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Global Questionnaire Information & Data Linking Standard

This document defines the architectural standard for handling Questionnaires and their corresponding Responses. To ensure data integrity and version persistence across different environments, all links must follow a Canonical Referencing pattern rather than relying on internal database IDs.

1. Questionnaire Identity & Versioning​

A Questionnaire is identified by a combination of two specific fields that define its unique "schema identity":

  • URL (url): A globally unique URI (e.g., https://system-domain.com/Questionnaire/patient-intake).
    • Note: The URL identifies the "type" of form but is not unique on its own, as multiple versions may exist under the same URL.
  • Version (version): A user-defined String (e.g., "1.0.4", "2024-alpha", or "v2").

The Unique ID vs. Canonical URL​

While every Questionnaire has a technical ID that is unique within its specific database instance, this ID is not used as the primary reference in a Response. This is because internal IDs can change during data migrations or environment syncs.

The "source of truth" for a link is the Canonical URL: Canonical Reference = [URL] + "|" + [Version]

2. Technical Logic Flows​

The following flows describe the internal logic for synchronizing these resources. This process ensures that the correct Questionnaire and Response are paired before any data is processed or displayed.

Flow A: Resource Initialization (No Response exists)​

  1. Select Questionnaire: The system identifies the target Questionnaire.
  2. Initialize Response: A QuestionnaireResponse is created programmatically.
  3. Establish Link: The Questionnaire’s url and version are written into the Response’s questionnaire reference field.
  4. Sync-Reload: The Questionnaire is re-loaded based on the reference stored in the Response. This step ensures that the system is operating on the exact versioned instance linked to the newly created data object.

Flow B: Resource Loading (Response already exists)​

  1. Load Response: The system fetches the existing QuestionnaireResponse.
  2. Extract Canonical: The system parses the url and version from the Response’s reference field.
  3. Load Versioned Questionnaire: The system fetches the specific Questionnaire that matches both the URL and the Version String.
  4. Resolution: The two resources are now correctly paired for rendering or data processing, ensuring the structure (Questionnaire) matches the data (Response).

3. Aidbox Tipps for Questionnaire Handling​