Epi Info™ User Guide

Web Survey

Differences in Check Code Performance

In Check Code, the designer places commands within field blocks for actions such as ‘Before’, ‘After’, and for some field types, ‘Click’. The key variation in performance between Check Code in the Enter tool and the Web Survey is related to the After block for fields that have drop-down lists (such as Yes/No, Legal Values, Comment Legal, and Codes).

In Enter, Check Code in the After block for fields executes when you leave the field either by tabbing to the next field or by clicking on another field on the page. However, in the Web Survey System, the Check Code in the After block for these fields executes as soon as you make a selection. The variation occurs since navigation is typically done by mouse and without a Tab key in the Web Survey System. Therefore, any Check Code commands (i.e. Enable/Disable, Hide/Unhide, Highlight/Unhighlight, and Set-Required/Set-Not-Required, etc.) that depend on the value selected in the drop-down list will occur as soon as the selection is made.

The Required property requires the participant to enter a value for the specified field. In the Enter tool, required fields must contain a value for the respondent to save the record or navigate to a different record. In the Web Survey tool, access to a separate page is also denied if a required field is left blank. If a required field is blank, a message displays notifying the participant that values must be given for required fields before the response can be submitted.