Repeat Recipes and Tips¶

Referencing repeated questions from inside the repeat¶

Within a repeat, you can reference other questions in that same repeat instance in the usual manner.

XLSForm

survey¶
type	name	label
note	child_questions_note	Please provide the following details about each child in your household.
begin_repeat	child_details	Children in household
text	child_first_name	Name
text	child_age	Age of ${child_first_name}
end_repeat

To reference a question from a different repeat instance, or from outside the repeat, use indexed-repeat() and position().

Referencing repeated questions from outside the repeat¶

A question in a repeat can be referenced from outside the repeat with indexed-repeat(${question-name}, ${repeat-name}, index).

Counting repeats and answers¶

Counting the total number of repeat instances¶

Use count(${name-of-repeat}) to get the number of repeat instances.

Counting the number of times a particular answer was given¶

To count the number of times a specific response is given, add a calculate field inside the repeat which evaluates to 1 or 0 depending on the answer. Then, outside the repeat, calculate the sum() of the calculate field.

XLSForm

survey¶
type	name	label	calculation
begin_repeat	guest_details	Guest details
text	guest_name	Guest name
select_one meal_options	meal_preference	Meal preference
calculate	chkn		if(${meal_preference} = 'chicken', 1, 0 )
calculate	fsh		if(${meal_preference} = 'fish', 1, 0 )
calculate	veg		if(${meal_preference} = 'vegetarian', 1, 0 )
end_repeat
calculate	chkn_count		sum(${chkn})
calculate	fsh_count		sum(${fsh})
calculate	veg_count		sum(${veg})

choices¶
list_name	name	label
meal_options	chicken	Chicken
meal_options	fish	Fish
meal_options	vegetarian	Vegetarian

Using additional repeats to follow up on repeated questions¶

Sometimes it is convenient to gather an initial set of responses, and then ask more detailed question after you have collected the whole set.

For example:

collecting the names of all the people in a household, and then asking questions about each person

collecting the names of each type of crop being grown, and then asking questions about each crop

This can be done by using count() and position(..). count() is used to guarantee that the second repeat has the same number of instances as the original repeat. position(..) provides the index of the repeat instance it was called from. This is used to refer to questions from the first repeat in the follow-up repeat.

XLSForm

type	name	label	repeat_count	calculation
note	person_list_note	Please list the names of the people in your household.
begin_repeat	person	Member of household
text	name	Name
end_repeat
begin_repeat	person_details	Details	count(${person})
calculate	current_name			indexed-repeat(${name}, ${person}, position(..))
date	member_bday	Birthday of ${current_name}
end_repeat

Setting a max limit on repetitions¶

If you want the user to decide how many times to repeat, but you also want to limit the maximum number of repetitions, you have a few options.

Using a constraint to limit repetitions¶

If the user knows how many repetitions they will complete, you can ask them this in a question before the repeat group and set a constraint on that question.

XLSForm

survey¶
type	name	label	constraint	repeat_count
integer	number_in_party	How many guests are in your party?	. <= 8
note	party_names_note	Please provide details for each guest.
begin_repeat	guest_details	Guest details		${number_in_party}
text	guest_name	Guest's name
text	guest_dietary	Does this guest have any dietary restrictions?
end_repeat

Using relevants to limit repetitions¶

If asking the user ahead of time doesn't make sense, another strategy is to manually repeat the question in the form and use the relevant column to skip repetitions if the previous question is left blank. This sets a maximum number of responses: the number of times you included the question in the form.

To check if the previous question has a response, reference the question in the relevant column.

XLSForm

survey¶
type	name	label	relevant
note	images_note	Take up to five pictures.
image	image_1	Image 1
image	image_2	Image 2	${image_1}
image	image_3	Image 3	${image_2}
image	image_4	Image 4	${image_3}
image	image_5	Image 5	${image_4}

This pattern can be combined with required responses to enforce a minimum number of responses.

XLSForm

survey¶
type	name	label	required	relevant
note	images_note	Take 3-5 pictures.
image	image_1	Image 1	yes
image	image_2	Image 2	yes
image	image_3	Image 3	yes
image	image_4	Image 4		${image_3}
image	image_5	Image 5		${image_4}

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