This article covers all objects and field types that can be placed onto forms within the form builder. The mobile app supports some additional field types that are not supported on the web browser. These are noted in the table of contents list below.
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Fields can be dragged out from the toolbox onto the form canvas. Once a field is on the canvas, tap on it to access the underlying field properties. Examples are shown below on both the web and mobile app interface:
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The more user-friendly name is given to a variable/field. If this exists, it will be displayed throughout the system in place of the main Field name. Ad-hoc reporting and data exports display the field name by default.
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Number field is being used to computed compute a value that users don’t need to see during data entry
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Enabling this will map the button to the consent PDF defined within the Informed consent configuration settings. Usually mapped to the site-specific Informed Consent document that has been upload uploaded in the Site Documents Section.
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Field properties display in the left column as form fields are added to the builder. User’s select field properties by typing, clicking on links , or clicking on the properties.
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The Special Type dropdown control allows users to designate the field for a special purpose including:
Populating Name of a randomization configuration - for populating a Randomization ID
Populating an Inventory Item from IWRS
Barcode scanning (mobile attribute)
Memo
The Memo Field allows for the storage of large amounts of alphanumeric information. Some typical uses for this data type would be notes, comments, or descriptions.
The Memo Properties enable the Form Designer to define how the memo field will be configured to capture the desired information. When a Memo form field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Memo Properties appear in the Toolbox as shown in the figure below.
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Properties specific to memo fields:
Maximum Length
The Maximum Length property allows the Form Designer to set the maximum number of characters allowed in the field. The system default is 3,000 characters. To set a different limit of up to 10,000 characters, enter a value in the Maximum Length property.
The Email Address Field is a text field designed to store text formatted as an email. Only syntactically correct email addresses are accepted in the field when the form is completed.
When an Email Address form field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Email Address Properties appear in the Toolbox as shown in the figure below.
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Properties specific to email address fields
Special Type
The special type selected here is Subjects Email.
Mask E-Mail
By checking this, the email will be masked with hidden characters when typing within the form.
Barcode (App Only)
A Barcode scanner is a text field with access to open a camera (when completed via the mobile app). When the camera is opened, it will scan for one of 21 different barcodes or QR types to pull the text automatically into the data field. Additionally, FDA device registry data can be automatically pulled into other fields on the same form if applicable.
To add a barcode field to a form, use the Barcode field within the mobile app form builder or a text field on the web form builder (with special property type “Barcode”)
Placing special type bar code scanning field steps. See figure below:
Select text field from the form properties area of toolbox
Drag field on the form and add a proper label
Name the field and reporting label
Set field length to proper length to fit in the entire bar code. Default is 10.
Select Special Type field called Bar code (Mobile) from the drop-down selection
Click the Save Form button
Here is an example of a form that collects a barcode value. On the TrialKit mobile app, users can directly scan barcodes into the form by tapping the barcode icon on the right side of the field.
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Once a barcode is scanned, in addition to auto-filling the barcode field, the system can instantly access the FDA device registry to auto-fill other device-related data. An example is shown here:
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To auto-fill device data from the FDA's database, the following field naming conventions must be used, where the items below need to be appended to the end of each of the corresponding fields:
_DEVBARCODE_003
_EXPIRATION_DATE_003
_LOT_NUMBER_003
_UDI_003
_ISSUING_AGENCY_003
_DI_003
_BRANDNAME_003
_VERSIONMODELNUMBER_003
_COMPANYNAME_003
_GMDNPTDEFINITION_003
Number Types
Number
Number fields store numerical values. Both decimals and whole numbers are supported. Which numerical format is accepted is determined by the Number Properties selected for the Number field.
Non-numerical values are not accepted in a numeric field.
When a Number field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Number Properties (labeled #1 in the figure below) will appear in the Toolbox.
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Properties specific to number fields
Maximum Length
The Maximum Length field allows the Form Designer to set the maximum number of numbers allowed in the field. If the Maximum length property is not defined, the default length is 6 numbers. To designate a Maximum Length for the field, simply enter a value in the maximum length property.
