EarthOutreach

GettingStartedwithMobileDataCollectionusingODKMoreandmoreorganizationsareusingmobiledevicestocollectdatainthefield.OpenDataKit(ODK)isasuiteoftoolsthatallowsdatacollectionusingAndroidmobiledevicesanddatasubmissiontoanonlineserver,evenwithoutanInternetconnectionormobilecarrierserviceatthetimeofdatacollection.StreamlinethedatacollectionprocesswithODKCollectbyreplacingtraditionalpaperformswithelectronicformsthatallowtext,numericdata,GPS,photo,video,barcodes,andaudiouploadstoanonlineserver.YoucanhostyourdataonlineusingGoogle'spowerfulhostingplatform,AppEngine,manageyourdatausingODKAggregateandvisualizeyourdataasamapusingGoogleFusionTablesandGoogleEarth.

CreatedbydevelopersattheUniversityofWashington'sComputerScienceandEngineeringdepartmentandmembersofChange,OpenDataKitisanopensourceprojectavailabletoall.PleasevisittheirODKprojectpageonGoogle'scodesiteformoreinformationfordevelopers,recentupdates,moretutorials,andtocontributetotheproject.

ThisimageshowsdatacollectedremotelyusingOpenDataKitanddisplayedinFusionTables.

TutorialContents:

PrerequisitesLet'sGetStarted!CreateFormsusingODKBuildCreateanAppEngineInstanceRestrictingPermissionstoAppEngineIntancesforincreasedSecurityUploadingFormstoyourAppEngineInstanceDiscussion&FeedbackWhat'sNext?

Prerequisites

Noprogrammingskillsneeded!YouneedawebenabledmobiledevicerunningAndroidOS1.6ornewer.YouwillneedaGoogleAccounttocreateaGoogleAppEngineinstance.(Getonehere.)YouwillneedJava6installedandrunningonyourcomputerforODKAggregate(downloaditherefree).

Let'sGetStarted!

1.Searchforthe"ODKCollect"appfromGooglePlayonyourmobiledevice,orfromGooglePlayinyourbrowser.Installthelatestversiontoyourmobiledevice.FormoreinformationaboutODKCollectanditsrequirements,visittheODKProjectPage.

2.DownloadtheSampleformtouseduringthistutorial.

CreateODKFormsusingODKBuild

ThereareseveralwaysyoucancreateformsforODK.YoucanuseODKBuild,XLSforms,andbycreatingXMLforms.Ifyou'recreatingaformforthefirsttime,ODKBuildmaybethesimplestwaytostart,andthistutorialwillcoverusingODKBuild.Forcreatingmorecomplexforms,takealookatthedocumentationprovidedonXLSforms'FormhubUniversity.

1. GotoODKBuildathttp://build.opendatakit.org2. Createanewaccountorloginwithanexistingaccount.Notethatthisaccountis

differentfromyourGoogleAccount,andyoucanchoosetouseadifferentloginandpassword.Yourformswillbesavedtothisaccountforfuturereference.

3. Addquestionstoyourformbyclickingonthetypeofquestionyou'dliketoadd(eg.location,text,etc.)atthebottomofthepage.

Eachquestionhasseveralcommonpropertiesaswellasuniqueproperties.ForanexplanationoftheCommonProperties,seebelow.Youdonotneedtosaveeachquestionasyougo,butremembertosavetheformwhenyou'resatisfiedwithit.

4. EnteraTextquestion,suchas"Whatisyourname?",intheCaptionTextsection.Fillinthepropertiesofthetextfieldquestionontherighthandside.Optional:youcanenteraminimumand/ormaximumcharacterlengthforthetextfield.

5. EnteraNumericfieldtoallowuserstorecordanumberintheirform,suchas"Whatisyourage?"intheCaptionTextsection.Inthepropertiessection,specifywhetheryou'dliketorecordthenumberasanInteger(wholenumber)orDecimal(0.0)

6. AllowtheformuserstospecifyaDate.Thephonewillautomaticallyrecordthecurrent

date,andallowtheusertoenterthedateormodifythedateinyourform.7. IftheusersofyourformhaveamobiledevicethatisequippedwithaGPSchipset,you

canaddaLocationentryintoyourform.ThequestionwillprompttheusertorecordtheGPSlocation.Theuserwillbeabletoviewanestimateofthephone'sbuiltinGPSaccuracywhilethephone'sGPSacquiressatellitepositions.

