topic Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey in ArcGIS Survey123 Questions

The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey using Survey123 Connect

SeanRourke — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 23:50:14 GMT

I am getting this constant error when trying to publish the survey. I have looked at previous solutions and it did not work. Can someone help me with this error?

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

JayHodny — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:36:10 GMT

Hi. I see this message when I add new fields to the XLSForm in Survey123 Connect for a survey I have already published. Basically, the message is saying during this current publishing step, three new fields have been detected that are not part of the prior published feature service. Click the 'Add' button if you want to add the fields and make them available in the survey.

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

SeanRourke — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:46:20 GMT

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have pressed "add" but then when I try to publish it, it just loads for a long time while trying to publish. See photo attached

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

JayHodny — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:52:09 GMT

Yes, it can take a while to rebuild the service layer with the new fields. How many fields do you have in the survey? How long have you let it run at this step?

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

JayHodny — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:58:50 GMT

I have also found the 'Tools' in Connect to be quite useful. I use the 'Analyze survey' tool, to check for coding errors, unsupported HTML, etc. Also, I have found updating the XLSForm template has helped with publishing issues. Close your XLS file before running the 'Update XLSForm template' tool. This will bring your template in-line with the current version of Connect. I usually make a copy of the survey project before running the update tool.

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

SeanRourke — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:59:10 GMT

I have about 30 fields. It is still loading so I think it has been 15 minutes already and it is still spinning

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

JayHodny — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 18:07:35 GMT

Puzzling. I don't think it should take the long. I have surveys with more than 30 fields, and they republish after adding new fields in much less time than 15+ minutes. Try the tool suggestions. If that doesn't resolve the issue, then it might be time to contact Esri support.

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

DougBrowning — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 18:31:48 GMT

Looks like it says untitled question in there? Are you missing a name field? Are your field names too long? Any green marks in your name column?

Really have to post the form or we are all just guessing.

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

ChristopherCounsell — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 22:08:55 GMT

You aren't able to add the new fields to the survey on publishing the update.

It suggests something is wrong with your XLSForm, the fields, or the service.

Share your XLSForm. Confirm if you're working in ArcGIS Online or Enterprise.

And have you moved, renamed or otherwise modified the service or folder survey123 connect created when it was first published?

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey

SeanRourke — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 23:42:01 GMT

I have attached the XLS form that I am working with. I am working on the ArcGIC Connect desktop app. Once I have downloaded the survey, I was unable to edit via Survey123 online. I have not moved, or renamed the file since I created it. It allows me to save and I can see the changes I made on the survey but when I publish, I get that error.

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey using Survey123 Connect

SeanRourke — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:29:53 GMT

It seems that my issue is still not resolved. Is anyone able to help? I have attached my file.

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey using Survey123 Connect

JayHodny — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:56:03 GMT

Hi Sean,

I created a Survey123 Connect project using your form.xlsx file as a template. When I looked at the xlsx form, there were only three worksheets: survey, choices, settings. There were no additional sheets in the workbook, such as Version, Question types, etc. I ran the Tools.....Analyze survey tool. The tool threw an error about name length, int(). The message is not easy to understand, at least not for me. I closed the XLSform and ran the Update XLSForm template tool. This tool brought the form up to version 3.18. I then ran the Analyze survey tool again, which succeeded, and created an Excel file of error messages (file attached). Fortunately, there were no Critical errors. I have attached the xls form. I was able to publish the survey!

If you are not using the latest version of Survey123 Connect (3.18, released June 13, 2023) I would recommend upgrading to it. Then use the Tools to update the XLSForm, correct the warnings, etc. Make a copy of your original survey as a back-up.

I have deleted my version of the survey, your xlsx form, etc., as I can't keep track of my own work! 😀

Re: The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey using Survey123 Connect

ChristopherCounsell — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 01:31:48 GMT

You have a survey created in the web app, which you have pulled into an old version of Survey123 connect. What @JayHodny suggested is on point. You need to upgrade Connect so that you have the latest Excel template. It seems like there aren't any issues creating a new survey with this form. However Jay and I can't target your feature service, which is what is getting flagged as incompatible.

The warning you are getting is indicating three fields in the form are not in the service. It is NOT an error. It's suggesting you need to add the fields to the service for these questions to be able to submit correctly, and asking if you want to do so.

However we cannot see these questions in your form. Have you provided the correct XLSForm? If not, then there is something going wrong. My immediate reaction is that you are on an older version of Survey123 Connect that is not compatible, or there is something wrong with your XLSForm. It will be difficult to revise your XLSForm if you have already been collecting data.

If you have not collected any data and can start with a new feature service I would recommend:

Update to the latest version of Survey123 Connect
Create a new Advanced template (it will take the newer Excel template)
Recreate your survey with a few changes:
- Improve the choice list and field names (so that they are not autogenerated)
- Revise your choice lists to be clearer, noting the name column should ideally not have special characters or spaces.
Review your schema
Run the analyze tool
Publish

If you cannot change your data, do what Jay suggested:

Update to the latest version of Survey123 Connect
Download the existing form
Run the update XLSForm template
Review for any data validation errors or issues (green triangles) that may appear
Run the analysis tool
Attempt to publish and let us know if any errors persist.