How to display Sinhal in ODK collect?

Support
1

Dear all,

We are trying to display a survey in Sinhal and English on ODK collect. Without surprise, displaying the questions in English is not a problem, but we can't display the questions in Sinhal. Because we have the fonts on our computer we do not have a problem displaying the questions in excel.

What are the required steps to display it properly in ODK collect?

  • How to save and validate the .xls form
  • How to enable the tablet to recognise the font.

Thank you for your help!

Kind regards,
Geneviève

2

Hi Geneviève,

Collect can only display what Android enables it to display. My guess
is that you are using an old version of Android or your device doesn't
support Sinhala natively (e.g., without rooting and adding special
files). If you'd like me to confirm, send out a small one question
form that has some Sinhala and I can test on my devices. You can also
try to view Sinhala websites and confirm if those work.

You can certainly try to root the device and install custom fonts, but
that's a process that requires a fair bit of technical skill. See

for a rough overview. Your best alternative is to use image-based
forms as described at http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms

Good luck,

Yaw

··· -- Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 4:43 AM, genevieve.audet.b@gmail.com wrote:

Dear all,

We are trying to display a survey in Sinhal and English on ODK collect. Without surprise, displaying the questions in English is not a problem, but we can't display the questions in Sinhal. Because we have the fonts on our computer we do not have a problem displaying the questions in excel.

What are the required steps to display it properly in ODK collect?

  • How to save and validate the .xls form
  • How to enable the tablet to recognise the font.

Thank you for your help!

Kind regards,
Geneviève

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3

Dear Yaw,

Many thanks for your prompt response. I am responding on behalf of Genevieve, as she is currently travelling.

I am attaching here the XLS and converted XLM files for a short questionnaire with a couple questions in Sinhala (label in English, hint has the translated question in Sinhala, and then the response options translated in the second sheet in column E). The Sinhala shows up properly in Excel, but not on the tablet. Also, on the tablet I installed a MultiLing App and Sinhala Plugin from Google Play, so I can type Sinhala into the tablet, but when I send this data to Aggregate in the cloud, and export, the Sinhala font is not preserved. See attached a CSV file showing how the Sinhala comes up.

We are using Asus Fonepads, Android V4.3. I have also attached the Sinhala font we are using, which displays clearly in Word and Excel.

Any advice or assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Kelsi

Kelsi Kriitmaa
Director
KRIITMAA CONSULTING

Italy: +39 389 928 0079
Kenya: +254 (0) 729 330 690
Canada: +1 250 859 8417
skype: kelsi.kriitmaa
website: www.kriitmaa.com

fsw.Sinhal.Test.2Questions.xls (73 KB)

fsw.Sinhal.Test.2Questions.xml (14.1 KB)

fsw_14_08_SinhalTestLabels_results.csv (36.1 KB)

FM_Bindumathee.ttf (88.3 KB)

PastedGraphic-4.pdf (12.7 KB)

··· On Aug 15, 2014, at 3:57 PM, Yaw Anokwa wrote:

Hi Geneviève,

Collect can only display what Android enables it to display. My guess
is that you are using an old version of Android or your device doesn't
support Sinhala natively (e.g., without rooting and adding special
files). If you'd like me to confirm, send out a small one question
form that has some Sinhala and I can test on my devices. You can also
try to view Sinhala websites and confirm if those work.

You can certainly try to root the device and install custom fonts, but
that's a process that requires a fair bit of technical skill. See
http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat/
for a rough overview. Your best alternative is to use image-based
forms as described at http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms

Good luck,

Yaw

Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server
setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 4:43 AM, genevieve.audet.b@gmail.com wrote:

Dear all,

We are trying to display a survey in Sinhal and English on ODK collect. Without surprise, displaying the questions in English is not a problem, but we can't display the questions in Sinhal. Because we have the fonts on our computer we do not have a problem displaying the questions in excel.

What are the required steps to display it properly in ODK collect?

  • How to save and validate the .xls form
  • How to enable the tablet to recognise the font.

Thank you for your help!

Kind regards,
Geneviève

--

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4

Hi Kelsi,

I took a quick look at the files and it confirms what I described earlier.

