Global conditions

A global condition is a logical construct that, when applied to a study object, determines whether the study object will appear for a particular subject. You can use a global condition instead of a workflow rule if, for example, multiple workflows depend upon the value of the same observation.

Using a global condition in a study workflow involves two steps:

1. Creating the global condition and its expression. For more information, see Creating a global condition.
2. Assigning the global condition by associating it with a study object and specifying how its outcome affects the workflow. For more information, see Assigning and removing a global condition.

When you create a global condition, you specify the system with which you will use it.

You can assign an InForm global condition to any:

• Study element
• Study event
• Form

Example

In the following example, a global condition checks whether the subject is female, based on the Gender item in the Demographics form. If the condition is true, the Pregnancy form is presented.

Global condition: Is subject female?

(this.Demographics.Gender.Value == this.Demographics.Gender.GenderCodeList.Female)

When you deploy a study to the InForm application, only the study object assigned to the global condition is dynamic. Study objects that follow the study object with the global condition in the workflow appear in the study. When the workflow in the example is deployed, the Vital Signs, Medical History, and Physical Exam forms appear in the visit after the Demographics form. The Pregnancy Test form appears in the visit only if the global condition outcome is True.

Copying study objects with global conditions using the Libraries Browser

Global conditions appear to be attached to study objects but are actually part of a workflow. They are copied with study objects in the following way:

• If a study event contains a form with a global condition, the global condition is actually part of the study event. When you use the Libraries Browser to copy the study event from a study to a library, the global condition is copied. The global condition is not copied if you copy only the form.
• If you use the Libraries Browser to copy the study event from a study to a library, publish only the form, and copy only the form into a study, the global condition is not copied into the study because the global condition is part of the workflow at the study event level.

Note: When a global condition is on a study element or study event that is created directly under the study design in the Project Explorer, the global condition cannot be copied from a study to a library. The global condition is actually on the study design, and you cannot copy a study design from a study to a library.

Notes

• You can apply only one global condition per study object, so you must create an expression that evaluates all relevant data points in one global condition. Therefore, you cannot apply the global condition to multiple study objects if the other study objects require other actions. When you need to apply the same action to multiple study objects, Oracle recommends creating a workflow rule instead of applying a single global condition to multiple study objects. A workflow rule is evaluated only once.
• For valid global conditions, if you modify the RefName of a study object referenced by the rule, the global condition is updated with the change.

  If you modify a study object RefName in the global condition expression, the study object is not automatically updated in other rules that reference it.

• You are not required to use a naming convention for rules, but it can help you distinguish one type of rule from another. If you want to adopt a naming convention, consider prefixing workflow rules with wr and global conditions with gc to differentiate them from data-entry rules.
• Workflow rules and global conditions are deployed to the InForm application as trigger dependencies.