Question Types#

ODK Collect supports forms with a wide variety of question types. The exact functionality and display style of each question are specified in your XLSForm definition using the type and appearance columns.

Tip

You can find an XLSForm with all available question types here.

Helpful terminology

question#: A prompt to the user, usually requesting a response. Questions are written as a single line in an XLSForm, and usually appear on a single screen in Collect.
widget#: A rendered question screen in Collect. The type and appearance of a question determine the widget that is displayed.

Text widgets#

All of the text widgets share the text type, and the inputs from them are saved as literal strings.

Warning

If you are using Aggregate and expect answers to be more than 255 characters, you should increase the database field length to over 255 characters.

Default text widget#

type: text
appearance: none

A simple text input.

The text entry field expands as the user types, and line breaks can be included. The keyboard displayed depends on the Android device and user settings.

Text form widget, displayed in ODK Collect on an Android phone. The label is "What is your name?"

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
text	name	What is your name?

To define the minimum number of rows that a text field should display, use the parameters column.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	parameters
text	name	What is your name?	rows=5

Number text widget#

type: text
appearance: numbers

A numerical input that treats the input as a string, rather than a number.

The number input accepts numerals (0123456789), hyphens (-), and decimal separators (. and ,). These are the only characters available on the number keypad displayed with this widget.

This is useful for phone numbers, ID numbers, IP addresses, and similar data. It can also be used in place of the Integer widget or Decimal widget if large numbers are needed (the integer widget has a limit of nine digits, and the decimal widget has a limit of 15 characters).

The text widget, with numerical entry, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "String number widget." The hint text is, "text type with numbers appearance." Below that is a simple input. Above the question text is the form group name "Text Widget." The Android onscreen keyboard displays a number pad.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
text	string_number_widget	String number widget	numbers	text type with numbers appearance

Warning

It's not guaranteed that the result will be a well-formed number. For example, it might be .0,1-2 5. If you know the expected format of the value, you can add constraints to ensure it meets your requirements. For instance, if you only want numbers greater than or equal to zero (without decimal separators), you can use a regular expression like regex(.,'^[0-9]*$') for validation.

Note

This appearance can be combined with the thousands-sep appearance.

External app string widget#

type: text
appearance: ex.*

Launches an external app and receives a string input back from the external app. If the specified external app is not available, a manual input is prompted.

The external app widget is displayed when the appearance attribute begins with ex:. The rest of the appearance string specifies the application to launch.

See also

External Apps

The External App form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The question text is "Ex string widget." The hint text is, "text type with ex:change.uw.android.BREATHCOUNT appearance (can use other external apps)." Below that is a button labeled "Launch." Above the question text is the form group name "Text widgets."

The External App widget as displayed earlier. The Launch button has now been disabled. Below it is a simple input. A help message displays the text, "The requested application is missing. Please manually enter the reading."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
text	ex_string_widget	Ex string widget	ex:change.uw.android.BREATHCOUNT	text type with ex:change.uw.android.BREATHCOUNT appearance (can use other external apps)

Number widgets#

Number widgets collect and store number inputs — either integers or floating-point decimals.

Number values can also be captured by the Range widgets.

Integer widget#

type: integer
appearance: none

A whole number entry input.

Integer widgets will not accept decimal points, and the entry field has a limit of nine digits. If you need numbers larger than nine digits, see the Number text widget.

The integer widget supports:

Thousands separators
External apps

An integer form widget displayed in ODK Collect on an Android phone. The question is "What is your age in years?" A numerical keyboard is displayed.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
integer	age	What is your age in years?

Decimal widget#

type: decimal
appearance: none

A numeric input that will accept decimal points.

Decimal number entry is capped at 15 characters (14 digits and a decimal point). If you need numbers larger than 15 digits, see the Number text widget.

The decimal widget supports:

Thousands separators
External apps

An integer form widget displayed in ODK Collect on an Android phone. The question is "Weight in kilograms." A numerical keyboard is displayed.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
decimal	weight	Weight in kilograms.

Number widget appearance options#

Thousands separator#

type: integer, decimal, (text)
appearance: thousands-sep, (numbers)

If thousands-sep is added to appearance, integer, decimal, and number text widgets will display their values using locale-specific thousands separators.

Note

For locales that use the point separator (.), a space is used instead.

An integer widget as displayed in the Collect app. The question text is "Integer widget with thousands separators". The answer value is "1,000,000". The number keyboard is active.

The same image as previously, but the answer value is "1 000 000". (That is, it uses spaces instead of commas as thousand separators.

Number from an external app#

type: integer, decimal
appearance: ex:*

By specifying an external app in the appearance, your form can launches an external app and receive a number (integer or decimal) from the external app as input. If the specified external app is not available, a manual input is prompted.

See also

External Apps

The External Integer form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Ex integer widget." The hint text is, "integer type with ex:change.uw.android.BREATHCOUNT appearance (can use other external apps)." Below that is a button labeled "Launch." Above the question text is the form name "Numerical widgets."

The External Integer widget as displayed previously. The Launch button is now disabled and below it is a simple input. A help text reads, "The requested application is missing. Please manually enter the reading."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
integer	ex_integer_widget	Ex integer widget	ex:change.uw.android.BREATHCOUNT	integer type with ex:change.uw.android.BREATHCOUNT appearance (can use other external apps)

Date and time widgets#

Default date widget#

type: date
appearance: none

The default Date form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Date widget." The hint text is "date type with no appearance." Below that is a button labeled "Select date." Below that is the text, "No date selected." Above the question text is the form group name "Date and time widgets."

The date widget shown previously. Below the button is a date: Aug 11, 2017.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint
date	date_widget	Date widget	date type with no appearance

Date widget with spinner input#

type: date
appearance: no-calendar

The no-calendar appearance displays a spinner-style date selection. This is especially appropriate for selecting dates more than one year in the past or future.

The no-calendar Date form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Date Widget." The hint text is "date type with no-calendar appearance." Below that is a button labeled "Select date." Below the button is the text, "No date selected." Above the question text is the form group name "Date and time widgets."

The date widget shown previously, with a pop modal. The headline of the modal is "Select date." There are individual "spinner" style selectors for month, day, and year. At the bottom of the modal are OK and Cancel buttons.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
date	date_widget_nocalendar	Date Widget	no-calendar	date type with no-calendar appearance

Month and year only#

type: date
appearance: month-year

Collects only a month and year.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
date	date_widget_month_year	Date widget	month-year	date type with month-year appearance

Year only#

type: date
appearance: year

Collects only a year.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
date	date_widget_year	Date widget	year	date type with year appearance

Date widgets with non-Gregorian calendars#

Collect supports several non-Gregorian calendars.

Note

The non-Gregorian calendar is used only on input. The dates are converted and stored as standard Gregorian dates

Coptic calendar#

type: date
appearance: coptic

Ethiopian calendar#

type: date
appearance: ethiopian

Islamic calendar#

type: date
appearance: islamic

Bikram Sambat calendar#

type: date
appearance: bikram-sambat

Myanmar calendar#

type: date
appearance: myanmar

Persian calendar#

type: date
appearance: persian

Time widget#

type: time
appearance: none

A time selector. Captures only a specific time-of-day, not a date and time. For date and time, see the Datetime widget.

The time widget does not accept any appearance attributes.

Note

The time widget stores the time along with a time zone. This can cause unexpected behavior around Daylight saving time.

For example, if you record a time before the clock change, and then view the time after the clock change, it will appear to be an hour off. This happens because the recorded time data is understood as a specific moment in time that is being "translated" into your current, local time zone.

A similar problem occurs when moving between geographic time zones.

This makes the time widget unsuitable for abstract time-of-day questions such as What time do you usually wake up? For questions like this, you may want to use a Minimal select widget. You can set the options at whatever level of accuracy you need — for example, 15 or 30 minute increments. Alternatively, you could use the select widget for hours, and an Integer widget for minutes.

The Time form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The question text is "What time do you usually wake up?" The button label is "Select time." Below the button is the message "No time selected."

The Time form widget as displayed previously. Below the "Select time" button is "06:30".

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
time	wakeup	What time do you usually wakeup?

Datetime widget#

A date and time selector.

