Best way to update a list for cascading select

What is the best way to update a list for cascading select?
I haven’t actually been able to update the list at all successfully so hoping for some guidance.

First i imported the excel list successfully and it was working nicely.
I want to be able to easily update the list and often, as new names will be added periodically to my list (which will eventually be something like this: commune - village - name - household id - person
there will be new names added from time to time so i need it to keep the same column for the original people plus keep adding in new people.

First - I tried to delete the original cascading select and then reimported it from excel - and it still only references the original list - even though i deleted that completely. I can’t seem to get it to show my new list even though it looks like it is using the new list when i copy the excel columns over.
Also, I don’t think this will be the solution as it will change the data columns from the previously entered in data for those individuals (will it?).

Any ideas??
Thanks as always!

I did find a similar question here

however - i was trying to avoid getting into kml methods!! (it is scary)
But if that is the best way - and only way… i shall have to start learning all that.
Also very curious as to why when i try to delete the original cascading select and reimport a new one via the formbuilder the new one doesn’t stick and it refers to the old one.

Oh, another update sorry…
i did the reimport via formbuilder - cascading select option… a 5th (or many times later) and the new list is now appearing and is updated. So one problem solved. I did nothing different as i can understand.
But for inserting additional names - is it still best to use XML and adjust the list on the choices sheet? (manually inserting the names?) - will this result in names being added without losing the current names and old data?

@tabas, if you wish to update the cascading select list, the easiest way would be as follows:

  • Download the existing project (that holds the cascading select question) as XLSForm.
  • Update the list manually. But be sure that the codes are linked correctly.
  • Then upload the XLSForm back to the server. i.e., replace the existing project with the updated XLSForm.
  • Deploy/redeploy the project once the changes are made.

Note: It is strongly advised to make some dummy projects and then play around to get used to the process before you start it. You may also need to download the data to see if the codes are there correctly before you begin with the genuine project.

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Thanks for that… all makes sense.
Good to have the way to go forward … and the tip for a dummy project!

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