App Troubleshooting

Owned by Theresa Baker (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Apr 25, 2023 by Madison Lethebe
1 min read
  • What happens if the app hangs during this process? Consider using the Emergency Data Dump. Email cru@ucalgary.ca for help, as well. If you detect a bug in this process, do the following:
  1. Logout.
  2. Login with your normal PIN, only add a ‘00’ to the end. This will make it an 8-digit PIN.
  3. This throws the app into Testing Mode. There is a button to submit a diagnostic report at the bottom of each screen.
  4. Reproduce your bug in Send Data if you can.
  5. Press the button at the bottom of the screen.
  6. Send a Bug Report via the main menu of the app or by emailing redcapapp@vanderbilt.edu. We need a normal-language story of what occurred around the bug in order to make the diagnostic reports make sense.


  • What happens if the app totally crashes during this process? You’ve probably run out of memory to some degree. The app only has a certain amount of memory from the operating systems. Try an Emergency Data Dump, which uses less memory.
  • Sometimes, the data dictionary/metadata on the project changes. If a change throws data quality into jeopardy (by changing, say, a field label or a radio button text option), then the app throws an error. It will not upload the data until the data dictionary/metadata on the server is compatible.
  1. That is, one must change back the metadata on the server first. Then sync the project. Then change forward the metadata. Then refresh the project’s configuration and data.
  2. The app will list which fields need attention. This is probably the most difficult process to organize on the human-end in the app.