Decimal Places
The Decimal places field allows the Form Designer to define the number of places accepted after a decimal. For example: To set the number field to display 23.46, the Maximum length should be 5 and the Decimal places would be 2. If the Decimal Place property is not defined - the field defaults to zero.
Special Type - Horizontal Slider (Mobile)
Used to provide end-users the ability to slide an indicator on a horizontal slider. This is set on numeric fields only and can be used effectively on pain scale forms.
Slider (Horizontal Slider)
The non-scale horizontal slider allows a user to slide an indicator from left to right on a plain line (no markings) to get a value. The visibility of that value depends on the settings.
This is created within the web form builder by setting a regular number field with the special type property “Horizontal Slider”.
Vertical Slider
The Vertical Slider Scale (VAS) allows the Form Designers to provide a vertical scale in which the user on a mobile app can use their finger to slide on a scale to a particular value. The VAS could be used, as an example, to ask a patient how they feel today on a scale of 1 to 10.
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Due to the touch requirement, this field type only renders on the mobile app. The web form will display as a numeric entry. |
The unique properties for the VAS field are the following:
Tick Attributes - This allows the Form Designer to change the size, spacing, and number of ticks that will be displayed on the scale
Ball Size - Controls the size of the ball the user grabs and slides up and down.
Upper Descriptor - Sets the text to be displayed at the high end (top) of the VAS field
Lower Descriptor - Sets the text to be displayed at the low end (bottom) of the VAS field
Number of Steps - Works with the step increment to set the high value of the scale. For example, if you have 5 steps and 2 step increments, the top of the scale will be 10. If only 1 step increment was used, the max of the scale would be 5
Step Increment - How many steps will be shown on the scale. If 2 steps are used with 10 steps, the user will see 2, 4, 6, 8, …. all the way up to 20 for the max value of the scale
Start Step - The Form Designer can start where to start the bottom of the scale.
Score Box - When the user slides the scale up and down the value or “score” of where the slider stops is shown to the left of the slider control
Score Label Title - Allows the Form Designer to name the value or “score”. For example, Pain Scale
Hide Score Box - If “On” will hide the value or “score” of the slider from the user.
Pain Scale
A tappable standard numerical horizontal scale of 1-10 common for use in rating pain.
This can be added by setting a number field’s special type property to “pain scale”.
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The field will render on a form only on the mobile app. The web will render this as a number field. |
Other than size, there are no customizable parameters for this scale type.
Coded Types
Single-Select Dropdown
The Drop Down Field is used to create a list of choices from which a user may select when completing a form. When the user selects a choice the field displays that choice in the Drop Down field in the form.
When a Drop Down form field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Drop Down Properties appear in the Toolbox as shown in the figure below.
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Properties specific to Dropdown fields
Field Choices
The Field Choices dialog box allows the Form Designer to input a list of choices in the Dropdown field.
Clicking the View/Edit control will open the field choices dialog box shown in the figure above. The number that precedes the View/Edit control indicates the number of Field Choices available in the dropdown list.
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Below is the field choice dialog box -To enter the dropdown choices, type in each of the desired choices in the Text column of the Field Choices dialog box. Press the Tab key to move to the Value column or the Enter key to move to the next row in the Text Column.
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REMEMBER to click the OK button to close the dialog box and tap SAVE on the form.
Choices can be moved in order by dragging them into the list. Choice text and coded values can also be edited.
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Important: The value must be a non-negative number starting with zero. No other limits exist regarding the order or sequence they must follow. These values can also be used in scoring scenarios where multiple different choice fields are factors in a computation somewhere else. |
Batch Importing Coded Choices
Choices can also be imported in bulk if there are many to create. This is done via a 2-column CSV file. Read more here.
Special Type
Used to map the choices to one of the following:
Country List
Language List
Visit Interval
Inventory Lists
Medical Coding attributes
Local labs
Single-Select Radio
These are similar to the dropdown fields described above, but allow the user to see all choices on screen rather than first tapping to see all choices.
