Calculation creates null entry in related (repeat) table

Question

Hi.

I have currently published a form where a colleaque of mine will digitize excel data using survey123 field app in windows 11.

The survey form consists of plantation locations for various plantation actions of our department.

So for every survey submitted, the location is collected in the map, along with some basic information (plantation action type, apllicant type, the plants nurcery name and the applicant type).

In addition, for each plantation location, I have a repeat group (related table) where the type of plants, their number and the year planted is collected by user input.

Moreover, in the related table I have five calculations that transfer attributes from the main form to the repeat section.

Sometimes the calculations return null values in the related table for all fields except the ${Form_ID} field, and except the first row of the related entries of that record.

The problem is that this error is not constant so I can pinpoined it, and I don't know if it is my user creating it or the form itself.

Has that ever occured to someone before?

Am  I missing some configuration?

Any help is more than welcome.

I have attached my form and in yellow color are the troubling fields of the related table.

Thanks in advance for the support.

Plantation_Actions.xlsx

RyotaAMBO_2-1735187334948.png

Cyprus_Forest_Department · Answer

So I figured out that the user was copying pasting the text value from an excel form to the string field. The text value when pasted in the form was blue. If he deleted the last letter and re-entered it then it turned black. The blue entry was recorded as null, whereas the black normal. I could not find out what blue font entry in a field means for Survey123 form though....

Cyprus_Forest_Department · Answer

Hi, the user is online. He is editting data by adding new entries only from his desktop pc. Seldom will he edit existing records using the inbox folder. Yes the common name calculation works just fine. The data that are transfered from the main part of the form are that sometimes break. I will have a look at the recalculate parameter. Thank you.

jcarlson · Answer

The pulldata calculations might fail to evaluate if the user is offline. The common name calculation should work just fine, pulling from a CSV.

How is the user accessing the form? Is it adding new entries, or editing existing entries? There is the URL parameter recalculate which can force a form in edit mode to recalculate certain fields.

recalculate=field:some_field