Select One or Many From External File Question Type

Last updated: 15 Feb 2022

In some cases, it may be desirable to host a list of choice options in an external file, rather than directly in the project XLSForm. For example, a long list of choices (e.g. hundreds or thousands) could slow down the loading and navigation of the form, or adding new choice options after data collection has begun could sometimes be troublesome.

This article provides a detailed example and method for creating a select_one or select_many question type with the choice list in a separate, external file. Refer to the XLSForm documentation for more information.

1. In the XLSForm, the type should be either select_one_from_file [filename] or select_multiple_from_file [filename]:

The file-type can be either CSV or XML

survey

type	name	label
text	name	What is your name?
select_one sex	sex	What is your sex?
select_one_from_file fruits.csv	fruits	What is your favourite fruit?

choices

list_name	name	label
sex	1	Male
sex	2	Female

The fruits.csv is the file name containing the choices for the question "What is your favorite fruit?".

2. Create a new CSV file and structure it the same as the choices sheet in the XLSForm:

fruits.csv

list_name	name	label
fruits	1	Apple
fruits	2	Watermelon
fruits	3	Orange
fruits	4	Pear
fruits	5	Cherry
fruits	6	Strawberry
fruits	7	Nectarine
fruits	8	Grape
fruits	9	Mango
fruits	10	Blueberry
fruits	11	Pomegranate

3. Upload and deploy the XLSForm in KoboToolbox.

4. Upload the CSV file the same way you would add a media file to the form