SymptomMaps SXXML Format

This document describes the SXXML schema for the SymptomMap protocol.

SXXML is a XML-based user interface markup language first introduced by Dr. Matthew Marturano in October 2010. Its purpose is to track symptoms and symptom changes in individuals and populations.  It is not currently in use by anyone.

The SymptomMap protocol format consists of SXXML tags. All data values in a SymptomMap must be entity-escaped. The file itself must be UTF-8 encoded.

The SymptomMap must:

• Begin with an opening <symset> tag and end with a closing </symset> tag.
• Include a <sym> entry for each symptom, as a parent SXXML tag.
• Include a <symname> child entry for each <sym> parent tag.

All other tags are optional.

Sample SXXML SymptomMap

The following example shows a SymptomMap that contains just one symptom and uses all optional tags. The optional tags are in italics.

<?sxxml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<symset>
   <sym>
      <symname>chest pain</symname>
      <icd9>786.5</icd9>
      <lastfelt>2005-01-01</lastfelt>
      <freqfelt>monthly</freqfelt>
      <priority>0.8</priority>
   </sym>
</symset> 

The available SXXML tags are described below.

Attribute		Description
<symset>	required	Encapsulates the file and references the current protocol standard.
<sym>	required	Parent tag for each symptom entry. The remaining tags are children of this tag.
<symname>	required	This is the name of the symptom.
<icd9>	optional	This is ICD-9 code of the symptom.
<lastfelt>	optional	The date of the last time the symptom was felt. This date should be in W3C Datetime format. This format allows you to omit the time portion, if desired, and use YYYY-MM-DD.
<freqfelt>	optional	How frequently the symptom is felt. Valid values are: always hourly daily weekly monthly yearly never
<priority>	optional	The priority of this symptoms relative to other symptoms felt. Valid values range from 0.0 to 1.0. The default priority of a symptom is 0.5.

Entity escaping

Your SymptomMap file must be UTF-8 encoded (you can generally do this when you save the file). As with all XML files, any data values (including URLs) must use entity escape codes for the characters listed in the table below.

Character		Escape Code
Ampersand	&	&
Single Quote	'	'
Double Quote	"	"
Greater Than	>	>
Less Than	<	&lt;

Dr. Matthew Marturano offers naturopathic medicine for holistic health and wellness. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Association of Naturopathic Physicians and is the Director of Strategic Development for Orchid Holistic Search.