Properties specific to Radio fields
Orientation
The Orientation dropdown control allows the Form Designer to select how the Radio Group Field Choices will display on the form. The Orientation dropdown choices are shown in the figure below:
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To select the orientation in which the Radio Group will be displayed, use the mouse to highlight and then click on the desired choice.
Horizontal – Selecting “Horizontal” displays the Radio Group field choices horizontally (across the page from left to right) as shown in the figure below.
Vertical – Selecting “Vertical” displays the Radio Group field choices vertically (down the page from top to bottom) as shown in the figure below.
Multi-Column – The Multi-Column choice is currently non-functional but is reserved for future use. It will be used in conjunction with the Group Property which is also currently non-functional.
Multi-Select Field
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) - Adds a barcode scanner to the field when displayed on the mobile app
ICD lookup - Allows a user to click on the field to open a quick search for ICD codes. Read more here.
Regular Expression (RegEx)
This allows a study designer to require specific formatting in a text field based on a predefined expression. Read here for more info about regex functionality. This field property is also available for Memo type fields if longer strings of text are required in data entry.
A Regex error message can also be defined. This will fire as a query if the data entered does NOT match what the expression requires. Here’s an example:
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RegEx Examples
Objective | Expression |
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Only enter numeric characters 0-9 with a maximum limit of six characters | ^[0-9]{1,6}$ |
Alphanumeric string, upper and lowercase characters, with a minimum limit of 10 and a maximum limit of 20 | ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]){10,20}$ |
Only allow 10 numeric digits | ^[0-9]{10}$ |
Must be a 10-digit US phone number with hyphens included | ^\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}$ |
Memo
The Memo Field allows for the storage of large amounts of alphanumeric information. Some typical uses for this data type would be notes, comments, or descriptions.
The Memo Properties enable the Form Designer to define how the memo field will be configured to capture the desired information. When a Memo form field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Memo Properties appear in the Toolbox as shown in the figure below.
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Properties specific to memo fields:
Maximum Length
The Maximum Length property allows the Form Designer to set the maximum number of characters allowed in the field. The system default is 3,000 characters. To set a different limit of up to 10,000 characters, enter a value in the Maximum Length property.
The Email Address Field is a text field designed to store text formatted as an email. Only syntactically correct email addresses are accepted in the field when the form is completed.
When an Email Address form field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Email Address Properties appear in the Toolbox as shown in the figure below.
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Properties specific to email address fields
Special Type
The special type selected here is Subjects Email.
Mask E-Mail
By checking this, the email will be masked with hidden characters when typing within the form.
Barcode (App Only)
A Barcode scanner is a text field with access to open a camera (when completed via the mobile app). When the camera is opened, it will scan for one of 21 different barcodes or QR types to pull the text automatically into the data field. Additionally, FDA device registry data can be automatically pulled into other fields on the same form if applicable.
To add a barcode field to a form, use the Barcode field within the mobile app form builder or a text field on the web form builder (with special property type “Barcode”)
Placing special type bar code scanning field steps. See figure below:
Select text field from the form properties area of toolbox
Drag field on the form and add a proper label
Name the field and reporting label
Set field length to proper length to fit in the entire bar code. Default is 10.
Select Special Type field called Bar code (Mobile) from the drop-down selection
Click the Save Form button
Here is an example of a form that collects a barcode value. On the TrialKit mobile app, users can directly scan barcodes into the form by tapping the barcode icon on the right side of the field.
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Once a barcode is scanned, in addition to auto-filling the barcode field, the system can instantly access the FDA device registry to auto-fill other device-related data. An example is shown here:
...
To auto-fill device data from the FDA's database, the following field naming conventions must be used, where the items below need to be appended to the end of each of the corresponding fields:
_DEVBARCODE_003
_EXPIRATION_DATE_003
_LOT_NUMBER_003
_UDI_003
_ISSUING_AGENCY_003
_DI_003
_BRANDNAME_003
_VERSIONMODELNUMBER_003
_COMPANYNAME_003
_GMDNPTDEFINITION_003
Number Types
Number
Number fields store numerical values. Both decimals and whole numbers are supported. Which numerical format is accepted is determined by the Number Properties selected for the Number field.
