How to find a problematic submission to delete it no studyID

User Support Data Management
1

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Hi All,

I downloaded data from koboToolbox yesterday and today and there is a strange submission without any studyID or dates. The data is being entered by multiple enumerators on Tablet devices via kobo collect.
This submission affects the SAS code I have written to import this file. I could delete it from the daily download but that required editing raw data everyday for the next year. It would be better if i could delete it from the server so it does not appear in my daily download. the issue is I have 750 submissions and I cannot find this particular submission. How can I delete it when there is no studyID or interview_Date?
Please see the screenshot of the downloaded file.
Best wishes
Catherine

2

Hi @cp622,

Would you mind downloading the data again and see if the StudyID is available in your dataset. Would you also let us know the dataset version (csv or xls) you are trying to download.

If and in-case you do not see the same during the second try please feel free to reach us with the following (through a private message):

  • Username
  • Server
  • Project name

Have a great day!

3

Dear @Kal_Lam

Thank you for your quick response, I initially downloaded the data as csv XML values and headers. on your advice i downloaded as XLS with XML values and headers. The promlematic submission was not in the excel download. I re-downloaded the csv and the sumission remains. There are 753 submissions in the csv but 752 in the excel so it seems it is an issue with the csv download option.

I can message yo privately with project details if that helps

Regards

Catherine

4

Hi @cp622,

Maybe that would help us. Would you mind sharing the information.

Have a great day!

6

Hi @cp622,

This is the _id that keeps track of your record in KoBoToolbox.

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Try using this as an identifier.

Besides, when i downloaded the data with the following settings:

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I could see the variable StudyID:

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Have a great day!

7

Hi @Kal_Lam
The issue of the ID crossing two lines persists today when i downloaded the data. Have you spoken to any kobo technicians to see how this issue can be resolved?
Regards
Catherine

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Hi @Kal_Lam
I investigated this further today, and found the variable/question that the line break seems to happen in. I went into the data view on the dashboard and went to edit. I scrolled down to the question. It was a text entry question and there appeared to be an extra trailing blank space. After deleting the response and re-entering it without a trailing space it now seems to download without issue. Maybe the enumerator entered a carriage return and it just appeared as a blank space? I will liaise with them to watch out for this.
This issue seems to be resolved, the time stamp seems to have been updated but I can deal with that.
Best wishes
Catherine

2 Likes
9

Hi @cp622,

Thank you for confirming this at your end. Kindly please do reach-out if you have any KoBoToolbox related issues.

Have a great day!