For date only, see Default date widget. For time only, see Time widget.

The Datetime form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The question text is "When was the last time you ate?" Below the question are two buttons. The first button is labeled "Select date" and below it is the message "No date selected." The second button is labeled "Select time" and below it is the message "No time select."

The Datetime form widget as displayed previously. The question text is "When was the last time you ate?" Below the question are two buttons. The first button is labeled "Select date" and below it is the date "Aug 08, 2017" The second button is labeled "Select time" and below it is the message "No time select."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
dateTime	previous_meal	When was the last time you ate?

Note

The Datetime widget supports the no-calendar spinner-style appearance.

Select widgets#

Select widgets display choices to pick from. Single selects allow selecting a single choice, and multi selects allow selecting multiple choices.

The choices for a select question can be included on a sheet named choices directly in an XLSForm or attached as an external dataset.

The order of the choices can be randomized for any of the select types described below. The list of choices available can also be filtered based on answers to previous questions. Selects from internal datasets can include images as choices.

Selects can be displayed in different ways using appearances.

The choices sheet for defining internal datasets has at least three columns:

list_name

A set of choices for a single question share a common list_name. The value of list_name is included in the type column on the survey sheet.

name

The identifier for a specific choice. This value is what is stored on the completed form. If you refer to a select response using a variable, the name string is returned.

As in the survey sheet, the name for a choice must not include spaces.

label

The user-facing text displayed for the choice.

Single select widget#

type: select_one {list_name}

The default Single Select form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Select one widget." The hint text is "select_one type with no appearance, 4 text choices." Below that is a set of radio button selectors labeled A, B, C, and D. Above the question text is form group name "Select one widgets."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint
select_one opt_abcd	select_one_widget	Select one widget	select_one type with no appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Multi select widget#

type: select_multiple {list_name}
appearance: none

Multi select questions allow selecting multiple answers. The response for the question will be the space-separated choices made by the user, in the order that they were selected.

Note

The multi select widget supports all of the same appearance attributes as the Single select widget excluding the quick appearance.

The default multi select widget as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Multi select widget." The hint text is, "select_multiple widget with no appearance, 4 text choices." Below that are four checkbox options labeled A, B, C, and D. Above the question text is the form group label, "This section contains 'Select Multi Widgets'"

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint
select_multiple opt_abcd	select_multi_widget	Multi select widget	select_multiple type with no appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Select from external dataset#

Data files in CSV, GeoJSON or XML format can be attached to form definitions. These external datasets can be used as data sources for selects. The question type for single selection is select_one_from_file and for multiple selection, it is select_multiple_from_file. The full filename of the dataset including the extension goes after the type.

Selects from external datasets can be used in all the same ways as internal selects. For example, they can be displayed differently using appearances or filtered using choice filters.

type: select_one_from_file {file.extension}

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
select_one_from_file hospitals.csv	hospital	Select hospital

hospitals.csv#
name	label
hospital_a	Hospital A
hospital_b	Hospital B
hospital_c	Hospital C
hospital_d	Hospital D

Customizing the label and value#

When using an external dataset as a data source for a select, the underlying value for each choice comes from:

CSV file: the name column
GeoJSON file: the id top-level element if it exists or the id property as a fallback
XML file: the name child element

The label for each choice comes from:

CSV file: the label column
GeoJSON file: the title property (follows the GeoJSON simplestyle specification)
XML file: the label child element

In some cases, it may not be convenient to rename your columns to match these defaults. If you have a dataset from another source and different column names, you can use the parameters column in your XLSForm to specify which columns to use.

For example, to use feature_id for the underlying value and human_name for the label:

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	parameters
select_one_from_file hospitals.csv	hospital	Select hospital	value=feature_id,label=human_name

hospitals.csv#
feature_id	human_name
hospital_a	Hospital A
hospital_b	Hospital B

Select appearances#

Selects can be styled in various ways using the appearance column in an XLSForm. Unless otherwise indicated, the appearances described below can combine with single or multiple selects with either internal or external data sources.

Minimal select widget#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: minimal

Adding the minimal appearance shows the choices in a compact way. This is particularly helpful when the list of choices is long and the select question is displayed on the same screen as other questions. It is often combined with the autocomplete appearance.

The Single Select form widget, with minimal appearance, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Select widget." The hint text is "select_one type with minimal appearance, 4 text choices." Below that is a drop-down style select menu with the prompt "Select One Answer." Above the question text is the form group name "Select one widgets."

The Single Select form widget, with minimal appearance, as displayed in the previously image. The select menu has expanded to show choices: A, B, C, D.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one opt_abcd	select_widget	Select widget	minimal	select_one type with minimal appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Select widget with autoadvance#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: quick

When the quick appearance is added, the form advances immediately to the next question once a selection is made.

Note

The quick appearance can only be used with single selection.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one opt_abcd	select_one_autoadvance_widget	Select one autoadvance widget	quick	select_one type with quick appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Select widget with autocomplete#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: autocomplete

The autocomplete appearance allows the enumerator to filter the list of available choices. This is especially helpful for questions with a large number of choices.

The Select One form widget with autocomplete, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Select one widget." The hint text is, "select one type with autocomplete appearance, 4 text choices." Below that is a text input followed by four radio buttons labeled A, B, C, and D. Above the question text is the form group name "Select one widgets." The device keyboard is active.

The Select One form widget as displayed previously. The text input contains a lowercase 'b'. There is a single radio button: B. The other three radio buttons are no longer displayed.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one opt_abcd	select_one_autocomplete_widget	Select one widget	autocomplete	select_one type with autocomplete appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Select widget with columns-pack appearance#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: columns-pack

When the columns-pack appearance is added, the app tries to accommodate as many choices in a single line as possible. If the choice labels have different lengths, they will not be in even columns.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one opt_abcd	select_widget	Select one widget	columns-pack	select_one type with columns-pack appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Select widget with columns appearance#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: columns

When the columns appearance is added, the app puts choices in 2, 3, 4 or 5 columns depending on the screen size.

Select widgets support image choices. The images are referenced in the choices sheet, and the image files need to be included in the media folder.

See Including media files in choices to learn more about including images in surveys.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one abcd_icon	select_widget	Select one widget	columns	select_one type with columns appearance, 4 text + image choices

choices#
list_name	name	label	image
abcd_icon	a	A	a.jpg
abcd_icon	b	B	b.jpg
abcd_icon	c	C	c.jpg
abcd_icon	d	D	d.jpg

Select widget with columns-n appearance#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: columns-n

When the columns-n appearance is added, the app puts choices in n columns.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one abcd_icon	select_widget	Select one widget	columns-2	select_one type with columns-2 appearance, 4 text + image choices

choices#
list_name	name	label	image
abcd_icon	a	A	a.jpg
abcd_icon	b	B	b.jpg
abcd_icon	c	C	c.jpg
abcd_icon	d	D	d.jpg

Select widget with no-buttons appearance#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: no-buttons

When the no-buttons appearance is added, the app displays choices without the selection radio button. If images are specified for choices, only the images are displayed. This is particularly useful for building a grid of images.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one abcd_icon	select_widget	Select one widget	columns-pack no-buttons	select_one type with columns-pack no-buttons appearance, 4 image choices

choices#
list_name	name	label	image
abcd_icon	a	A	a.jpg
abcd_icon	b	B	b.jpg
abcd_icon	c	C	c.jpg
abcd_icon	d	D	d.jpg

Likert widget#

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: likert

A single-select question can be styled as a Likert scale. Options can include text, images or both. If both are provided, images appear above text.

If adding images, note that the images are referenced in the choices sheet, and the image files need to be included in the media folder. See Including media files in choices to learn more about including images in choices.

