Re: [KoBo Users] Digest for kobo-users@googlegroups.com - 1 Message in 1 Topic

[Martijn van de Rijdt]

Thanks Neil!

I am working on a data collection application specifically meant for humanitarian contexts as well and would like to use an existing and 'popular' form format. My application will use HTML5 offline technologies (database and application cache) and work offline in any modern browser. The idea is that the application could provide an alternative way of collecting data and ideally is able to interact easily with other systems. E.g. a survey form designed with KoboForm could be imported and used to collect data in those situations where providing Android devices is not feasible (but another device (laptop/desktop) with a modern browser is). So for this reason I am looking into standardized form schemas.

It seems XForms and javarosa would be good to look into. As I read, Javarosa uses a subset of XForms and has added some stuff. I'll try to find out if there is an .xsd file that captures the exact format javarosa supports and can be used by me to e.g. validate 'javarosa-style' survey forms when they're imported and design the controller to create the html. (I tried validating a KoboForm-created survey form with the XForms .xsd file, but this failed, predictably due to the additions to the spec).

Cheers and good luck,
Martijn

On Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 12:47 PM, <kobo-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

  Today's Topic Summary

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/kobo-users/topics

• XML Schema for FormBuilder [1 Update]

 XML Schema for FormBuilder

Neil Hendrick <mojo...@gmail.com> Dec 16 03:01PM -0500  

Martijn,
 
Thanks for your interest in KoBo, I'm sure I can help you get started. If
you are interested in the XML schema, you should know that KoBoCollect uses
Xforms as supported by Javarosa. For details about the schema, please see:
https://bitbucket.org/javarosa/javarosa/wiki/xform
 
Just FYI, KoBoForm takes care of writing the XML for you, so you shouldn't
have to edit it yourself unless you have some special something you want to
include.
 
For more details about how to use KoBo Tools, please take a look at the
UserGuide <http://www.kobotoolbox.org/support/userguide>, and If you want
to get started building your survey in KoBoForm, I suggest the Getting
Started Tutorial <http://www.kobotoolbox.org/support/userguide/koboform>.
 
Any special questions you have, please post to the list and we will help
you out.
 
☞§※☼✈☂☻
~Neil
 
 
 


 

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[Neil Hendrick]

Martin,

I see what you are trying to do, create a survey app that runs offline in a browser and uses a standard format for creating forms and saving data. Sometimes it is more feasible to work on a laptop. This is a consideration for highly qualitative data where there might be a lot of text to type, difficult on an Android.

We use HTML5, too, in the KoBoForm app. This allows for some offline operations like saving and storing forms. There are a few limitations to that, but we do get a lot out of it. You might benefit from some research here about working offline, and here about local storage. 

Xforms is really the way you want to go for standardized format. It's XML based, widely supported, and human readable. Javarosa's subset of Xforms is a very large and usable subset, and allows Xforms to be used on mobile devices. If you want your data collection app to be compatible with mobile devices (i.e. offering users the ability to use the same forms on Laptops in Browser AND on phones) then you will really want to stick to that standard. 

We'd love to see a KoBoForm compatible app that runs offline, in-browser, and collects data using surveys written in KoBoForm. I hope to hear more from you in this area. 

Best,

~Neil

[Martijn van de Rijdt]

Thanks Neil,

I'll certainly check if using the javarosa subset of XForms is feasible to use for my app (Rapaide). 

Regarding laptop preference in some situations: yes, Rapaide is specifically meant for primary emergencies (the first month) where Clusters need to get off the ground asap and conduct needs assessments collaboratively amongst the cluster partners (different NGOs, UN). For such a specific (non-planned) context a browser-based app would be an easier-to-deploy and a rather exciting option (although the persistence of IE coupled with the forthcoming Gears deprecation is still a nagging issue).

I'll keep in touch! The app is currently functioning (pre-alpha) using a (hand-coded) custom json format. I must say it's tempting to keep using a custom json format for simplicity sake.... but interoperability with e.g. Kobo Toolbox would be much better. 

Cheers,
Martijn

On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 12:49 PM, <kobo-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

  Today's Topic Summary

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/kobo-users/topics

• Digest for kobo-...@googlegroups.com - 1 Message in 1 Topic [1 Update]

 Digest for kobo-...@googlegroups.com - 1 Message in 1 Topic

Neil Hendrick <neil.h...@kobotoolbox.org> Dec 21 10:30AM -0500  

Martin,
 
I see what you are trying to do, create a survey app that runs offline in a
browser and uses a standard format for creating forms and saving data.
Sometimes it is more feasible to work on a laptop. This is a consideration
for highly qualitative data where there might be a lot of text to type,
difficult on an Android.
We use HTML5, too, in the KoBoForm app. This allows for some offline
operations like saving and storing forms. There are a few limitations to
that, but we do get a lot out of it. You might benefit from some research

here <http://diveintohtml5.info/offline.html> about working offline, and
here <http://diveintohtml5.info/storage.html> about local storage.

Xforms is really the way you want to go for standardized format. It's XML
based, widely supported, and human readable. Javarosa's subset of Xforms is
a very large and usable subset, and allows Xforms to be used on mobile
devices. If you want your data collection app to be compatible with mobile
devices (i.e. offering users the ability to use the same forms on Laptops
in Browser AND on phones) then you will really want to stick to that
standard.
 
We'd love to see a KoBoForm compatible app that runs offline, in-browser,
and collects data using surveys written in KoBoForm. I hope to hear more
from you in this area.
 
Best,
 
~Neil
 


 

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