Making a Tool caBIG™ Compatible

caBIG™ compatibility is about utilizing standards to ensure interoperability among caBIG™ tools – so that data can be exchanged and understood between systems. There are four different levels of interoperability based on the tool's adherence to the caBIG™ Compatibility Guidelines: Legacy, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. caBIG™ focuses on achieving Silver and Gold compatibility.

There are five steps in developing a caBIG™-compatible application:

• Creating an Information Model
• Performing Semantic Integration (Vocabularies)
• Transforming the Information Model into Metadata (Common Data Elements)
• Generating Code and Messaging Interfaces (API’s)
• Generating a caGrid Interface

A number of project deliverables help determine whether an application is caBIG™-compatible:

• UML Model – represents the domain model; and class diagrams for the API
• Annotated XMI file – used to verify semantic consistency between the UML and CDE definitions; must have clean SIW error log
• UML Loader Checklist – for registration in caDSR: gives information about the model and constituent packages
• Value Domain Report – data types and permissible values
• Vocabulary Report – lists the controlled vocabularies used
• Standard CDE Report – lists the standard CDEs used and loaded into the caDSR; and reasons for why other standards CDEs could not be used CDE Report – export of all CDEs
• API Documentation – Documents methods, parameters, messaging interfaces, etc (e.g. JavaDocs)
• Test Scripts – Establishes existence of API, tests APIs and objects
• Test Log – From API test scripts, establishes existence

• Existing familiarity with tools: Access to a development team that has knowledge and skills related to UML and CDE models and tools, Enterprise Architect, and NCI tools such as the Semantic Integration Workbench (SIW), caAdapter, and Introduce will help speed development.
• UML modeling skills: Team understanding and facility with classes, attributes and data types; cardinality; UML structures; understanding of inheritances and associations; and camel case naming conventions will speed development time.
• Projected number of classes and attributes: The projected number of classes/attributes for the tool in question will impact development time.
• Technology/Infrastructure: The following technical environment and infrastructure needs to be in place: Windows, Java WebStart, Internet Explorer 6.0, and the Enterprise Architect software tool.
• Access to Domain Expertise: Access to the appropriate domain specialists to support the data modeling effort will facilitate and speed development.
• Time Availability: Having the team development available to spend concentrated time on the project will help speed efforts.

Learn more about making a tool caBIG™-compatible

• Please refer to lesson five in the "caBIG™ Essentials" Overview   (interactive, uses Adobe Flash)
  Introduces important terminology, key concepts, and describes different ways of connecting with caBIG™.
  • Alternative format:   "caBIG™ Essentials" Overview Slides

• Architecture and Vocabularies and Common Data Elements Workspaces    
  These cross-cutting workspaces create or specify the standards and infrastructure to ensure interoperability as between tools and systems.

• Data Sharing & Intellectual Capital (DSIC) Workspace
  The DSIC Workspace facilitates data sharing between and among the caBIG™ community by addressing legal, regulatory, policy, proprietary, and contractual barriers to data exchange.