Filtering very long lookuplist using string

[BartRoelandt2]

For a survey about habitat-quality I need to enter the names of all plantspecies found in a plot.
I have a list of all possible plant species in the region, but this is very long: about 3300 names.

i.e.:
Dutch plant name
Gewone zilverspar
Moesdistel
Kaukasische zilverspar
Japanse zilverspar
Spaanse aak
Vederesdoorn
Noorse esdoorn
Gewone esdoorn
Poppenorchis
Gewoon duizendblad
Wilde bertram
Kleine steentijm
Blauwe monnikskap
Gele monnikskap
Kalmoes
Christoffelkruid
Zomeradonis
Heermoes
…

What is the best way to enter the names, using that long list as a lookuplist?

I tried using a one_select with an external CSV-table which contains all the species, but the user must then scroll through a list of 3300 to find the species he wants to enter.

Is it possible to get a shortlist of the lookuplist by filtering it using a string? So that entering for example the sting “moes” would generate a shortlist of the lookuplist with all plantnames that contain the sting “moes”, regardless of the place of the string in the plantname?

i.e.:
Dutch plant name
Moesdistel
Kalmoes
Heermoes
…

[Raj_Pravat]

Hi,
You can use 'autocomplete' in appearance column of 'select_one' type question. For example, if you have to look plantspecies starting letter 'b', you just type 'b'. All plantspecies with starting 'b' is sort out. The more letters of name of plantspecies you remember and type, the more faster the name of plantspecies you wish is displayed.
Good luck!
Raj

[BartRoelandt2]

Thank you Raj! Can autocomplete be used in combination with an external CSV-table? I understood that large lookup lists are best stored in external CSV instead of in the tab "Choices".

[mathieubossaert]

Welcome to the ODK community @BartRoelandt2, don't forget to take some time to Introduce yourself here! - #1186 by Ollylarry

For "auto-complete" functionality over a csv file, the "search()" function works well.
In that showcase ODK to collect species and habitats localities, as pressure and threats to ecosystems we use it to query the national species taxonomy :

@mathieubossaert

Auto-completion and list styling

Our taxonomy uses synonyms to name taxa. One of these synonyms is the valid name for the taxa at a moment. Knowledge of the taxonomy evolves over time so taxa can be split or merged. Here we use html styling to show both the valid name and synonym (if applicable) in the selection list. The user may type 3 letters to choose a species or genus in the list.

And here how it is done in the excel file

@mathieubossaert

1. Choices lists from big external csv file

Our reference taxonomic list from the National Natural History Museum
This files contains more than 400 000 taxa for animals, plants, mushrooms, etc.
So we have to find a way to easily find the species we want in this big lists.
We use the search() function in combination with startswith.

type	name	label	hint	constraint	calculation	required	appearance	default
text	recherche_espece_animale	Nom de l'espèce animale :	au moins 3 lettres	string-length(${recherche_espece_animale})>2		yes
select_one list_espece	lb_nom_animalia	Sélectionnez l'espèce :				yes	quick search('espece_animale', 'startswith', 'lb_nom_key', ${recherche_espece_animale})
calculate	cd_nom_animalia				pulldata('espece_animale','cd_nom_key','lb_cd_nom_key',${lb_nom_animalia})

As you can see we can have in the same screen the letter input and the proposed list

You will fin the excel file in the post.

[BartRoelandt2]

Hello Mathieu,
We are using ODK here for a very similar reason!
We want to sample vegetations to measure the quality of Natura2000 habitats.
The only thing that troubels me is a good way to enter the species.
I wil take a close look to your showcase.

And yes - I need to introduce myself

[mathieubossaert]

@BartRoelandt2

We are using ODK here for a very similar reason!

I plan to share some other forms this autumn (plant inventory over a square grid, lagoon water level managment, chemical and physical lagoon water measurement...) . Don't hesitate to share yours

[BartRoelandt2]

Yes, I will share the forms, but someone will need to tell me how. Just new here.

I see you form uses "startswith". Is there a possibility to search for a string that is not the beginning of the plant name? Because we are using the local, Flemish, names as the forms need also to be used by non-professionals (and even professionals not always use the scintific plantnames).

[mathieubossaert]

@BartRoelandt2

Is there a possibility to search for a string that is not the beginning of the plant name?

Yes you can use the contains "operator" instead of startswith. You will find more information here Looking for an old documentation page about search() function - #3 by mathieubossaert

We try this option to facilitate the use of latin and french name but personally I found it a bit confusing (some colleagues, but not all, like it anyway) and I finally created one entry in the csv file for each language.

[BartRoelandt2]

Hi Mathieu,
I did receive a mail, but there was no excel attached?
Bart R

[mathieubossaert]

Here it is in the showcase :

@mathieubossaert

Resources (link to xls and multimedia files)

Here are the files (media files have been truncate) to try out this form: sicen_2020.zip (2.3 MB)

[BartRoelandt2]

Hallelujah! It works

Thank you everyone!