I have been using an XLSForm to search entries in the file attendees.csv. Today, I updated my CSV file as I always do, but I got the error, “Question ‘attendee’ is a select from file type, using ‘search()’. This combination is not supported. Remove the ‘search()’ usage, or change the select type.”
I have been using this form since December last year, so I have not changed the XLSForm since then. I have been changing the CSV file twice every week until today.
Also, is it possible to change an XLSForm of an existing form?
Thank you for the help
Hello @abratumwe this issue is likely due to a recent change in Kobo Toolbox’s support for certain XLSForm features. Previously, it was possible to use search() with select_one_from_file, but recent updates have made this combination unsupported. That’s why your form, which worked fine before, is now throwing the error when you update the CSV file. To fix this, open your XLSForm and remove the search() function from the appearance column of the question using the CSV. You can replace it with something like minimal or leave it blank, depending on your design needs. Once that’s done, re-upload your form and the CSV file.
Yes, it is possible to update the XLSForm of an existing form without losing your collected data, provided the changes are compatible (e.g., you’re not renaming or deleting fields that already have data). You can go to your project, choose “More actions,” then “Replace form” to upload the revised XLSForm. Kobo will alert you if the changes will affect your existing data. If you’re not sure, I’d recommend testing the changes in a duplicate version of your form before applying them to the live one.
I have changed to using the autocomplete function and put the options in the csv as choices in the xlsform (so I am not using the csv file), this still makes the form work and look as it did with the search function, because I had to update the choices weekly, that means I have to update the xlsform, if I add more questions from the form builder (if the xlsform only has the choices), they are removed on updating the xlsform, so I added them in the xlsform also, if only the choices are updated, the field names in the data are not affected on replacing the form, but if the logic or questions are tampered with the field names also change.
Also, since I have over 2000 choices, loading the form builder to add or edit questions would cause it to freeze (when the autocomplete function is used and choices are in the xlsform), so it is a better idea to have the questions in the xlsform at once.
This is how I have gone around this. Thank you for your response.
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