The Single Select form likert widget with images, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Likert Image Widget." The hint text is, "Likert type widget with images (happy case)" Below that is a set of radio buttons labeled Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strongly Agree. Below each radio button is a small icon of a face: Strongly Disagree - angry, Disagree - sad, Neutral - neutral, Agree - happy, Strongly Agree - very happy. Above the question text is the form group name "All widgets likert."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
select_one likert	likert_widget	Likert Widget	likert	select_one type with Likert appearance, 5 image choices (strongly_disagree.jpg, disagree.jpg, neutral.jpg, agree.jpg, strongly_agree.jpg)

choices#
list_name	name	label	image
likert_widget	strongly_disagree	Strongly Disagree	strongly_disagree.jpg
likert_widget	disagree	Disagree	disagree.jpg
likert_widget	neutral	Neutral	neutral.jpg
likert_widget	agree	Agree	agree.jpg
likert_widget	strongly_agree	Strongly Agree	strongly_agree.jpg

Select one from map widget#

New in version 2022.2.0: ODK Collect v2022.2.0

type: select_one {list_name}
appearance: map

Warning

The map appearance on selects is not yet available in web forms (Enketo).

Polygons and lines are only supported in Collect v2023.1.0 or later.

The different basemap sources currently have different performance. If Collect feels slow when creating the map or when selecting a choice, please describe what you are experiencing on the forum. If you have many choices to include on a map, try a provider other than Google or Mapbox. You can also use a choice filter to reduce the number of choices that get mapped.

Note

The only appearance that can combine with selection from map is quick.

If the choices that you want users to select from are locations, you can display them on a map. Each choice must have a geometry property that specifies the choice's geometry. You can include points, lines, polygons, or a mix.

Single select from map as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Select a point" and it is displayed in a small top bar. Below that is a map with several markers. One of the markers is larger. At the bottom of the screen, there is information about the selected marker. Its label is "Restaurant Délicia". Several other properties are shown including `timestamp`, `version` and `amenity`. Below the properties, there is a rounded button with a save icon and the text "Select."

Single select from map as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Select a building to inspect" and it is displayed in a small top bar. Below that is a map with several buildings outlined in red with red shading. At the bottom of the screen, there is information about the selected building. Its label is "Elephant Care Center". Below the properties, there is a rounded button with a save icon and the text "Select."

Specifying geometry for choices#

You can specify geometry for all choice sources:

If you specify choices in the form using the choices tab, add a geometry column
If you use an external CSV file and use select_one_from_file, add a geometry column
Use a GeoJSON attachment and select_one_from_file

For the first two options, geometry values must be specified in the ODK format. This makes it straightforward to use data previously collected by ODK as choices displayed on a map. You must make sure that the column containing the geometry to use for each choice has the name geometry.

Learn more about using GeoJSON attachments and see a worked example here.

Note

Choices with invalid geometries are silently ignored. There will be no message displayed to a user when it happens.

Select one from map behavior#

When the map is first opened, it centers on the device's current location. There are buttons on the right to recenter on the current location and to show all available points.

Point choices are represented by map markers (). Tapping on a marker increases its size.

Line and polygon choices are represented by red lines connecting small white circles at each vertex. The inside of polygons is shaded red and can be tapped to select the polygon.

When a choice is selected, its properties are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Those properties are from:

additional columns when choices are specified the choices tab or an external CSV file
the properties object when choices are specified in a GeoJSON file

Under the choice label, there is a button to save the currently-selected feature to the form.

Choice properties#

All of a choice's properties including geometry can be used in the rest of the form (see referencing values in datasets) including in choice filter expressions. Even if the choices are specified from a GeoJSON file, the geometry property is made available to the form in the ODK format, NOT as GeoJSON.

There are two special properties that can be used to style the marker for a Point choice:

marker-color: a valid long or short hex color code used to represent that marker's color (e.g. #aaccee or #ace)
marker-symbol: a single character used as that choice's marker (e.g. A or 7 or 🏥 or 🟢)

If your geospatial data comes from an external source, you can customize the label and underlying value.

If there is an offline layer specified, it will be displayed under the mapped choices.

Select from image widget#

type: select_one {list_name}, select_multiple {list-name}
appearance: image-map

The image map widget displays an SVG image with selectable regions.

To make an image with selectable regions:

Create or edit an .svg source file. Include id attributes on any elements you want to be selectable.
In the choices tab of your XLSForm, put the value of the id attributes in the name column. Add an appropriate human-friendly label to each choice.
In the survey tab of your XLSForm, put the .svg file name in the image column.
Include the .svg file in your form's media folder.

See also

Inkscape: An open source vector graphics editor.
SVG Documentation: From Mozilla Developer Network.
Free SVG Files: From Wikimedia Commons.

SVG

<svg width="640" height="480" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <title>shapes</title>
  <g>
    <title>Layer 1</title>
    <path id="path" fill="#000080" stroke="#000000" stroke-width="5" d="m125,382c33,56 -193,97 48,55c241,-42 279,-15 241,-62c-38,-47 -13,-42 -106,-40c-93,2 -183,47 -183,47z"/>
    <rect id="rect" fill="#FF0000" stroke="#000000" stroke-width="5" x="52" y="53" width="176" height="149"/>
    <ellipse id="ellipse" fill="#41A317" stroke="#000000" stroke-width="5" cx="423" cy="143" rx="107" ry="78"/>
  </g>
</svg>

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	image
select_one shapes	choose-shape	Choose a shape	image-map	shapes.svg
select_multiple shapes	choose-shapes	Choose multiple shapes	image-map	shapes.svg

choices#
list_name	name	label
shapes	path	blob
shapes	rect	rectangle
shapes	ellipse	ellipse

Including media files in choices#

As with questions themselves, choices can include media (image, video, or audio files):

choices#
list_name	name	label	image	video	audio
opt_media	a	A	a.jpg
opt_media	b	B		b.mp4
opt_media	c	C			c.mp3

See also

For images, you can specify a bigger image for panning and zooming using the big-image column. This is not compatible with the no-buttons appearance.

Note

select_one and select_multiple questions using the no-buttons appearances will not display media buttons next to choices. However, if a choice has audio, it will be played when the choice is selected.

Randomizing choice order#

To reduce bias, choice order can be randomized for any of the select question types described above. To display the choices in a different order each time the question is displayed, set randomize to true in the parameters column of the XLSForm survey sheet:

XLSForm

survey#
type	parameters	name	label
select_one opt_abcd	randomize=true	select_one_random_widget	Select one with random choice order set on each display

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

In the example above, each time the question is displayed, the choices will be in a different order. It is often preferable to pick one order that the choices will always be displayed in for a given filled form. This can be accomplished by setting an integer seed for the randomization.

XLSForm

survey#
type	parameters	name	label	calculation
calculate		my_seed		once(substr(decimal-date-time(now()), 10))
select_one opt_abcd	randomize=true,seed=${my_seed}	select_one_widget	Select one with random choice order set once per filled form

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

This seed can also be used to recreate the order choices were displayed in. See the XForms spec for a description of the randomization algorithm used.

Note

In the example above, the integer seed is created from the last 8 numbers of the decimal-date-time() which is unlikely to repeat across devices. In the seed expression, once() is important because it makes sure the seed is not changed if the same filled form is opened more than once.

Including "other" as a choice#

Warning

We do not recommend using or_other because it does not support multiple languages or choice_filter. Instead, add your own "other" question and use form logic to have it appear as needed.

On the survey sheet, in the type column, after the type and the list_name, you can add or_other. This will add "Other" as an additional option to your choice list. The name value of the choice when selected will be other.

Rank widget#

The rank widget allows the user to order options from a list. The value saved in the form and sent to the server is a space-separated ordered list of the options.

Like with Select widgets, the options are listed on a sheet named choices in an XLSForm.

To change the order of the options in the list, tap the Rank items button. In the resulting dialog, long press on an item and once it gets a border around it, drag it up or down to change the order. If no default is provided, the value for the question is blank until the user taps OK in the ranking dialog.

type: rank {list_name}

The rank widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Rank widget." The hint text is "rank type with no appearance, 4 text choices. Long press on a choice and drag it to change its position." Below that is a button with label "Rank items."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint
rank opt_abcd	rank_widget	Rank widget	rank type with no appearance, 4 text choices

choices#
list_name	name	label
opt_abcd	a	A
opt_abcd	b	B
opt_abcd	c	C
opt_abcd	d	D

Location widgets#

Location widgets capture one or more points representing locations on Earth. Each point is represented as four numbers separated by spaces: latitude, longitude, altitude in meters, and accuracy radius in meters.

