Problem with GPS shape and line modification in Enketo

Support
,
1

1. What is the problem? Be very detailed.
We collect data with ODK Collect, then we load this data into KoboToolbox and edit this data with Enketo from Kobotoolbox.
The problem is with geoshape data.

When we try to edit them with Enketo, there are more points that appear on screen than we have really collected. So it takes much more time to check and edit each answers.

This is what I have of my phone :

Screenshot_20210219-100636_ODK Collect
Screenshot_20210219-100636_ODK Collect720×1480 354 KB
Screenshot_20210219-100640_ODK Collect
Screenshot_20210219-100640_ODK Collect720×1480 114 KB
Screenshot_20210219-100651_ODK Collect
Screenshot_20210219-100651_ODK Collect720×1480 175 KB

Then I’ve immediately downloaded the data from Kobo to XLS and got :
48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0.0 0.0;48.81329421655844 2.3803019151091576 0.0 0.0;48.812516387392996 2.378598041832447 0.0 0.0;48.8135615856475 2.377382330596447 0.0 0.0;48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0.0 0.0;
(with “;” at the end)

Then I went to editing mode with Enketo :
48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0.0 0.0;48.81329421655844 2.3803019151091576 0.0 0.0;48.812516387392996 2.378598041832447 0.0 0.0;48.8135615856475 2.377382330596447 0.0 0.0;48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0.0 0.0;
enketo_point1
enketo_point_2 enketo_point_3 enketo_point_4 enketo_point_5 enketo_point_6

Then I’ve clicked on “close polygon” and got :
48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0 0;48.81329421655844 2.3803019151091576 0 0;48.812516387392996 2.378598041832447 0 0;48.8135615856475 2.377382330596447 0 0;48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0 0;48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0 0
(so without “;” at the end)

enketo_close_polygon
enketo_close_polygon675×830 54.5 KB

Finally I’ve downloaded the data again on XLS and got :
48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0 0;48.81329421655844 2.3803019151091576 0 0;48.812516387392996 2.378598041832447 0 0;48.8135615856475 2.377382330596447 0 0;48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0 0;48.81420163186936 2.378957122564316 0 0
(Still without “;” at the end)

2. What app or server are you using and on what device and operating system? Include version numbers.
I use ODK collect (V1.29.5) and Kobotoolbox server for "Researchers, Aid Workers & Everyone Else"

3. What you have you tried to fix the problem?
I have reported this problem to kobotoolbox support and the noticed the problem with th ";" at the end and advised me to report it here.

4. What steps can we take to reproduce the problem?
The steps that are described above.

5. Anything else we should know or have? If you have a test form or screenshots or logs, attach below.

Thank you a lot

Fabien

1 Like
2

The ideal would be for Enketo to be robust to trailing semicolons because they have always existed at the end of traces and shapes produced by Collect. New versions of Collect can stop producing them but there will continue to be many submissions with this structure. @martijnr does that seem reasonable? If so it might be something I can look at in the Enketo implementation.

3

No, sorry that would not be a good idea as the code changes required are not insignificant and somewhat silly because of Enketo's architecture. I looked at doing this, and actually mostly finished implementing it, after which I discarded the code. Thanks for offering though. Best to get rid of the trailing semi-colons in new versions of Collect.

4

:+1: I agree that the issue is best fixed at the source: delimiters [sic] shouldn't strictly appear at the end (or beginning!), and having them there is rather open to interpretation... (think multiple commas at end of CSV).

1 Like
5

Sad to hear that! We’ve left it alone because inevitably the change will break some folks’ bespoke downstream analysis. It’s typically not a big deal for general-purpose tools to support. Now that we have a counter example we’ll announce the change for Collect v1.31. Hopefully anything that does break will be easy to fix.

1 Like