Empty fields in exports

Users
1

Hi there,

I'm wondering what is the difference between empty fields and fields with value "---" when exporting data...

Do you have any insight ?

Thanks in advance.

Michel

2

Hi Michel,

There is a difference in exports between those fields.

There are two ways for a question (or hidden value) in CommCare to not have an answer. One is when the question was displayed to the end user, and the end user did not enter an answer for the question. The other is when a Display Condition (either directly on a question, or for the group the question is inside of) has resulted in a question not being displayed to a user at all.

The "---" vs. blank entry in the export distinguishes between these two situations. I believe an Empty Value signals that a question was not answered by the user, and a "---" signals that the question couldn't be answered by the user because it was not displayed.

-Clayton

3

Thanks a lot Clayton !
I though about something like this, but could not find the confirmation in CommCare's documentation...

Cheers,

Le lun. 10 sept. 2018 à 15:03, Clayton Sims noreply@forum.dimagi.com a écrit :

4

Hi Michel,

Thanks for mentioning that, I also can't find a clear confirmation of that behavior on our public Wiki, so it's either not written or is buried enough that it might as well not be.

I'll follow up with the team on making sure we document that.

Cheers,

-Clayton