The Identifier File does not contain any data in the SNOMED CT International Release

The file structure is documented here only as a point of reference for others who may be using the files in an extension release.

This file provides a standardized way of assoc iating alternate from various schemes with .

At any point in time , an alternate within a particular scheme will be associated with one and only one . A may be associated with zero or mor e alternate within a single scheme.

It is important to note that the and it s alternate all identify precisely the same real-world object.

Note: The Identifier file is not currently used in the as use of the more flexible structure is preferred for links to alternative codes. The only known current use of this file is for internal identification of components during the content development process.

Field	Data type	Immutable	Purpose	Part of Primary Key
identifierSchemeId	SCTID	Y	of the enumeration value from the Metadata that represents the scheme to which the value belongs. Set to a of within the metadata .	YES (Full/Snapshot)
alternateIdentifier	String	Y	String representation of the alternate in its native scheme.	YES (Full/Snapshot)
effectiveTime	Time	N	Specifies the inclusive date at which the alternate was associated with the .	YES (Full) Optional (Snapshot)
active	Boolean	N	Specifies whether the association was or from the point in time specified by the effectiveTime .	NO
moduleId	SCTID	N	Identifies the source module that this association was created in. Set to a of within the metadata .	NO
referencedComponentId	SCTID	Y	Uniquely identifies the with which the alternate is associated.	NO

Only one record with the same identifierSchemeId and alternateIdentifier fields will be current at any point in time. The current record will be the one with the most recent effectiveTime before or equal to the point in time under consideration.

If the field of this record is false ('0'), then the association is at that point in time. If the field is true ('1'), then there is an identity at that point in time between the referencedComponentId (a ) and the alternateIdentifier in the scheme identified by identifierSchemeId.

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