topic Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123 in ArcGIS Survey123 Questions

Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Adam_Coburn_NCC — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 08:16:58 GMT

Hello all,

I am building a form in Survey123 Connect (version - 3.12.232) that involves the use of 'geo' type questions (GeoPoint, GeoTrace, and GeoShape).

For the form to be publicly published, my organisation require a notification type feature to be included which informs the submitter that these questions will attempt to obtain and use their location.

Forms which are created from the Survey123 Web Designer are able to include this in a very slick and stylish way. This is done via ticking/checking the 'Ask for device's location when opening this question' box that appears once the map widget has been added to the form (See attached image).

My question is, can this be recreated in Survey123 Connect?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Anonymous User — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:02:12 GMT

Hi @Adam_Coburn_NCC,

The web app is required to ask for the users permission to use location due to the way that modern browsers work, and each website you use must ask for location permission first. This is a requirement of the browser, otherwise the web app will not be able to get a location.

With the field app, when you install the app for the first time, you are prompted to allow the app to use your current location, this is accepted once for the app. You can always go and modify the setting in the location services system setting on the device. Because of this, we can not ask permission on a per survey basis.

However, you can achieve a similar workflow in the field app by using a relevant expression on the geopoint question, and having a select one yes/no question prior to the geopoint, that asks the user for permission. For instance, a select one question "Do you give permission for this survey to collect your current location?" and then have two answers yes or no. If they select yes, the geopoint location becomes relevant and visible, and get the current location. If they select no, the geopoint is not relevant, and does not collect any location data.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Phil.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Adam_Coburn_NCC — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:46:52 GMT

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the above.

Due to the way the wider project is being delivered, I do not envisage the Survey123 field app to be used in-conjunction with this particular form. I'm expecting nearly all traffic to be via traditional web browsers.

Testing of the form in the Survey123 web app did not generate a location use permission from the browser.

The option of adding in a select_one question (with use of the relevant column) is probably the easiest work around. I had initially considered this but with the design and flow of the form I would rather not use this option if another 'sleeker' option exists.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Anonymous User — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:53:26 GMT

Hi @Adam_Coburn_NCC,

Unfortunately there is no 'sleeker' way in the field app to ask for permission on the actual geopoint question that I can think of.

Also, for the web app, if the user has already given permission to survey123 website and web app to allow location permissions, this will be saved for that website in the browsers settings. Should only be asked once, unless you revoke the permission.

Regards,

Phil.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Adam_Coburn_NCC — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:58:35 GMT

Excellent, Thanks Phil. I'll ensure further testing is done from an environment that has not previously given permission to the Survey123 site.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

DougBrowning — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 13:25:21 GMT

Not sure on the web app but in the field app I set a default on the geopoint of 0,0 which forces the user to tap on it. You could test that.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Adam_Coburn_NCC — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 10:46:06 GMT

Hi @Anonymous User @DougBrowning

Following on from the above I would greatly appreciate your feedback for the following option regarding my original post.

To ensure we are complying with UK GDPR we are unable to leave the location access permission down to the web browser for the Survey123 site. The permission needs to be obtained per form as the submitter may have, in the past, completed another unrelated Survey123 form.

Adding a select one question is a simple fix, but if I can avoid it, I'd like to.

To add in a new feature I recreated the form in version 3.12 and saw this now includes a guidance_hint column. This places a light bulb symbol at the beginning of any hint text (image attached). In the question hint I am going to state that this question will attempt to access your location. To learn more please select the light bulb symbol.

@Anonymous User do you know if this icon can be styled? If not are there any plans for this feature?

Cheers,

Adam

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Anonymous User — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 00:13:30 GMT

Hi @Adam_Coburn_NCC,

It is not currently possible to style or change the light bulb icon. Also not in any current plans for a future release either, as it has never previously been raised as a request or enhancement. Please create it as an Esri Community Idea and also log it with Esri Support as an offical enhancement, if this is something you would like to see supported in the future.

Regards,

Phil.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Adam_Coburn_NCC — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 09:52:44 GMT

Hi @Anonymous User

I have now published this form but when I open the survey in the Survey123 web app I receive an error pop up stating TypeError: Cannot read property 'previousElementSibling' of null.

I've had a quick search on the Community pages and from this post https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-survey123-questions/cannot-read-property-previouselementsibling-of-undefined/m-p/1007383 it appears some others have also experienced a similar issue.

The form is still accessible by closing the pop up but the geopoint, trace and shape questions with their repeats do not function correctly. The first geo question preforms correctly but when you select the + button the question is not correctly presented it shows a second repeat but no geopoint etc exists within the repeat (image attached). I have also taken a screen shot of the error details from the developer tools option from the browser used.

I am happy to share the xlsForm and files within the media folder but I am unable to upload the xlsform here as it contains the password used to currently access the form (this function will be removed from the form once the form has has received all internal sign-offs) happy to email it directly.

The form was published from Connect version 3.12

Files within the media folder are 1MT small.jpg and ncc_logo.PNG

Cheers,

Adam

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Anonymous User — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 22:19:10 GMT

Hi @Adam_Coburn_NCC,

Can you please send me a private message with your xlsform and items from media folder. I can take a look at the error you are getting.

Note that guidance_hints are not supported in the web app for 3.12. This will be released as supported in 3.13 (the next release) for the web app. If you remove guidance_hints from your survey does the survey load fine in the web app?

Regards,

Phil.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Adam_Coburn_NCC — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 08:46:26 GMT

Hi @Anonymous User

I created and published a new form with no guidance_hints and still received the error message. As a side note in the form discussed above, when you close the error pop up and continue with the survey the guidance hints are there not ideally formatted (but as you say support of this is there yet)

I will send over the xlsform and images

Thanks,

Adam

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

Anonymous User — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 01:15:37 GMT

Hi @Adam_Coburn_NCC,

Thanks for sending through the XLSForm. I can reproduce the issue testing with 3.12 prod web app. However when I test with the 3.13 beta web app, which was just updated yesterday with latest code base and fixes, the error no longer occurs.

Can you please test with https://survey123beta.arcgis.com/ and let us know if you still get the error, and if the rest of your form is working as expected. Just add the word 'beta' after survey123 into the web form sharing URL as above.

Regards,

Phil.

Re: Location use overlay for 'Geo' based/Map questions in Survey123

ZhifangWang — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 10:40:43 GMT

Hi @Adam_Coburn_NCC ,

Thanks for sharing the XLSForm with us.

The error message TypeError: Cannot read property 'previousElementSibling' of null is caused by applying a wrong calculation to an attachment question. In your case, it's the row 73 and 74. Removing the calculation for these two image questions could fix the issue.
In addition, there is known limitation that the multiline appearance does not work in the web app if you refer the question name in the count-selected function in the constraints column. It is also the row 73 and 74 in your XLSForm. Please use a period "." instead of the question name as a workaround, such as count-selected(.) < 3 (note you need the brackets around the period).
- Please refer to BUG-000138683 for the status of the fix.

Thanks,

Zhifang