How do I set up pre-defined input field formats for eCRF and ePRO

In the following article, you will learn how to set up pre-defined input field formats for both ePRO and eCRF fields in the forms setup of Study Setup Step 3. 

This functionality aims at supporting you in maintaining data integrity and ensuring the accuracy of information entered in eCRFs and ePROs. By standardizing the input formats, data quality is improved as it reduces errors and ensures consistency in the data structure.

Field formats are available for the following field types: 

• Short text
• Long text 
• Number fields  

The following formatting options are available from our configuration toolbox: 

• Minimum amount of characters / digits allowed
• Maximum amount of characters / digits allowed
• Exact amount of characters / digits allowed
• Amount of decimal places allowed

Custom formatting rules for field formats can be defined using regular expressions (RegEx). 

Setting up advanced formatting rules 

	Navigate to Study setup Step 3. (Forms) and either create a new form or open an existing one.
	Add a new field (short text, long text or number field).
	Click on field display label to edit the field.

	Inside the field setup, scroll down to the "Advanced formatting section.
	You have the option to utilize the formatting rules from our toolbox that enables you to define, the minimum, maximum or exact amount of digits / characters the user shall be allowed to enter into the input field.
	For number fields you are also able to define the amount of decimal places that user can enter as a maximum.

⭐ For all toolbox options, meaning the set up of minimum, maximum and exact amount of characters / digits as well as maximum amount of decimal places, the system will automatically generate dynamic error validations, if the field format condition has not been met. These messages are available in English and German, depending on the study language settings. E.g.:  To adapt the validation language from English to German, change the study language. Please note that other languages used in our translation feature are not included. Read more about our translations feature: How do I translate my study into different languages? (Step 6)

Setting up advanced formatting rules

If you wish to set up more advanced formatting rules, for example to meet a certain type of serial number, prevent users from entering certain special characters etc., we recommend the option to set up rules via Regular Expressions inside short or long text fields. 

	Add a short or long text field to your form.
	Open the field configuration and navigate to "Set custom formatting rule (Regular Expression) in the advanced formatting section.
	If you are not familar with defining regular expressions, we recommend using tools like ChatGPT to define your formatting rule in the correct format. In our example, we, e.g. want to only allow the input of the following format: ABCD-1234-#, meaning 4 upper case characters, 4 numbers and a "#" at the end divided by hyphens. The regular expression to enter inside the input field setup would be: ^[A-Z]{4}-\d{4}-#$ Here's the breakdown of this exemplary regular expression: ^ asserts the start of the string. [A-Z]{4} matches exactly 4 uppercase letters. - matches the hyphen character literally. \d{4} matches exactly 4 digits. - matches the hyphen character literally again. # matches the "#" character literally. $ asserts the end of the string.
	Add an error message text for the user that explains the custom formatting rule. In our case it would, e.g. be: "The input field only accepts the following format: ABCD-1234-# (4 characters-4digits-#)".
	Save the formatting settings by clicking "Update basic field information"