# OWL vs. ADL **Category:** [Technical (archive)](https://discourse.openehr.org/c/technical-archive/156) **Created:** 2004-09-21 21:45 UTC **Views:** 5 **Replies:** 2 **URL:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/owl-vs-adl/14469 --- ## Post #1 by @Greg_Weinger Hello, I have a basic question concerning the overlap of ADL and OWL\. Since you're looking to export ADL to OWL, it seems like they overlap quite a bit, but what are the differences? Also, from the web site I couldn't tell if the HL7 Structured documents were to be published in \*both\* ADL and OWL, or in a \*combination\* of the two\. Please direct me to a URL if I've missed some pertinent documentation \(admittedly, I've only read the OpenEHR web site so far, not the seminal Archetypes paper\)\. Thanks, Greg --- ## Post #2 by @Elkin_Peter_L_M.D Greg, We at Mayo are working with OpenEHR to produce a set of Java methods to create Archetypes which can be represented in OWL\. These Archetypes are output in the abstract syntax which is loaded into memory as Java objects which are exposed for your use\. Then we have a set of routines to output these objects as OWL:rdf, which is the exchange syntax for the semantic web\. This output of Archetypes will be linked to higher level models such as the CDA and a terminology model \(expressed as an archetype\)\. Hopefully code will be available by early October\. Warm regards, Peter Peter L\. Elkin, MD Professor of Medicine Director, Laboratory of Biomedical Informatics Department of Internal Medicine Mayo Clinic, College of Medicine Mayo Clinic, Rochester \(507\) 284\-1551 Fax: \(507\) 284\-5370 --- ## Post #3 by @thomas.beale Greg Weinger wrote: > Hello, > > I have a basic question concerning the overlap of ADL and OWL\. Since you're looking to export ADL to OWL, it seems like they overlap quite a bit, but what are the differences? Hi Greg, I have documented some of the differences in the latest ADL draft \- go to the drafts page under 'development' on openEHR\.org\. I am not an OWL expert so the University of Manchester people or Mayo group may want to add corrections\. In practical terms what we know so far is that: \- OWL does only a few of the leaf constraint types that ADL does, e\.g\. constraints on dates, integers, reals, strings and so on\. But we are told that this will improve as time goes on \- it is still an open question as to how to represent the ontology part of an archetype in OWL; experts in this area are still wrking on it My gut feeling is that converting an ADL archetype to OWL will eventually be doable, but it will be 6\-12 months before we get it right, since some of the open questions are the subject of research, including at Manchester and Mayo\. We're really on the bleeding edge here\. > Also, from the web site I couldn't tell if the HL7 Structured documents were to be published in \*both\* ADL and OWL, or in a \*combination\* of the two\. > > Please direct me to a URL if I've missed some pertinent documentation \(admittedly, I've only read the OpenEHR web site so far, not the seminal Archetypes paper\)\. In addition to the original paper, I recommend the latest ADL and AOM drafts on the development/drafts page \- these have significant improvements to the current official versions\. We are all hurriedly learning as fast as we can, and the Mayo Clinic's project will be a real test bed for archetypes in an OWL environment\. As Peter has said, there will be software available soon \(indeed the current ADL workbench and Clinical archeytpe editor contain a rough OWL outputter \- see the downloads from www\.oceanInformatics\.biz\), but I want stress that the output is \_experimental\_ and curently technically not correct \- it will be improved as we go\. If you have expertise in this area, it would be valued\. Hope this helps\. \- thomas --- **Canonical:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/owl-vs-adl/14469 **Original content:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/owl-vs-adl/14469