Non-numerical values are not accepted in a numeric field.
When a Number field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Number Properties (labeled #1 in the figure below) will appear in the Toolbox.
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Properties specific to number fields
Maximum Length
The Maximum Length field allows the Form Designer to set the maximum number of numbers allowed in the field. If the Maximum length property is not defined, the default length is 6 numbers. To designate a Maximum Length for the field, simply enter a value in the maximum length property.
Decimal Places
The Decimal places field allows the Form Designer to define the number of places accepted after a decimal. For example: To set the number field to display 23.46, the Maximum length should be 5 and the Decimal places would be 2. If the Decimal Place property is not defined - the field defaults to zero.
Special Type - Horizontal Slider (Mobile)
Used to provide end-users the ability to slide an indicator on a horizontal slider. This is set on numeric fields only and can be used effectively on pain scale forms.
Slider (Horizontal Slider)
The non-scale horizontal slider allows a user to slide an indicator from left to right on a plain line (no markings) to get a value. The visibility of that value depends on the settings.
This is created within the web form builder by setting a regular number field with the special type property “Horizontal Slider”.
Vertical Slider
The Vertical Slider Scale (VAS) allows the Form Designers to provide a vertical scale in which the user on a mobile app can use their finger to slide on a scale to a particular value. The VAS could be used, as an example, to ask a patient how they feel today on a scale of 1 to 10.
| Info |
|---|
Due to the touch requirement, this field type only renders on the mobile app. The web form will display as a numeric entry. |
The unique properties for the VAS field are the following:
Tick Attributes - This allows the Form Designer to change the size, spacing, and number of ticks that will be displayed on the scale
Ball Size - Controls the size of the ball the user grabs and slides up and down.
Upper Descriptor - Sets the text to be displayed at the high end (top) of the VAS field
Lower Descriptor - Sets the text to be displayed at the low end (bottom) of the VAS field
Number of Steps - Works with the step increment to set the high value of the scale. For example, if you have 5 steps and 2 step increments, the top of the scale will be 10. If only 1 step increment was used, the max of the scale would be 5
Step Increment - How many steps will be shown on the scale. If 2 steps are used with 10 steps, the user will see 2, 4, 6, 8, …. all the way up to 20 for the max value of the scale
Start Step - The Form Designer can start where to start the bottom of the scale.
Score Box - When the user slides the scale up and down the value or “score” of where the slider stops is shown to the left of the slider control
Score Label Title - Allows the Form Designer to name the value or “score”. For example, Pain Scale
Hide Score Box - If “On” will hide the value or “score” of the slider from the user.
Pain Scale
A tappable standard numerical horizontal scale of 1-10 is common for use in rating pain.
This can be added by setting a number field’s special type property to “pain scale”.
| Info |
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The field will render on a form only on the mobile app. The web will render this as a number field. |
Other than size, there are no customizable parameters for this scale type.
Coded Types
Single-Select Dropdown
The Drop Down Field is used to create a list of choices from which a user may select when completing a form. When the user selects a choice the field displays that choice in the Drop Down field in the form.
When a Drop Down form field is dragged and dropped onto the Form Builder body/grid, the Drop Down Properties appear in the Toolbox as shown in the figure below.
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Properties specific to Dropdown fields
Field Choices
The Field Choices dialog box allows the Form Designer to input a list of choices in the Dropdown field.
Clicking the View/Edit control will open the field choices dialog box shown in the figure above. The number that precedes the View/Edit control indicates the number of Field Choices available in the dropdown list.
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Below is the field choice dialog box -To enter the dropdown choices, type in each of the desired choices in the Text column of the Field Choices dialog box. Press the Tab key to move to the Value column or the Enter key to move to the next row in the Text Column.