For example, if a Collect user captured a point while at the coordinates 12°22'17.0"N 1°31'10.9"W, with a reported accuracy radius of 17.4 meters, and at 305 meters above sea level, the geopoint representation would be:

12.371400 -1.519700 305 17.4

Multiple points that form lines or shapes are separated by semicolons.

See also

Select from map for displaying existing geo features on a map for users to select from.

Note

The accuracy radius is an estimate of what Android calls the radius of 68% confidence: there is a 68% chance that the true location falls within this radius. This is an estimate reported by the Android system based on the available sensors (GPS, network, etc). The accuracy radius itself may be more or less reliable depending on the sensor(s) used and current conditions.

To get an accurate location quickly, ensure devices have a clear view of the sky. For even faster points, consider "warming" the GPS with a start-geopoint question. See improving location performance for more.

Note

Since v1.30, when a mock location provider is detected, the accuracy is set to 0. Achieving such perfect accuracy is not possible using GPS so that indicates it comes from a mock provider.

In v2021.3 and later, you can opt out of this behavior by setting allow-mock-accuracy to true in the parameters column of your question in your XLSForm survey sheet. This is useful for external GPS devices that require Android's mock provider feature.

Geopoint widget#

type: geopoint
appearance: none

Captures the current geolocation from the device. The location is displayed in degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) notation and is stored in decimal degrees with altitude and accuracy. Learn more about the format of resulting data in the location widgets section.

This question type shows a dialog with the current accuracy and lets the data collector decide when to capture the point. For capturing location without data collector intervention, see start-geopoint. For a geopoint with a user-selected location, see placement-map.

XLSForm with optional parameters

survey#
type	name	label	hint	parameters
geopoint	geopoint_widget	Geopoint widget	geopoint type	capture-accuracy=10 warning-accuracy=10 allow-mock-accuracy=true

There are three parameters that can be used to customize a geopoint question's behavior:

capture-accuracy: when the device accuracy reaches this value or better, the point will be automatically captured and the dialog will close. If you always want data collectors to make an explicit decision about accepting a point, set this value to 0. Defaults to 5 (meters), a target that can usually be reached by modern devices given enough time. We generally do not recommend setting this value to below 3 (meters) unless you are using an external GPS device. You can also set an accuracy constraint.

warning-accuracy: when the device accuracy is this value or worse, the dialog is red and displays a message stating that the accuracy is unacceptable. There is no enforcement of the threshold so if a data collector needs to capture a point with an unacceptable accuracy (e.g. because they can't wait any longer), they can do so. Set this value to the same value as capture-accuracy if you generally always want your data collectors to wait until the point is automatically captured. Defaults to 100 (meters), about the length of a city block. In extreme conditions such as under dense forest canopy, any reported accuracy may be considered acceptable. In that case, you can set this value to a very large number.

allow-mock-accuracy: set to true to use an external GPS device that uses the mock GPS provider. Otherwise, any location captured from a mock provider will have an accuracy of 0.

A dialog is used to give data collectors feedback on the location they are capturing:

The dialog is designed to guide the data collector to capture a point with the best reported accuracy possible. The current accuracy is shown at the top of the dialog (1). A message below it (2) gives a qualitative assessment of the accuracy (e.g. unacceptable, poor) and suggested action (e.g. wait). The progress bar (3) gives a visual representation of progress towards an acceptable accuracy.

The bottom half of the dialog displays troubleshooting information. The first line (4) shows the accuracy at which the point will be automatically captured. This is configured by the capture-accuracy parameter. You can ask data collectors to watch time elapsed (5) and let you know if it is systematically taking them a long time to get high-accuracy points. This may indicate an issue with their device.

You can also train data collectors to use time elapsed to take some action. For example, you can let them know to capture any point available after waiting for 2 minutes. Number of satellites (6) can be useful when capturing points outdoors. A low number of satellites (under 4) may indicate that something is wrong with the device or its position. See Improving Location Performance.

Tip

You can use selected-at() to require geopoints meet a particular threshold. For example, if you need points with an accuracy better than 10 meters, use this constraint:

selected-at(${geopoint_widget}, 3) < 10.

The 3 in the above constraint references accuracy, the third value in the geopoint data type. Use 1 to reference latitude, 2 for longitude, and 4 for altitude.

Geopoint with map display#

type: geopoint
appearance: maps

The default Geopoint widget does not display a map to the user. When the appearance attribute is maps, the widget displays a map to help the user get oriented and confirm that the selected point is correct and sufficiently accurate.

When the device's geolocation is available, it is displayed on the map by a blue cross. A blue shaded circle around the cross represents the accuracy radius of the geolocation. The "add marker" button at the top right of the screen can be tapped to add a point at the location indicated by the middle of the blue cross. The selected point is represented by a small circle with a red outline.

When the map view is opened again with a selected point, the map is centered on that point. To change the selection, first tap the "trash" icon and then select a new point.

For a geopoint with a location that the user can manually select or adjust, see Geopoint with user-selected location.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
geopoint	geopoint_widget_maps	Geopoint widget	maps	geopoint type with maps appearance

Geopoint with user-selected location#

type: geopoint
appearance: placement-map

The default Geopoint widget does not allow the user to place the point anywhere other than the device's current geolocation.

A geopoint with the appearance attribute placement-map allows the user to select any point from a map. The user can either long press to place the point anywhere, or, if the device knows its geolocation, tap on the "add point" button at the top right of the screen. The selected point is represented by a small circle with a red outline (see arrow in screenshot).

The save button saves the selected point and returns to the question screen. If the point was selected by long pressing, the accuracy radius and altitude will both be 0. If the device's geolocation was selected, the accuracy radius will be greater than 0.

When the map view is opened again with an existing point, the map is centered on the selected point. To change the selection, first tap the "trash" icon and then select a new point.

A map opens on an Android phone. Above the map is the message: "Long press to place mark or tap add marker button." Along the right side of the map are buttons: Add point, Delete point, Zoom to geolocation, Layers, Trash, Save. A small circle with red outline identifies the selected location. An arrow points to that point.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
geopoint	geopoint_widget_placementmap	Geopoint widget	placement-map	geopoint type with placement-map appearance

Geotrace widget#

type: geotrace
appearance: none

A series of points. Identical to geoshape except that the first and last point may be different and at least 2 points are required.

Points can be entered either by tapping the screen to place each point, or by taking readings of the device's geolocation over time. On a map, each coordinate is represented by small circles with red outlines. These are connected by red lines.

To collect a geotrace, first select the location-recording mode by tapping the "add point" button in the upper right side of the screen. The selected mode will be displayed in the gray bar at the bottom of the screen. While point collection is ongoing, the "add marker" button changes to a "pause" button. The "back arrow" button can be used to remove the last-entered point either when actively collecting points or when paused. Any point can be manually moved at any time by tapping on it and dragging it. The mode can only be changed if an existing line is first cleared by tapping the "trash" button. Recording must be paused to clear the existing line.

Tip

Points that were entered by tapping or adjusted by dragging will always have an accuracy radius of 0. Points that were read from the device location will never have an accuracy radius of 0.

Once the trace has been saved, the coordinates of its points will be displayed on the question screen. The trace can be opened for manual editing by tapping to add more points, moving existing points or deleting the last-added point. After a trace has been saved once, it cannot be added to in manual or automatic location recording modes.

The three location recording modes are:

Placement by tapping: The user taps the device to place points.
Manual location recording: The user chooses when to tap the "record a point" button at the top of the screen to capture the device geolocation at that moment.
Automatic location recording: The user is prompted to select a recording interval and accuracy requirement. If the accuracy requirement is set to None, points are always collected at the recording interval. If the accuracy requirement is set to any other value, a point will only be captured if it meets the requirement. For example, given a recording interval of 20 seconds and an accuracy requirement of 10 meters, the app places a point at the device location every 20 seconds if the location is accurate to 10 meters or better.

Warning

If you are using Aggregate and you would like to collect more than 5 points at a time, you should increase the database field length to over 255 characters. Otherwise, additional points will be lost.

A geotrace form widget displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Where have you been?" and below that is a button with the label "Start GeoTrace."

