I’ve found that the Java validator crashes instead of returning useful messages for certain inputs. Run this command on the following bundle:
java -jar validator/org.hl7.fhir.validator.jar transaction-crash.json -defn definitions.xml.zip
.. load FHIR from definitions.xml.zip
.. connect to tx server @ http://tx.fhir.org/r3
(vnull-null)
.. validate
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.getFromBundle(InstanceValidator.java:1838)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.localResolve(InstanceValidator.java:2051)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.checkReference(InstanceValidator.java:1381)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validateElement(InstanceValidator.java:3186)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.start(InstanceValidator.java:2344)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validateResource(InstanceValidator.java:3420)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validateContains(InstanceValidator.java:2918)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validateElement(InstanceValidator.java:3192)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validateElement(InstanceValidator.java:3253)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.start(InstanceValidator.java:2344)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validateResource(InstanceValidator.java:3420)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validate(InstanceValidator.java:532)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.InstanceValidator.validate(InstanceValidator.java:382)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.ValidationEngine.validate(ValidationEngine.java:473)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.ValidationEngine.validate(ValidationEngine.java:401)
at org.hl7.fhir.dstu3.validation.Validator.main(Validator.java:248)
The problem with this bundle is that the first resource is missing a fullUrl, but the second resource has a fullUrl. If you add a fullUrl to the first resource, it validates successfully. If you remove the fullUrl from the second resource, the validator returns an appropriate error message. Likewise, removing the reference to the Patient resource from the Coverage resource prevents the crash.
{
"resourceType": "Bundle",
"id": "bundle-transaction",
"type": "transaction",
"entry": [
{
"resource": {
"resourceType": "Patient",
"id": "patient1",
"identifier": [
{
"type": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/v2/0203",
"code": "MR"
}
],
"text": "Medical Record Number"
},
"value": "abcd1234"
}
],
"name": [
{
"family": "Doe",
"given": [
"John",
"Wayne"
],
"suffix": "Jr."
}
],
"gender": "male",
"birthDate": "1991-12-01",
"address": [
{
"use": "home",
"type": "postal",
"line": "1234 South Orange Ave",
"city": "Orlando",
"state": "FL",
"postalCode": "32812"
}
]
},
"request": {
"method": "POST",
"url": "Patient"
}
},
{
"fullUrl": "urn:uuid:79378cb8-8f58-48e8-a5e8-60ac2755b674",
"resource": {
"resourceType": "Coverage",
"id": "selfPay",
"status": "active",
"type": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/coverage-selfpay",
"code": "pay"
}
]
},
"relationship": {
"coding": [
{
"code": "self"
}
]
},
"payor": [
{
"reference": "Patient/patient1"
}
]
},
"request": {
"method": "POST",
"url": "Coverage"
}
}
]
}