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Import & round-trip

The builder is designed to load existing questionnaires, let you edit them, and export them again without losing information — including extensions it does not render itself.

Loading a questionnaire

Open the Questionnaires ▾ menu (top of the left panel):

  • 📂 From file… — open a file from your computer. A small dialog first asks the format: FHIR R4 JSON (.json) or REDCap CSV — Data Dictionary (.csv).
  • 📚 From Library… — pick one of the built-in sample questionnaires.
  • ☁️ From Cloud… — open a questionnaire you saved to the cloud (when signed in — see Cloud save & sharing).
  • 🕒 Recent draft… — restore your most recent auto-saved draft.

Loading replaces the current questionnaire; if you have unsaved changes you are prompted first.

FHIR versions

The target FHIR version — R4, R4B or R5 — is chosen from the version selector in the builder toolbar. On import the version is auto-detected from the marker the builder writes into its own exports, or from R5-only fields; otherwise R4 is assumed (FHIR resources do not carry their version in meta). STU3 JSON is also accepted and adapted to R4 on load, so older questionnaires still open.

On export, the questionnaire is written for the selected target version (for example, R5-only fields are down-converted or moved to the appropriate extension when exporting to R4/R4B).

Round-trip fidelity

Importing and re-exporting a questionnaire should not silently change it:

  • Extensions the builder understands are surfaced in the UI and written back.
  • Extensions it does not specifically render are preserved and re-emitted on export (see Extensions & SDC).

This means you can safely bring a questionnaire in, make a targeted change, and export it again.

Exporting

Use the Save ▾ menu to download FHIR JSON:

  • 📄 Questionnaire · FHIR JSON — the questionnaire itself.
  • 📋 QuestionnaireResponse · FHIR JSON — the current answers as a response.
  • 🧪 Observations · FHIR JSON Bundle, 🧩 Definition Extract · FHIR JSON Bundle, and 🗺️ StructureMap Extract · FHIR JSON Bundle — extracted resources (see Extraction).

Resuming a filled-in form

To continue a partially completed form, open Answers ▾ → 📂 From file… and load a QuestionnaireResponse. The builder restores the saved answers into the preview and re-runs all logic on top of them. You can also pull answers from a FHIR server — see Fill from a FHIR server.

Next: Answer types & options.