Form editor won't allow XLSForm compliant `name` column value?

[danbjoseph]

On xlsform.org it notes that:

The name column specifies the unique variable name for that entry. No two entries can have the same name. Names have to start with a letter or an underscore. Names can only contain letters, digits, hyphens, underscores, and periods. Names are case-sensitive.

I can upload an XLSForm to Kobo that has periods and hyphens in the values of the name column. And collect data with it like that. But if I open the form in the GUI editor and click into the “Data column name” input it immediately and irreversibly changes all periods and hyphens to underscores? Why?

[Kal_Lam]

Welcome back to the community, @danbjoseph! Could you kindly share with us a simple sample of the XLSForm that should be able to capture those issues you have raised? We could then start testing it at our ends.

[Xiphware]

Hi @danbjoseph , I’m actually unable to reproduce this (!?).

Using this existing XLSForm:

TestForm.xlsx (18.0 KB)

import it into a new Kobo project, then opening in the formbuilder shows the period and hyphenated question names are preserved:

Also, exporting the project to a new XLSForm (and XForm) also appears to retain the original period and hyphenated names too:

acHQoM2XM5TcvJh9Wysgj5.xlsx (6.3 KB)
acHQoM2XM5TcvJh9Wysgj5.xml (1.4 KB)

Can you perhaps post exactly what you did so we can try to reproduce, thnx.

• Gareth

[danbjoseph]

I wasn’t able to replicate what happened to me before, when it changed the characters as soon as I clicked into the field. However, it would change everything after I added a period or hyphen.

[wroos]

Hi @danbjoseph
Data Column Name corresponds to (internal) variable “name”. Therefore, changing it (after deployment) will create a new variable in the new version, and keep (hidden) the old variable in your previous form version. You will see both in the Excel export if you use include all versions.