Survey123 Publishing Not Working Properly

Question

I’ve been using a Survey123 app since last year to collect data from our inspectors. Each month I need to update the projects on the app (data stored in a CSV in the media file). It has worked great until this month. For a reason that is escaping me, the projects are not updating on the app when I publish the survey. However, these projects are showing correctly in the preview of the survey available on the Survey123 Connect desktop application.

Anyone have an idea why this might be occurring?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Anonymous User · Answer

Hi John,

Are you able to send me a copy of your xlsx file and the csv files in the media folder so I can take a closer look to try and replicate. If unable to share publicly, can you send them to me via email. I will send you a private message with my details.

Phil.

JohnSmith40 · Answer

Hello Phil,

I downloaded Connect Version 3.0. I deleted the local folder for this survey and then redownloaded it from the cloud. I created a new CSV cloning the previous one. All of this resulted in the same outcome - when I publish and download the survey on a mobile device, it does not show the latest updates to the CSV / XLSX.

I am using pulldata() to reference a CSV in the media folder. This CSV has all of the project names and project information and mirrors the project name options in the "choices" tab for the select_one type within the XLSX form. The survey preview in the Connect application shows the latest updates to the CSV / XLSX but for some reason these changes are not published to mobile devices. Is there some type of setting in Connect or in the feature layer itself accessed on AGOL that when changed could explain this type of behavior?

Thank you again for your help.

Anonymous User · Answer

Hi John,

The “Export Data (Allow others to export to different formats)” in the “Settings” has nothing to do with the choice lists and external csv files in media folder being available in the app. This option is for exporting data for AGO or Survey123 website after it is collected. It is coincidental that after you made this change that you encountered issues with the app.

I notice you are using an older version 2.7 of Connect, which is different to the app version you are using. We highly recommend updating to latest version of Connect and App, or at a minimum ensuring you are using the same version for both. We recently released version 3.0 of Connect and App, which are available to download from the Survey123 website and app stores. I would be interested to know that if you install Connect 3.0 and re-publish your survey with updated choice lists and media csv files, if you then see the updated value when re-download the survey to the app on same devices.

Out of interest, are you using cascading selects and external choices via external_choices tab in your xlsx file, or are you using pulldata() to reference the csv in media folder?

Phil.