topic Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey? in ArcGIS Survey123 Questions

Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

deleted-user-LNABNwA5CZcD — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 23:00:59 GMT

I am trying to figure out a way to do two things that I know are possible but seem not to be.

I work for a nonprofit, and we are using a Survey123 form for pollution reporting from the public.

However, to manage reports, we would also like to be able to have a "Status" associated with individual reports. This is a field that would be hidden and defaulted to "Unreviewed."

I know you can do hidden fields in Survey123 Connect by editing the XLS Form, but those surveys can't be opened up to the general public and used in the web browser form, right?

Long story short: how do I have a "Status" field I can manage on the back end (probably in Citizen Problem Manager) while also keeping the public/published Survey123 form (we need the web browser format)?

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

IsmaelChivite — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 05:09:25 GMT

Hi. Try the following:

Add a hidden question and set its default value to 'UnReviewed'. This will create a text field in your feature service and its value will always be populated with 'UnReviewed'. End users of your form will not see the question at all.
Next create a Web Application using for example Web AppBuilder and use the Edit widget to change the values from UnReviewed, to Reviewed as appropriate

The above may work for you if you do not mind having a text field. If you want a geodatabase domain to more easily change from Reviewed to UnReviewed, then you can do this:

Add a select_one question using a list with UnReviewed and Reviewed values. Publish your survey. This will create a field in your database with a geodatabase domain.
Next change the type of question from select_one to hidden and set its default value to whatever the 'name' value was for UnReviewed in your choice list. Publish the survey again.
If you create a Web Application next, you will see your dropdown for the domain values.

Once your feature service is created, you can also use Crowdsource Manager | ArcGIS for Local Government to manage input from the back-office.

In terms of capturing data with your survey, you can either use the Survey123 field app or a web browser. If you want to use the web browser to capture data, try the option highlighted in the screenshot below. Note that this option is only enabled once you have published the survey. Both the native app as well as the web browser-based option will work with private and public surveys.

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

deleted-user-LNABNwA5CZcD — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 16:04:59 GMT

I wish it could be a clean sync with the Survey123 website system (especially for the aesthetics of background color and photo upload button symbols) rather than forcing it through a web app, but this indeed does the trick from a functional standpoint! I'm sure the connectivity will be fixed soon.
Thanks!

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

IsmaelChivite — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 19:12:32 GMT

Agreed! We are working towards complete integration.

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

deleted-user-LNABNwA5CZcD — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 18:47:05 GMT

Ismael Chivite‌

Guessed on your email based on formatting. If you did not get an email from me, would you mind sending me your email to sam@catawbariverkeeper.org? Wanted to sit down for even 15 minutes if possible. Thanks!

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

deleted-user-qzyyiYme1rz9 — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 18:28:14 GMT

Ismael, I'm trying to do something similar, but I'm getting caught up on the following step.

"Next change the type of question from select_one to hidden and set its default value to whatever the 'name' value was for UnReviewed in your choice list. Publish the survey again."

When I change the field to hidden and set the default value to the the 'name' value from my select_one options, and publish again, the default value does not work. It is not populating the field. It is null. (But the domain does stick, and I can change the value using the drop-down). I know this is an old thread, but could you include screenshots of your excel doc where this works?

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

JamesTedrick — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:17:31 GMT

Hi Alexis,

Can you share your xlsform to see if we can see what the issue is?

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

AnuSawant — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 19:24:01 GMT

Hi Ismael,

I am creating health and safety survey in which I need to hide some fields from the field staff and those field need to be fill in by the H&S manager in the office. Since those fields got domain so I have tried using the following workflow suggested by you.

Add a select_one question using a list with UnReviewed and Reviewed values. Publish your survey. This will create a field in your database with a geodatabase domain.
Next change the type of question from select_one to hidden and set its default value to whatever the 'name' value was for UnReviewed in your choice list. Publish the survey again.
If you create a Web Application next, you will see your dropdown for the domain values.

I have manged to all the three steps but when I have created a webapp it is not showing me any domain value as drop down. I am trying to publish the survey to Portal 10.6.

Is this workflow only applicable to ArcGIS online or I can use it in portal too? If I can't use this in Portal can you please suggest me any other way to hide the domain fields in Survey123?

Thanks,

Anu

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

TylerBragg2 — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 19:49:15 GMT

Ismael,

This was incredibly helpful on my end. I've lost a lot of time from adding fields to layers after the fact, and it caused problems with apps like Explorer (invalid JSON). It was much easier doing it through Survey123 Connect the way you mentioned above, then republish the field as hidden after the fact.

Thank you!

Marvin

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

AprilChipman — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 20:55:25 GMT

I've created a survey using the web version of Survey123 and have successfully passed several fields and the location from an existing feature class. I would like to hide some of the fields which I need, but the field crews do not, to streamline the survey and make it as less confusing as possible.

Can I make a field hidden in the web version of Survey123?

Thanks!

April

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

Anonymous User — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 22:02:38 GMT

Hi April,

Are you creating the survey via Web Designer or Survey123 Connect?

Currently, you can not create hidden questions via Web Designer, only via Connect.

Phil.

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

KyleSchwizer — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 16:03:37 GMT

I am looking to do something similar. Currently using Survey123 Connect to edit our survey. I have successfully hidden two fields but now I am trying to get a "choices list"/domain for these two new fields. We are looking to have a review process so admins can review and update these hidden fields, then create a filtered view based off certain values in these fields. Is there way to associate a list from the choices spreadsheet with a hidden field?

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

TylerBragg2 — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 17:29:00 GMT

Kyle,

The way I've gotten it to do what you need (domained selections) is to first publish the fields as "select_one" fields, then once published, change the fields to "hidden" in Connect and publish again. The domains are preserved in the data, since nothing changed them, only the fact they are hidden from the Survey123 form.

The riskier way is to add the domains through ArcGIS Pro or AGOL, but I admit I have broken the JSON doing that before. I don't know if any recent update may have corrected that issue.

Marvin

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

KyleSchwizer — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 18:32:35 GMT

Marvin,

I have tried this but when I go to publish the form and have updated the fields to "select_one Name_of_list" and view the feature layer in a map viewer on AGOL, the two new fields still dont have the option for drop-downs. I am able to see the drop-downs in the survey but cant seem them in the map viewer when i go to edit on of the points in the feature layer. Not really sure what I am doing wrong. Once i get that to work i will continue to test your theory of switching it back to "hidden". Thanks!

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

TylerBragg2 — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 18:59:18 GMT

Kyle,

You may have to do something along the lines of downloading the survey back to Connect (that way the feature service address is populated into the smart form). I've been able to create the select_one, go to AGOL and see the domain in the field, republish as hidden and see the domains preserved but the field removed from the form. Are you at least getting the choices in the form when published? It seems like it's not publishing the data schema correctly.

Marvin

Re: Create Hidden Field in Public Survey?

KyleSchwizer — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 19:10:18 GMT

Marvin,

So what i was experiencing is very odd. Seems to be a little buggy to me. Everything i was doing matched what you were describing except for being able to see the dropdowns in AGOL map viewer. So what i ended up doing was creating a test survey form through the web survey 123. Then I added in a dropdown list question and added some test dropdown values. From there i went into Survey Connect, downloaded and opened the test survey xls, copied that particular row (to be sure I was copying all the setting for a "dropdown" question) then finally paste that into my main survey. From there I just adjusted the list value to the current list I had create for those fields, published, and then i was able to see dropdowns in AGOL map viewer. Once that test was complete I switched the type field to hidden and boom! It works just like you said! Very odd work around for me but it now works. Thanks for your help!