Issues with cascading selects and disappearing ${} objects in notes

[jos...@mail.harvard.edu]

I'm using KoBoCollect on and also the webform on KoBoToolbox with a series of cascading select questions. In this case, we have four levels to filter a total of 95 items (area-district-office-barangay). The cascading selects work beautifully on the online webform, but hang in the KoboCollect app (on a variety of devices I have tried). After selecting the area, the district remains blank for about 5-6 minutes before populating. One workaround I have found is that changing the languages trigger the choice filters to automatically update, but this is a cumbersome solution.

I have been experiencing a potentially related issue when it comes to embedding a ${} object in a label. Early on, we collect the name of the respondent's child and then ask several questions about the child. In order to personify this, I am embedding ${childname} in many of the labels. This works on some questions, but not all. In some, the name displays properly, but for others, I just get a blank. Again, oddly, by changing the language of the form, the names appear. 

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Tino Kreutzer]

Hi,

For cascades, what you're describing would be the case if you're using an immense list of several thousand items, but is not normal for just 95 items. Could you share the form with us for testing?

For the second issue this is also not normal. If you're using a field that is inside a repeat group there can be (expected) issues since a field can then exist multiple times. But for non-repeated questions that have been answered the response should always appear in the label. The only exception: If you're showing multiple questions on the same screen and want the response from question 1 reflected in the label of question 2 it will not dynamically update it unless you swipe away and come back to the screen as Collect can not update on the same screen as web forms do. 

Best,

Tino

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[jos...@mail.harvard.edu]

Hi Tino,

Thanks as always for your support.

I've attached a form which illustrates the issues I outlined above.

The cascading selects issue only appears on the KoBoCollect app. As I noted, for some reason, flipping the language toggle between Filipino and English causes the cascading selects to work.

For the missing ${childname} objects, the form was deployed and you can view it here: https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/#YoNR. The issue doesn't appear until the third screen with QM01, QM03, QM13 and QM07. I apologize for the longish form, but have removed all of the required except for childname and childage. Please note that, due to the skip logic built in, the child's age must be under 12 months.

Thanks!

Jonathan

[Tino Kreutzer]

Hi Jonathan,

The first issue, in Collect, is because you put multiple questions on the same screen: Collect is not dynamic, so the cascading questions (as well as skip logic) will not update unless you move away and back to this screen. Changing the language updates the screen as well, which is why that worked for you. So this is not a bug actually. Just remove field-list on the first group or move the geographic questions outside the group. 

For the lookup in Enketo webforms, I can confirm this issue - the ${childname} is not included in the labels for the questions you mentioned (though it appears in the note at the top of the group). When I return to the first screen and update the childname question response it is included in those labels, however. Martijn can probably confirm what the cause is here. As a quick workaround I'd say just remove this from these question labels and keep it in the note or put it in the group label. 

Best,

Tino

[jos...@mail.harvard.edu]

Hi Tino,

Thanks very much for the clarification. Looking forward to Martijn's response. Your solution is essentially what we've been using in the meantime. Using the child's name in the response is a nice feature, but far from mission-critical.

Best,

Jonathan