A map displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. Above the map is a green bar showing current location accuracy radius. On the right side are six icon buttons stacked vertically: Add point, Delete point, Zoom to geolocation, Layers, Trash, Save. A series of markers form a line across the map.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
geotrace	trace_example	Where have you been?

Geoshape#

type: geoshape
appearance: none

A series of points that form a closed polygon. Identical to geotrace except that the first and last point are always the same and at least 3 points are required.

To collect a geoshape, first select the location-recording mode by tapping the "add point" button in the upper right side of the screen. The selected mode will be displayed in the gray bar at the bottom of the screen. While point collection is ongoing, the "add marker" button changes to a "pause" button. The "back arrow" button can be used to remove the last-entered point either when actively collecting points or when paused. Any point can be manually moved at any time by tapping on it and dragging it. The mode can only be changed if an existing line is first cleared by tapping the "trash" button. Recording must be paused to clear the existing line.

Tip

Points that were entered by tapping or adjusted by dragging will always have an accuracy radius of 0. Points that were read from the device location will never have an accuracy radius of 0.

Once the shape has been saved, the coordinates of its points will be displayed on the question screen. The shape can be opened for manual editing by tapping to add more points, moving existing points or deleting the last-added point. After a shape has been saved once, it cannot be added to in manual or automatic location recording modes.

The three location recording modes are:

Placement by tapping: The user taps the device to place points.
Manual location recording: The user chooses when to tap the "record a point" button at the top of the screen to capture the device geolocation at that moment.
Automatic location recording: The user is prompted to select a recording interval and accuracy requirement. If the accuracy requirement is set to None, points are always collected at the recording interval. If the accuracy requirement is set to any other value, a point will only be captured if it meets the requirement. For example, given a recording interval of 20 seconds and an accuracy requirement of 10 meters, the app places a point at the device location every 20 seconds if the location is accurate to 10 meters or better.

Warning

If you are using Aggregate and you would like to collect more than 5 points at a time, you should increase the database field length to over 255 characters. Otherwise, additional points will be lost.

A geoshape form widget displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "Select an Area." Below that is a button labeled "Start GeoShape."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
geoshape	shape_example	Select an area

Calculating the area of a geoshape#

type: calculate
calculation: area(${geoshape})

The area() function calculates the land area, in square meters, of a polygon defined in a Geoshape. The value will be included in your completed survey data, and can also be used in later widgets in the form.

The geoshape widget. The question label is "Record a geoshape". The button label is "Start GeoShape".

A map with four pins defining an area around a city block.

The geoshape widget with a series of lat/long coordinates.

A note widget. "The area of the recorded geoshape is 19322 square meters."

XLSForm

type	name	label	calculation
geoshape	shape	Record a Geoshape
calculate	shape_area		area(${shape})
calculate	rounded_shape_area		round(${shape_area}, 2)
note	shape_area_note	The area of the recorded geoshape is: ${rounded_shape_area} m²

Bearing widget#

type: decimal
appearance: bearing

Captures a compass reading, which is stored as a decimal.

The Bearing form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Bearing widget." The hint text is, "decimal type with bearing appearance. Below that is a button labeled "Record Bearing." Above the question text is the form group name "Numeric widgets."

The Bearing widget, as displayed previously. The button's label is not "Replace bearing." Below the button is the decimal number 271.538 (the recorded bearing).

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
decimal	bearing_widget	Bearing widget	bearing	decimal type with bearing appearance

Image widgets#

Tip

Image files can be very large. We recommend always including a maximum image size in form design. Also, consider making test submissions to your server with the Internet conditions you expect when gathering data to make sure that you can send files of the size you expect.

Default image widget#

type: image
appearance: none

Captures an image from the device. The user can choose to take a new picture with the device camera, or select an image from the device photo gallery.

The default Image form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Image Widget." The hint text is, "image type with no appearance." Below that are two buttons: "Take Picture" and "Choose Image." Above the question text is the form group name "Image widgets."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint
image	image_widget	Image widget	image type with no appearance

Image widget with annotation#

type: image
appearance: annotate

Adding the annotate appearance allows the user to draw on the image before submitting it.

Tip

If you have a standard image to annotate, you can add that image's filename in the default column. For example, put template.png in the default column and Central will prompt you to attach a png to the form. Anyone who fills out the form will see the same image.

To enforce that this default image gets annotated, you can use a constraint such as not(. = 'jr://images/template.png')). This works because Collect renames images after annotation.

Also see select from image.

The Annotate form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Annotate widget." The hint text is, "image type with annotate appearance." There are three buttons: "Take Picture," "Choose Image," and "Markup Image." The Markup Image button is disabled. Above the question text is the form group name "Image widgets."

The camera view on an Android phone. In the viewer is a picture of a small saucer. Below the viewer is a blue checkmark button.

The Annotate form widget displayed previously. The Markup Image button is now enabled. Below the buttons is the picture of a saucer shown previously.

The image of a saucer on a drawing pad, with a poorly-drawn cup of tea drawn over it. In the lower right corner is a plus sign (+) in a circle.

The same picture shown in the previous image. The menu in the bottom right corner has expanded to show the options: Reset, Save and Close, and Set Color.

The Annotate form widget shown previously. The drawn-on picture is below the buttons.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
image	annotate_image_widget	Annotate widget	annotate	image type with annotate appearance

Image widget with required new image#

type: image
appearance: new

An image widget that does not include a Choose Image button. This requires the user to take a new picture.

The new image widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on Android. It is largely identical to the previous image widget, except that there is only a Take Picture button, and there is no Choose Image button.

XLSForm

type	name	label	appearance	hint
image	image_widget_no_choose	Image widget without Choose button	new	image type with new appearance (can also be added with annotate appearance and on audio and video types)

Image widget with custom camera app#

New in version 2024.1.0.

When attempting to capture a photo, ODK Collect by default opens the built-in camera app. However, if you wish to utilize a specific camera application, you can do so by including the app parameter and providing the package name of the desired camera app.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint	parameters
image	image_widget	Image widget	image type with custom camera app	app=net.sourceforge.opencamera

To find a camera application's package name, search for it on the Play Store in a web browser. When you access its listing, the package name will be provided in the URL after id=.

Some camera apps to consider:

Timestamp Camera can overlay timestamps, locations, and more
Open Camera provides many advanced settings

Note

The app with the provided package name must be installed on the device. If it's not available, there will be a toast shown, and it will not be possible to take a picture.
By default, it's possible to select a picture from the device. Use the new appearance to prevent this.
Collect will request a picture, but some camera apps may still allow users to take video. That will fail silently.

Self portrait (selfie) image widget#

type: image
appearance: new-front

Takes a picture using the front-facing ("selfie") camera. The Choose image button is not displayed.

Changed in version 1.15: Prior to v1.15, the appearance attribute for this was selfie. The old appearance attribute will continue to work on existing forms, but new forms should use the new-front appearance.

The self portrait widget in Collect. The label text is "Self portrait (selfie) widget)". The hint text is "Image type with new-front appearance". There is a button labeled "Take Picture".

The camera screen on a device, taking a self-portrait of a person.

The self portrait widget as described above. Below the button is the self-portrait image captured in the previous image.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint	appearance
image	self-portrait	Self portrait (selfie) widget	image type with new-front appearance	new-front

External app image widget#

New in version 1.30.

Launches an external app and receives an image back from the external app. If the specified external app is not available, it is not possible to use the widget.

The external app image widget is displayed when the appearance attribute begins with ex:. The rest of the appearance string specifies the application to launch.

See also

External Apps

../_images/ex-image-widget-with-answer.png

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
image	ex_image_widget	External image widget	ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionImage='')	image type with ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionImage='') appearance (can use other external apps)

Draw widget#

type: image
appearance: draw

Provides the user a drawing pad and collects the drawn image.

The Draw form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Draw widget." The hint text is "image type with draw appearance." Below that is a button labeled "Sketch Image." Above the question text is the form group name "Image widgets."

A white "drawing pad" on an Android phone, horizontally oriented (landscape mode). A simple smiley face has been drawn. In the lower right corner of the drawing pad is a plus sign (+) in a circle.

