ODK Modifications

Support
1

Hello all,

First of all thank you very much for such a nice tool like ODK, your job is
really amazing and congratulations for the supporting community you have
created.
I am working on a project where I need an android application for data
collection and I believe ODK is the suitable but I need some modifications.

  1. I would like when the app starts to get me directly to the form that
    should be filled instead of getting me to the menu.
  2. I would like my form to have a grid view with pictures, for an
    example I would like to have 4 pictures in 2x2 grids that the user could
    click on any of them.
  3. I would like to have a decision tree, so when a user clicks on one
    of these pictures to get him to another activity etc.

Has anyone done something like that on the past that I could contact and
get some advice or do you have any suggestions for me on what to do?

I know how to write java code and I am now learning programming for the
android.

Thank you in advance
Michalis

2

There is no programming required to any of these 3 as they are all
supported in the latest version of ODK Collect.

··· On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 9:23 AM, Michalis Vitos wrote:

Hello all,

First of all thank you very much for such a nice tool like ODK, your job
is really amazing and congratulations for the supporting community you have
created.
I am working on a project where I need an android application for data
collection and I believe ODK is the suitable but I need some modifications.

  1. I would like when the app starts to get me directly to the form
    that should be filled instead of getting me to the menu.
  2. I would like my form to have a grid view with pictures, for an
    example I would like to have 4 pictures in 2x2 grids that the user could
    click on any of them.
  3. I would like to have a decision tree, so when a user clicks on one
    of these pictures to get him to another activity etc.

Has anyone done something like that on the past that I could contact and
get some advice or do you have any suggestions for me on what to do?

I know how to write java code and I am now learning programming for the
android.

Thank you in advance
Michalis

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3

Hi Michalis,

No doubt smarter and more experienced people will reply, but for now you
can have these thoughts from a fellow newbie:

  1. For your "grid view with pictures," see the "Select one grid with
    auto-advance" example at http://opendatakit.org/help/form-design/examples/.
    No custom modification would seem to be required.

  2. For the decision-tree aspect, you would just make heavy use of the
    "relevance" attribute in order to control which fields display when. This
    can include references to prior field values. See
    http://opendatakit.org/help/form-design/xls2xform/ for discussion of
    relevance in the XLS2XForm context.

That just leaves the go-straight-into-form-filling thing, which may well
require a minor modification to the Collect app (to maybe have configurable
and straight-to-form apps).

Best,

Chris

··· On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, Michalis Vitos wrote:

Hello all,

First of all thank you very much for such a nice tool like ODK, your job
is really amazing and congratulations for the supporting community you have
created.
I am working on a project where I need an android application for data
collection and I believe ODK is the suitable but I need some modifications.

  1. I would like when the app starts to get me directly to the form
    that should be filled instead of getting me to the menu.
  2. I would like my form to have a grid view with pictures, for an
    example I would like to have 4 pictures in 2x2 grids that the user could
    click on any of them.
  3. I would like to have a decision tree, so when a user clicks on one
    of these pictures to get him to another activity etc.

Has anyone done something like that on the past that I could contact and
get some advice or do you have any suggestions for me on what to do?

I know how to write java code and I am now learning programming for the
android.

Thank you in advance
Michalis

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4

Thank you all guys for your answers!!! I think that now I can handle it!
Another question that its more of an android than of ODK, is it possible
to program a phone or a tablet when it boots up, to go directly to one
of the ODK forms?
Furthermore, is it possible to forbid the user to exit from the app and go
to the
menu etc?

My regards,
Michalis

5

Michalis,
Once your form is on the phone, you can create a shortcut on your desktop
to jump straight into that form.

  • Long click on the desktop
  • Select "shortcut"
  • In the menu that pops up select "ODK Form"
  • In the menu that pops up select your form.

Clicking on that shortcut will load straight into your form.
-Carl

··· On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 10:24 AM, Christopher Robert < chris_robert@hksphd.harvard.edu> wrote:

Hi Michalis,

No doubt smarter and more experienced people will reply, but for now you
can have these thoughts from a fellow newbie:

  1. For your "grid view with pictures," see the "Select one grid with
    auto-advance" example at http://opendatakit.org/help/form-design/examples/.
    No custom modification would seem to be required.