The exported CSV does have Sinhala. Excel is bad at Unicode which is
why it is not showing up.
See https://groups.google.com/d/msg/opendatakit/Xh4r6ibFKlE/RZz2E0N-mTQJ

Sinhala won't work in ODK Collect unless you root it and install the fonts.
See http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat

Your best alternative is to use image-based forms
See http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms

Yaw

··· -- Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 9:12 AM, Kelsi Kriitmaa kelsi@kriitmaa.com wrote:

Dear Yaw,

Many thanks for your prompt response. I am responding on behalf of
Genevieve, as she is currently travelling.

I am attaching here the XLS and converted XLM files for a short
questionnaire with a couple questions in Sinhala (label in English, hint has
the translated question in Sinhala, and then the response options translated
in the second sheet in column E). The Sinhala shows up properly in Excel,
but not on the tablet. Also, on the tablet I installed a MultiLing App and
Sinhala Plugin from Google Play, so I can type Sinhala into the tablet, but
when I send this data to Aggregate in the cloud, and export, the Sinhala
font is not preserved. See attached a CSV file showing how the Sinhala comes
up.

We are using Asus Fonepads, Android V4.3. I have also attached the Sinhala
font we are using, which displays clearly in Word and Excel.

Any advice or assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Kelsi

--

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Unsubscribe: opendatakit+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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Kelsi Kriitmaa
Director
KRIITMAA CONSULTING

Italy: +39 389 928 0079
Kenya: +254 (0) 729 330 690
Canada: +1 250 859 8417
skype: kelsi.kriitmaa
website: www.kriitmaa.com

On Aug 15, 2014, at 3:57 PM, Yaw Anokwa yanokwa@nafundi.com wrote:

Hi Geneviève,

Collect can only display what Android enables it to display. My guess
is that you are using an old version of Android or your device doesn't
support Sinhala natively (e.g., without rooting and adding special
files). If you'd like me to confirm, send out a small one question
form that has some Sinhala and I can test on my devices. You can also
try to view Sinhala websites and confirm if those work.

You can certainly try to root the device and install custom fonts, but
that's a process that requires a fair bit of technical skill. See
http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat/
for a rough overview. Your best alternative is to use image-based
forms as described at http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms

Good luck,

Yaw

Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server
setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 4:43 AM, genevieve.audet.b@gmail.com wrote:

Dear all,

We are trying to display a survey in Sinhal and English on ODK collect.
Without surprise, displaying the questions in English is not a problem, but
we can't display the questions in Sinhal. Because we have the fonts on our
computer we do not have a problem displaying the questions in excel.

What are the required steps to display it properly in ODK collect?

  • How to save and validate the .xls form
  • How to enable the tablet to recognise the font.

Thank you for your help!

Kind regards,
Geneviève

--

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5

Dear Yaw,

Thank you for your reply. We managed to get Sinhala font into ODK. A local
IT company in Sri Lanka (HSenid) installed Sinhala Unicode (Iskola). The
updated application is attached here, for wider usage in Sri Lanka. Members
of the ODK community can feel free to get in touch with me for any queries
if they encounter any issues. As we have now spent a great deal of time on
this issue, we are happy to share what we have learnt.

A quick note about image based forms as suggested by multiple persons, when
we were looking at the various solutions. While I think this is a good
solution for shorter forms, it would have been a large amount of work for
us, given we have hundreds of variables across four different tools, in
multiple languages. I think it is worthwhile for users to look at
installing the font itself into ODK, which requires taking the source code
and binding the relevant fonts.

Note that rooting was not necessary, and when we did try this, the devices
(Asus tablets) crashed every time.

Hope others find this information helpful.

