Data Dictionaries

A Draft has an associated list of Data Dictionaries which can be accessed from the Draft Objects table on the Draft home page. This page displays the list of Data Dictionaries for the Draft.

Data Dictionary list

From the Data Dictionary list you can:

Create a new Data Dictionary
Edit an existing Data Dictionary
Delete a Data Dictionary

Copying Data Dictionaries

Data Dictionaries can be copied from Standard Libraries or other CRF Drafts. Clicking on the 'Copy from' button will display a dialog from which a Standard Library or CRF Draft can be selected. Selecting one will display all Data Dictionaries in the source, including those which already exist in the target Draft. The list can be filtered to show all of them, only those which are already in the target, or only those which are not, and a Dictionary which is already in the target is marked as such.

Copying a Data Dictionary whose name already exists in the target Draft overwrites the Dictionary which is there, so any Fields using it stay linked to it. Entries are matched on Coded Data: entries in the source are added or updated, entries which the target has and the source does not are deleted, and the entries are left in the same order as the source. Custom Property values are taken from the source in the same way. A Dictionary remains in the list after it has been copied, so a later change in the source can be brought across by copying it again.

If the target Draft has more than one Data Dictionary with the same name then that Dictionary is not copied, and a warning is displayed at the end of the copy.

Generating Documents

If your URL has Document Templates defined for Data Dictionaries, a "Documents" entry appears in the "Actions" menu above the list. The generated document receives the Data Dictionaries you have selected with the row checkboxes, and those matching whatever search and filters are active, so a report can cover just the part of the list you are looking at.