The drawing pad as displayed in the previous image. A menu has expanded from the lower right corner with the options: Reset, Save and Close, and Set Color.

The Draw widget as displayed previously. Below the "Sketch Image" button is the smiley face from the drawing pad image shown previously.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
image	draw_image_widget	Draw widget	draw	image type with draw appearance

Scaling down images#

Images created with any of the image widgets described above can be automatically scaled down on save by using the max-pixels parameter. If the long edge of the image is larger than the maximum size specified, the image is resized proportionally so that the long edge matches the provided pixel value. This is useful to reduce the upload size when bandwidth is limited.

Warning

All scaled down jpg images are saved with 80% quality. That means in some rare cases when:

a jpg image is attached not captured
and the attached file has quality lower than 80%
and the difference between its original size and the value specified using max-pixels is not big enough

the size of the output image might be even bigger that the original one.

Available in Collect since v1.10.0 and in XLSForm since 7/2018.

XLSForm

In the parameters column, write max-pixels= followed by the desired maximum length of the long edge in pixels.

survey#
type	name	label	parameters	hint
image	my_scaled_image	Scaled image	max-pixels=1024	image scaled to a max long edge of 1024 pixels

Audio widgets#

Default audio widget#

type: audio
appearance: none

Records audio using the device's microphone or a connected external microphone. By default, an internal recorder is used.

Tip

We recommend you use the built-in audio recorder because you can customize audio quality and record while filling out other questions. Built-in recording is available in Collect v1.29 or later.

The Audio form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The question text is "What does it sound like?" There are two buttons: Record Sound and Choose Sound.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
audio	bird_recording	What does it sound like?

Tip

Audio files can be very large so if you record audio in your form, make sure that you consider your audio quality settings. Also, consider making test submissions to your server with the Internet conditions you expect when gathering data to make sure that you can send files of the size you expect.

Android devices can make many sounds during use and these will be included in recordings. We recommend turning off sounds from button presses, camera shutters and notifications before recording.

Using the built-in audio recorder#

type: audio
appearance: none

New in version 1.29: ODK Collect v1.29.0

The built-in audio recorder makes it possible to capture audio without having to install an external app.

It also enables recording while filling out other questions and is designed to continue recording even if the user switches to another app or if the phone screen is locked.

The built-in recorder as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The user interface is described below.

When built-in audio recording is enabled and recording is initiated, a recording control bar appears at at the top of the screen. At the top left of this bar is an icon to represent whether recording is currently ongoing or paused (1). To the right of this icon is the current length of the recording (2).

Warning

Pause is only available on Android 7.0 and above. On lower Android versions, the pause button is hidden.

At the right of the control bar are a pause button (3) and a stop button (4). When the pause button is tapped, recording is temporarily suspended and the button icon changes to a microphone. When the microphone is tapped, recording is resumed. Recording can be paused and resumed as many times as desired. When the stop button is tapped, the recording is ended and can no longer be modified.

Recording status is also displayed below the audio question text. There is a time representing the current length of the recording (5) and a diagram (6) representing the volume of the recording over time. The diagram provides confirmation that the microphone is working and can help a user ensure an even, sufficient volume.

Other questions can be included on the same screen as a built-in recording question. As shown in the screenshot above, this makes it possible to capture quantitative content while recording. To achieve this, put the questions in a field list.

During recording, the user is prevented from leaving the current question screen. However, it is safe to use other applications or to lock the device screen.

Once recording is stopped, the control bar disappears. The recording is made available for playback below the question text.

To replace the audio captured, first delete the current file and then record again.

In some rare cases such as the device running out of space, the recording may complete successfully but not be attached to the form. If this happens, a dialog will be displayed explaining that the file is available but needs to be accessed manually. You can find these files in the recordings folder of the Collect directory. This folder is never cleared so consider emptying it yourself once you have retrieved its files.

Customizing audio quality#

New in version 1.29:

ODK Collect v1.29.0, Central v1.1.0.

The quality of audio recordings can be customized using the quality parameter. If a quality is specified, the built-in recorder is always used, regardless of Collect settings. If no quality is specified and external app recording has been disabled, normal is used. The available quality values are:

Value	Extension	Encoding	Bit rate	Sample rate	File size
normal	.m4a	AAC	64 kbps	32 kHz	~30 MB/hour
low	.m4a	AAC	24 kbps	32 kHz	~11 MB/hour
voice-only	.amr	AMR	12.2 kbps	8 kHz	~5 MB/hour

Tip

We'd recommend only using voice-only for one-on-one interviews in a quiet place as otherwise there might be too much detail loss. low will sound compressed but speech is generally intelligible, even if multiple people are talking at once. normal is similar to typical podcast settings and will sound good on most devices.

It's a good idea to test the different qualities out with the device (and any other equipment) you'll be using in the field to see which one fits your use case and setup best.

XLSForm

In the parameters column, write quality= followed by the desired value.

survey#
type	name	label	parameters
audio	voice_only_audio	Voice audio	quality=voice-only
audio	normal_audio	Normal audio	quality=normal

Changing audio quality during form entry#

If it's a possibility that an individual question could need different qualities depending on context you can use relevance to switch between them:

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	parameters	relevance
select_one yes_no	is_quiet	Are you currently in a quiet location with only one person speaking at a time?

audio	recording_voice_only	Please record	quality=voice-only	${is_quiet} = 'yes'
audio	recording_normal	Please record	quality=normal	${is_quiet} = 'no'

choices#
list_name	name	label
yes_no	yes	Yes
yes_no	no	No

Recording with an external app#

type: audio
appearance: none
parameters: quality=external

Setting quality to external will cause Collect to use an external app to record audio rather than the built-in recorder. You can also configure Collect to always use an external app for recording and set no quality parameter.

Some Android devices provide a default application for audio recording. Others do not, and the user will need to install an audio recording app.

Any app that responds to android.provider.MediaStore.Audio.Media.RECORD_SOUND_ACTION should be compatible. We recommend Axet Audio Recorder.

Getting audio from a custom external app#

New in version 1.30.

Launches an external app and receives an audio file back from the external app. If the specified external app is not available, it is not possible to use the widget.

The external app audio widget is displayed when the appearance attribute begins with ex:. The rest of the appearance string specifies the application to launch.

See also

External Apps

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
audio	ex_audio_widget	External audio widget	ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionAudio='')	audio type with ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionAudio='') appearance (can use other external apps)

Video widgets#

Tip

Video files can be very large. We recommend configuring video options for every device you intend to use for data collection. Also make submissions to your server with the Internet conditions you expect when gathering data to make sure that you can send files of the size you expect. Note that Central has a 100 MB file upload size limit by default.

Default video widget#

Records video, using the device camera.

The Video form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The question text is "Please record a video of yourself blinking." The hint text is "Three times is probably sufficient." Below that are three buttons: Record Video, Choose Video, and Play Video. The Play Video button is disabled.

The Android camera app, in video mode. A person's face is in the camera viewer. Below the camera viewer is a large, blue checkmark button.

The Video form widget as displayed previously. The question text is "Please record a video of yourself blinking." The hint text is "Three times is probably sufficient." Below that are three buttons: Record Video, Choose Video, and Play Video. All three buttons are enabled.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint
video	blinking	Please record a video of yourself blinking.	Three times is probably sufficient.

External app video widget#

New in version 1.30.

Launches an external app and receives a video file back from the external app. If the specified external app is not available, it is not possible to use the widget.

The external app video widget is displayed when the appearance attribute begins with ex:. The rest of the appearance string specifies the application to launch.

See also

External Apps

../_images/ex-video-widget-with-answer.png

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
video	ex_video_widget	External video widget	ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionVideo='')	video type with ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionVideo='') appearance (can use other external apps)

File upload widget#

Default file upload widget#

New in version 1.15: ODK Collect v1.15.0

Uploads any file from the device to the form.

Warning

Users can upload any file type, which includes potentially malicious files. You should not include this widget unless you trust the people using the form.

Even then, you should take precautions before downloading or opening files.

Run an antimalware scan.
Verify the file is a type you expect (such as a .pdf document), and not a potentially dangerous file (such as .exe or .ini).

