Askia QeXML Generator
Description
This extension allows you to transform plain text questionnaires into Askia Compliant XML.
Content
Commands
There is a total of twelve commands to help you tranform your plain text questionnaire into XML to be used in Askia Design.
Settings
Description
As you know each question tag no matter its type has a certain number of attributes.
The extension.defaultSettings command allows you to change the default value of these attributes:
| Attributes |
Default values |
| Anonymity |
true |
| AllowDK |
true |
| Decimals |
0 |
You may also modify the save location which default value is %userprofile%\Documents.
All these values are stored in settings.json file, along with the path to AskiaDesign executable file.
NOTE: You do not have to set the path to AskiaDesign executable file yourself as it is automaticaly done. See Export to AskiaDesign for additional information.
Use
You can either execute this command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Modify default settings, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+S.
Then a pop-up will appear with the different modifyable attributes.
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Modalities
Description
The extension.modalityToXml command converts plain text modalities into XML :
- Bla
- Blabla
- Blablabla
1. Bla
2. Blabla
3. Blablabla
Into
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>Bla</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>Blabla</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>Blablabla</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
Use
First you have to select (highlight) all the responses of the question you are dealing with. Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to modalities, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+A.
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Single coded closed question
Description
extension.closedSingleToXml converts plain text single coded closed question caption into XML, setting the MaxResponse attribute to 1:
This is a question caption.
Q1 This is a question caption.
Q1. This is a question caption.
1. This is a question caption.
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="1" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>This is a question caption.</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
...
</Modalities>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
NOTE: The attribute Order is not set yet, as for all the different types of question. See Final step for additional information.
Use
To use this functionality, you first have to convert the responses of the closed question into modalities.
You have to select (highlight) all the modalities and the question caption. Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to single-coded closed question, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+S.
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Multi coded closed question
Description
Same description as above.
The difference with extension.closedSingleToXml is that extension.closedMultiToXml sets the MaxResponse attribute to the number of modalities in the question.
Use
To use this functionality, you first have to convert the responses of the closed question into modalities.
You have to select (highlight) all the modalities and the question caption. Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to multi-coded closed question, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+M.
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Open question
Description
The extension.openToXml command converts a plain text open question caption into XML:
This is a question caption.
Q1 This is a question caption.
Q1. This is a question caption.
1. This is a question caption.
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="open" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Translated="0" >
<LongCaption>This is a question caption.</LongCaption>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
Use
First you can either select (highlight) the whole caption or just place the cursor on the line containing the caption.
Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to open question, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+O.
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Numeric question
Description
The extension.numericToXml command converts a plain text numeric question caption into XML:
This is a question caption.
Q1 This is a question caption.
Q1. This is a question caption.
1. This is a question caption.
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="numeric" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Decimals="0" Translated="0" >
<LongCaption>This is a question caption.</LongCaption>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
Use
First you can either select (highlight) the whole caption or just place the cursor on the line containing the caption.
Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to numeric question, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+N.
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Date question
Description
The extension.dateToXml command converts a plain text date question caption into XML:
This is a question caption.
Q1 This is a question caption.
Q1. This is a question caption.
1. This is a question caption.
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="date" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>This is a question caption.</LongCaption>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
Use
First you can either select (highlight) the whole caption or just place the cursor on the line containing the caption.
Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to date question, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+D.
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Chapter
Description
The extension.chapterToXml command converts a plain text chapter caption into XML:
This is a chapter title.
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="chapter 1" Order="" ElementType="chapter" >
<LongCaption>This is a chapter title.</LongCaption>
</Question>
Use
First you can either select (highlight) the whole caption or just place the cursor on the line containing the caption.
Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to chapter, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+C.
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Indent selection
Description
The extension.questionInChapter command allows you to put questions, as plain text or XML, within a chapter tag.
If your question is still in plain text :
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="chapter 1" Order="" ElementType="chapter" >
<LongCaption>This is a chapter title.</LongCaption>
</Question>
Q1. Example
- A
- B
- C
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="chapter 1" Order="" ElementType="chapter">
<LongCaption>This is a chapter title.</LongCaption>
<Questions>
Q1. Example
- A
- B
- C
</Questions>
</Question>
Or, if you already convert the question into XML :
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="chapter 1" Order="" ElementType="chapter">
<LongCaption>This is a chapter title.</LongCaption>
</Question>
<Question ID="2" Shortcut="Q2" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="3" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>Example</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>A</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>B</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="chapter 1" Order="" ElementType="chapter">
<LongCaption>This is a chapter title.</LongCaption>
<Questions>
<Question ID="2" Shortcut="Q2" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="3" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>Example</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>A</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>B</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
</Questions>
</Question>
Use
To put your question(s) within a chapter tag, you first need to convert your chapter into XML.