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REMEMBER to click the OK button to close the dialog box and tap SAVE on the form.
Choices can be moved in order by dragging them into the list. Choice text and coded values can also be edited.
| Note |
|---|
Important: The value must be a non-negative number starting with zero. No other limits exist regarding the order or sequence they must follow. These values can also be used in scoring scenarios where multiple different choice fields are factors in a computation somewhere else. |
Batch Importing Coded Choices
Choices can also be imported in bulk if there are many to create. This is done via a 2-column CSV file. Read more here.
Special Type
Used to map the choices to one of the following:
Country List
Language List
Visit Interval
Inventory Lists
Medical Coding attributes
Local labs
Adjudication Final
This attribute is only applicable for forms being built to perform adjudication. Enabling this on a choice field tells the system that this variable should be compared during adjudication moderation. Read more here on configuring adjudication.
Single-Select Radio
These are similar to the dropdown fields described above, but allow the user to see all choices on screen rather than first tapping to see all choices.
Properties specific to Radio fields
Orientation
The Orientation dropdown control allows the Form Designer to select how the Radio Group Field Choices will display on the form. The Orientation dropdown choices are shown in the figure below:
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To select the orientation in which the Radio Group will be displayed, use the mouse to highlight and then click on the desired choice.
Horizontal – Selecting “Horizontal” displays the Radio Group field choices horizontally (across the page from left to right) as shown in the figure below.
Vertical – Selecting “Vertical” displays the Radio Group field choices vertically (down the page from top to bottom) as shown in the figure below.
Multi-Column – The Multi-Column choice is currently non-functional but is reserved for future use. It will be used in conjunction with the Group Property which is also currently non-functional.
Multi-Select Field
These are similar to single-select choice fields with both text and coded values, but they allow a user to include multiple choices in their selection which then get stored as comma-delimited codes. You can use one field object to handle scenarios where users might need to Select all choices that apply.
This is alternative to having multiple check boxes.
Once choices in this field are selected, it will display up to five selected choices for other users viewing the form. If more than five selections have been made, it will read, for example, “6 selected”. A user viewing the form later on would need to hover or tap on the field to see which choices were selected.
Considering between use of checkboxes or a multi-select field
Checkboxes are separate variables, and will be presented as unique columns in the data exports
A checkbox is always true or false (never blank), but a multi-select field can be blank.
If an edit check is needed to see if 'x' number of choices are selected, checkboxes would be needed.
Selecting Multiple products from an inventory list
A unique aspect of this field type is with its use when mapped to Inventory via its “special type” field property. It will display an icon next to it which opens a popup reference window of the inventory available at the current site. Example here:
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Allows for the user to draw on the screen to store the drawing as an imagea handwritten signature inside of a box. This gets stored stored as a .png image file with the form data.
Sketch Pad - App only
The Sketch Pad field allows the Form Designers to provide an area on the form where the user can “sketch” on the form. The Sketch Pad can include a background image and may be used for a user to circle their area of pain on the displayed the Form Designers to provide an area on the form where the user can “sketch” on top on a static/defined image.
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Due to the touch requirement, this field type only renders on the mobile app. The web form will only display the background image itself, similar to an image label object. Users must be on the mobile app during data entry to draw on top of that image. |
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Background Image - Allows the Form Designer to select an image to be displayed as the background of the Sketch Pad. The images listed in the dropdown box are images that were uploaded through the Website Host ->Image Library Pagebackground images to choose from are in stored in the Image Library. Images will be sized to fit in the size of the Sketch Pad box. In other words, if the image is distorted, adjust the field size to the appropriate height/width.
Brush Site (1-20) - Allows the Form Designer to set the brush size that is used to draw on the Sketch Pad area.
Color (RGB) - The Form Designer can choose the color of the brush that is used when drawing on the Sketch Pad by sliding the amount of Red, Green, or Blue colors. A preview of the color will be shown in the properties panel. By default, the color is set to black.
Activity Ring - iOS Only
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