The HL7 sensor monitors the availability of Health Level 7 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.
HL7 Sensor
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
This sensor requires.NET 4.7.2 or later from Microsoft on the probe system.
This sensor supports IPv6.
This sensor has a medium performance impact.
This sensor uses lookups to determine the status values of one or more channels.
Detailed Requirements
Requirement
Description
.NET 4.7.2 or later
This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later to be installed on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe).
If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor.
If the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?
This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.
Tags
Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the Enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case-sensitive. Tags are automatically inherited.
It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).
For performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added.
The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:
dicom
hl7
Priority
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority () to the highest priority ().
HL7 Connection
HL7 Connection
Setting
Description
Port
Enter the port of the HL7 interface that the sensor uses for the connection.
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.
HL7 Message Specific
HL7 Message Specific
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
Debug Options
Setting
Description
Result Handling
Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:
Discard result: Do not store the sensor result.
Store result: Store the last sensor result 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
Sensor Display
Setting
Description
Primary Channel
Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed 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 different channels are shown for this sensor:
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 enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked 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 Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
You cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.
Access Rights
Access Rights
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.
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