Embedded PDF External Module for REDCap

This module allows you to embed PDFs in the middle of your form using the action tag @EMBEDDEDPDF. This is useful for displaying PDFs that are needed for reviewing prior forms.

Installation

• Enable the module through the Control Panel
• Set the web path to your eDocs folder in the module configuration page

Usage

I've tried to make this as easy as possible. Simply add the action tag @EMBEDDEDPDF=event_name:form_name:instance to a Descriptive Text field and the module will do the rest.

The PDF will be appended to the text in the field, so you can add headers that will be shown before the PDF.

Where event_name is the name of the event or unique event ID (as assigned by REDCap), form_name is the name of the form, and instance is the instance number of the form.

For non-longitudinal projects, pass 0 as the event name.

You can also use the selected smart variables in place of the instance number:

• [first-instance]
• [last-instance]
• [current-instance]
• [previous-instance]
• [all-instances] (same as passing no instance number or 0)

Example: @EMBEDDEDPDF=baseline_arm_1:demographics:[current-instance]

NOTE: If the form you are referencing is blank (contains no data), the module will not generate a PDF. IN ADDITION, the field will be completely hidden on the form.

It interoperates with other action tags.

Bug Reporting

Please report any bugs to the GitHub repository at https://github.com/metrc/redcap-embedded-pdf/issues

Author

Paige Julianne Sullivan
[email protected]
Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the entire METRC team for their support and feedback, especially Anthony (Tony) Carlini who challenged me to write this module.