Once you have your chapter tag you just need to select (highlight) the whole chapter tag with the question(s) you want to place inside. Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Indent selection, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+I.
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Loop
Description
The extension.loopToXMl command converts a plain text question into loop question :
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="1" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>This is a question caption</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>A</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>B</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
A loop modality
Another loop modality
Into
<Question ID="2" Shortcut="Loop Q1" Order="" ElementType="loop" QuestionType="table" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>Loop Q1</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="4">
<ShortCaption>A loop modality</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="5">
<ShortCaption>Another loop modality</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Questions>
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="1" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="1" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>This is a question caption</LongCaption>
<ShortCaption>??Loop Q1??</ShortCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>A</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>B</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
</Questions>
</Question>
Use
In order to tranform your question into a loop question, you first have to convert your question into XML, as in the example above.
Once you have your XML question you can select (highlight) both the question and the loop modalities. Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Convert to loop, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+L.
NOTE: The loop modalities have to be under the question tag in the selection, when executing the command.
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Routing
Description
The extension.setRouting allows you to create a routing tag within a question tag. For example, here we set a routing for the last modality :
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="1" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>This is a question caption</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>A</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>B</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Routings>
</Routings>
</Question>
Into
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="Q1" Order="" ElementType="question" QuestionType="closed" MinResponse="1" MaxResponse="1" Anonymity="1" AllowDK="1" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>This is a question caption</LongCaption>
<Modalities>
<Modality ID="1">
<ShortCaption>A</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="2">
<ShortCaption>B</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
</Modalities>
<Routings>
<Routing ID="1" Type="22" TargetQuestion="">
<Condition ConditionType="12" Responses="3"/>
</Routing>
</Routings>
</Question>
NOTE:
By defauflt attribute Type from the Routing tag is always set to 22, meaning Go to and mark as incomplete.
Concerning the Condition tag, the attribute ConditionType is always set to 12, meaning At least one.
Finally, the attribute TargetQuestion of the Routing tag will be defined when executing the command extension.finishXml. See Final step for additional information.
Use
First you need to have a question, already converted into XML, then you have to select (highlight) the whole modality tag of a response.
Here :
<Modality ID="3">
<ShortCaption>C</ShortCaption>
</Modality>
Then you can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Set a routing, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+R.
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Final step
Description
The extension.finishXml command is essential if you intend to export your questionnaire to AskiaDesign. It sets the final tags, allowing the validation of your file. It is also in this command that the attribute Order is set for all the question, as we are now able to identify each question.
It is also thanks to this step that the XML validation against the askia.xsd file is possible.
Finally, extension.finishXml creates a chapter ChapterEnd at the end of the questionnaire to provide a value (which is the chapter's ID) for the TargetQuestion attribute of Routing tags.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Unicode" ?>
<Survey Version="1.0" Full="1" MaxQuestionID="1" MaxResponseID="1"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="new_askia.xsd">
<Languages>
<Language ID="2057" Abbr="ENG" Name="English (United Kingdom)" Default="1"/>
</Languages>
<Questions>
...
<Question ID="1" Shortcut="End" Order="1" ElementType="chapter" Translated="0">
<LongCaption>End</LongCaption>
</Question>
</Questions>
</Survey>
NOTE: By default there is only one Language tag for english.
Use
You can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Finish XML, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F.
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Export to AskiaDesign
Description
Once you have finished to convert your questionnaire into XML and you have runned the extension.finishXml command, you can use extension.exportXml command to export your questionnaire to AskiaDesign.
The AskiaDesign application path is set when the extension starts. It is placed in the settings.json file of the extension.
If you want to, you can modify the save location, see Settings.
The questionnaire will be exported then saved as QeXML-generated-questionnaire.qex in %USERPROFILE%\Documents or the location you add yourself.
Use
You can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Export XML to AskiaDesign, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+E.
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Prettify XML
Description
You can format your XML at any time to make it more readable.
Use
You can either execute the command via the Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), searching for Askia QeXML Generator: Prettify XML, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+P.
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Requirements
XML Language Support
This extension is needed to perform the validation of the XML before the exportation.
Click on the following link for futher information concerning this extension.
