ArcGIS Online - Append Data and maintain CreationDate and EditDate

BrandonA_CDPH

Core issue: I have Feature Service data downloaded as a FGDB. I need to append the data into a layer with the same schema and am looking for a way to keep the EditDate and CreationDate fields the same as when they were downloaded. Currently they are updating to the date and time the data is appended. I use these fields for other analyses, so if they change, it doesn't work.

 

Longer explanation: I have a Feature Service fed by an existing Survey123 Form. I have a special project that needs to use the same form (and collect some additional data), so I am trying to make a related table to store the project-specific data. The way I have figured out to do this is by creating a repeat to store the project-specific data. When I publish the form with the additional repeat, the Feature Service is rebuilt and the data is erased. So, to get around this, I found a workaround that involves downloading the data as a FDGDB, republishing the form (eliminating the existing data), then appending the data back to the rebuilt Feature Service. I think this will work for my needs. Problem is that when I do this, the EditDate and CreatedDate fields are recalculated to be the date and time the data was appended. I need to preserve the original values since I use those to filter dashboards and for other analyses. 

So, if you're read this far and aren't lost yet, any ideas on how to maintain the EditDate and CreatedDate values? Also open to other ideas for relating this separate special project data to the data in the main form, but I think I have exhausted those options.

Thank you in advance for the assistance.

MobiusSnake

In every Survey123 form/service I make, I create a hidden question named something like "survey_date" or "capture_date".  This points to a date/time field, and in the calculation column of the XLSX I use "now()".

I began doing this because of the scenario you're describing, I sometimes had to republish surveys with updated schemas, and appending the old surveys to the new schema meant losing the creation date.

An additional benefit is that the system-maintained CreatedDate reflects when the record was created in the feature service, but the approach I use captures the time the form was opened.  If you have someone working offline and submitting multiple records at the end of the day, the system-maintained value can be off by half a day.