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# Documentation Index

| Responsible Owner: [FHIR Infrastructure](http://www.hl7.org/Special/committees/fiwg/index.cfm) Work Group | [Standards Status](versions#std-process): [Informative](versions#std-process) |
| --- | --- |

This page provides an index to the key commonly used background documentation pages for FHIR. Also, see [the list of <%res-type-count%> resources](resourcelist) defined by FHIR.

| 
**Framework**

-   [Conformance Rules](conformance-rules)
-   [References between Resources](references)
-   [Compartments](compartmentdefinition)
-   [Narrative](narrative)
-   [Extensibility](extensibility)
-   [FHIR NPM Packages](packages)
-   [FHIRPath](fhirpath), [Patch](fhirpatch), & [X-FHIR-Query](fhir-xquery)
-   [Terminologies](terminologies)
    -   [Code Systems](terminologies-systems) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
    -   [Value Sets](terminologies-valuesets) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
    -   [Terminology Service](terminology-service)
-   [Mappings](mappings) to other standards [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Resource Life Cycles](lifecycle) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

**Version Management**

-   [Change Management & Versioning](versions)
-   [Managing Multiple FHIR Versions](versioning) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Version History](history) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Differences to Release 4](diff) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Transforms between Release 4 and Release 5](r4maps) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

**Background** [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

-   Overviews: [General](overview), [Developers](overview-dev),  
    [Clinical](overview-clinical), [Architects](overview-arch)
-   [1 page Summary](summary) ([Glossy](fhir-glossy.pdf))
-   [Glossary](help) ([Multi-Language](glossary))
-   [License and Legal Terms](license)
-   [Community & Credits](credits)
-   [Appendix: Coming Challenges for Healthcare](change)

**ANSI Documentation** [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

-   [HL7, ANSI and the FHIR Standard](ansi)

 | 

**Exchanging Resources** ([how to choose](exchanging) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content"))

-   [**RESTful API (HTTP)**](http)
    -   [Search](search) ([Search Param Registry](searchparameter-registry) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content"))
    -   [Operations](operations)
    -   [Using GraphQL](graphql)
    -   [Operations for Large Resources](operations-for-large-resources) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
    -   [Asynchronous Use](async) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Documents](documents)
-   [Messaging](messaging)
-   [Subscriptions Framework](subscriptions)
-   [Services](services) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Persistence/Data bases](storage) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

[**Resource Definitions:**](formats)

-   [Resource Formats:](resource-formats)
-   [UML Definition](uml)
-   [XML Format](xml)
-   [JSON Format](json)
-   [ND-JSON Format](nd-json)
-   [RDF Definition](rdf)

**[Datatypes](datatypes)**

-   [Metadata Types](metadatatypes)
-   [ElementDefinition](elementdefinition)
-   [Dosage](dosage)
-   [MarketingStatus](marketingstatus)
-   [ProductShelfLife](productshelflife)

**[Type Framework](types)**

-   [Resource](resource)
-   [DomainResource](domainresource)
-   [CanonicalResource](canonicalresource)
-   [MetadataResource](metadataresource)

 | 

**Adopting & Using FHIR**

-   [Profiling FHIR](profiling)
-   [Implementation Obligations](obligations)
-   [Mapping Language](mapping-language) ([tutorial](mapping-tutorial) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content"))
-   [FHIR Workflow](workflow) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Downloads - Schemas, Code, Tools](downloads) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Managing Multiple FHIR Versions](versioning) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Validating Resources](validation) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Logical models](logical) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Best Practices for Implementers](best-practices) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")
-   [Testing Implementations]([%ig testing%]/testing) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

* * *

**Safety & Security**

-   [Security](security), [Security Labels](security-labels) & [Signatures](signatures)
-   [Clinical Safety](safety) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

**Implementation Advice** [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

-   [Managing Resource Identity](managing)
-   [Guide to Resources](resourceguide)
-   [Multi-language support](languages)
-   [Variations between Submitted data and Retrieved data](updates)
-   [Push vs Pull](pushpull)
-   [Integrated Examples](integrated-examples)
-   [Common Use Cases](usecases)

[**Relationship to Other Standards**](comparison) [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content")

-   [v2 Messaging](comparison-v2)
-   [v3 Messaging](comparison-v3)
-   [CDA](comparison-cda) (see also [CDA on FHIR](cda-intro))
-   [Other Specifications](comparison-other)

 |
| --- | --- | --- |

Note: the [I](versions#std-process "Informative Content") symbol indicates that the section or the target of the link contains [only informative content](versions#std-process) - that is, documentation that doesn't make rules about what Implementations SHALL or SHOULD do.

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