Summary

This module may be used for making changes to the project, such as adding new fields, modifying or deleting existing fields, by using an offline method called the Data Dictionary. The Data Dictionary is a specifically formatted CSV file within which users may construct their project fields and afterward upload the file to commit the changes to the project. (Note: Once the file has been uploaded, changes will NOT immediately be made but will be displayed and checked for errors to ensure that all the formatting in the Data Dictionary is correct before official changes are made to the project.)

How to access and update the Data Dictionary

To access and modify the Data Dictionary, navigate to the project you would like access and/or edit the Data Dictionary for.

1. Click on Dictionary under the "Project Home and Design" header on the left side of your screen.
    
    
2. Click on "Download the current Data Dictionary"           
                                 
3. Open the downloaded Excel file and edit as necessary. You can add, delete, and modify fields by adding, deleting, or modifying the rows of the Excel sheet, respectively.
   • To learn more about editing the data dictionary, please refer to this article: Editing the REDCap Data Dictionary
      
4.  Once all edits are made, save the file as a CSV file.
    
5.  Navigate back REDCap and in the "Upload your Data Dictionary file" box, select the correct format for your date/datetime fields and select the delimiter of your CSV file. (Note: The  default delimiter when saving a CSV file is comma.)
   
    
6. Click on Choose File and select your file.                                                                                                
   
    
7. Once the name of your file appears, click on Upload File.                                  
   
    
8. Changes will be made after REDCap has checked the file for any errors.
   • If there are any errors in your file, this text box will appear. Please read through the errors and make any necessary edits to the Data Dictionary file.
   • Click RETURN TO PREVIOUS PAGE  and repeat steps 5-7 until no errors persist.
   • If there are no errors in your file, this text box will appear and your data dictionary is ready to be updated. 
     
      
9. If all edits appear acceptable, click on Commit Changes in the blue text box. If there any concerns with the changes, click "Cancel" to cancel the upload.                                     
    
10. Once this message appears, all changes have been committed