Launching Survey123 from Collector Using a Related Table
ArcGIS Server 10.6.1
Collector Version: 18.0.2
Survey123 Version: 3.0.149
iOS mobile: 12.0.1
After giving a demo of launching a Survey123 form based on a related table on a Collector map, users were concerned about the number of clicks required to launch the Survey123 application, complete the form and get back to the map. Field users like the idea of using a map to determine where to go to complete inspections, and they like the data validations of Survey123; the downside is the number of clicks it takes to go through the entire workflow. I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for reducing clicks, while maintaining the following requirements. Thanks!
Requirements:
1) Use Collector to show available inspection assets (a generally static data set, but displayed dynamically based on a definition query to only show features with a related inspection)
2) Pass Survey123 some attributes from the related inspection table to pre-populate the survey form (this blog was extremely useful: https://community.esri.com/groups/survey123/blog/2016/07/30/understanding-survey123s-custom-url-sche...
3) Update Collector feature status to change symbology to signify completion
I am wondering if there is a way to reduce the number of clicks it takes to launch S123, but also allow for marking a Collector feature attribute “Complete”.
Here is what I have tried so far:
1) Putting the custom URL for launching S123 on the feature’s popup, instead of at the related table level. S123 does not seem to receive the attributes. It appears as though it is not possible to view related attributes from a feature's pop-up, unless you navigate to the related table, despite being able to turn related feature attributes on. I would assume that's why attributes are not being passed in the custom URL:
2) Adding “Pop-up Media”: I added an image to the feature’s pop-up and put my custom URL in the Link field, but it appears as though Collector does not process the URL, and Collector displays a blank screen with “Open in Safari” in the top right.
3) Storing the URL as an attribute of the GIS feature: I put the entire URL in a column on the feature. S123 launches, but does not open a survey.
I have thought about creating GIS features out of the individual inspections, but field users would still need a way to update an inspection status attribute on the feature, and as far as I know, you can’t have a custom popup AND edit attributes from the same popup.
As a side note, our Collector-only users love the app. We are hoping to leverage a lot of the things Survey123 excels at, while still providing a great mobile mapping experience.
Hi Kenny,
We actually decided to not go with related tables, due to the number of clicks. Instead, we are only displaying assets with a pending inspection, using a definition query on the map. It sounds like you want to see all the records for a given asset in your related table and have a link to a Survey123. I am not sure how to do this exactly. I have done the following on the related table:
Select the related table in the webmap and set the pop-up to "A custom attribute display", then select all the fields you want to see. On one of those fields, select the "create link" button and set a custom URL to take a user to the survey form like: arcgis-survey123://?itemID=123abc&field:ID={I_ID})
I think the problem is when there are multiple records, is Collector going to know what to display in that pop-up? Maybe you could put a custom pop-up on the feature to take users to the Survey123 form, then leave the related table in tact and set to "A list of field attributes" to just display the records.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss more, I am happy to reach out via email.
-Joe
