editing instrument after pilot

[sjonabro]

Hi everyone,
I will be taking the instrument to the field soon for piloting.
How will I be able to make changes to the instrument without losing the formatting? (ie adding new variables without messing up the logic)
I know this is an issue that has alrady been asked but I could not find a solution to the problem.
Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks!
sjona

[josh]

In the dictionary if you add new variables to the end of a record then you will have no problems. The new variables will be blank when used with the new dictionary. If you add new variables at start or in the middle of the record then you will have problems when working with old data files so avoid that. Note that you can add items to the end of the record but still have them come up in the middle of the form. The dictionary order does not have to match the order on the form. You can adjust the order on the form by dragging the fields up and down in the form tree.

[sjonabro]

Hi Josh,
When I add a new variable to the end of the dictionary, and I re-generate the forms, all of my formatting is lost. I am trying to find a way to insert a new variable (after piloting the instrument, for example) without losing the formatting. This will be an iterative process (many rounds of piloting) so being able to get this right would be important.

Is there a way to update the forms without having to re-generate the form?
Aniseh

[josh]

Don't regenerate forms. Just drag and drop the new fields onto the form.

[sjonabro]

that was perfect! thanks!!