Bug: Tasks - Editing features using Edit Form tool resets features to original values
Hello, I am about to send this to ESRI Technical Support as a bug, but was wondering if anyone else has come across this issue while trying to use the new Tasks features within Field Maps:
Product: ArcGIS Field Maps (Accessing ArcGIS Online Hosted Feature Layers)
Platform(s): Android v25.3.0 build 2603 (Tested on a Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra running Android 8.0)
iOS v25.3.0 Build 2427 (Tested on Apple iPad Pro 11-inch 2ng Gen running iPadOS 18.6.2)
I have been enthusiastically anticipating the Tasks feature for Field Maps since the announcement several years ago of adding Workforce functionality to it, to start consolidating as many different apps as possible into one for my field workers. I assume that my workflow (as far as the Field Maps tasks part is concerned) is extremely standard and basic: Workers go to their assigned task location , fill out a form or two on the feature, add attachments, update the status, and then save offline or submit, and move on.
However, it appears that when accessing the "Edit Form" from the Task list and menu (meaning that "Edit Form was added to the Task layouts as a Task Action) ... it frequently resets the fields back to the pre-edited values during editing. It's not always consistent WHEN it decides to reset everything (as in time elapsed or number of "aparrant" edits), but it is consistent in that it eventually WILL reset after enough edits. I suspect it is after a certain amount of edits, including background calculations and re-calculations made, as it seems to happen sooner with more editable form fields and calculated expressions running.
It is most easily noticeable by adding a simple Info field into the form that displays the current values of the fields of the feature, and then editing one of the fields several times. Sometimes it takes editing a field over 70 times, sometimes I can't even make it all the way through a form without it resetting mid-way.
Thinking that it may have been an issue with my Hosted Feature Service, I have been able to reproduce this issue with going as Out-of-the-box as possible: Opening Field Maps Designer, choosing "New Map and "Start With New Layers (Point)", Enabling tasks and offline, but no GPS,3D, M-values, etc. Then turning it into a form and mostly leaving the Tasks configured as default. (Just adding a Task Type 2 to it and Assignees)
Note that my screenshots below have calculations (for showing the $originalFeature), and are referencing the esritask_ fields, but I have consistently reproduced this result even after deleting all calculated expressions, removing the Info form object, and even without touching the esritask_ fields (which is why I had created two new custom non-task fields, just in case the esritask_ fields have some weird system interactions).
I have experimented with this on both iPAD and Android, logged in with the Creator account as well as my own account, and tested in both the Online map and Offline Areas within Field Maps, and have always been able to reproduce this.
This seems to ONLY happen within editing the forms when accessed from the Task menu on Field Maps Mobile -- The features never reset when using the Edit feature for the form in a browser, or through Field Maps Mobile when tasks are disabled or when added to a different map with tasks disabled and accessing the Form through the normal, non-task menu "Edit Feature" options.
How the Info form element looks. Note: the "Expr/orig..." Expressions are just simple things like
return DomainName($originalFeature,"esritask_status")
How the task looks initially on mobile (Pictures are from the Android testing)
Initial Pre-Edited from Field Maps Mobile Popup View:
Initial, Pre-Edited values and display in the Form when choosing "Edit" from the Task options:
Edited values, before the feature decided to reset (I actually needed to re-do this a couple of times because it kept resetting the feature mid-edit most times):
Then, after re-editing one of the fields, such as toggling the Switch on the bottom one or two times (or any other field), it resets the entire feature back to all of the $originalFeature values, but keeps the selected new values cached in the Combo Box and form field DISPLAYS (not values, as seen below when opening them):
If I then hit the "Submit" button... It submitted just that last edited field that changed after everything reset, confirming the Info display element is accurate in what the current values are:
And the view of the edited feature from the Online Map viewer, confirming:
(Note that during the edit, I had also moved point feature into the middle of the ocean to see if the geometry reset as well, which in fact it did)
Unfortunately, it seems as if the Edit Form is a broken feature when combined with Tasks within Field Maps Mobile. In this example most of it would be simple enough to add individual "Edit Field" buttons as Task items, but the actual workflows I'm trying to work with are much more complicated and lengthy. I just used these to show that the functionality seems to be broken out-of-the-box.
Has anybody else experienced this?
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