The file upload widget in Collect. The question label is "Select a file to upload." Below that is a button labeled "Choose File".

A file selection screen on an Android device. A sidebar overlay is labeled "Open from". This sidebar has several file locations such as "Recent", "Google Drive", "Images", "Downloads".

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
file	some-file	Select a file to upload.

External app file widget#

New in version 1.30.

Launches an external app and receives an arbitrary file back from the external app. If the specified external app is not available, it is not possible to use the widget.

The external app file widget is displayed when the appearance attribute begins with ex:. The rest of the appearance string specifies the application to launch.

See also

External Apps

Warning

This widget accepts files of any type. Learn more about the risk above. You should only specify an external application that you trust.

../_images/ex-file-widget-with-answer.png

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
file	ex_file_widget	External file widget	ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionFile='')	file type with ex:com.example.collectanswersprovider(questionFile='') appearance (can use other external apps)

Barcode widget#

Scans, decodes, and captures the content of a barcode, using the device camera.

The following barcode formats are supported:

UPC-A
UPC-E
EAN-8
EAN-13
Code 39
Code 93
Code 128
Codabar
ITF
RSS-14
RSS-Expanded
QR Code
Data Matrix
Aztec (beta)
PDF 417 (beta)
MaxiCode

Default barcode widget#

The flash can be used as a light source when scanning barcodes in a poorly lit environment.

The Barcode form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The headline text reads, "Scan any barcode." Below that is an image labeled "Get Barcode."

A barcode scanner on an Android device. A barcode is in the viewfinder, with a thin blue line across the barcode.

The Barcode form widget as displayed previously. The button label is now "Replace Barcode." Below the button is a string of numbers representing the decoded content of the scanned barcode.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label
barcode	barcode_example	Scan any barcode.

Warning

It is recommended not to make barcode questions required because even when using high quality and waterproof codes things can go wrong and some of them might be unreadable for the camera. To handle such cases, it might be a good idea to add a Default text widget as a fallback option to let enumerators enter the code manually.

Self portrait (selfie) barcode widget#

In some cases a front camera may work better. The flash can't be used in this case.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance
barcode	barcode_example	Scan any barcode.	front

Hiding the scanned value#

By default, the scanned value is shown below the widget button. In some cases, the raw scanned value is not helpful to display. For example, it may be base64-encoded, be very long, or may represent a list of values. In that case, you can use the hidden-answer appearance. We generally recommend putting this question in a field-list to provide some useful feedback about the scanned value.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	calculation
begin_group	gr		field-list
barcode	barcode	Please scan code	hidden-answer
calculate	first_name			selected-at(base64-decode(${barcode}), 0)
calculate	last_name			selected-at(base64-decode(${barcode}), 1)
note	barcode_note	First name: ${first_name} Last name: ${last_name}
end_group	gr

You can try the sample form above with the following QR code:

../_images/encoded-multi-item-barcode.png

Range widgets#

Range widgets allow the user to select numbers from within a range that is visually represented as a number line. The parameters of the range widget are defined by start, end, and step values defined in the parameters column of your XLSForm. The parameter values can be integers or decimals.

Default range widget with integers#

type: range
appearance: none

If all three parameter values are integers, the input will be stored as an integer.

The range widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on Android. The question text is "Range integer widget". The main part of the widget shows a horizontal line labeled "1" on the left end and "10" on the right. There are ten points on the line.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint	parameters
range	range_integer_widget	Range integer widget		range integer widget with no appearance	start=1;end=10;step=1

Default range widget with decimals#

type: range
appearance: none

If any of the parameter values are decimals, the input will be stored as a decimal.

The range widget as displayed previously. The number selection choices range from 1.5 to 5.5, and the selection line is horizontal.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint	parameters
range	range_decimal_widget	Range decimal widget		range decimal widget with no appearance	start=1.5;end=5.5;step=0.5

Vertical range widget#

type: range
appearance: vertical

To display the range widget's number line vertically, use the vertical appearance. Both integers and decimals are supported.

The range widget, as displayed in the previous image, but the range number line is vertical instead of horizontal.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint	parameters
range	range_integer_widget_vertical	Range vertical integer widget	vertical	range integer widget with vertical appearance	start=1;end=10;step=1

Range widget with picker#

type: range
appearance: picker

When the picker appearance is added, the range widget is displayed with a spinner-style select menu in a dialog. The value between horizontal lines is the selected value. Users can scroll the spinner up and down or can tap on the value above to go up by one and on the value below to go down by one.

The range picker widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app. The question label is "Range picker integer widget". There is a button labeled "Select Value".

The range widget as shown in the previous image. Over it is a modal window labeled "Number Picker", with a spinner-style number select. Below are buttons for OK and CANCEL.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint	parameters
range	range_integer_widget_picker	Range picker integer widget	picker	range integer widget with picker appearance	start=1;end=10;step=1

Range widget with rating#

type: range
appearance: rating

When the rating appearance is added, the range widget is displayed with stars having equal spacing. Number of stars is calculated using the end parameter. When the user taps on an empty star, the stars up to and including that star will be filled. If the stars don't fit in the device width, they will wrap onto additional lines.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint	parameters
range	range_integer_widget_rating	Range rating widget	rating	range integer widget with rating appearance	end=9

Note widget#

type: note
appearance: none

A note to the user, accepting no input. This example includes hint text.

The Note form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The headline text is, "This is an example note." The hint text is, "The text displays, but there is no input."

XLSForm

type	name	label	hint
note	note_1	This is an example note.	The text displays, but there is no input.

URL widget#

type: text
appearance: url

Provides a link which the user can open from the survey. Takes no input.

The URL to open is specified with default.

The URL form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is "URL Widget." The hint text is "text type with url appearance and default value of https://getodk.org/" Below that is a button labeled, "Open URL." Below the button is the URL, "https://getodk.org/" Above the question text is the form group name "Text widgets."

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint	default
text	url_widget	URL widget	url	text type with url appearance and default value of https://getodk.org/	https://getodk.org/

Printer widget#

Note

Collect previously supported printing to specific Zebra label printer modules with an external app. That external app is no longer available and starting in Collect v2024.1, this more general print functionality replaces it.

type: text
appearance: printer

When a text field has the printer appearance, its text value is interpreted as HTML by ODK Collect. When the user taps the Print button, Collect shows a print preview of that rendered HTML. From the preview screen, users can save as PDF or send to a connected printer.

The printer widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question label text is "Tap the button to preview the card and then print it." Below that, there is a "Print" button.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	calculation
text	id_card	Tap the button to print the card	printer	concat(${first_name}, ' ', ${last_name})

The most common way to set the value to print is by specifying a calculate expression, generally with the concat() function so that values from the form can be included.

We recommend writing your HTML with fixed sample values first, trying it in a web browser, and then converting it to a concat function to insert form values. You don't need to include body tags and other aspects typically required in an web page, you can instead specify only the elements that you need.

This question type understands a custom qrcode element. Any text values placed within opening and closing qrcode tags will be encoded as a QR code and shown as an image You can apply the same attributes and styling to this element as you would to an img element.

The calculation used to generate the card in the screenshot above is:

concat("
  <qrcode width='150' height='150'>", ${first_name}, " ", ${last_name}, " ", ${age}, " ", ${email}, " ", ${phone_number}, "</qrcode></br>
  <img width='150' src='", ${photo}, "'>
  <table>
    <tr>
      <td>First name</td>
      <td>", ${first_name}, "</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Last name</td>
      <td>", ${last_name}, "</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Age</td>
      <td>", ${age}, "</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Email</td>
      <td>", ${email}, "</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Phone number</td>
      <td>", ${phone_number}, "</td>
    </tr>
  </table>
")

Trigger/acknowledge widget#

type: trigger, acknowledge
appearance: none

The trigger widget, also known as the acknowledge widget, presents a single checkbox.

A completed trigger response is stored as the string OK.

The example shown here includes the required attribute.

The Trigger (or "Acknowledge") form widget as displayed in the ODK Collect App on an Android phone. The question text is, "Trigger widget." The hint text is, "Prompts for confirmation. Useful to combine with required or relevant. (type=trigger)" Below that is a single checkbox labeled, "OK. Please continue." The checkbox is unchecked.

