Form Storage Location?

[ZacharyHart]

Hi there,

We're currently using Field Maps as a replacement for Collector on Enterprise 10.7 and are about to make the jump to 10.9.1 which will have Field Maps native to the Enterprise environment.

I'm currently (indeed have been for several years now) deciding between Survey123 vs Field Maps smart forms. Our primary use is regulatory compliance documentation. While discussing the complexity of the forms in deciding between the two options has merit (particularly in UI/UX), data storage is my primary concern.

When a form is authored in Field Maps, it appears that it is an object associated with the 'map' itself. Where are these forms written to? Do they exist as objects within the data store? Can they be transferred to an ECM outside the Esri ecosystem?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous User · Accepted solution]

@ZacharyHartForms are stored as a JSON object on operational layers within the webmap. The full specification can be found here. The specification is ArcGIS-specific so as far as I know there's no non-Esri off-the-shelf tools that can read, write, or render them.

Survey123 uses the XLSX form specification which is more platform agnostic.

[ZacharyHart]

Thanks Aaron!

so is there a JSON object for each form entry (user fills out a form; new JSON object is written) or is the JSON just acting as a configuration and the form is writing to the feature service attributes/records?I.e. Form-based data entry.

If the latter, then I'm fine with that since these records can easily be extracted and would reside safely within the eGDB.

[Anonymous User]

The JSON just defines how the form is rendered and how the data is entered. The data is stored in feature layers which in your case would backed by an enterprise geodatabase.

[ZacharyHart]

Well this is very promising then! Thanks!!