DTS Editor FAQs

No. Oracle databases are no longer supported beginning with DTS 4.9. DTS 4.8 was the final DTS release supporting Oracle databases.

If your organization requires assistance planning a migration from Oracle to a supported DTS database environment, contact Apelon Customer Support at support@apelon.com.

DTS 4.9 supports the following databases:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard or Enterprise Edition
• Microsoft SQL Server 2025 Standard or Enterprise Edition
• MySQL 8.4 LTS

Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition is not supported. DTS 4.9 is the final version planned to support Microsoft SQL Server 2019. Customers using SQL Server 2019 should plan migration to a newer supported database environment before a future DTS release removes support.

DTS 4.9 uses Log4j 2.25.5 and standardizes SLF4J on version 2.0.17. The release also removes obsolete and conflicting logging libraries and updates selected third-party dependencies to current Java 8-compatible versions.

No. GlassFish application servers are no longer supported beginning with DTS 4.9. DTS 4.8 was the final DTS release supporting GlassFish.

Organizations currently using GlassFish should migrate their DTS environment to a supported application server. For assistance planning a migration, contact Apelon Customer Support at support@apelon.com.

DTS 4.9 supports the following operating systems:

• Windows 11 Professional
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
• AlmaLinux 8

CentOS is not included within the DTS 4.9 support scope.

DTS 4.9 supports JBoss EAP 7.4 Update 23 and WildFly 26.1.3.Final. See the DTS 4.9 Installation Guide on the Documentation Page for complete application server installation and configuration requirements.

The DTS 4.9 Windows installation includes Eclipse Temurin OpenJDK 8 JRE for DTS Editor use. This replaces the Oracle Java 8 JRE bundled with previous DTS Windows installations.

The bundled JRE is used only by the DTS Editor. It is not for use by the JBoss EAP or WildFly application server, and existing Java installations on the target machine are not affected.

Linux installations use the OpenJDK 8 runtime supplied by the supported Linux operating system package manager.

No, This new version of DTS does not require a keystore for DTS 4 Editor connections to JBoss EAP or WildFly.

No. The Eclipse Temurin OpenJDK 8 JRE bundled with the DTS 4.9 Windows installation is used specifically by the DTS Editor. Existing Java installations on the target machine are not affected.

Yes. Microsoft SQL Server 2019 remains supported in DTS 4.9. However, DTS 4.9 is the final version planned to support SQL Server 2019. Organizations using SQL Server 2019 should begin planning migration to a newer supported database environment before a future DTS release removes support.

DTS 4.9 includes several DTS Editor usability and supportability updates. The About Apelon DTSEditor window has been updated with the current Apelon logo and expanded Java runtime and vendor reporting. Search behavior has been updated so Type Namespace defaults to the selected Search Namespace when performing attribute-type searches. Template Editor dropdown lists now use case-insensitive, alphanumeric sorting by concept name.

DTS 4.9 includes fixes across several DTS components, including:

• DTS Browser and Uninstall shortcuts in the Windows Start Menu
• RichFaces compatibility-related errors generated during DTS Browser actions
• TQL FOR statement parsing
• Certain TQL queries ending with a period that could result in an out-of-memory error
• Import Wizard handling of XML filenames containing additional periods
• Import Wizard attribute-type handling and log display
• Import of subsets whose expressions reference multiple subset filters
• Certain Excel Wizard import operations that could corrupt the source Excel file or become unresponsive
• Concept Walker stale-field behavior after logout and login
• Namespace Profile Editor behavior when no validators are available
• DTS Javadoc, tutorial, datasource-validation, Linux installation, and runtime-update documentation

DTS 4.9 also includes various additional minor bug fixes. See the DTS 4.9 Release Notes for the complete list.

Yes. DTS 4.9 supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and AlmaLinux 8. The DTS 4.9 documentation includes updated Linux installation guidance for these supported environments. CentOS is not included within the DTS 4.9 support scope.

DTS 4.9 updates the Module Manager default URL to HTTPS and made the URL configurable using the “InfoManager.bat” utility’s Configure menu to create a “module.url” context_key with the new URL as the  context_value in the dts_system_context table.

Yes, but you will need to install Distribution Client R41 (1.2.0.9).

The installation can be found on the DTS Software Page.

In previous versions of subscription content, some UMLS CUIs contained trailing spaces, causing exact match searches to fail. While this issue has been corrected for future content, it is possible to return the correct results using wildcard searching.

If you are having trouble returning results using UMLS CUIs, please reach out to Apelon Customer Support at support@apelon.com.

There is a known issue with the Import Wizard plug-in in versions 4.7.1 and older that can cause Validator and Kind sequence ID issues resulting from Import Wizard Namespace imports. If you are experiencing an issue with Validators or Kinds IDs, please reach out to Apelon Customer Support at support@apelon.com.

This issue was resolved with the Import Wizard 4.7.2 Version.

