Form "date" field missing when trying to print

User Support Bug Reporting
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1

Good day, support.

As from today, my forms are not printing correctly, as one of the “date” fields which are properly fulfilled in the form, doesn’t show up in the printed copy…

I attach a couple of pics as of the form and the printing dialog with the missing date. Weird.

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image1160×541 84.3 KB

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image910×258 92.2 KB

Any clues? Thank-you!

2

Hi @jborruel,

Welcome to the community! Is it only for a single submissions or does it apply for the entire submissions? Are you able to see the dates in the dataset or is it also missing from there?

Have a great day!

3

It is weird, since it is happening in all the entries, even in the old submissions where the printed correctly before… So yes, it is happening in ALL of the submissions.

I can see the dates correctly both in the dataset and in the form while filling it up. It is only missing while printing, no matter which printer I select.

Thank-you for your support!

4

Hi @jborruel,

Would you mind providing me your user name and the project name in a private message. Would like to have a look at my end.

Have a great day!

6

I have sent you the information in a private message, hope you have been able to connect to the project.

Thank-you very much

1 Like
9

Hi @jborruel
We are in receipt of your message and @Kal_Lam and I have looked at the issue but we cannot replicate the problem you are experiencing. I need to ask you to carry out some trial diagnostics:

  1. Confirm which browsers are giving you this issue, and try out others you may not have tried. (test: browser specific issue)
  2. Could you try this on a different computer from the one you are using and see what comes up? (test: computer specific issue)
  3. Can you try this on a different project from the one you have currently and see whether the problem persists? (Test: project specific issue)
  4. kindly confirm if you had made changes to the form recently?
  5. If you clear your cache, does the problem persist?

Stephane

1 Like
10

Hello Stephane,

Thank you for your response, I have tried all the items your have pointed out, and still no luck:

  1. It happens in every browser, Chrome (my usual choice), Edge and Firefox
  2. It happens in my home computer, work computer (both windows) and another personal computer (linux)
  3. It also happens in an old project that was not yet deployed. I have also cloned the project, and happens again… I attach the XLS definition of the project, should you be able to import it and see wether it happens on your end.
  4. I haven’t make changes to the form recently. It used to print out just fine last week, only this week the date and the composite field next to it are missing int he printed forms.
  5. Also tried to clear the cache, still no luck.

It is very strange, as it used to work nicely. We keep pdf output of every form for our records, as we attach them to our processes.

Thank-you very much. Best regards,

Jesús

aNbYBBtcsAGoQVfcEJgBPw(1).xlsx (9.72 KB)

11

Hello,
just an idea:

  • Did you try with different printers?
  • Does it work when you change printer format to landscape?
  • Did you try several prints (as sequence)? Depending on internet strength, we often need several tries from KoBo Preview before ALL text comes out .)
    Kind regards
1 Like
12

Thank you very much for your suggestions,

I have tried them all, and still same outcome…

I have created another kobotoolbox user, and deployed another simplified copy, and still same result. I am using Enketo with Grid Theme…

And with this idea in my mind, I have revisited: https://blog.enketo.org/gorgeous-grid/ , and tried again : https://enke.to/fatal, that has a date field… I fill it up, try to print (even in Linux with Firefox browser, so it is not a brower or OS issue) and it still apears blank. Can you try this yourself? It seems like a Enketo printing problem…

Thank you all for your support

13

Reviewing the timeline of the issue, I can see that it dates back just on the last enketo update:

https://community.kobotoolbox.org/t/release-notes-enketo-version-2-3-2/9268

Could it have any relation with this issue?

14

It finally happened to be an Enketo issue.

It has been solved as per: https://github.com/enketo/enketo-core/issues/715

Hopefully it can soon be released and update within kobotoolbox…

Thank-you very much.

Regards

3 Likes
15

Hi @jborruel,

Kindly please be informed that the new release (Enketo upgrade from 2.3.3 to 2.3.5) on both HHI as well as OCHA server has solved your issue.

FYI:

Image 1
Image 11186×307 29.7 KB

You are now able to see the date while printing the same as PDF. Thank you for flagging this issue in the forum and github. Expecting the same in the upcoming days as well.

Have a great day!

16

Thank you very much for the information and the good news.

On the other hand, I am afraid that there still is some error, as the calculated field next to the date (to the right of the red-lined box in your image) still does not print out right.

It is a calculated field based on the date, I thought that fixing the date printout would as well fix the calculated field, but unfortunately it has not been the case.

Best regards

1 Like
17

Hi @jborruel,

Would you also mind checking out for other calculated fields and see if it’s an issue with all the calculated fields value or is just a case with this form.

Have a great day!

18

Hello again,

I have checked several things, and it seems to narrow down to it being a “note” type calculated field.

I have changed it to “text” type instead, and now it prints out just fine.

It is weird, since it used to print fine even with the “note” type before release 2.3.3.

I attach the printout with the “text” type, as it comes out just fine:

image
image866×264 21.4 KB

Maybe it should be moved to a different issue, since it finally has nothing to do with being a date-dependent calculated field.

Thank you for continuous support. Best regards

1 Like
19

Hi @jborruel,

Thank you for confirming this!

Have a great day!

20

Hello @jborruel,

Could you explain for the community, please, which (note related) print problem exist in the new release, Maybe including an example?
“calculated field based on the date”, referenced as ${…}in the note?

A print problem touches Enketo and KoBoCollect users, and it would be great to know about it.
Thanks in advance.

21

Hello again,

I have made a few tests, and it seems to happen with any calculated field with the “NOTE” type.

Please find here below the test I have made. This is the XLS form of the test:

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image881×221 3.71 KB

This is the form as seen in the browser:

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image788×447 4.67 KB

And this is the outcome when trying to print:
image

So no calculated field with the “NOTE” type comes out right, never mind if is contains dates or not.

Hope this helps clarify the error. Best regards,

Jesus

22

Hello @jborruel,
As far as I know, a note (label) should NOT be combined directly with a calculation, as in your example…
You should first create a calculate type variable and then reference it inside the label of the note ( as ${…}).
A calculation does not work on a label, but on the value of the variable.
A note only with a calculation, but without a label or hint, gives an error in preview and deployment. So, one of both must be in your example. Could you provide your original note code and a screenshot from the UI?

23

That I did’t know,… that it could NOT be used directly with a calculation… But it does sound weird, since it does show up right while filling the FORM, but it shows wrong while printing (see images above in previous message).

Moreover when it has been working before, as we have been using it ok in a label field in previous releases.

It is ok with me if you say it shouldn’t be used directly… I have changed the type of the field (although it is then editable, and we don’t want it to be)

Best regards