Different Options for Same Field(s)

Question

Is it possible to have different fill options for the same field(s)

For example with a Flora survey if the user knows the NSXCODE (field a) then the Common Name (field b), Genus(field c), and Species (field d) are populated via a calculation using pulldata.

However if the NSXCODE is not known, then the user fills in b, c,d. c and d are combined to create a unique scientific  name which has a related NSXCODE which then populates field a via another pulldata calculation

I know its possible to do one or the other but can there be an option for both.  Obviously the same fields cant be in the form twice.

Could this be achieve from an initial question in the Form?? eg Is the NSXCOODE Known Yes/No ???

Cheers

Chris

ChrisRoberts2 · Answer

Awesome Thanks James!

JamesTedrick · Answer

Hi Chris,

Yes, this can be achieved, though the layout would be a little different than you describe above.  First, I would ask that if the NSXCODE has a direct relationship to the taxonomic information, do you need to store all of the fields in the survey?

For each question that has two methods of being filled in, you would need to have 3 questions - in your example above, NSXCODE for manual entry (let's call this nsx_manual), one for lookup via pulldata (let's call this nsx_pulldata) and one for storage (nsxcode).  The first two don't need to be written into the database; you can set the bind::esri:esriFieldType column to null to prevent submission.  For the nsxcode field, you can use the coalesce() function to return the which of the two has been filled in (not empty):

coalesce(${nix_manual}, ${nix_pulldata})

I would use a question 'Do you know the NSXCODE?' to set relevancy to the two questions (along with the genus, species, common name questions) and also record the mechanism of entry (manual or lookup).  If you do need to store the other taxonomic information, this pattern simply extends to the other questions.