Data Viewer FAQs

What are the Data Viewer views, and what can I do in them?

The purpose of the Data Viewer is to allow you to view your study data at a high level so that you can identify patterns and anomalies, and to ensure that data is completed and cleaned.

The Data Viewer is organized into views, and you can see different data in each view. You can perform most of the tasks listed above in the Summary view, the Record Listing view, or the Record Comparison view. In the Comments view, you only review comments.

Summary view—Review data count summarized across multiple form types. You can filter the page to see data grouped by visits or sites.
Record Listing view—Review data for one form across sites, subjects, and visits. You can also create a custom view so that you can review data from multiple clinical forms on one page.
Record Comparison view—Compare two Record Listing views side-by-side.
Comments view—Review form and item comments for all sites, visits, and forms.

What tasks can I perform in the Data Viewer?

Review study data.
Create queries on one or more items.
Freeze or unfreeze one or more forms or items.
Lock or unlock one or more forms or items.
Mark one or more forms or items verified or not verified.
Assign up to five custom review states, if they were defined for your study in Central Designer.

I can create queries on some items, but not on others. Why?

You cannot create a query on a calculated item. If you select only one cell, and that cell is for a calculated item, the Create Query icon does not appear. However, if you select more than one cell and some of the selected cells are not calculated items, the Create Query icon does appear. When you submit the data to create the query, a progress indication appears, and any calculated items are returned as unsuccessful with an error message specifying which records failed for the action.

Why do the state counts for my study seem higher than I expected?

The Data Viewer summarizes state counts for all users, not just the users whose data you have access to. For example, if 50 of the 100 forms you have access to are frozen, you might expect to see that value in the Data Viewer. However, if there are 50 additional frozen forms in the study that you don't have access to, the value that appears in the Data Viewer is 100, not 50.

What does the Updated Since Date filter do?

Enter a date and time in the filter so that you only see data for forms that:

Had clinical data changes since the date you entered.
Had queries that were opened or answered since the date you entered.

When you click Apply, if data changed for a cell in the table, the cell is highlighted.

Note: When you view the audit trail from the Data Viewer, the time for this field appears in your browser's time zone.

What are custom views and why would I use them?

In the Data Viewer, a custom view allows you to view data from multiple forms in one view. From a custom view you can create queries, verify items, and export the data to Excel.

Custom views have the same look and feel as clinical forms, but they're available only in the Data Viewer.

You can create a custom view using activated clinical forms.
You can include any displayable column from any available clinical form.
Columns from different forms are paired to each other based on site, subject, and visit.
You can't assign a custom view a form states or a review states because although custom views contain data from clinical forms, they aren't actually clinical forms themselves.

How much data can I include in a custom view?

For non-repeating forms, you can select:

Columns from a maximum of five forms.
A maximum of 15 columns across the five forms.

For repeating forms or itemsets, there are no form and column restrictions because the custom view displays them in primary and secondary views in the Record Comparison view.

What happens when I add an itemset to a custom view?

Custom views that contain itemsets (for example, from a Dose form) in addition to one or more non-repeating forms appear in the Record Comparison view instead of the Record Listing view.

In the Record Comparison view:

All of the items you select for the custom view from a non-repeating form appear in the top data view panel.
The itemsets you select for the custom view appear in the bottom data view panel.
All the itemsets you select for the custom view are available from the Form name drop-down list in either data view panel.

What happens when I add a repeating form to a custom view?

Custom views that contain one or more repeating forms (for example, an Adverse Event form) in addition to one or more non-repeating forms appear in the Record Comparison view instead of the Record Listing view because there can be multiple instances of the same form for a particular visit.

In the Record Comparison view:

All of the columns you select for the custom view from non-repeating forms appear in the top data view panel.
The first repeating form you select for the custom view appears in the bottom data view panel.
All other repeating forms you select for the custom view are available from the Form name drop-down list in either data view panel.

Can I create a custom view with forms from different repeating visits?

No. You can only include forms from the same repeating visit (that is, the same visit and same visit index) in a custom view.

Can I change the state of a form from a custom view?

No. A custom view is a representation of data from multiple clinical forms; it isn't actually a form. Therefore, you can't make form-level changes like freezing, locking, or assigning a custom review state from a custom view. You can, however, make changes to items in a custom view. For example, you can source verify an item on a form.

How can I see the audit history for an item in a custom view?

In the bottom-right corner of a custom view or the Record Listings view, click the arrow button (^) to expand the Details pane.

What are custom review states, and why would I use them?

Custom review states and stages are created as part of your study design, and available for use in the Data Viewer. You can use up to five custom review states to track any type of review progress.

For example, if you want to track forms that need to be reviewed by an adjudication committee, you might create a review state called Adjudication Review, with the following stages:

No Committee Review Required
Sent to Committee for Review
Committee Review Complete

As your forms are reviewed, you move them through the workflow by applying the review states.

Is there an audit trail for custom review states?

Yes. To see the audit trail, in the bottom-right corner of a custom view or the Record Listings view, click the arrow button (^) to expand the Details pane.

All custom review states are available for use by the InForm rule package so that rules can be designed to set or retrieve the custom review states. In the audit trail, any changes made by the rule package on the custom review states are marked as user Autoquery.

Custom review states aren't set up for my study, but I want to use them. What should I do?

Custom review states are part of the study design. If you want to add them to your study, your study designer needs to create and deploy a new study version.