(re)creating a very large form question with many multiple choices

Hello folks --

In a couple of my apps, I have to have a question that asks what district a
given client is from.

The ideal way to input this is as a multiple choice question. But in some
countries there might be as many as 165 districts to choose from. Entering
that manually into the form builder is really a daunting task -- especially
as (relating to my second question listed below) my project also has to
have the exact same question appear in a different form in a different app.

So, two questions:

1-- to get this mammoth list of options entered into the form to begin with
-- is there any way that I could construct this question outside of the
form builder, using a text editor, thus correctly specifying the many many
mutiple choice options, and then import that one question into the version
of the form in the form builder? it would of course make it possible for
me to use excel and text manipulation to construct it, rather than insane
repetitive form builder steps.

2-- Also, once this question does exist correctly inside a project and
appears in the form builder, is there any other possible way to copy this
big question from its first location in an app, into a form in a module in
a different app in my project? (of course, if the answer to question 1
above is simple, then I would just repeat that import into this second
app.)

Thanks much -- One of those headachy little questions that rears its head
from time to time...

Eric

Hey Eric,

I think you can do what you're looking for with lookup tables
https://confluence.dimagi.com/display/commcarepublic/Setup+a+Form+with+Conditional+Select+Options.
Note that these require a Standard subscription.

Cory

··· On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 1:38 AM, Eric Stephan wrote:

Hello folks --

In a couple of my apps, I have to have a question that asks what district
a given client is from.

The ideal way to input this is as a multiple choice question. But in some
countries there might be as many as 165 districts to choose from. Entering
that manually into the form builder is really a daunting task -- especially
as (relating to my second question listed below) my project also has to
have the exact same question appear in a different form in a different app.

So, two questions:

1-- to get this mammoth list of options entered into the form to begin
with -- is there any way that I could construct this question outside of
the form builder, using a text editor, thus correctly specifying the many
many mutiple choice options, and then import that one question into the
version of the form in the form builder? it would of course make it
possible for me to use excel and text manipulation to construct it, rather
than insane repetitive form builder steps.

2-- Also, once this question does exist correctly inside a project and
appears in the form builder, is there any other possible way to copy this
big question from its first location in an app, into a form in a module in
a different app in my project? (of course, if the answer to question 1
above is simple, then I would just repeat that import into this second
app.)

Thanks much -- One of those headachy little questions that rears its head
from time to time...

Eric

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Hi, Eric,

Lookup tables definitely sounds like the best approach here. I've added a
couple other notes below.

Hey Eric,

I think you can do what you're looking for with lookup tables
https://confluence.dimagi.com/display/commcarepublic/Setup+a+Form+with+Conditional+Select+Options.
Note that these require a Standard subscription.

Cory

Hello folks --

In a couple of my apps, I have to have a question that asks what district
a given client is from.

The ideal way to input this is as a multiple choice question. But in some
countries there might be as many as 165 districts to choose from. Entering
that manually into the form builder is really a daunting task -- especially
as (relating to my second question listed below) my project also has to
have the exact same question appear in a different form in a different app.

So, two questions:

1-- to get this mammoth list of options entered into the form to begin
with -- is there any way that I could construct this question outside of
the form builder, using a text editor, thus correctly specifying the many
many mutiple choice options, and then import that one question into the
version of the form in the form builder? it would of course make it
possible for me to use excel and text manipulation to construct it, rather
than insane repetitive form builder steps.

You can do this when you first create a form by using Excel to build the
form:
https://help.commcarehq.org/display/commcarepublic/Use+Excel+to+Build+CommCare+Forms
However this is only useful in the initial stages of defining a form
because you can't update an existing form from Excel (except for
translations)

2-- Also, once this question does exist correctly inside a project and
appears in the form builder, is there any other possible way to copy this
big question from its first location in an app, into a form in a module in
a different app in my project? (of course, if the answer to question 1
above is simple, then I would just repeat that import into this second
app.)

There is not an easy way to copy it over - if you're feeling adventurous
you can try to hand merge the xml but I don't recommend it. Otherwise you
could copy the form and then use that as your starting point for the second
form. This is also a very popular item on UserVoice:
http://dimagi.uservoice.com/forums/176376-form-builder/suggestions/3564121-copy-a-question-between-forms

··· On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 8:09 AM, Cory Zue wrote: > On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 1:38 AM, Eric Stephan wrote:

Thanks much -- One of those headachy little questions that rears its head
from time to time...

Eric

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Jeremy Wacksman
Dimagi http://www.dimagi.com, Inc.