Survey123 - Lose drafts if I republish?

Question

Hey everyone!

When publishing my survey, I receive this message:

While I understand that a new feature service will be created, I'm curious if any surveys submissions sitting in drafts will be affected.

A colleague has surveys saved on their mobile device that have yet to be submitted, i.e. they are not in any feature service currently.  I want to make sure that these remain on their device and aren't affected by me republishing this survey.

Thanks!

ZenMasterZeke · Answer

Well, if you can't submit at all, your options are more limited. Here are some sites explaining how to recover surveys from the mobile device:

https://resources.esri.ca/getting-technical/the-ultimate-guide-to-recovering-arcgis-survey123-data-from-your-phone

https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/faq-what-are-the-ways-to-recover-arcgis-survey123-data-000024617

As @ChristopherCounsell pointed out, a draft survey that hasn't been sent at all, successfully or not, isn't the same as one that has been sent but not received. You should be able to get them from the sqlite database though.

I've recovered surveys that were sent but not received, but wouldn't recommend that the user send one knowing it won't be received. Might work, but who knows?

Jonatanson_DUC · Answer

I understand the suggestion fully and wish I could.

Unfortunately it's not a matter of the survey changing drastically.  The problem is that the survey is already broken - something corrupted the feature service so it needs to be replaced.  The drafts cannot be submitted, period.  That's why I'm asking the question, I need to understand if the drafts will be affected or not.

ChristopherCounsell · Answer

Drafts folder very different from the sent folder in this instance