Configuring Collect via QR code

Import/export settings menu of ODK Collect Import/export settings menu of ODK Collect

Settings QR codes

QR codes can be used to configure Collect on a fleet of devices. The QR code displayed on the Configure via QR code screen contains all of your current General and Admin settings. When this QR code is scanned from the ODK Collect app on another device, the settings from the code are imported and other settings are reset to their defaults.

Note

QR codes generated by Collect only contain settings with non-default values. When a code is scanned in, settings not explicitly included in the code are reset to their default values.

Warning

Settings QR codes contain the admin and server passwords in plain text. To remove them from the code, tap the warning on the QR code screen.

Scanning a QR code

Navigate to the Scan page to scan an existing QR code and import all of its settings. The settings contained in the QR code will be set and all others will be reset to their defaults.

Sharing a QR code

You can tap on the icon to share the QR code as an image. When you click on it, it displays a list of applications and services like whatsapp, facebook, hangouts, bluetooth, MMS which can be used to share the QR code. This is useful when there are several different data collection sites and all devices have to be configured in the same way, in which case the QR code can be shared from one reference device.

Warning

Since the QR code encodes compressed plain text settings and may contain the admin and server passwords, you should be careful about how you share it. For example, if you print out the QR code and tape it on wall, someone could use a standard QR code scanner to get the admin password.

Importing settings from an image saved on your device

You can import settings from a QR code saved on your device by clicking on the icon which is located to the right of the share icon. Then select the Import QRCode option.

Making your own QR code

The contents of a settings QR code is a JSON object with two objects for general and admin settings. The JSON structure is the following:

{
  "general": {
    "protocol": "google_sheets",
    "constraint_behavior": "on_finalize"
  },
  "admin": {
    "edit_saved": false
  }
}

The JSON object is compressed using zlib before building the QR code. To build your own code:

  1. Write a JSON object containing the changed settings with a structure as shown above.
  2. Compress it using zlib.
  3. Build a QR code from the resulting data.

You can either scan the generated QR code or transfer it to your device and then import it by clicking on Import QRCode option.

List of keys for all settings

Here are the keys for all settings and the set of values they can take:

{
  "admin" : {
    "admin_pw": String,

    // User access control to the main menu. The default value is true.
    "edit_saved": Boolean,
    "send_finalized": Boolean,
    "view_sent": Boolean,
    "get_blank": Boolean,
    "delete_saved": Boolean,
    "qr_code_scanner": Boolean,

    "change_server": Boolean,
    "change_app_theme": Boolean,
    "change_app_language": Boolean,
    "change_font_size": Boolean,
    "change_navigation": Boolean,
    "show_splash_screen": Boolean,
    "maps": Boolean,
    "periodic_form_updates_check": Boolean,
    "automatic_update": Boolean,
    "hide_old_form_versions": Boolean,
    "change_autosend": Boolean,
    "delete_after_send": Boolean,
    "default_to_finalized": Boolean,
    "change_constraint_behavior": Boolean,
    "high_resolution": Boolean,
    "image_size": Boolean,
    "guidance_hint": Boolean,
    "external_app_recording": Boolean,

    "instance_form_sync": Boolean,
    "change_form_metadata": Boolean,
    "analytics" : Boolean,

    "moving_backwards": Boolean
    "access_settings": Boolean,
    "change_language": Boolean,
    "jump_to": Boolean,
    "save_mid": Boolean,
    "save_as": Boolean,
    "mark_as_finalized": Boolean,
  },

  "general" : {

    // Server
    "protocol": {"odk_default", "google_sheets"},
    "server_url": String,
    "username": String,
    "password": String,
    "formlist_url": String,
    "submission_url": String,
    "selected_google_account": String,
    "google_sheets_url": String,

    // User interface
    "appTheme": {"light_theme", "dark_theme"},
    "app_language": BCP 47 language codes. The ones supported by Collect are: {"af", "am", "ar", "bn", "ca", "cs", "de", "en", "es", "et", "fa", "fi", "fr", "hi", "in", "it", "ja", "ka", "km", "ln", "lo_LA", "lt", "mg", "ml", "mr", "ms", "my", "ne_NP", "nl", "no", "pl", "ps", "pt", "ro", "ru", "si", "sl", "so", "sq", "sr", "sv_SE", "sw", "sw_KE", "te", "th_TH", "ti", "tl", "tr", "uk", "ur", "ur_PK", "vi", "zh", "zu"},
    "font_size": {13, 17, 21, 25, 29},
    "navigation": {"swipe" ,"buttons" ,"swipe_buttons"},
    "showSplash": Boolean,
    "splashPath": String, // Absolute path to splash image

    // Maps
    "basemap_source": {"google", "mapbox", "osm", "usgs", "stamen", "carto"},
    "google_map_style": {1, 2, 3, 4},
    "mapbox_map_style": {"mapbox://styles/mapbox/light-v10", "mapbox://styles/mapbox/dark-v10", "mapbox://styles/mapbox/satellite-v9", "mapbox://styles/mapbox/satellite-streets-v11", "mapbox://styles/mapbox/outdoors-v11"},
    "usgs_map_style": {"topographic", "hybrid", "satellite"},
    "carto_map_style": {"positron", "dark_matter"},
    "reference_layer": String, // Absolute path to mbtiles file

    // Form management
    "form_update_mode": {"manual", "previously_downloaded", "match_exactly"},
    "periodic_form_updates_check": {"every_fifteen_minutes", "every_one_hour", "every_six_hours", "every_24_hours"},
    "automatic_update": Boolean,
    "hide_old_form_versions": Boolean,
    "autosend": {"off", "wifi_only", "cellular_only", "wifi_and_cellular"},
    "delete_send": Boolean,
    "default_completed": Boolean,
    "constraint_behavior": {"on_swipe", "on_finalize"},
    "high_resolution": Boolean,
    "image_size": {"original", "small", "very_small", "medium", "large"},
    "external_app_recording": Boolean,
    "guidance_hint": {"no", "yes", "yes_collapsed"},
    "instance_sync": Boolean,

    // User and device identity
    "analytics": Boolean,
    "metadata_username": String,
    "metadata_phonenumber": String,
    "metadata_email": String,
  },

}