REST API for ODK Aggregate

[Matthew_White]

I wanted to make sure that everyone tracking this topic saw @yanokwa's announcement about the alpha release of ODK Central. Central is a new ODK 1 server, and we decided from the start that we wanted it to be extensible through a RESTful API.

The alpha release includes endpoints for users, forms, and submissions. It also includes an OData feed for live-updating reports in Excel, Power BI, or Tableau.

We think it's important to get early feedback from the community about what additional API endpoints and other features you'd like to see in Central. If you're interested in trying Central, you can find more information in @yanokwa's original post:

ODK Central v0.1 Alpha

@issa (of ODK Build fame), @matthew_white (of odk-meta fame), @ln (of XForms tricks fame) and I have been building a new ODK 1 server that, with the ODK 1 @TSC’s approval, is now ready to share with the community! We call it ODK Central. Central does not yet have all the functionality of ODK 1 servers (e.g., Aggregate, Ona, Kobo, ELMO), but it does the basics of hosting forms and submissions very well! It also has some nice features like: Simplified user interface with checklists to reduce tr…

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I also wanted to quote from the last section of @yanokwa's post:

@yanokwa

One question you might have is “what about Aggregate?”. The ODK 1 ecosystem has always had a variety of servers and we believe that having so many choices is a strength!

@ggalmazor continues to lead community members in improving Aggregate (in fact, we have a release coming soon). That said, Aggregate is built on technology that makes it hard to evolve quickly and we believe that over time, Central may grow into a better platform for addressing some of the larger backend features that the community has requested.

We continue to need your help making Aggregate better. If you depend on it, please head to https://github.com/opendatakit/aggregate and help. It’s never been easier to contribute.