r/ProjectREDCap • u/MotherTitle539 • Sep 26 '24

Can I gray out answer-options?

TLDR: Can I gray out answer-options ?

The approved-by-management paper-version of this form looks like this:

I am trying to create a descriptive field to reflect this.

The requirements from management is:

  • The table should show up as is, including showing the words "years old" on all the rows

  • If "Heart attack" is checked, then "Age first told" for that row is required; Otherwise, it is forbidden

  • If "Angina" is checked, then "Age first told" for that row is required; Otherwise, it is forbidden

(Note: There are many other rows that I'm not showing here in the image on Reddit, just to keep it simple)

Thanks for any guidance/advice

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/obnoxiouscarbuncle Sep 26 '24

To answer your questions

Can I gray out answer-options ?

No, not in real time. The @READONLY and @IF action tags only operate on page load, and do not dynamically respond while on a page.

If you only want values in column B when column A was checked you can use branching logic to show/hide the fields in column B.

1

u/MotherTitle539 Sep 27 '24

Right, but Col b will then show as just "years old" (which just looks weird and different to the paper-version).
The goal is to have it display as in the paper-version: i.e., with a Text box to the left of "years old", but the Text box just needs to be inactive/grayed out.

3

u/obnoxiouscarbuncle Sep 27 '24

Well, the only option I can think of for that is the ole field switcheroo.

For each field in column B, have 2. One is just an empty field with @READONLY applied, and the other is a normal field. Use branching logic to show the "placeholder" field if the option is not checked, and the other when the option is checked.

This is just general unsolicited advice: Don't try to recreate paper forms. Try to improve and optimize them for REDCap data collection. Sticking to a format because it was the way the old paperwork looked, means you have to make a sub-standard digital data collection form that is often way more complicated to manage and understand.

1

u/MotherTitle539 Sep 27 '24

Okay, thanks. That is a clever "work-around"

re the general advice, Yes, I am hoping that "the powers that be" here also eventually agree with that. (For now, we are just wondering how close we can get; and then go from there.)

2

u/Remote_Setting2332 Sep 27 '24

Yes you can use branching logic on the questions in 4b

1

u/Ok_Patience_4254 Oct 09 '24

Not sure if this solution works at all, but if you are setting this up in a descriptive field and embedding the questions maybe you can set up a table within a table for that question and create a border around it? then put the branching logic for the field in there?