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Predefined variables in EDC/CDMS

Updated

Sometimes you may need to reference study information across the study (forms, reports or surveys). Using the following tags you can retrieve the information described below when and where it's necessary. For instance, if you want to show the institute/site or country in data entry, or if you want to create a dependency based on the site or country that the participant belongs to.

  • ''{variable_name}'' : Will be replaced to that variable's value for the currently opened participant.
  • ''{recordId}'' : Can be used for calculations regarding a certain record (participant) ID.
  • ''{castorRandomizedDateAndTime}'' : Can be used for the date and time a participant was randomized.
  • ''{instituteId}'' : Can be used for calculations regarding the institute (site) ID of a participant.
  • ''{userId}'' : Can be used to show the ID of the current logged in user.
  • ''{castorInstituteName}'' : Can be used for the site name of the participant.
  • ''{castorInstituteAbbreviation}'' : Can be used for the institute abbreviation of the site of the participant.
  • ''{castorInstituteCountryName}'' : Can be used for the country of the site of the participant.
  • ''{castorInstituteCountryCode}'' : Can be used for the two-letter country code of the site of the participant.
  • ''{castorInstituteCountryCode3}'' : Can be used for the three-letter country code of the site of the participant.
  • "{surveyPackageAvailableFromDate}" : Retrieves value of "Available from" within that specific survey package (can't be used across other survey packages)

As of 2 APR 2026 (Castor EDC/CDMS v.2026.1.1) we added 4 new system variables for calculated fields (calculations, summary fields, QR codes and link fields): 

  • "{repeatingDataInstanceId}" — resolves to the ID of the current repeating data instance
  • "{repeatingDataInstanceName}" — resolves to the custom name of the current repeating data instance
  • "{repeatingDataInstanceParentType}" — resolves to "Visit", "Repeating Data Instance", or "" if no parent is defined
  • "{repeatingDataInstanceParentName}" — resolves to the name of the parent (visit or repeating data instance), or "" if no parent

* Note: all these tags refer to each participant individually

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