Yes, support for this functionality was introduced in DTS 4.01 and remains available. We have included improved instructions for running DTS as a service on Linux version Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 or 8.

Apelon is pleased to make available a version of DTS that implements HL7®’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®)Terminology Service (https://hl7-fhir.github.io/terminology-service.html).

DTS’s support for FHIR® now fully integrates all of the functionality of DTS 4 with a built in FHIR® Terminology Service implementation. The FHIR Terminology Service specification is continuously evolving, and Apelon remains committed to implementing its updates incrementally over time.

You can find the FHIR Terminology Guides on the DTS Documentation Page.

For more information on the supported FHIR® Terminology Service functionality please contact info@apelon.com

Technically, yes. Each FHIR ValueSet in DTS needs to be defined with the FHIR_Url, and FHIR_Id Subset and Subset Version Attributes (and any other FHIR related subset attribute types you wish to implement). However, you can use a Subset Profile to make this easier, rather than manually creating the attribute types every time.

For your convenience Apelon has provided a Subset Profile .xml which you can import into DTS using the Subset Profile Editor, and use every time you make a DTS Subset you intend to use as a FHIR ValueSet. You can download that xml file below: 

FHIR_Subset_Profile_AllAttributes.xml

If you’re running Windows 10, and DTS 4.4.1, you may be experiencing an issue saving your connection parameters as defaults, causing you to re-enter them every time you launch DTS.  Apelon is aware of this permissions issue and will be addressing it in a future DTS release.

In the meantime you can get around this problem by manually setting the permissions on your Apelon DTS 4.4.1 directory, and subdirectories.

Granting the “Users” directory in windows with “Full Control” permissions will allow the DTS Editor application to write the new connection parameters you saved to the configuration file, and remember them across sessions.

If you require additional assistance or instructions on how to do this, please feel free to reach out to support@apelon.com and we can guide you through this process.

Yes! As of DTS 4.5, users can now fully model and classify a writable, local Ontylog namespace. With this function, it is possible to:

• Create associations, properties, qualifiers, kinds, roles, and validators for your own local Ontylog namespace
• Create Namespace Profiles supporting local Ontylog namespaces and Kinds
• Assign kinds to root concepts of your local Ontylog namespace

How to Author a Tree for a Thesaurus Namespace

• Go to Tools > Attribute Types…
• Select the desired Thesaurus Namespace from the Namespace Dropdown.
• From the Association Type tab, select New.
  • In the Name field, enter “Parent Of”.
  • Select the Apply button.
• With the Thesaurus Namespace in the Details Panel, right click the “Version: Working” field and select Add Root.
• Drag the intended Root Concept into the Add Namespace Root window.

At this stage, the Root Concept should now be in the Tree Panel under the designated namespace.

To expand the tree, create a “Parent Of” association between the Root Concept and the intended child concept. Continue to create “Parent Of” associations in a hierarchical manner to expand the tree further.

How to Author a Tree for an Ontylog Namespace

• Go to Tools > Attribute Types…
• Select the desired Ontylog Namespace from the Namespace Dropdown.
• Under the Namespaces tab, select the Kind tab.
• Select New.
  • Enter a name for your Ontylog Kind and select Apply.
• With the Ontylog Namespace in the Details Panel, right click the “Version: Working” field and select Add Root.
• Drag the intended Root Concept into the Add Namespace Root window.

At this stage, the Root Concept should now be in the Tree Panel under the designated namespace.

To expand the tree, all concepts must be assigned a Kind by setting the Defining Concept for all concepts created, and then the namespace must be classified.

The Namespace Summary plug-in allows a user to see a report of Namespace statistics. It will show the number of Namespace Versions, Concepts, and Terms, as well as Attribute statistics. It also allows for the ability to show non-local Attribute statistics.

The Grid Editor tool is a table-based batch-style editor for use within DTS. It allows for concurrent edits to multiple objects within your Namespace, and also includes features to copy and paste the table contents to your clipboard, or export the data in CSV format. This powerful new editing tool can greatly increase the efficiency with which users can maintain their DTS data.

You can find the DTS Grid Editor Guide on the DTS Documentation Page.

The new Audit Report tool allows a user to define specifications to run reports to receive an audit history for DTS Editor activity for a given namespace. The reporter can include history for all or specific Users, all or specific Concepts, include related Terms and Attributes, and define a date range for which to gather the history. Reports can be sorted by User or Date, and saved in order to run the report again in the future.

A validator is a tool used to define a set of parameters to restrict the input string for property and qualifier type values within a namespace. There are two types of Validator:

• The List Type, which allows users to define a picklist of options to choose from, OR…
• The Regex Type, which allows users to use a regular expression to define the restriction on the string input, like a date field, or alpha-numeric characters only.

DTS is supported for Windows and Linux environments. Mac users who wish to utilize DTS typically can do so by running DTS in an emulated enviornment such as Parallels, or some other virtual windows enviornment.