8. Allowusersofyourformtoattachmediafilestotheirformsubmissions.YoucanselectfromImage,AudioorVideoasmediaformat.Theformwillswitchtothedevice'scameramode,voicememomodeorvideocameramode,andthemediawillbestoredwiththatformentry.Forthisexample,enter"Takeaphoto"intheCaptionTextsectionandselect"Image"astheKindofmediayouwillusefromthedropdownmenu.Hint:ifyouknowyou'regoingtohaveaslowinternetconnectionwhenyouwanttouploadyourformsubmissions,andyouwishtohavephotosinsideyourforms,somedevicesallowyoutoreducethedefaultimagesizesothefilesizeissmallerwhenyouwanttosendyourcompleteddataovertheinternet.

9. Usethe"ChooseOne"questiontypeifyou'dliketheusertoselectoneoptionfromseveraloptions.Youcanspecifywhichoptionsyoupresentbyclicking"AddOption."MakesureyouaddanunderlyingvaluetoyourOptionsthisisrequiredforeachOption.Uselowercasetextandunderscores(_)insteadofspaces.

10. Usethe"ChooseMultiple"questiontypeformultiplechoicequestions.AswithChooseOne,makesuretoaddanunderlyingvaluetoeachOptionanduselowercaseandunderscoresfortheunderlyingvaluefields.

CommonPropertiesinFormQuestions

Dataname(required):Thisisthevariablenamethatisstoredinthexmlofyourform.Youmustuselowercaseandunderscores(_)insteadofspaces.

CaptionText(required):Enteryourquestionasyou'dlikeitpresentedtotheuser.

Hint:Specifyaquestion'shintorhelptext.Note:Ifyouarelocalizingyourform,youmustenterEnglishtexthereaswellaslocalizedtext.IfyoudonotwanttoenterEnglishdefaulttext,youmustcreatetheformsasxmlinatexteditor.Seethetipattheendofthistutorialformoreinformationaboutlocalizingforms.

Defaultvalue:thisisthedefaultinformationthatwillbepresentedtotheuser.Forexample,ifyouaregatheringinformationonagroupofchildrenandyouknowthemajorityofthechildrens'ageis12,youcanenter"12"asadefaultvalue.

Readonly:Ifyoudon'twanttheusertobeabletoenterinformationforthisquestion,checkthisbox.

Required:Userswillnotbeabletosaveaformascompletedunlesstheyhaveenteredinformationforquestionsthatarechecked"required."

11. Onceyou'resatisfiedwithyourform,saveittoyourODKBuildaccount.GotoFile>SaveFormAs.Nexttimeyoulogintoyouraccount,youcanselectFile>Opentoopentheform.

12. Todownloadtheformtoyourcomputer,selectFile>ExportasXML.Youwillseexmlcode.Clickthe"Download"buttontosavethefiletoyourcomputerasan.xmlfile.Thisistheformatthatyouwillimportontoyourmobiledeviceinthenextstep.

Tip:OneoftheadvantagesofODKisthatyoucancreatelocalizedforms.ThefunctionalitytocreatelocalizedformsinODKBuilddoesn'texistyet,butyoucanlookatthesesampleforms(andtheWidgetsforminparticular)asguidestocreatingyourownXMLformsthatarelocalized.

Branchingquestionswherethesecondfollowupquestionisdependentupontheanswertothefirstquestion,mustalsobewritteninXML.NotethatdisplayingdatafrombranchingquestionsismoredifficultinFusionTablesandGoogleEarth.

Ifyou'dliketolearnmoreaboutcreatingyourownformsusingxml,viewthejavarosaxformstrainingguide.

CreateanAppEngineInstance

GoogleAppEngineallowseasyhostingofyourapplications,andyourapplications'data,onanonlineserver.LearnmoreaboutAppEngineandreadthetermsofservice.

Forthistutorial,youwillsetupyourownserverusingAppEngineinfrastructureandODKAggregate.ODKAggregateallowsyoutosetupareadytodeployserverwhereyoucanuploadyourformsubmissions,exportthemas.csvfilesandsendthemontootherserviceslikeFusionTables.

1. First,you'llneedtosetupaGoogleAppEngineaccount.IfthisisyourfirsttimeusingAppEngine,Googlewillsendyouatextmessagetoconfirmyouridentity,sohaveatextenabledphoneready.Note:AgivenmobilenumbercanonlybeusedonceforcreatinganAppEngineinstance.

