Media files upload not working (Manual or API) as it should to upload CSV file

Hi,
Has there been any update on this since last week? I’m currently trying to support 12 separate research projects testing forms deployed via the REST API, with a heavy reliance on attached csv files for customised response options.

From testing today, any forms with media files published within the last week or so is failing to download the correct csv files. To test this, I have tried the following:

  • Deploy a brand new form via the API and add media csv files (using a series of API calls that has previously worked fine).
  • The form appears on the web interface, and all the csv files appear on the media tab.
  • Downloading the form to the Android app fails to find any CSV files. (The download process does not mention any media file downloads).

I have also tried replacing the media files directly through the web interface, but that gave the same issue (ODK/Kobo Collect doesn’t find the media files).

Finally, I have skipped the API and uploaded a new form manually, including the csv media files. In ODK/Kobo Collect, this one correctly identifies 19 media attachments and downloads them, but then the form still fails. (We use a few select_multiple_from_file questions, which means that if the correct media file is not found, the whole download fails as I think it’s treated like a missing set of choice lists?)

Any help figuring out what is going on would be appreciated. I need to be able to go back to our research teams asap with some information on why the test forms are currently failing to deploy.

I’m happy to run some tests or provide more information if needed.

Thought I would add here the results of my latest tests this afternoon, just in case the information is useful.

Test 1 -

  1. Uploaded a simple form and deployed it.
  2. Added a set of csv media file attachments via the web interface
  3. Redeployed the form

Result: Form downloads to ODK / Kobo Collect, but no media files are downloaded.

Test 2 -

  1. Uploaded the same simple form. Did not deploy immediately
  2. Added the same set of csv media file attachments via the web interface.
  3. Deployed the form.

Result: Form downloads to ODK / Kobo Collect with the media files included.

Conclusion:

  • It seems that (for me, this afternoon!) any media files uploaded after the initial deployment of a form cannot be found by ODK / Kobo Collect.
  • This fits with the issues I saw with my API tests. Our API app deploys forms first, then adds any media files. (Same as my manual test 1 above).

For Kobo support team, if you want to reference my test forms, they are:

Thanks for your support, and please let me know if there’s anything I can do to provide more information or help in any way.

Oh! I should also confirm: @Kal_Lam - After Test 2, I followed the steps you outlined as the temporary workaround, and that worked:

  • I went to edit the form;
  • saved it without any changes
  • Redeployed the form.

Then the csv files worked fine and were downloaded by ODK Collect.

So at least we have a short term workaround, even if it means me doing this manual process for every form / case study every time they update one of their response option lists. Definitely not sustainable and not really a ‘solution’, so I’ll be following this case carefully!

Again, happy to provide more info or help test things if needed, as this is a critical part of this 12-case study project I mentioned and about 8-10 other projects that I support!

EDIT:

Quick extra info: Reuploading an XLS form, then redeploying the form, also seems to work (I guess is acts in a similar way to editing and saving within the form-builder interface).

Hi @degami, a fix for this will be deployed soon — in the meantime, please use the work-around so you can continue with you projects. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience after the upgrade.

2 Likes

Hi @Josh , Thanks! Glad to know the Kobo team are working on this and will have a fix deployed soon.

2 Likes

Hi @degami, the fix has now been deployed:

Note that after each change to the form media, you still need to redeploy for those changes to be made live. This allows for the media changes to be previewed in Enketo before making them live.

2 Likes

Thanks! That’s very good to know. Interesting that now we need to redeploy the forms to get the new media files to show up - which makes more sense than before, when you didn’t need to redeploy for new files to be available. Means I can now go through and streamline our API apps once again.

1 Like