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REDCap: Form Display Logic

Form Display Logic allows you to set conditional logic rules for entire instruments/surveys to be skipped for a specific record.


Basic Setup

When a form is skipped using Form Display Logic, it becomes disabled from within REDCap for the specific record:

Screenshot of REDCap record dashboard where some forms are disabled
Example of disabled forms using Form Display Logic

Note on Conversion of FRSL External Module Settings

If you previously used the external module 'Form Render Skip Logic' in your project to skip instruments with conditional logic, your existing settings should have been automatically translated to Form Display Logic settings. Because the FRSL external module is now integrated into standard REDCap features, it has been disabled. If you are noticing any issues with this conversion, please contact REDCap support.

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Add Form Display Logic to Your Project

To add Form Display Logic, navigate to the Online Designer and click the "Form Display Logic" button under "Form Options":

Screenshot of location of Form Display Logic button
Navigate to the Online Designer and select "Form Display Logic" 

A pop-up window will open where you can modify the Form Display Logic Settings. There are two general settings that control how Form Display Logic functions:

  • Keep forms enabled if they contain data: This setting means that forms will never be disabled when there is already data saved within them for a record. This is useful if you are adding Form Display Logic to a project with existing data, or if you have instruments that might only be updated via imports or API calls.
  • Enable support for Survey Auto-Continue: If you select this option, the the form display logic will function even if "Auto-continue to next survey" is being used within your project.
Screenshot of Form Display Logic settings
Available Optional Settings for Form Display Logic

Adding a condition:

To set up conditional logic, first select one or more instrument you would like the logic to apply to. (You can select multiple instruments at one time.) In longitudinal projects, make sure to also select the correct event(s). The logic you set will control when the instrument should be accessible (not when it should be skipped.) For example, if you have a follow-up instrument, you might want it to only be accessible when there is already data entered in a baseline instrument. You might set the condition for the follow-up instrument to only be enabled when there is a date entered for the baseline instrument. If your project is longitudinal, make sure to specify the unique event name before any variables in your conditional logic.

Conditional logic added will be evaluated at the record level and not within the context of an event or a repeating instance, which means that it is not possible to use relative instance or relative event Smart Variables - i.e., those with the name 'current', 'next', or 'previous', such as [next-instance] or [previous-event-name] in this logic. 

Screenshot of conditional logic for a follow-up instrument
Example conditional logic using Form Display Logic

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Adding Multiple Conditions:

You are able to add additional conditions to enable/disable multiple forms across your project. Use the green "+ Add another condition" button to create additional form display rules.

Screenshot showing location of button to add another condition to Form Display Logic
Option to add additional conditions for Form Display Logic

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Testing with Form Display Logic

If you are using Form Display Logic in your project, and have other features enabled that control the flow through a project, such as survey queues, or survey auto-continue, make sure to fully test how these settings interact! You may need to adjust other settings in your project if you are adding Form Display Logic.

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KeywordsREDCap, conditional logic, form logic, skip forms, form display logic, branching logic   Doc ID115604
OwnerAmy S.GroupSMPH Research Informatics
Created2022-01-11 00:32:20Updated2024-03-20 09:59:05
SitesInstitute for Clinical and Translational Research, SMPH Research Informatics , SMPH Research Informatics TEST
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