Minimize Garbage Collection in HL7 Manipulation

A system comprising a processor and a memory with instructions stored thereon, such that when the processor executes the instructions, the system is configured to:

• receive a Health Level-7 (HL7) message;
• create, in the memory, a hierarchical data structure of the HL7 message including one or more fragment objects hierarchically organized, a first fragment object in the hierarchical data structure representing a fragment of the HL7 message and specifying a start index and an end index of the fragment in the HL7 message;
• create a second fragment object for the fragment, the second fragment object specifying a start index and an end index of a storage location storing an updated value of the fragment;
• and
• modify the HL7 message by replacing the first fragment object with the second fragment object in a child list of a fragment object representing a parent of the fragment.

A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions that causes a computer to perform a method comprising:

• receiving a HL7 message;
• creating a hierarchical data structure of the HL7 message including one or more fragment objects hierarchically organized, a first fragment object in the hierarchical data structure representing a fragment of the HL7 message and specifying a start index and an end index of the fragment in the HL7 message;
• creating a second fragment object for the fragment, the second fragment object specifying a start index and an end index of a storage location storing an updated value of the fragment;
• and
• modifying the HL7 message by replacing the first fragment object with the second fragment object in a child list of a fragment object representing a parent of the fragment.