topic Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question in ArcGIS Survey123 Questions

how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

DfIRivers — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 11:45:40 GMT

I have a survey that contains a "select_one" where I use a choice list to pick a code.

I then have a subsequent field which I want to populate with a default value based on the previous response, but I want to have the option to overwrite the default value presented.

Is there a simple way to achieve this?

Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

JamesTedrick — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 15:13:30 GMT

Hi,

In Survey123 terms, what you are asking for is to calculate a value based on a previous question. You can do this in the calculation column - see Formulas—Survey123 for ArcGIS | ArcGIS . A calculation will still allow a value to be manually overridden.

Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

DfIRivers — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 15:22:14 GMT

Hi James,

so... I don't want to e.g. multiply the answer to a previous question by a factor.. I want to use the answer to the previous question to provide a look-up. Would this be achieved using an a nested if statement in the calculation field?

Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

JamesTedrick — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 15:33:15 GMT

A lookup can be done with an if statement with the values inline; additionally the pulldata() function can look up values from an accompanying CSV file - see Formulas—Survey123 for ArcGIS | ArcGIS (Working with External Content)

Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

Jing_Sun — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 09:19:02 GMT

Hello James,

When populating answer of a select_one question (Q2) based on answer of a previous question (Q1), a 'recalculate' button appears for Q2 when user select an option in Q1 except one that used to populate Q2.

In the example below, Q2 has this statement in the calculation: if(selected(${question1},'option1'),'option1',''), and Q3 is using pulldata() to achieve the same functionality, they both work for my intention. i.e. Select option 1 in Q1, then Q2 and Q3 will have option 1 selected automatically.

Bur if I select option 2 in Q1, the 'recalculate' buttons appears for Q2 and Q3 no matter what I select.

Am I doing something wrong or will I be able to disable those buttons in the setting?

Many thanks.

Cheers,

Sun

Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

JamesTedrick — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 21:20:22 GMT

Hi Jing,

You're not doing anything wrong- your calculations are working exactly as designed. Remember that a calculation *must* return a value; there isn't a 'leave everything just as it is' concept. In this case, when you select option2 in q1, you are calculating q2 to an empty value; the recalculation symbol showing when another value is present reflects that. Similarly, an empty search would also be calculating q3 to an empty value.

Re: how do I provide a default value based on a response to a previous question

Jing_Sun — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:03:03 GMT

Hello James,

Thank you for your helpful information!

Cheers,

Sun