ListServ

Sent on behalf of Joe Rogers

Date:             September 22, 2023

To:                 NAACCR ListServ members

From:            Joseph D. Rogers, M.S.

        Team Lead: Informatics, Data Science, and Applications Team

                       Cancer Surveillance Branch

                       Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, NCCDPHP, CDC

Subject:        Release of CDC NPCR's Exchange Plus 2.5 (formerly known as XMLExchange Plus) for NAACCR v24

We are very pleased to announce that Exchange Plus 2.5 including the new mapping feature is now available!  This version replaces the previous version available on the CDC NPCR Registry Plus website, and the web page has been updated. This version should be used to create user specific dictionaries for NAACCR version 24 and accommodates previous NAACCR XML versions.

XML Exchange Plus was renamed to Exchange Plus since the application has transformed into a useful tool to assist central cancer registries in several registry operation activities extending beyond the XML data exchange format. Several enhanced features have been added to the application over time.

XMLExchange Plus is a tool for reading and writing data exchange files formatted according to the NAACCR XML Data Exchange Standard.  Exchange Plus was developed to work with analytic software tools such as R and SAS, which do not accept NAACCR-formatted XML data files as inputs, but can accept flat and delimited files produced by this application to perform data manipulation, statistical calculation, and graphical display.

The following updates have been included in this release of Exchange Plus:

• Supports the NAACCR Data Exchange Standard, XML Specifications for Cancer Registry Records, Version 1.7: The dictionary item attribute "trim" was retired in v1.7 and removed from the dictionary maintenance module in Exchange Plus. The values "rightBlank", "leftBlank" and "rightZero" of the dictionary item attribute "padding" were retired.
• Uses Edits Engine, version 6.x (Edits60.DLL): When edit metafiles created in version 5 format are selected in the Run EDITS module, a prompt will be displayed to convert the metafile to the new format.  Conversion is completed quickly and the original edit metafile is left unchanged; a new copy of the converted metafile is created with a name that ends with "_Edits60". After the conversion completes, the converted metafile will be selected.
• New Feature Added for Mapping: Sample mapping configurations and files are packaged in the install to assist users in learning the feature. Built-in translation functions are available and can be copied or modified, new translation tables can be created, and custom mapping code can be written for those familiar with writing programming code.

Tasks performed by XMLExchange Plus include:

• Create User Dictionaries/Dictionary Maintenance. This module is intended to help users who are not XML experts produce valid NAACCR XML dictionaries. This audience includes metafile administrators who may be asked to define a user dictionary based upon customized data items collected by their registry.
• Convert. This module converts data files from the flat-buffer format to NAACCR XML format (NAACCR v18 only – will be retired in the near future), from NAACCR XML format to flat-buffer format, and from NAACCR XML format to delimited.
• Run EDITS. This module runs EDITS against a NAACCR XML data file and creates a GenEDITS-style report (detail and summary).
• Import, View, Update, Export NAACCR Data. This module allows users to import NAACCR files, view the data in a grid, update individual records in grid cells or apply batch updates for file manipulation, export updated files with or without application of filter criteria, anonymize confidential data, and includes a feature to split files by number of records or by a field value. Multiple NAACCR files can be combined into one data source. Central registries using CRS Plus can specify connection string to the CRS Plus database and run linkage on all records in the data source against all abstracts or consolidated records in the CRS Plus database. This feature is helpful for case finding, completeness, and prioritization of data to determine if records exist in the database prior to importing into CRS Plus.
• Validation. This module runs schema validation to verify the xml file is a valid NAACCR xml document and that the file does not contain any data items that are not defined in the base or user-defined dictionary. It also validates the data type and length of each data item and produces a validation report.
• Data File Mapping. This module converts any kind of delimited file or fixed column position file to the current NAACCR XML file, and also maps data items with different code and format structure to NAACCR standard codes to assist registries with data linkages and preparing data to write to the database in the NAACCR standard format.

For more information about CDC NPCR's Exchange Plus, including system requirements and installation instructions, please visit our product website at the following location: Exchange Plus | Registry Plus | CDC  

The install contains a PDF version of the Exchange Plus Manual that can be accessed from the Help menu in the task bar. 

Central registries and other data collection entities with a need to create local user dictionaries are encouraged to download the application and to review the process to create user dictionaries. We also encourage central registries to review existing local data items to determine if reporting needs have changed, and to start preparing user dictionaries for NAACCR v24.  As a reminder, a User Dictionary Clearinghouse is hosted on the NAACCR website to show examples of user dictionaries from other central registries and to provide the template that will help central registries gather information needed to define their own XML User Dictionary. Central registries with registry-specific data items are encouraged to fill out the Excel template available at XML User Dictionary - NAACCR and upload it to the XML Dictionary Submission Portal with a corresponding XML User Dictionary so that registry software vendors can get access to these required files to prepare customized software applications and to deploy their NAACCR v24 changes in a timely manner.

ALL issues or support questions should be sent directly to the Helpdesk at cancerinformatics@cdc.gov.

Please share this information with other members of your team, as appropriate.

Thank you,

Joe