Warm regards,
Kelsi

··· On Sunday, August 17, 2014 9:18:56 PM UTC+2, Yaw Anokwa wrote: > > Hi Kelsi, > > I took a quick look at the files and it confirms what I described earlier. > > The exported CSV does have Sinhala. Excel is bad at Unicode which is > why it is not showing up. > See https://groups.google.com/d/msg/opendatakit/Xh4r6ibFKlE/RZz2E0N-mTQJ > > Sinhala won't work in ODK Collect unless you root it and install the > fonts. > See > http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat > > Your best alternative is to use image-based forms > See http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms > > Yaw > -- > Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server > setup, professional support, and software development for ODK. > > On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 9:12 AM, Kelsi Kriitmaa <ke...@kriitmaa.com > wrote: > > Dear Yaw, > > > > Many thanks for your prompt response. I am responding on behalf of > > Genevieve, as she is currently travelling. > > > > I am attaching here the XLS and converted XLM files for a short > > questionnaire with a couple questions in Sinhala (label in English, hint > has > > the translated question in Sinhala, and then the response options > translated > > in the second sheet in column E). The Sinhala shows up properly in > Excel, > > but not on the tablet. Also, on the tablet I installed a MultiLing App > and > > Sinhala Plugin from Google Play, so I can type Sinhala into the tablet, > but > > when I send this data to Aggregate in the cloud, and export, the Sinhala > > font is not preserved. See attached a CSV file showing how the Sinhala > comes > > up. > > > > We are using Asus Fonepads, Android V4.3. I have also attached the > Sinhala > > font we are using, which displays clearly in Word and Excel. > > > > Any advice or assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated. > > > > Many thanks, > > Kelsi > > > > > > -- > > -- > > Post: opend...@googlegroups.com > > Unsubscribe: opendatakit...@googlegroups.com > > Options: http://groups.google.com/group/opendatakit?hl=en > > > > --- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > > "ODK Community" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an > > email to opendatakit...@googlegroups.com . > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > > > > > > > Kelsi Kriitmaa > > Director > > KRIITMAA CONSULTING > > > > Italy: +39 389 928 0079 > > Kenya: +254 (0) 729 330 690 > > Canada: +1 250 859 8417 > > skype: kelsi.kriitmaa > > website: www.kriitmaa.com > > > > > > > > On Aug 15, 2014, at 3:57 PM, Yaw Anokwa <yan...@nafundi.com > wrote: > > > > Hi Geneviève, > > > > Collect can only display what Android enables it to display. My guess > > is that you are using an old version of Android or your device doesn't > > support Sinhala natively (e.g., without rooting and adding special > > files). If you'd like me to confirm, send out a small one question > > form that has some Sinhala and I can test on my devices. You can also > > try to view Sinhala websites and confirm if those work. > > > > You can certainly try to root the device and install custom fonts, but > > that's a process that requires a fair bit of technical skill. See > > > http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat/ > > for a rough overview. Your best alternative is to use image-based > > forms as described at http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms > > > > Good luck, > > > > Yaw > > -- > > Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server > > setup, professional support, and software development for ODK. > > > > On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 4:43 AM, <geneviev...@gmail.com > wrote: > > > > Dear all, > > > > We are trying to display a survey in Sinhal and English on ODK collect. > > Without surprise, displaying the questions in English is not a problem, > but > > we can't display the questions in Sinhal. Because we have the fonts on > our > > computer we do not have a problem displaying the questions in excel. > > > > What are the required steps to display it properly in ODK collect? > > - How to save and validate the .xls form > > - How to enable the tablet to recognise the font. > > > > Thank you for your help! > > > > Kind regards, > > Geneviève > > > > -- > > -- > > Post: opend...@googlegroups.com > > Unsubscribe: opendatakit...@googlegroups.com > > Options: http://groups.google.com/group/opendatakit?hl=en > > > > --- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > > "ODK Community" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an > > email to opendatakit...@googlegroups.com . > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > > > >
6

Hi Kelsi,

Thanks so much for following up and for sharing this with the community.

Could you also write up a how to or a documentation of the process you
went through? How-tos won't fall out of date as quickly as the APK and
will allow users to build their own APKs for other unsupported
languages. Great documentation will also save you getting a lot of
emails!

If that sounds like a good plan, send me a link (or the text you want
to post) and I'll make sure to put it on the ODK website.

