ODKcollect v2022.3.6 - test and remarks

I share my end of campaign remarks, If it can help to improve the tool.

ODKcollect v2022.3.6

1/Weird behavior of map widget button :
On the latest version of odk, I realized that if you press twice quickly on the button to open the map widget, you will have to validate twice the point to exit the map module.
If the question is fill, if you edit it (twice pression), you will have to correct two times the point, because the first correction is not saved.
The problem happen on group reapeat, arount 20 observations, before this problem doesn't appear.
(ODKcollect Slowdown, when more than 50 observations in a form (repeat + location Map))

2/Behavior change :
If you press the diskette to save and if a required field was not filled, the backup does not work and odkcollect takes us directly to the field that is causing the problem. This is a new behavior, before that saved anyway, and when finalizing the form, (last step of the form) ODKcollect brought us to the required fields not filled.

3/Design remark :
The + button to add a new group is too close to the saved button, which makes it easy to add a new group instead of saving, on a small screen device like smartphone. It happens to my colleagues.

Thanks :wink:

Thanks so much for sharing this report! This is how ODK gets better. :pray:

Thanks! Sounds like a button that we need to debounce. We will look into it.

This would not be an intentional change. I'm not able to reproduce, however. I have a form with a question with a constraint and another with a question that is required. I put in values that fail validation or that don't satisfy the required condition and I am able to save using either the diskette in the top bar or by tapping the back button and choosing save. Could it be that you already finalized your form and then edited it to make values invalid? If you're able to reproduce systematically, it might be helpful to get access to your form.

That is annoying indeed. We use standard Android spacing. Can you tell us more about your colleague's device so we can get an idea of what they were seeing?

Example with this form, from 23 observations with map widget, if you press twice, the problem appears, retested this morning.
DevExemple.xml (63.5 KB)

Indeed this problem is no longer present this morning on my device. I made an update of ODKcollect on Tuesday, and during my tests yesterday at the end of the day I emptied the form cache... This morning I can save at any stage of the form. Sorry it was probably a persistent data problem.

we use Samsung GALAXY A51 screen 6,5"
or screen 5.5"


When the form presents groups of observations, I recommend that they record between each group. Sometimes they press + instead of save disk, so it creates an empty group.
When finalizing the form, they have empty groups to delete.
(That's why I found the behavior of the backup button strange yesterday, but it was just a bug on my device. Case cited before.)

In our case, we don't use this button, if we create an observation group, we fill it entirely, but I understand that it can be useful.
Moreover, it would be great on a large input form, with a repeat group, if each time a group was added an automatic hard save was done. Or to be able to tell in the form code, at this screen change, force a save. :grinning:
In order to never lose data in case of phone call, bad handling.

Are you taking about https://docs.getodk.org/form-question-types/#geopoint-widget? If so does it take a lot of time for you to open the map view after clicking on the button for the first time? (By a lot I mean >= 1s).

I am referring to taking a point with the map widget
https://docs.getodk.org/form-question-types/#geopoint-with-user-selected-location

The problem is just on big form with repeat group, then the widget map is slowler, and the button "Démarrer le point" can stay beetwen 3 and 4 seconds before starting the map.

However if you edit a point that has already been taken "Voir ou changer la position", this does it in any case, but you really have to double click quickly (less than 1s), there it was just a test.

I have an idea of what may have happened. Is it possible that the form was completely filled out with all required questions completed, saved as finalized, and then you edited the form? If you edit a finalized form, you can't save with the diskette unless all required fields are filled out and validation conditions are met. If you want to save as draft, you have to jump to the final screen of the form and uncheck "Mark form as finalized".

All of this is a bit strange. We are intending to make big changes to this area of the app to hopefully simplify the notion of drafts and forms ready to send. We're looking for users to interview so if you've run into issues in this area of the app, consider getting in touch: Talk to the ODK team about form finalization and edits in ODK Collect

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