How to Register a Question in MaRDMO

MaRDMO reads answers from the RDMO interview by looking up each question's URI and extracting the value according to a set of configuration flags. Registering a new question means adding an entry to the relevant <submodule>/data/questions.json file so that MaRDMO knows where to find the answer and how to store it.

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Step 1 — Locate the questions.json file

Each submodule has its own registry:

Submodule	File
Model	model/data/questions.json
Algorithm	algorithm/data/questions.json
Workflow	workflow/data/questions.json
Publication	publication/data/questions.json
Search	search/data/questions.json

Open the file for the submodule the new question belongs to.

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Step 2 — Add the entry

Add a new key under the appropriate entity group. The minimum required fields are key1, key2, and uri:

"My New Question": {
    "key1": "model",
    "key2": "myfield",
    "uri": "domain/model/myfield"
}

Fill in the remaining fields according to steps 3 and 4 below.

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Step 3 — Set key1, key2, key3, and uri

key1 is the entity class the answer belongs to (e.g. "model", "quantity", "software"). It becomes the top-level key in the answers dict.

key2 is the specific question name within that entity (e.g. "Name", "Description", "reference"). It becomes the second-level key.

key3 is only needed for deeply nested questions where the same entity block holds multiple sub-fields under one key2 (e.g. "author" → "ID", "Name", "orcid"). Leave it out if not needed.

uri is the RDMO attribute URI fragment — the part after https://rdmo.mardi4nfdi.de/terms/. Check the RDMO admin interface under Domain → Attributes for the exact value.

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Step 4 — Set the five boolean flags

The five flags determine how the answer is extracted and where it is stored. Set only the ones that apply; all others default to false.

set_prefix

Set to true when the question lives inside a nested question set (a question set that is itself inside a collection page). This inserts the entity instance index into the path so that answers for different instances do not overwrite each other.

set_index

Set to true when the question lives inside a question set (not a top-level page question). This inserts the question set instance index into the path.

collection_index

Set to true when the RDMO question is a collection (the user can provide multiple answers for a single question). This appends the answer index to the path.

external_id

Set to true when the question links to another entity via RDMO's external ID mechanism (e.g. a relatant question that stores a reference to another portal item). The answer is stored as an {ID, Name, Description} dict or as a raw external ID string depending on the path shape — see the Question Configuration Reference.

option_text

Set to true when the question uses an optionset combined with a free-text field — for example, a reference question where the option identifies the reference type (DOI, URL) and the text holds the actual value. The answer is stored as a [option_uri, text] pair.

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Step 5 — Look up the correct flag combination

Once you have determined which flags apply, consult the Question Configuration Reference to confirm the resulting path and entry type. Make sure the path and type match what the downstream handler code expects for this entity.

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Example

A quantity reference question that lives in a nested question set (set_prefix), is a collection (collection_index), and captures both a reference type option and a URL (option_text):

"Reference": {
    "key1": "quantity",
    "key2": "reference",
    "uri": "domain/quantity/reference",
    "set_prefix": true,
    "collection_index": true,
    "option_text": true
}

This matches flag combo (✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✓) → rule 17 → path [quantity, prefix_idx, reference, coll_index] → list entry [option_uri, text].