KoboBifrost CLI: Streamlining CRUD Operations for Kobotoolbox

Introduction

KoboBifrost CLI is a powerful command-line tool designed to perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations efficiently and in a streamlined manner. If you’ve ever worked with Kobotoolbox and XLS forms, you know how repetitive and time-consuming some tasks can be. KoboBifrost CLI aims to simplify these processes, making your workflow faster and more efficient.

Why I Created KoboBifrost CLI

Working with Kobotoolbox often involves repetitive tasks, especially when preparing and updating XLS forms. If you are from humanitarian organization, NGOs/INGOs or working on any research project that required working with the XLSForm and Kobotoolbox there is a chance you may feel the same thing. During my time at CIMMYT, we frequently worked with XLS form from creation and deployment to maintenance of XLSForms. After a while I felt the process was often slow and cumbersome. I started to look for any existing CLIs for kobotoolbox and unfortunately I didn’t find any. Since I had been learning about the Kobotoolbox’s api and experienced using it while developing KoboBifrost Upload I took it upon myself to develop it and implement on my workflow.

The Problem

1. Creating a New XLS Form locally:

   • You either start with a blank form, reuse an older project, or create a template.

2. Form development and Validation:

   • XLS forms can get messy specially working with thousand of rows in XLSForm, and there’s always a chance of missing a group closure, accidental group components requiring conditional formatting.

3. Project Creation at Kobotoolbox server and Preview:

   • Navigate to the Kobotoolbox site, create a project on server, upload the XLS form, and preview it.
   • If unsatisfied, edit the XLS form and repeat the process, a tedious and time-consuming task.

4. Deployment and Testing:

   • After testing, deploy the form and perform a test survey before final implementation.

The Inspiration

If you’ve used Git’s CLI, you know how convenient it is to create a project, make changes, and push those changes with just a few commands. I wanted a similar experience for Kobotoolbox. So, I started exploring how Git works and began building KoboBifrost CLI.

The Solution

Step 1 and 2: Creating Local XLS Form Project and Conditional formatting

• bifrost init
  • Creates a blank XLS form project.
  • Optionally, you can enable conditional formatting at the start.

Step 3: Creation and Preview

• bifrost create -ps
  • Creates a project on the Kobotoolbox server and opens a preview form.

Step 3: Update and Preview

• bifrost update -ps
  • Updates the form and opens a preview of the current asset / form.

Step 4: Deploy

• bifrost deploy
  • Deploys the form.
  • You can also redeploy using -d in the create command and -d and -rd in the update command.

Behind the Scenes

KoboBifrost CLI creates a .bifrost folder when you initialize, create, update, deploy, or redeploy. This folder contains files updated with information like:

• Asset ID: The ID of your XLS project.
• Filepath: The location where the XLS form is stored on your local device.
• Download Path: If you export data or assets.

The API Key and API URL required for project authorization are handled by the keyring of your operating system.

Features

KoboBifrost CLI allows you to perform the following actions:

• Create new projects.
• Update existing forms.
• Deploy and redeploy forms.
• Preview forms.
• Export data.
• Copy permissions from another project.
• Enable submission without authorization feature.
• Delete projects.
• Export assets (XLSForm or XForm).
• Export project data in CSV and XLSX format.

Doesn't support version control

Currently It’s just a CLI and doesnot has version control feature for XLSx files. If you know any opensource project for the version control of XLSx files feel free to reach out, I would really love adding it in my workflow.

Try It Yourself

If you’re interested in trying out KoboBifrost CLI, check out the GitHub repository:

KoboBifrost CLI GitHub Repository

Feel free to contribute to the project and help make it even better!

Want a more detailed tutorial?

You can reference Getting started with KoboBifrost CLI for more indepth guide and implementing it as a part of your workflow.

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KoboBifrost CLI is here to make your Kobotoolbox experience smoother and more efficient. Give it a try and let me know what you think! Feel free to checkout other amazing project like KoboBifrost Upload and KoboBifrost Visualizer .

Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Er. Subash Adhikari and the entire CSISA Nepalgunj team for their unwavering support and encouragement in development of the CLI.