When duplicating a form in the Study Structure, you can choose whether or not to preserve existing field dependencies. If your copied form does not display any dependencies, the "Copy dependencies?" setting was likely left as "No" (the default).
This article explains how dependency copying works, how to choose the right setting, and how to fix a form whose dependencies were omitted.
When you copy a form in Castor CDMS, the dialog window includes a dropdown menu titled Copy dependencies? with three options:
| Option | What it does | Best used when... |
|---|---|---|
| No (Default) | Copies all fields without any dependencies attached. | You want to reuse the form layout, but the conditional logic does not apply to this visit or event. |
| Yes, and refer them to original fields | Copies the form with dependencies that still point to the fields on the original form. | The newly copied form's visibility should be driven by answers given in the original visit/form. |
| Yes, and refer them to the copied fields | Copies the form and remaps intra-form dependencies to point to the newly copied fields on this new form. | You want the new form to be an independent replica of the original (e.g. duplicating a Visit 1 form for Visit 2, where Question B on Visit 2 depends on Question A on Visit 2). |
If you did not change this dropdown during the copy process, "No" was applied, leaving all copied fields visible by default with no dependency rules.
How to Fix It
Method 1: Delete the Copy and Re-Copy the Form (Recommended)
If you haven't started collecting data on the copied form, the quickest fix is to delete the copied form and duplicate the original again with the correct dependency option selected:
- Navigate to Study Design > Study Structure.
- Find the incorrectly copied form under its Visit, Repeating Data, or Survey structure.
- Hover over the form, click the kebab menu (three vertical dots), and select Delete form. (Ensure no participant data has been collected on this form).
- Navigate to the original form you wish to copy.
- Click the kebab menu (three dots) next to the original form and select Copy form.
- In the dialog window:
- Select your target Location and Position.
- Give the form a unique New Form Name.
- Under Add or replace prefix/suffix, configure your variable naming rule (e.g., adding
v2_so variables remain unique). - In the Copy dependencies? dropdown, select:
- "Yes, and refer them to the copied fields" if the conditional logic should stay contained within the new form.
- Click Copy.
Method 2: Manually Recreate Dependencies
If data has already been entered on the copied form, or if other study structures already reference it, do not delete the form. Instead, add the dependencies manually:
- Open the copied form in the Form Builder.
- Locate the field that should be conditionally displayed.
- Click the pencil icon (Edit) or the Dependencies icon on that field.
- Set up the dependency rule to point to the controlling parent field on your new form.
- Save the field.