Importing xls data into KoBoToolbox

[Gloire]

Hello im a cobocollect user, i have an issue with my collected data.

I analysed a work that i collected with cobocollect and i downloaded the file into excel but after some time i deleted the record on my server but im still having the excel file. My question is to know if there is any way that i can import that excel file into cobocollect serveur.

Please i need your help.

[Kal_Lam]

Hi @Gloire,

Sorry to inform you that at the moment KoBoToolbox does not have a feature that would support uploading xls data into KoBoToolbox.

[ddiazsiempro]

It is a very required function, you should seriously think about implementing it. Something similar happens to us, we have about 600 records that update and load 1 to 1 means a lot of time and resources that we do not have.

[sareep]

Hi @Kal_Lam,

Do you know if this feature will exist in the near future? We are transferring from another survey platform and are having a difficult time figuring out how to get our old records into Kobo. We’ve looked into ODK, but if there is no way to import .xls files, the only apparent solution is to write a script that converts the each record from the .xls to its own xml file. We’re really trying to avoid this as each survey would need a custom script.

If no xls import feature is coming, are there any tools you know of that would help with this?
Thanks!

[tinok]

@sareep, a while back have created a method for converting XLS data into XML with a Python script so that they can be submitted via the API. This requires an existing deployed form to be in your account.

Everything is documented in this repository: https://github.com/kobotoolbox/xls-import. I hope this works for you.

[james_murillo]

Hello, will this work on csv file (decrypted data from kobo)?

Thanks!

[stephanealoo]

Hi @james_murillo
Ideally it should. Have you checked the article indicated in the last post?

Stephane

[Isslam]

Hi. Thanks for sharing this, unfortunately this does not work anymore. I have been trying for several days but no luck. Packages were updated and the code no longer works.

[ralphthompson]

Hi,

I botched together a solution to this using excel and python, see here for details:

Sharing python script to batch upload old data to a new form or account

Hi, I wanted to share a script I’ve been working on that allows data to be batch uploaded to the kobo server. It can transfer all the data including images from a kobo export to a new form / account, even if the new form has a different layout (headings / groups have different names). I’m not at all a programmer so its kindof hacky… but it works The forum server wont let me upload py or text files so I’ll copy the code and readme directly below. Please post any questions and …

Ralph

[Kal_Lam]

@ralphthompson,