Clinical Research Software
Made with C# and .NET:
How clinical research teams extend their platforms with C#

Clinical trial software runs automated checks on the data a study collects. Some checks need custom code, and in one major trial system that code is written in C#.

C# and .NET also show up in the libraries that connect trial systems to other software and in the server requirements of study design tools. The same stack runs some of the intranets and websites research organizations use. In this blog, we look at each of these and what the sources say about them.

The examples at a glance

Medidata Rave is an electronic data capture (EDC) system that sponsors and contract research organizations use to collect clinical trial data. Study builders configure most data checks in Rave Architect, and when a check needs logic that configuration cannot handle, they write a custom function.

TrialGrid, a company that builds tooling for Rave study builders, wrote in an August 2020 post that the Architect editor provides the basics for entering and validating custom function code in C#. Many programmers write that code in Visual Studio instead, configured with Medidata's Core Object DLLs, and work against Rave object model classes such as DataPoint and Subject.

Medidata's own open-source library agrees on the language. rwslib, the Python client for Rave Web Services that Medidata introduced on its engineering blog and publishes on its GitHub account, sets C# as the default language for custom function definitions and notes that VB has been deprecated in later Rave versions.

Hiring follows the same pattern. A current IQVIA listing for a Rave Custom Function Programmer in Bangalore, posted in September 2026, describes the role's custom function work as “C# Programming” and asks for “Excellent Technical Skill in C#.Net.”

A C# library for Rave Web Services

Rave Web Services (RWS) is the API that outside systems use to read and write Rave data, which travels as CDISC ODM XML. The mskcc GitHub organization publishes Medidata.RWS.NET, an MIT-licensed library that wraps RWS for .NET developers and ships as a NuGet package:

The library is third-party code built on Medidata's published API. The sources found for this article do not describe Rave's own architecture, so the C# evidence here covers the work that study teams and integrators do around Rave.

Oracle Life Sciences Central Designer is the study design tool that works with Oracle InForm, Oracle's EDC system. Oracle's system requirements for Central Designer release 7.0.1.1, dated November 2025, list ASP.NET 4.7 or higher and Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 among the application-server requirements. When Central Designer and InForm share a server, the install order starts with the .NET Framework, followed by the Oracle Database Client and then the two Oracle products.

The document covers Central Designer and does not establish what InForm itself is built on. Oracle's clinical portfolio is also mixed: the installation guide for Oracle Data Management Workbench 3.0 walks through the Java Development Kit and Oracle WebLogic Server, a Java deployment.

Research organizations also run enterprise platforms next to their trial systems, such as SharePoint intranets and Sitecore websites. Sitecore's server requirements state that Sitecore Experience Platform requires .NET Framework 4.8.0, and its developer setup guide says the platform supports both ASP.NET WebForms and MVC. The same guide starts a Sitecore solution from a Visual C# ASP.NET Web Application project in Visual Studio.

Softwarium has delivered enterprise platform projects for clinical research and life science organizations, documented in three case studies published in 2020 and 2021. Each one describes a separate engagement.

No source found for this article names C# as the language of a clinical research product's core. The documented evidence covers a customization language and open-source integration code, along with runtime requirements and hiring.

C# shows up in clinical research where engineers extend and connect platforms. Rave study builders write edit check logic in it, and integration teams can call Rave Web Services through a C# library. On the Oracle side, the study design tool depends on the .NET Framework at install time.

Softwarium's industry posts follow C# and .NET into other markets, including aviation and aerospace, real estate software, legal technology and energy trading. For consumer-scale examples, see the post on famous apps built with C# and .NET.

What language are Medidata Rave custom functions written in?

C#. TrialGrid describes the Architect editor and the Visual Studio workflow for C# custom functions, and Medidata's own rwslib library sets C# as the default custom function language and notes that VB was deprecated in later Rave versions.

Does Oracle's study design tool need the .NET Framework?

Yes. Oracle's system requirements for Central Designer release 7.0.1.1 list Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 and ASP.NET 4.7 or higher for the application server.

Does Medidata Rave have documented .NET and C# connections?

Yes. Study builders write custom functions in C#, and a public C# library wraps Rave Web Services. No source found describes Rave's full architecture.