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Creating a Unique ID for MSH.10

	Before starting, open the VMD file you created in step 1 of this tutorial.

As previously stated, the goal is to ensure that field 10 of the MSH segment has a unique ID in it (this ID will then be sent back to Iguana by the receiving party in an ACK message). In this example, you will use the current time as a unique ID.

To create a unique ID:

• Double-click the MSH segment in the Workspace. The MSH Segment Definition appears.

MSH Segment Definition

• Locate the tenth field, called Message Control ID, and click the Outbound Script ellipsis button.
• In the Editing Script window, enter the following code:

import time
value = time.strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S")

	Outbound scripts are executed when generating messages. In contrast inbound scripts are used when parsing HL7 messages.