Number, Decimal and Range Question Types

Last updated: 8 Aug 2022

When creating questions with numeric responses, you can choose between the “Number”, “Decimal” and “Range” question types in KoboToolbox.

This article describes these question types and how to use them.

When to use them

Number: The “Number” question type in the formbuilder is equivalent to the integer question type in XLSForm. Use the “Number” question type when responses to a question will be in the form of whole numbers, such as number of children (1, 3, 5, etc.).

Decimal: Use the “Decimal” question type when a question’s response will be in the form of decimal numbers, such as monthly income (1.2, 34.5, 42.42, etc.).

Range: The “Range” question type can collect both integer and decimal values. By default, the “Range” question type displays a sliding scale that allows users to pick a number. When setting it up, you must define the start and end values of the range as well as the step between them.

Setting up in formbuilder

To set up the “Number” and “Decimal” question types:

• In the formbuilder, click the button to add a new question.

• Type the question’s label. For example, “How many people live in this household?”. Then click “+ ADD QUESTION” (or press Enter).

• Choose the question type (“Number” or “Decimal”).

To add a “Range” question type:

• In the formbuilder, click the button to add a new question.

• Type the question text. For example, “Rate the effectiveness of the project from 1 to 5 (5 being most effective)”. Then click “ ADD QUESTION” (or press Enter).

• Choose the “Range” question type.

• Type the start value (in this example, 1).

• Type the end value (in this example, 5).

• Type in the step, the number of steps from one value to the next. (In this example, 1, meaning the options on the sliding scale are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

It is strongly recommended that you specify names for all questions before deploying your form, especially if the labels are non-Latin character languages such as Chinese, Arabic or Nepali.

Setting up in XLSForm

In XLSForm, you can add “Number”, “Decimal” and “Range” questions by using integer, decimal and range question types respectively:

type	name	label	parameters
integer	hhsize	How many people live in this household?
decimal	landsize	How big is your land? (in hectares)
range	rating	Rate the effectiveness of the project from 1 to 5	start=1 end=5 step=1
survey

When adding a range question to an XLSForm, the start, end and step parameters are added in the parameters column.

Translating question labels

For translating question labels into other languages through the KoboToolbox UI, refer to the support article, here, or here if you are creating your form using XLSForm.

Default appearance in web forms and KoboCollect

Advanced appearances

Advanced appearances in XLSForm

You can specify advanced appearances of “Number”, “Decimal” and “Range” questions in XLSForm under the appearances column as in the following examples:

type	name	label	appearance	parameters
integer	income	What was the total income you got in the last 12 months?	thousands-sep
decimal	bearing	Capture bearing	bearing
range	vertical_rating	Rate the effectiveness of the project from 1 to 5	vertical	start=1 end=5 step=1
range	picker_rating	Rate the effectiveness of the project from 1 to 5	picker	start=1 end=5 step=1
range	star_rating	Rate the effectiveness of the project from 1 to 5	rating	start=1 end=5 step=1
survey

Limits on “Number” and “Decimal” questions

KoboCollect

The “Number” question type is limited to a maximum of 9 characters and the “Decimal” question type is limited to a maximum of 15 characters.

Negative signs and decimal points count towards the character limit.

Enketo

Both “Number” and “Decimal” question types are limited to a maximum of 16 significant figures.

If a positive or negative integer of 22 significant figures is entered, the form will record a 16 digit number with scientific notation. For example, the number ±9845284926482357445633 would be recorded as ±9.845284926482358e+21.

If a positive or negative decimal of 22 significant figures is entered, the form will record a truncated 16 digit number, rounded to the 16th digit. For example, the number ±9845284926.482357445633 will be recorded as ±9845284926.482357.

Text question type as number

If your survey requires numeric responses that will exceed 15 digits, you can use a workaround with the “Text” question type:

• Add a “Text” question to your form.

• Go to the Appearance setting and select “numbers”. A digit keyboard will now appear when filling in this question.

• Finally, a regex() constraint can be included to further restrict the input if necessary.

Here is an XLSForm example to illustrate this:

type	name	label	appearance	constraint	constraint_message
text	number	Enter a long number	numbers	regex(., ‘^[0-9]*$’)	Value must be a number
survey

You can download an XLSForm with examples from this article here.