A binary resource can contain any content, whether text, image, pdf, zip archive, etc.

Typically, Binary resources are used for handling content such as: * CDA Documents (i.e. with XDS) * PDF Documents * Images (the Media resource is preferred for handling images, but not possible when the content is already binary - e.g. XDS).

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element.

This element is labelled as a modifier because the implicit rules may provide additional knowledge about the resource that modifies it's meaning or interpretation.

MimeType of the binary content represented as a standard MimeType (BCP 13).

The mime type of an attachment. Any valid mime type is allowed.

The actual content, base64 encoded.

If the content type is itself base64 encoding, then this will be base64 encoded twice - what is created by un-base64ing the content must be the specified content type.

R5: Binary.securityContext additional types from child elements (display, identifier, reference, type)

Element Binary.securityContext is mapped to FHIR STU3 element Binary.securityContext as SourceIsBroaderThanTarget. The mappings for Binary.securityContext do not cover the following types based on type expansion: display, identifier, reference, type. The standard extension alternate-reference has been mapped as the representation of FHIR R5 element Binary.securityContext with unmapped reference targets: Resource. Very often, a server will also know of a resource that references the binary, and can automatically apply the appropriate access rules based on that reference. However, there are some circumstances where this is not appropriate, e.g. the binary is uploaded directly to the server without any linking resource, the binary is referred to from multiple different resources, and/or the binary is content such as an application logo that has less protection than any of the resources that reference it.

A binary resource can contain any content, whether text, image, pdf, zip archive, etc.

Typically, Binary resources are used for handling content such as: * CDA Documents (i.e. with XDS) * PDF Documents * Images (the Media resource is preferred for handling images, but not possible when the content is already binary - e.g. XDS).

The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes.

The only time that a resource does not have an id is when it is being submitted to the server using a create operation.

The metadata about the resource. This is content that is maintained by the infrastructure. Changes to the content may not always be associated with version changes to the resource.

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element.

This element is labelled as a modifier because the implicit rules may provide additional knowledge about the resource that modifies it's meaning or interpretation.

The base language in which the resource is written.

Language is provided to support indexing and accessibility (typically, services such as text to speech use the language tag). The html language tag in the narrative applies to the narrative. The language tag on the resource may be used to specify the language of other presentations generated from the data in the resource Not all the content has to be in the base language. The Resource.language should not be assumed to apply to the narrative automatically. If a language is specified, it should it also be specified on the div element in the html (see rules in HTML5 for information about the relationship between xml:lang and the html lang attribute).

Unless not suitable, these codes SHALL be taken from Common Languages
(extensible to http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/languages|3.0.2)

A human language.

MimeType of the binary content represented as a standard MimeType (BCP 13).

The mime type of an attachment. Any valid mime type is allowed.

Treat this binary as if it was this other resource for access control purposes.

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.

An Extension

R5: Binary.securityContext additional types from child elements (display, identifier, reference, type)

Element Binary.securityContext is mapped to FHIR STU3 element Binary.securityContext as SourceIsBroaderThanTarget. The mappings for Binary.securityContext do not cover the following types based on type expansion: display, identifier, reference, type. The standard extension alternate-reference has been mapped as the representation of FHIR R5 element Binary.securityContext with unmapped reference targets: Resource. Very often, a server will also know of a resource that references the binary, and can automatically apply the appropriate access rules based on that reference. However, there are some circumstances where this is not appropriate, e.g. the binary is uploaded directly to the server without any linking resource, the binary is referred to from multiple different resources, and/or the binary is content such as an application logo that has less protection than any of the resources that reference it.

A reference to a location at which the other resource is found. The reference may be a relative reference, in which case it is relative to the service base URL, or an absolute URL that resolves to the location where the resource is found. The reference may be version specific or not. If the reference is not to a FHIR RESTful server, then it should be assumed to be version specific. Internal fragment references (start with '#') refer to contained resources.

Using absolute URLs provides a stable scalable approach suitable for a cloud/web context, while using relative/logical references provides a flexible approach suitable for use when trading across closed eco-system boundaries. Absolute URLs do not need to point to a FHIR RESTful server, though this is the preferred approach. If the URL conforms to the structure "/[type]/[id]" then it should be assumed that the reference is to a FHIR RESTful server.

An identifier for the other resource. This is used when there is no way to reference the other resource directly, either because the entity is not available through a FHIR server, or because there is no way for the author of the resource to convert a known identifier to an actual location. There is no requirement that a Reference.identifier point to something that is actually exposed as a FHIR instance, but it SHALL point to a business concept that would be expected to be exposed as a FHIR instance, and that instance would need to be of a FHIR resource type allowed by the reference.

When an identifier is provided in place of a reference, any system processing the reference will only be able to resolve the identifier to a reference if it understands the business context in which the identifier is used. Sometimes this is global (e.g. a national identifier) but often it is not. For this reason, none of the useful mechanisms described for working with references (e.g. chaining, includes) are possible, nor should servers be expected to be able resolve the reference. Servers may accept an identifier based reference untouched, resolve it, and/or reject it - see CapabilityStatement.rest.resource.referencePolicy.

When both an identifier and a literal reference are provided, the literal reference is preferred. Applications processing the resource are allowed - but not required - to check that the identifier matches the literal reference

Applications converting a logical reference to a literal reference may choose to leave the logical reference present, or remove it.

Plain text narrative that identifies the resource in addition to the resource reference.

This is generally not the same as the Resource.text of the referenced resource. The purpose is to identify what's being referenced, not to fully describe it.

The actual content, base64 encoded.

If the content type is itself base64 encoding, then this will be base64 encoded twice - what is created by un-base64ing the content must be the specified content type.