Thanks again,

Yaw

··· -- Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 3:08 AM, kelsi@kriitmaa.com wrote:

Dear Yaw,

Thank you for your reply. We managed to get Sinhala font into ODK. A local
IT company in Sri Lanka (HSenid) installed Sinhala Unicode (Iskola). The
updated application is attached here, for wider usage in Sri Lanka. Members
of the ODK community can feel free to get in touch with me for any queries
if they encounter any issues. As we have now spent a great deal of time on
this issue, we are happy to share what we have learnt.

A quick note about image based forms as suggested by multiple persons, when
we were looking at the various solutions. While I think this is a good
solution for shorter forms, it would have been a large amount of work for
us, given we have hundreds of variables across four different tools, in
multiple languages. I think it is worthwhile for users to look at installing
the font itself into ODK, which requires taking the source code and binding
the relevant fonts.

Note that rooting was not necessary, and when we did try this, the devices
(Asus tablets) crashed every time.

Hope others find this information helpful.

Warm regards,
Kelsi

On Sunday, August 17, 2014 9:18:56 PM UTC+2, Yaw Anokwa wrote:

Hi Kelsi,

I took a quick look at the files and it confirms what I described earlier.

The exported CSV does have Sinhala. Excel is bad at Unicode which is
why it is not showing up.
See https://groups.google.com/d/msg/opendatakit/Xh4r6ibFKlE/RZz2E0N-mTQJ

Sinhala won't work in ODK Collect unless you root it and install the
fonts.
See
http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat

Your best alternative is to use image-based forms
See http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms

Yaw

Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server
setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 9:12 AM, Kelsi Kriitmaa ke...@kriitmaa.com wrote:

Dear Yaw,

Many thanks for your prompt response. I am responding on behalf of
Genevieve, as she is currently travelling.

I am attaching here the XLS and converted XLM files for a short
questionnaire with a couple questions in Sinhala (label in English, hint
has
the translated question in Sinhala, and then the response options
translated
in the second sheet in column E). The Sinhala shows up properly in
Excel,
but not on the tablet. Also, on the tablet I installed a MultiLing App
and
Sinhala Plugin from Google Play, so I can type Sinhala into the tablet,
but
when I send this data to Aggregate in the cloud, and export, the Sinhala
font is not preserved. See attached a CSV file showing how the Sinhala
comes
up.

We are using Asus Fonepads, Android V4.3. I have also attached the
Sinhala
font we are using, which displays clearly in Word and Excel.

Any advice or assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Kelsi

--

Post: opend...@googlegroups.com
Unsubscribe: opendatakit...@googlegroups.com
Options: http://groups.google.com/group/opendatakit?hl=en

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Groups
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Kelsi Kriitmaa
Director
KRIITMAA CONSULTING

Italy: +39 389 928 0079
Kenya: +254 (0) 729 330 690
Canada: +1 250 859 8417
skype: kelsi.kriitmaa
website: www.kriitmaa.com

On Aug 15, 2014, at 3:57 PM, Yaw Anokwa yan...@nafundi.com wrote:

Hi Geneviève,

Collect can only display what Android enables it to display. My guess
is that you are using an old version of Android or your device doesn't
support Sinhala natively (e.g., without rooting and adding special
files). If you'd like me to confirm, send out a small one question
form that has some Sinhala and I can test on my devices. You can also
try to view Sinhala websites and confirm if those work.

You can certainly try to root the device and install custom fonts, but
that's a process that requires a fair bit of technical skill. See

http://blog.malinthe.com/2014/04/how-to-get-perfect-sinhala-text-on-android-4-4-kitkat/
for a rough overview. Your best alternative is to use image-based
forms as described at http://opendatakit.org/help/image-based-forms

Good luck,

Yaw

Need ODK services? http://nafundi.com provides form design, server
setup, professional support, and software development for ODK.

On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 4:43 AM, geneviev...@gmail.com wrote:

Dear all,

We are trying to display a survey in Sinhal and English on ODK collect.
Without surprise, displaying the questions in English is not a problem,
but
we can't display the questions in Sinhal. Because we have the fonts on
our
computer we do not have a problem displaying the questions in excel.

What are the required steps to display it properly in ODK collect?

  • How to save and validate the .xls form
  • How to enable the tablet to recognise the font.

Thank you for your help!

Kind regards,
Geneviève

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