If your environment is running Oracle or MySQL you can deploy the .ear file located in the deployments folder for either JBoss or GlassFish.

However, SQL Server requires a specialized .ear file which we include within the directory:

<DTS Home>\server\<app server>\standalone\deployments\sqlserver

If your environment is running Microsoft SQL Server, be sure to deploy that dtsjboss.ear or dtsgf.ear file instead. Deploying the standard .ear file in SQL Server will allow you to connect and start the DTS Editor, but many of the functions (such as deleting local namespaces) will fail to run, resulting in errors in the app server log.

We continuously look for ways to make deployment easier and plan to address this in a future release.

The DTS Module Manager was introduced in DTS 4.2 Editor that enables the loading, updating, and removal of DTS Editor User Modules with minimal user intervention.

You can find the DTS Module Manager Guide on the DTS Documentation Page.

The Namespace-specific Publish/Subscribe feature is a new feature in Apelon DTS 4.3!

It introduces the ability to send XML messages to either automated systems or key personnel. These events will now be able to be tracked through the DTS Publish/Subscribe system: Namespace Creation and Namespace Version Publication.

Subscribers can be configured to receive all messages, or only those associated with specific namespaces, and alerts for failed messages can also be configured. A description of this feature is given in the DTS Publish Subscribe documentation. DTS Administrator Users can access the Notifications Configuration panel from the DTS Editor Options menu.

You can find the DTS Publish/Subscribe Guide on the DTS Documentation Page.

This is a new user side feature as of DTS 4.3!

The DTS Layout Editor, available from the Options menu, provides a flexible, easy-to-use GUI editor for DTS Editor Layouts. Like Namespace and Subset Profiles, User and System Layouts are now maintained on the server, not in client xml files, although xml import and export options are present in the Layout Editor for exchange. Both User and System Default Layouts are available. For a complete description of the Layout Editor, see the DTS Editor Module Guide and the DTS Layout Editor video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/ApelonInc.

For a comprehensive set of documentation surrounding DTS, be sure to check out our DTS Documentation Page.

For sales and services information, contact our Sales and Services team.

Instructions for hosting and managing a DTS Editor Module folder can be found in the Managing a DTS Editor Module Manager Facility Guide available on the DTS Documentation Page.

The User Manager feature of the DTS Editor implements role-based access control of DTS Editor functions.

You can find the DTS User Manager Guide on the DTS Documentation Page.

The Graphic Viewer Module is an alternate, graphics-based, Apelon KB browser component. It features customized attribute display and hierarchical (ancestor tree) visualizations.

The Import Wizard DTS Editor plug-in, the standalone ImportWizard application, and the DTSImport batch file enable the importing of information into DTS Namespaces and DTS Subsets.

For Namespace import, data can be imported into either new or existing (populated) Namespaces; Thesaurus and Ontylog Extension Namespaces are supported. For Subset import, expression creation (from specified Concepts) and building are supported. 

Import data can come from either delimited text files (such as those resulting from TermWorks mapping sessions), Excel files (.xls or .xlsx) or specially formatted XML files.

The DTS Template Editor Module provides facilities for the creation and execution of DTS Editor Templates: structured forms for the entry of DTS Concept and Term information.

A Template data entry panel gives an alternate, and more structured, way for Concepts/Terms and Concept/Term information to be created and edited compared to the existing DTS Editor Concept/Terms Detail panel.

The Template Editor Module contains a Template execution component for selecting and running Templates and a Template builder component for creating and editing the Templates which drive the form-based data entry. The builder component also supports the “publishing” of Templates as independent DTS Editor Modules.

The DTS Terminology Query Language (TQL) is a language for expressing statements (queries) that manipulate or export information found in the DTS Knowledgebase.

TQL provides an alternative to direct API programming for more easily performing many common DTS maintenance, Q/A, and output tasks. The TQL Editor, available as both a DTS plug-in module and standalone application, permit the creation, editing, saving and interactive execution of TQL queries.

A TQL class is also available for execution of queries from batch files and Java applications.

You can find the DTS TQL User’s Editor Guide on the DTS Documentation Page.

The TQL Reference Guide in the distribution kit is a quick reference for TQL syntax formatted as a concise double-sided “trifold”.

The DTS pSearch Module offers an alternate search panel that implements progressive (type-ahead) search for DTS Concepts and Terms.

The DTS Export Module supports printing and exporting of DTS Concept data. Concepts, Namespaces and Subsets to be exported are simply dragged from other DTS Editor panels and dropped into the Export Module’s floating panel.

The Export Module satisfies many simple export requirements. For more sophisticated exports, including programmatic operation, see the TQL (Terminology Query Language) Editor Module.

Exporting to delimited-text and Excel files are supported.

The DTS Import Module provides a way to “package” multiple Import Wizard load operations to accommodate more complex importing procedures. These packages, called Actions can then be easily executed using a simplified Import Module GUI.

Yes, the Import Module relies on many Import Wizard capabilities.