How to easily reorder columns of your xlsform file to fit the template

:warning: This is more a tip than a showcase :slight_smile:

You want to share your forms :bulb: or easily pick up and paste part of xlsform from the community ?
Thanks to the ODK team :pray: and the people mentioned in the Credits section of the XLSForm Template, we now have a great and powerful template.
I didn't try in excel but I think it will be similar to LibreOffice... So here is how to order your columns following an arbitrary order in LO (custom sort) :
Go to Tools -> Options -> LibreOffice Calc -> Sort Lists and add the new list :

type,name,label,hint,required,relevant,appearance,default,constraint,constraint_message,calculation,trigger,choice_filter,parameters,repeat_count,note,image,audio,video

Now we can select all the survey sheet and ask Calc to order the data from left to right (column sort) following this new custum order (Options tab) applied to the first line (sort criteria tab) :wink:

Once done, check your form doesn't miss any non mandatory column and add the missing ones.

5 Likes