Dear Developer, @LN @yanokwa @CCAFS-IFPRI While converting the excel file into xml (online) format the variable names those have underscore (eg- hh_name), for them the following error is coming "Google Sheets submissions don't allow underscores in the column name. If you intend to use Google Sheets submissions, replace underscores with hyphens in the following names: section_A, basic_info". However the file is finally being converted into xml and the odk is working properly. My question is that whether this will create any problem in future, like force stop, submission difficulties, problem in data downloading etc.? I have attached a screen short of the error. I am using excel sheet for the programming and convert it to xml (Online). [Screenshot%20(72)]

Hi @Amrita_Pal! Where will you be submitting your submissions? If you have connected ODK Collect to a Google Drive account and will be storing your submissions in Google Sheets, then this warning applies to you. Similarly, if you submit to ODK Aggregate, then publish to Google Sheets, I think you'll run into this issue. However, if Google Sheets is not part of your workflow, then this warning does not apply to you.

Dear @Matthew_White, Thanks for your help.

Am experiencing such a problem. Also when I try to submit, I get Failed Pre condition error. Anyone with a solution to this?

Hi @Jomoko, Can you send the form in which the problem occur so that we can help you out.

Hi. My problem was resolved bu @Grzesiek2010. Mob thanks

Dear @Jomoko Thanks for your response.

Hi @Amrita_Pal I’m creating a new form, and would like to avoid this pitfall. I was brought here to this post of yours, by the ODK Docs AI, while looking for confirmation on something about choice names. After reading your post, I’m now seeking a clarification… Let me know if the following statements are true. If using Google Sheets submissions: We should avoid underscores in the name column of the survey sheet (we should use eg. “country-select”). We can use underscores in the list_name column of the choices sheet (we can use eg. “country_name”). We can use underscores in the name column of the choices sheet (we can use eg. “south_africa”).

@ivanradisson please note that Google Drive/Sheets functionality was removed from ODK Collect in Fall 2023. [image] Collect will stop connecting to Google Drive/Sheets in Fall 2023 Support In Fall 2023, we will remove Google Drive/Sheets functionality from ODK Collect. Users will no longer be able to download blank forms directly from Google Drive or send completed forms directly to Google Sheets. We are making this change to enable us to move faster on features that serve more users. We believe most people use Google Drive/Sheets because they see it as reducing the financial and technical cost for organizations to use ODK. But because Google Drive/Sheets were not designed to be…

Thank you @danbjoseph I was thinking this would apply when importing the data to Google Sheets, or even Looker Studio (using API) and that’s why it caught my attention (I intend to use Looker Studio down the road). I’ll ignore this then and carry on with my underscores :slight_smile:

[image] ivanradisson: I’ll ignore this then and carry on with my underscores :slight_smile: If you are sending data from Central to Sheets (as opposed to Collect to Sheets), I'm not sure if these restrictions still apply today. My recommendation is to make a small form with underscores and see if it works.

Google Sheets submissions don't allow underscores in the variable name

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danbjoseph September 4, 2025, 12:46pm 9

@ivanradisson please note that Google Drive/Sheets functionality was removed from ODK Collect in Fall 2023.