URGENT: Updated Plan for the transition from Stated Relationships to OWL files

We've finalised a plan for the next two International Releases, and so any feedback you have on the viability of the plan is needed urgently - thanks!

The plan is as follows:

January 2019:

• The International Edition package (let’s call it packageA) will include both active Stated Rel’s + partial OWL file (combined)

• We will also publish a separate optional package (packageB) containing a complete set of OWL records (including all axioms - sufficient, transitivity etc) set to Jan 2019 effectiveTimes, as if this was the complete OWL file that we will introduce in July 2019.  This package would also contain all stated relationships from the previous release (July 2018 Int Edition) marked as inactive.  

• packageB will therefore act as a second Demonstration release (similar to the September 2018 package), allowing users to thoroughly trial how the July 2019 Int Edition will work for them in practice.  It will, therefore, retain the same nomenclature and formatting as the Sept 2018 Demo release, with everything x prefixed and labelled to warn against use in Production clinical systems.

• packageB would be published in MLDS alongside the International Edition, and would therefore be available to everyone who has access to the International Edition, so that they can choose to either download it or not (this means that it will NOT be a "hidden" release, just "on demand")

• Release Notes will be updated to clearly explain all of the above.

July 2019:

• The International Edition package (packageC) will include both inactive Stated Rel’s + complete OWL file (combined) from July 2019 effectiveTime onwards (ie) with NO history of OWL records that weren’t included in the Jan 2019 International Edition package itself (as opposed to the optional package).

• We will also publish a separate optional package (packageD) containing an OWL (combined) Delta file, identifying which of the concepts have had modelling changes in relation to packageB.

• No support for Stated Relationships will be provided from this point onwards, however we would continue to include the inactivated Stated Rel’s in all future Int Edition packages until we decide it’s no longer required.

• Anyone who isn’t yet ready to move forward with OWL will therefore remain on January 2019 International Edition until they are ready to update to July 2019 with OWL.

• Release Notes will be updated to clearly explain all of the above.

So there are two urgent questions here:

1. Are we happy to deprecate the OWLAxiom and OWLExpression files from July 2018, and add the new combined OWLExpression file in the one same release?  Normally we'd do a more gradual deprecation, but given that these files have only been there for one release, and are completely useless once the new combined OWLExpression file is implemented in Jan 2019, it would seem pointless to leave 2 blank files in the package for no good reason?  However I want to be sure that we have considered all angles here and aren't going to adversely impact anyone by removing them so quickly?  So in July 2018 we had the following files in the Terminology folder:

   1. Terminology
      sct2_Concept_Delta_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_Description_Delta-en_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_StatedRelationship_Delta_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_Relationship_Delta_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_Identifier_Delta_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_TextDefinition_Delta-en_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_sRefset_OWLOntologyDelta_INT_20180731.txt
      sct2_sRefset_OWLAxiomDelta_INT_20180731.txt

   Then in Jan 2019 we'd have the following files instead:

   1. Terminology
      sct2_Concept_Delta_INT_20190131.txt
      sct2_Description_Delta-en_INT_20190131.txt
      sct2_StatedRelationship_Delta_INT_20190131.txt
      sct2_Relationship_Delta_INT_20190131.txt
      sct2_Identifier_Delta_INT_20190131.txt
      sct2_TextDefinition_Delta-en_INT_20190131.txt
      sct2_sRefset_OWLExpressionDelta_INT_20190131.txt

2. Are we happy with everything else in the remainder of the plan, as if so I need to send out the comms to the community at large to ensure everyone's ready for Jan 2019?

Please could you do everything possible to answer today, either with agreement with the plans above, or with any critical issues that you can foresee with any part of them?

Thanks very much!