HL7 Repeat Escape Unescape One Token Tool

Description

Decode F, S, R, T, or E as field, component, repetition, subcomponent, or escape delimiter.

Clinical exchange formats use exact delimiters, character grammars, and scoped identifiers. A local token check addresses one syntax condition and can succeed without validating a complete message or its clinical meaning.

Decode F, S, R, T, or E as field, component, repetition, subcomponent, or escape delimiter.

When to use this tool

Use HL7 Repeat Escape Unescape One Token when you need one bounded spelling, delimiter, or identifier component.

How to use the tool and how it works

Enter token, fieldSeparator, componentSeparator, repetitionSeparator, escapeCharacter, subcomponentSeparator. Use the units and conventions below.
Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
Read decoded, kind. Use the output convention below.

Require five distinct one-UTF-16-unit delimiters and a three-unit escape token using the supplied escape character. Decode F, S, R, T, or E as field, component, repetition, subcomponent, or escape delimiter.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and units	Accepted input
token	Text in the explicitly supported lexical grammar.	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
fieldSeparator	Field Separator	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
componentSeparator	Component Separator	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
repetitionSeparator	Repetition Separator	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
escapeCharacter	Escape Character	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
subcomponentSeparator	Subcomponent Separator	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.

Output field	Interpretation	Returned shape
decoded	Decoded	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
kind	Kind	Required. Text; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.

json

{
  "input": {
    "token": "\\R\\",
    "fieldSeparator": "|",
    "componentSeparator": "^",
    "repetitionSeparator": "~",
    "escapeCharacter": "\\",
    "subcomponentSeparator": "&"
  },
  "output": {
    "decoded": "~",
    "kind": "repetition"
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Only one delimiter escape token is decoded; hexadecimal, formatting, local escapes, complete messages, and clinical semantics are not handled.
Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use the relevant full standard, implementation profile, and validated parser when interoperable or clinical record validity matters.

References

Calculation and input contract: health-informatics/hl7-repeat-escape-unescape-one-token — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

HL7 Component Escape Gap
Toggle escape state at each escape delimiter, count completed pairs, count separators outside pairs, and report unclosedEscape.
HL7 Delimiter Role Label
Map the concatenated order to field, component, repetition, escape, subcomponent, and optional truncation roles.