  2. For the decision-tree aspect, you would just make heavy use of the
    "relevance" attribute in order to control which fields display when. This
    can include references to prior field values. See
    http://opendatakit.org/help/form-design/xls2xform/ for discussion of
    relevance in the XLS2XForm context.

That just leaves the go-straight-into-form-filling thing, which may well
require a minor modification to the Collect app (to maybe have configurable
and straight-to-form apps).

Best,

Chris

On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, Michalis Vitos wrote:

Hello all,

First of all thank you very much for such a nice tool like ODK, your job
is really amazing and congratulations for the supporting community you have
created.
I am working on a project where I need an android application for data
collection and I believe ODK is the suitable but I need some modifications.

  1. I would like when the app starts to get me directly to the form
    that should be filled instead of getting me to the menu.
  2. I would like my form to have a grid view with pictures, for an
    example I would like to have 4 pictures in 2x2 grids that the user could
    click on any of them.
  3. I would like to have a decision tree, so when a user clicks on
    one of these pictures to get him to another activity etc.

Has anyone done something like that on the past that I could contact and
get some advice or do you have any suggestions for me on what to do?

I know how to write java code and I am now learning programming for the
android.

Thank you in advance
Michalis

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6

Michalis,

You might want to checkout this xls2xform example that has several examples
of skip logic in it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AgpC5gsTSm_4dFZQdzZZVGxlcEQ3aktBbFlyRXE3cFE&output=xls

You'll need to add an appearance column in xls2xform if you want to do the
grid widgets. We're hoping to provide some better examples in XLS soon.

Thanks,

Matt

··· On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 9:24 PM, Christopher Robert < chris_robert@hksphd.harvard.edu> wrote:

Hi Michalis,

No doubt smarter and more experienced people will reply, but for now you
can have these thoughts from a fellow newbie:

  1. For your "grid view with pictures," see the "Select one grid with
    auto-advance" example at http://opendatakit.org/help/form-design/examples/.
    No custom modification would seem to be required.

  2. For the decision-tree aspect, you would just make heavy use of the
    "relevance" attribute in order to control which fields display when. This
    can include references to prior field values. See
    http://opendatakit.org/help/form-design/xls2xform/ for discussion of
    relevance in the XLS2XForm context.

That just leaves the go-straight-into-form-filling thing, which may well
require a minor modification to the Collect app (to maybe have configurable
and straight-to-form apps).

Best,

Chris

On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, Michalis Vitos wrote:

Hello all,

First of all thank you very much for such a nice tool like ODK, your job
is really amazing and congratulations for the supporting community you have
created.
I am working on a project where I need an android application for data
collection and I believe ODK is the suitable but I need some modifications.

  1. I would like when the app starts to get me directly to the form
    that should be filled instead of getting me to the menu.
  2. I would like my form to have a grid view with pictures, for an
    example I would like to have 4 pictures in 2x2 grids that the user could
    click on any of them.
  3. I would like to have a decision tree, so when a user clicks on
    one of these pictures to get him to another activity etc.

Has anyone done something like that on the past that I could contact and
get some advice or do you have any suggestions for me on what to do?

I know how to write java code and I am now learning programming for the
android.

Thank you in advance
Michalis

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7

It is possible to run an app on startup, but it's evil behavior on Android.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6391902/how-to-start-an-application-on-startup

The same applies to preventing users from exiting. Kinda evil (and hard to do).
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3982138/android-os-stop-user-from-closing-app-or-using-any-os-functionality

A little less evil is preventing app and OS settings from being changed.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.cc.applock&hl=en

··· On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 10:52, Michalis wrote: > Thank you all guys for your answers!!! I think that now I can handle it! > Another question that its more of an android than of ODK, is it possible > to program a phone or a tablet when it boots up, to go directly to one > of the ODK forms? > Furthermore, is it possible to forbid the user to exit from the app and go > to the > menu etc? > > My regards, > > Michalis > > -- > Post: opendatakit@googlegroups.com > Unsubscribe: opendatakit+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com > Options: http://groups.google.com/group/opendatakit?hl=en