The Trigger widget shown previously. An error text reads, "Sorry, this response is required."

The Trigger widget shown previously. The checkbox is now checked.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	hint	required
trigger	my_trigger	Trigger widget	Prompts for confirmation. Useful to combine with required or relevant. (type=trigger)	true()

Signature widget#

type: image
appearance: signature

Collects a signature from the user.

The Signature form widget, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. The question text is, "Signature widget." The hint text is "image type with signature appearance." Below that is a button labeled "Gather Signature." Above the question text is the form group name "Image widgets."

A drawing pad with a signature line, displayed on an Android phone. A signature is drawn across it. In the lower right corner is circular button marked with a plus sign (+).

The signature widget displayed previously. Below the button is the signature drawn in the previous image.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance	hint
image	signature_widget	Signature widget	signature	image type with signature appearance

Grouping multiple widgets on the same screen#

type: begin_group
appearance: field-list

The field-list appearance attribute, applied to a group of widgets, displays them all on a single screen.

Warning

Relevance, constraint and calculation evaluation within the same screen is supported in Collect v1.22 and later.

Warning

Displaying Repeating questions on the same screen (inside a field-list group) is not supported.

Grid of selects on the same screen#

If you have multiple select questions with the same choices, it can be helpful to group them on one screen.

A field-list group of questions, as displayed in the ODK Collect app on an Android phone. A grid of questions representing underlying conditions are displayed. For eacn condition, there are radio buttons to indicate 'Yes' or 'No'.

To do this, put your select questions in a field-list group and use the following appearance attributes:

label: Only the option labels are displayed, without checkboxes. This is used for the top row with the 'Yes' and 'No' options in the example above.
list-nolabel: Only checkboxes or radio buttons are displayed, without their labels. This is used for the question rows in the example above.
list: The labels are displayed along with checkboxes for multi-select questions and radio buttons for single-select questions. You could use this instead of having a label row to keep the option labels closer to the checkboxes or radio buttons.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	label	appearance
begin_group	underlying_conditions	Underlying conditions	field-list
select_one yes_no	condition_labels	Conditions	label
select_one yes_no	Comcond_preg	Pregnancy	list-nolabel
select_one yes_no	Comcond_partum	Post-partum (< 6 weeks)	list-nolabel
end_group	underlying_conditions

choices#
list_name	name	label
yes_no	yes	Yes
yes_no	no	No

Hidden questions#

Not all question types render as visible widgets in Collect. Hidden fields collect and store values which are accessible as variables and available in Central and other data analysis tools.

Metadata#

Metadata questions capture information about the device or a survey collection event and are not visible to the user.

Warning

start, end, and today rely on device time. Depending on the device hardware, operating system, clock configuration, network configuration, the device time can be wrong. To reliably measure the time between events (e.g., to know how long a survey took) or to get a more complete record of user behavior within a form, consider using form audit logging.

These items are dependent on the survey collection event:

start — The datetime the survey was started in ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2019-09-27T09:45:10.854-07:00).
end — The last datetime the survey was saved in ISO 8601 format.
today — The date the survey was started in ISO 8601 format (e.g, 2019-09-27).
start-geopoint — The geolocation when the survey was started. Read more.

This item is defined at installation time and cannot be changed:

deviceid — A unique, randomly generated 16-character alphanumeric identifier (prefixed with collect::) that is tied to a specific installation of the app. It remains constant across all projects and forms within ODK Collect. This identifier is an internal feature of ODK Collect, inaccessible to other applications or external sources on the device. The only way to change it is by reinstalling the app.

These items are defined in Collect, and can be edited in Settings:

username
phonenumber

XLSForm

survey#
type	name
start	start
end	end
today	today
deviceid	deviceid
username	username
phonenumber	phonenumber
start-geopoint	start-geopoint

Geolocation at survey start#

See also

Audit log geolocation tracking

Note

Geolocation at survey start was added in Collect v1.23 and Central v1.0.0.

The start-geopoint question type is used to capture a single geolocation in geopoint format when the survey is first started. Questions of type start-geopoint may be given any allowable name. Although it is possible to have more than one start-geopoint question in a form, all will have the same value.

Any time a survey with a start-geopoint question is opened in Collect, the enumerator will see a warning that the form tracks device location. If the device battery is low, or if location tracking needs to be turned off for any reason, you can tap ⋮ ‣ Track location or turn off location providers in Android.

The first time that a survey with a start-geopoint question is opened, Collect will attempt to read the device's geolocation. The geolocation reading with the highest accuracy received in a 20-second window will be recorded. A location icon will be displayed in the Android status bar while the geolocation is being requested by Collect.

Geolocation is read using data from GPS, WiFi and possibly other signals so this feature should work in most environments.

If geolocation information is unavailable, the question will be left blank. Reasons for a blank value may include the enumerator turning off location providers, Collect not having location permissions, Google Play Services not being installed, the GPS not having satellite lock and more. No troubleshooting information is provided in the form submission.

Including a start-geopoint question may make it faster to get high-accuracy geolocation readings for other location question types by "warming" the GPS.

Calculate#

type: calculate

Calculate questions let you evaluate complex expressions, storing the values for later use.

For more details, see Calculations.

Background audio recording#

type: background-audio

New in version 1.30: ODK Collect v1.30.0, Central v1.2.0

XLSForm

survey#
type	name
background-audio	my_recording

When a form includes a question of type background-audio, audio is recorded while the form is open and attached to the form submission as a single audio file. These recordings can be used for quality assurance, training, transcription, and more. Use background recording instead of an audio question when you want to make sure to record everything that happens during form filling.

By default, audio files will be saved in the amr format with a bitrate of 12.2 kbps and a sample rate of 8 kHz, resulting in a file size of about 5 MB per hour. These settings correspond to the voice-only quality for audio questions and minimize file size while maintaining reasonable quality for a conversation between two people. You can override that default quality by specifying a value in the parameters column as described for audio questions.

XLSForm

survey#
type	name	parameters
background-audio	my_recording	quality=low

Planning for background audio recording#

Before adding background audio recording to your form, make sure that you have a plan for following local laws around audio recording. We generally recommend including a note at the beginning of the form to remind data collectors and participants that they are being recorded and to describe the purpose of the recording. Depending on the context, you may be required to ask for the consent of every person in speaking range of the microphone.

Additionally, you should make a plan for using the resulting audio files. Do you have someone who can listen to and make sense of many audio files? Could you get access to speech-to-text capabilities? Also consider whether your data collectors will be able to send audio files. Will they have access to a fast enough Internet connection? Will their Internet plan or number of credits allow them to send all the audio files you expect?

It can be helpful to combine background audio recording with audit logging to have more context while listening to the recording. Recording starts at the form start and form resume events and stops at the form exit event. You can use the difference between the form start time and the start time of an event to identify how far into the background recording a certain event happened.

Background audio recording user interface#

While recording is ongoing, an audio status bar is shown at the top of the screen. This bar helps remind data collectors that they are being recorded and provides visual feedback about audio volume.

If a data collector exits a form and then re-opens it for editing, audio recording is resumed. Audio recording continues as long as the form is open, even if another application is in the foreground or the screen is locked. Note that Collect settings can't be accessed directly from a form that has background recording. The audio file sent to the server will include audio from every time that the form was opened for editing.

Tip

Android devices can make many sounds during use and these will be included in recordings. We recommend turning off sounds from button presses, camera shutters and notifications before recording.

There is an override available to data collectors when recording might compromise safety or when consent to record can't be obtained but it's still important to capture some data. When the audio recording option is unchecked, audio recording ends immediately and any previously-recorded audio is deleted. Recording can't be resumed during the current form-filling session. Toggling the audio recording option back on indicates that the next form filling session should be recorded. If audit logging is enabled, a background audio disabled event will be logged if a data collector toggles off recording and a background audio enabled event will be logged if a data collector toggles it back on.

Background audio recording troubleshooting#

In some rare cases such as the device running out of space, the recording may complete successfully but not be attached to the form. If this happens, the recording may be available in the recordings folder of the Collect directory. This folder is never cleared so consider emptying it yourself once you have retrieved its files.

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