ODK Collect v1.28 Beta 1: exactly match forms on server, minimal selects with autocomplete

This beta includes all the functionality for v1.28. This release has a lot of big improvements and we want your feedback! We will put out one more beta in a week or so after some more bug fixing and polishing based on your comments below.

The major changes in v1.28 are:

  • a new form management setting to automatically match blank forms on server (General Settings > Form management > Blank form update mode)
  • minimal can now be combined with other select appearances
  • changes to the way calculations are triggered when repeats are added and removed
  • using other sensors in addition to GPS for location

Please try this beta out if your forms depend on many instances of repeats, nested repeats or geopoint in a rural/disconnected environment and you didn't try the previous beta. You can read more about what to look for in the previous beta description.

Joining the beta program
To join the beta program, find ODK Collect in the Play Store on your device (not in the web browser) and scroll all the way down. Please don't join the beta with a device or account actively used for data collection! In particular, note that joining the beta is account-based. If you use the same Google account across multiple devices, do not join the beta with that account.

Leaving the beta program
You can leave the beta program from the bottom of the Play Store at any time. Once you leave, you will get the next production update when it is released. If you need to go back to the previous production release, uninstall and reinstall the app. Your settings will be reset but your forms will remain (though backups are always recommended).

What to check in this release

  • General Settings > Form management > Blank form update mode should hide the Get Blank Form button. All forms on the server should automatically be available from Fill Blank Form.
  • The minimal appearance for selects should now be possible to combine with any other select appearance. This is particularly useful with autocomplete in the case of a long list.
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Looks like the beta is not yet available in Germany. Please post here when someone could download it.

Thanks for letting us know, @dmenne. I did some digging and it looks like the beta is waiting for review from Google. Our betas have always gone out within minutes or hours but I see now that there is an extended review time warning because of the pandemic. I'll unlist this post and relist it once I can confirm that the beta has actually rolled out.

ODK Collect v1.28 beta 1 is now (finally) available and we look forward to user feedback!

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Hi,

I notice that on v1.28.0 Beta there is now a note under the Server Settings under the "Custom server paths" -> "Will be removed in a future version. Please use /formList and /submission on your server."

This will cause a significant problem for us as we use the Form list path to identify which Project the forms should be pulled from.

For example, we use "/forms/list?projectid=Project1234" in our Form list Path.
If this is removed, we will have no way to identify which Project to pull forms from.

Will there be a workaround, or is this set in stone?

Thanks,
JD

We've been puzzling over how folks use those settings and asked for more info at Collect server settings screen: remove 'Other' server type and replace 'ODK Aggregate' with 'ODK'. Thanks for solving one mystery, @J_D1, we didn't consider that folks might be using query parameters instead of resource routes for things like projects.

About half a percent of Collect users set custom endpoints and the "Other" server type has caused confusion in the past. I think that by moving the endpoint configuration to the main server configuration screen and making it clear most users don't need to touch it, we've largely addressed the confusion. If we do remove the setting, we'd give 6 months to a year of notice. In the mean time, it's helpful to hear about what users put there.

Do you control the custom server you're working with? Could you consider introducing a route that looks like /projects/projectid/formList?

Thanks @LN, yes, I think I need to follow the topics better. :smiley:

Regarding your question above, yes we can easily implement a "/projects/projectid/formList" system, that's not a problem.

Thanks for your prompt reply.

JD

That's great! You can do the same with submission and then no longer need custom endpoints. You'll instead distribute separate URLs for each project. Hopefully that will end up being simpler overall. One of the concepts we've been exploring is for Collect to be able to remember settings for multiple profiles. That could allow a user to, for example, switch between projects.

We have just released v1.28 Beta 2. Thanks to everyone who has tried out the prior betas and provided feedback! This beta fixes some bugs. The most significant update from Beta 1 is that we have updated vertical scrolling during form filling in response to feedback that it was too easy to accidentally swipe to the next screen (and also called ODK developers "cabesas de nabo" or "turnip heads" :woman_shrugging:t2:).

We often tweet screen captures from new versions. Here are some of the v1.28 features in action:

Exactly match forms on server (this also happens automatically in the background at a configurable interval):

Combine minimal and autocomplete appearances:

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Hello.

How it build in xlsform?.
In Appearance attribute: fiel-list-minimal?*

That's right, @famador. The containing group is a field-list and the select has the appearance minimal autocomplete (order doesn't matter).

This is the form from the screen capture.

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