# Routes
## Routes through the interview
A **route** is a named set of questions drawn from the complete interview which it might be helpful to ask or review sequentially. At any stage of an interview, a different route may be installed as current from the **Route Explorer**.
The Route Explorer
The **Route Explorer** behaves exactly like the **Interview Explorer**, except that it displays only the questions which lie on the currently selected route.
The **3di** provides a number of pre-defined Routes, most of which select the questions which contribute to the making of one or another diagnosis – for example, the **ASD\_brief** Route selects the questions which constitute the **3di’s** rapid assessment for ASD.
The provided Routes are referred to as **System** Routes. Read more about the [four built-in ASD routes](/clinical-background/the-four-asd-assessments.md). You can also create your own [Custom Routes](/using-the-software/routes.md#creating-custom-routes-with-the-route-editor).
A **red** subsection or section icon in the Route Explorer tells you that there is at least one unanswered question on the route; conversely, when all the route questions are answered or disabled, every icon will be **green** regardless of the status of any questions not on the route.
#### **Opening the Route Explorer**
* click the button on the ribbon:
* *or* press **\** (think of **R**-oute)
#### **Installing a route**
Choose a route from the **Choose route** dropdown. You will be taken directly to the first unanswered question on the route, or to the first question if all questions are answered.
You can install a different route as often as you like during the course of a single interview.
Closing the **Route Explorer** removes the current Route and the associated highlighting of questions.
#### **Moving along a route**
To move to the next question on the route, click the button on the ribbon
*or* press **\** (think of forwar-**D**).
To move to the prior question on the route, click the button on the ribbon
*or* press **\** (think of **B**-ack).
Completing a question with **\** or **\** will as usual take you to the next question in the interview, rather than to the next question on the route.
## System Routes
The several System Routes built in to the 3di are described in [The four ASD assessments](/clinical-background/the-four-asd-assessments.md). The questions on these routes are the basis of the ASD scoring tables which appear in [Reports](/using-the-software/reports.md). In typical usage of the 3di, you will choose one of the ASD routes, answer only those questions, and focus on the corresponding report components.
For users of pre-2025 versions of the 3di, there is a separate reference on [Renaming of old routes](/setup/renaming-of-old-routes.md).
## Custom Routes and the Route Editor
Custom Routes behave exactly like the provided System Routes. They appear in all the dropdowns from which Routes can be chosen, and so can be used from the **Case Manager** to create **Route Reports** and **PreEntry** forms, as well as being chosen in the **Route Explorer** form when an interview is open.
Custom Routes can be used for everything from creating a version of a System Route (such as **ASD\_brief**) which adds off‑route questions you routinely like to complete, through to a Route with a handful of questions whose responses you like to copy and paste into a final Report from a Route Report.
To create or modify a Custom Route open the **Route Editor** from **Main Menu 🡪 Utilities 🡪 Create and edit Routes**.
You specify your Route by ticking or unticking questions in the **Selected** column. By choosing from the dropdown at the top of the form you can start with:
* no questions selected – choose **No route**
* the questions of a System Route selected – choose any of the Routes listed as **system** in the third column of the dropdown
* the questions of a Custom Route selected – choose any of the Routes listed as **custom** in the third column of the dropdown
Find questions you want to add to (or remove from) your Route, and review your current selection, by using the buttons at the head of the first and last columns.
Toggling the **Qid** button sorts the questions by their question ID, rather than their interview order. Toggling the **Selected** button sorts the questions by whether or not they are included on the route.
Both edited Custom Routes and edited System Routes can be saved as new Custom Routes.
If you started from a Custom Route, the **Save changes to Route** button will replace it with your edited version.
System Routes cannot be modified – but edits can be saved as a new Custom Route by clicking the **Save as new Route** button.
## The Route Manager
The **Route Manager** enables you to delete custom Routes, rename them and edit their brief descriptions. Open the Route Manager from **Main Menu 🡪 Utilities 🡪 Manage Routes**.
Select a Route by clicking in the left margin of the corresponding row in the table. Its name and description are copied to the editable fields in the bottom section of the Route Manager. You can then edit those details and use the buttons to **Save** or **Abandon** your changes, or use the **Delete** button to remove the Route.
Note that whenever you save a new Route from the Route Editor you are taken automatically to a simplified version of the Route Manager which limits you to editing the temporary name and description assigned by the **3di**.
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