Summary

Instrument Management includes creating new instruments and renaming, copying and deleting existing instruments. This article will show how to implement each option. 

Instrument Management Instructions

Creating a New Instrument

There are three ways to create a new instrument: Create, Import, and Upload

• Create a new instrument from scratch button adds a new, blank instrument to the project. REDCap will prompt the user to name the new instrument before adding it to the project. Once the new instrument is added, users can drag and drop the instruments to edit the order of instruments.
• Import a new instrument from the official REDCap Instrument Library opens the REDCap Shared Library where uses can select one of several standard data collection instruments. A knowledge base article about the Shared Library coming soon.
• Upload instrument ZIP file from another project/user or external libraries allows users to upload a file from their computer into this project.

Renaming an Instrument

To rename an instrument, use the “Choose action” drop-down under Instrument Actions heading then click “Rename”. The instrument name then becomes a text box where the user can edit and save the instrument’s new name. 

Copying an Instrument

To copy an existing instrument, use the “Choose action” drop-down under instrument actions heading then select “Copy”. A pop-up will appear asking for the new instrument name and what suffixes to append to variables names. When the “Copy Instrument” button is clicked, then the new instrument will appear.

Deleting an Instrument

To delete an existing instrument, use the “Choose action” drop-down under instrument actions heading the select “Delete”. A pop-up will appear asking the user to confirm the instrument and all its fields should be deleted. (Note: An alternative to deleting an instrument if you want to keep access to any collected data in that instrument is to turn the form “offline” in the survey settings page)

Downloading Instrument ZIP

To download a ZIP file of an individual instrument, use the “Choose action” drop-down under instrument actions header and select “Download instrument ZIP”.