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Impact of Data Dictionary Changes for a project in Production

Initial Considerations

The Data Dictionary is a spreadsheet in CSV format representing the structure of your instrument database. Your Data Dictionary contains the metadata used to construct your data collection instruments. It captures the same information as the Online Designer, but displays it in a more concise format.
Each row in a Data Dictionary spreadsheet corresponds to a field in your data entry form. The order of questions in a Data Dictionary file defines the order they appear in the database.
You can use the Data Dictionary to change the structure of your data collection instruments. If you have many variables, or are using advanced functionalities (branching logic and calculated fields), use the Data Dictionary to modify your project.

• Changes you make with the Data Dictionary are not propagated in real time to your project; changes are not committed until you upload the modified Data Dictionary file.
• Changes for development databases will take effect immediately, but changes to production databases will need to be reviewed and approved by the REDCap administrator before they take effect. The new structure will apply to both new and existing records.

Once your project is in Production you can make changes using the Data Dictionary. However, there are potential data loss ramifications. Take precaution by saving a copy of your project data so it can be retrieved in the case of data loss. The REDCap project will store backup copies of previous data dictionaries in case a reversion is needed; but it does not store backup copies of project data.

The Process

Please refer to Edit & Upload Data Dictionary for step by step overall.
Please also refer to the Unique Considerations section of Moving a Project To Production

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