How to exclude csv export of group headings as columns?

  1. What is the issue? Please be detailed.
    When I export the attached form as csv it generates columns for the group headings (e.g. cleanliness, tools, electronics etc). I would like to prevent that, as the exported csv is automatically uploaded to a database that does not include group headings as columns.

  2. What steps can we take to reproduce this issue?
    Form available (attached).

  3. What have you tried to fix the issue?
    Have searched through existing support questions but have not found similar.

  4. Upload any forms or screenshots you can share publicly below
    Vehicle Check Form.xlsx (586.4 KB)

Hello @J.AWC,

Are you using Central Or Aggregate/Briefcase to export your data?

In both cases, you can remove group-names from column prefixes when generating export CSV (with interface variation)

Let me know which option you have for a tailored solution

Best,
Jules R

Hi @J.AWC

You can use 'Remove Group Names' option while exporting the CSV. The remove group names option takes out the prefix usually added to groups in the header: so for example, meta-instanceID would become just instanceID.

Read more in detail here -

Hi @jules_rugwiro,
Actually not using either, just using a Python script to export all .xml forms and convert into .csv. Was hoping there was a way to enforce/code it into the xlsx form to prevent groups from exporting as a separate column.
Cheers

Hi @joybindroo, see response to Jules above

@J.AWC

If you have a DataFrame with columns that include group names and you'd like to replace them with a simpler set of column names, you can directly create a new list of column names and assign them to your DataFrame.

Here’s an example:

Suppose you have a DataFrame with the following columns:

group1-name, group1-age, group2-city, group2-country

You can rename these columns by creating a new list of column names without the group prefixes and then reassigning the columns attribute of the DataFrame.

Here’s how you can do it:


#Assuming 'df' is the submissions dataframe of concern

# New column names without group names
new_column_names = ['name', 'age', 'city', 'country']

# Assign the new column names to the DataFrame
df.columns = new_column_names

I hope this helps! Let me know if your problem is solved.