2. Onceyou'veconfirmedyourmobilenumberandloggedin,click"CreateanApplication."

3. Giveyourapplicationan"ApplicationIdentifier."ThiswillbecomepartoftheURLforyourAppEngineinstance,e.g."myurl.appspot.com."(Ifyouwouldliketorestrictthepermissionsforwhocanaccessyourdata,readtheSecuritysectionbelow.YoucanedittheSecuritysettingsinthisstep.)

Forthistutorial,wewillusethedefault"OpentoallGoogleAccountUsers."Onceyou'veenteredanidentifier,youwillreceiveconfirmationthatyourapplicationhasregisteredsuccessfully.

4. DownloadthelatestversionofODKAggregatefromtheODKDownloadspage.5. Unzipit(singleclickthefileinyourDownloadsfolderonaMacorRightclickandunzip

itonaPC).Thefilewillunzipasafoldercalled"ODKAggregateversionOSinstaller."6. Doubleclicktoruntheapplication.YouwillentertheODKAggregateSetupWizard.

Click"Next."7. YouwillbepromptedtoagreetoODKAggregate'sLicenseAgreement.Then,select

thelocationonyourcomputerwhereyouwanttheinstallerfilestostorethesoftwarethatwillrunonGoogleAppEngine.

8. RuntheSetupWizard.EntertheODKinstancename(e.g."odktutorial"forodktutorial.appspot.com)andtheGoogleaccountassociatedwiththatinstance.

9. OncetheSetupWizardfinishesconfiguringODKAggregate,you'llbepromptedtoruntheinstallationscript.

10. You'llbepromptedtoentertheGoogleAccountandpasswordassociatedwiththeAppEngineinstanceagain.

11. Wait310minutesforthescripttorun.Onceit'sfinished,you'llgeta"Success"message.IfyoumadeamistakeenteringtheinformationintheSetupWizard,you'llfindoutinthisstage.YoucanreruntheSetupWizardbygoingbacktothefolderwhereyouinstalledODKAggregateanddoubleclicktheinstallertorunitagain.

12. Congratulations!Whenthescriptisfinishedrunning,ODKAggregateisnowinstalledonyourAppEngineinstance.Whenit'sfinishedrunning,confirmthatit'ssetupcorrectlybyvisitingyourAppEngineurl(e.g.myurl.appspot.com).YoucansigninwithyourGoogleAccountorclick"AnonymousAccess"togetin.

RestrictingPermissionstoODKAggregateforIncreasedSecurity

SinceODKAggregate1.0.nwasreleased,usersnowhaveoptionsforsettingaccesspermissionstotheirODKAggregateinstancesthroughtheSiteAdmininterface.Now,youcandecidewhohasaccesstosubmitdatacollectedinthefield,whocanviewthesubmitteddata,whocaneditdataandpublishexternally.Wewillcoverthisinmoredetailinthenext

tutorialcalled"ManageyourDatawithODKAggregate."Alternately,youcansetrestrictionsviayourAppEngineinstance,butit'smoredifficultthanusingODKAggregatetosetaccesspermissions.LearnmoreaboutauthenticationforAppEngine.

UploadingyourFormstoyourAppEngineInstance

Nowthatyou'vesetupyourAppEngineinstancewithODKAggregate,youcanuploadyourformsthelaststepbeforeyoustartcollectingdataoutinthefieldwithyourforms!We'llwalkthroughthethreemaintabsoftheODKAggregateinterface:Submissions,FormManagementandSiteAdmininthenexttutorialcalled"ManageyourDatawithODKAggregate."YoucanuploadXMLyoudownloadedfromODKBuild.ODKBuildalsoletsyousendformsdirectlytoyourODKAggregateinstance,withouthavingtodownloadtheactualXMLfile.

1. GotoyourAppEngineinstance(orviewthesampleonewecreatedathttp://odktutorial.appspot.com,butuseyourowninstancetouploadyourcustomformsto).

2. LoginwithyourGoogleAccountifprompted.3. Clickonthe"FormManagement"tab.

4. Choosetheformthatyouwishtouploadtoyourinstanceandhit"Upload."Ifyouhavemediafilesthatarepartofyourforms,forexampleforimagesinsidequestions,youcanalsouploadthemhere.

5. Ifyourformhasuploadedsuccessfully,youcancloseouttheUploadFormswindow.Youwillnowseeyourformsinthe"FormManagement"tab,readytoacceptsubmissions.

Discussion&Feedback

Havequestionsaboutthistutorial?Wanttogiveussomefeedback?VisittheGoogleEarthOutreachDiscussionGrouptodiscussitwithothers.

What'sNext?

Gotonexttutorial:MobileDataCollectionUsingODKCollectSeevideotutorialpage.Seealltutorials.