message.

Setting

Description

Port

Enter the port of the HL7 interface that the sensor uses for the connection. The default port is 1204.

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

If the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message.

Specific Sensor Settings

Setting	Description
Message Header	Define if you want to use the default message header (MSH) as defined in the selected .hl7 message file or if you want to override certain headers: Default message header: Send the MSH as defined in the .hl7 message file. Override message header: Define a custom MSH below that overrides the MSH in the .hl7 message file.
Sending Application	This setting is only visible if you select Override message header above. Enter the name of the sending application, for example, PRTG. It overrides the default value in the message. Enter a string.
Sending Facility	This setting is only visible if you select Override message header above. Enter the name of the sending facility. It overrides the default value in the message. Enter a string.
Receiving Application	This setting is only visible if you select Override message header above. Enter the name of the receiving application. It overrides the default value in the message. Enter a string.
Receiving Facility	This setting is only visible if you select Override message header above. Enter the name of the receiving facility. It overrides the default value in the message. Enter a string.
HL7 Message	Select an .hl7 file from the list. This sensor sends it to the target device with every scanning interval. The list shows all files that are available in the \Custom Sensors\hl7 subfolder of the PRTG program directory on the probe system. For files to appear in this list, store them in this subfolder with the extension .hl7. To be accepted by the HL7 interface, your files must have the expected HL7 message format. PRTG comes with two sample .hl7 message files that you can use to test your HL7 monitoring and to have a look at the expected format. These files are in the \Custom Sensors\hl7 subfolder. You can override certain headers using the Message Header sensor setting. You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Debug Options

Setting	Description
Result Handling	Define what PRTG does with the sensor result: Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result. Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt, Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt, and Result of Sensor [ID].log. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval. This option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Setting

Description

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt, Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt, and Result of Sensor [ID].log. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

This option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance.

In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Sensor Display

Setting	Description
Primary Channel	Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor. You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.
Graph Type	Define how this sensor shows different channels: Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel. Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic. You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).
Stack Unit	This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above. Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Setting

Description

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.

You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how this sensor shows different channels:

Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above.

Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Channel List

Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

Channel	Description
ACK Status	The acknowledgment (ACK) status Up status: Accept Down status: Error, Reject
Downtime	In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status.
Message Control ID OK	The message control ID status Up status: Yes Down status: No
Response Time	The response time This channel is the primary channel by default.