ArcGIS QuickCapture Blog - Page 4

By default, the QuickCapture modules in Make (Formally Integromat) will connect to ArcGIS Online, but you can also make Integromat work against your own instance of ArcGIS Enterprise.

The August 2021 update to ArcGIS QuickCapture brings great enhancements and new features. In this 1.10 release we added new options to help you collect richer information, without compromising the rapid data capture user experience.

The next update to ArcGIS QuickCapture is scheduled for release in early August 2021.  This article describes its highlights and how you can access the Beta builds to try everything out before the official release.

This article describes how you can configure voice control in your iOS device to work with ArcGIS QuickCapture.

Capture daily patrol records and identify hazards to mitigate, using QuickCapture and Survey123.

Learn what is new in our May 2021 update of ArcGIS QuickCapture.

With each ArcGIS Survey123 release, we assess the platforms we support and adjust these based on customer requirements and technology improvements. The purpose of this article is to provide as much advance notice as possible regarding these changes.

What is a link button?

A Link button allows you to open other mobile apps or web applications from ArcGIS QuickCapture app by specifying the target URL for the button. You can configure a link button to

• Open a website
• Open a PDF file that hosted online
• Open a dashboard from your device’s browser
• Launch Survey123 field app
• Launch other native apps on your device

In short, with the link button, you can use your QuickCapture project as a launchpad to open other apps.

Configure the URL for link button

First and foremost, you’ll need to add a link button to your QuickCapture project. To do this, simply drag the link button and drop it to the project preview in Designer. You will also note there’s a link icon on the top left that indicates this is a link button.

Configure link button to open a website/web app

The most basic idea is that you can use link button to launch any URL from QuickCapture, e.g., a website that provides support information for the end-users. 

Moreover, you can include dynamic content into the target URL and pass captured information from QuickCapture to the URL. For example, with the URL parameters, you can define the scale level and center the web map with the captured location, or you can enhance the dashboard app by adding URL parameters and the trigger actions.

In this case, you need to manually construct the link button URL and predefine values for the URL parameters. QuickCapture supports using fixed values, device variables, or a project user input variable to add to the constructed URL. In the steps below, I will configure the link button to open a dashboard app, but also add a URL parameter to have the dashboard always center the map based on user’s captured location when the link button is pressed from QuickCapture.

1. Create a dashboard app and configure a URL parameter (a geometry parameter named ‘point’) for it. Also, configure actions for the parameter, e.g. flash and zoom when the value of the parameter changes.
2. In QuickCapture Designer, select the link button and configure it to launch a URL.
3. Continue constructing the dashboard URL by adding the geometry parameter and assigning QuickCapture variables, i.e. ${longitude} and ${latitude} to this parameter. You can see that the QuickCapture variable is represented with a dollar sign and braces, this means the actual value of it will be automatically filled in by the QuickCapture app when this button is pressed.

Save the project and download it to your device. Press the Dashboard button in the project. Note that the dashboard app is centered at the current location and has a flashing effect that was previously configured in the dashboard app.

Configure link button to launch native apps

Link button can also be used to launch native apps on your device. You can launch communication apps for the end-users to send an email, a text message, or make a phone call to their supervisors. In this manner, the link button enables users to send instant feedback while they are still working in the field. Here are some examples of how you can construct the link (encoding the URL parameters is recommended) to open the messaging apps on your device.

• Email—mailto:quickcapture@esri.com?subject=Fix%20the%20pipe&body=We%20really%20need%20to%20fix%20the%20pipe
• SMS—sms:0291920995 (On Android, a message body can also be included: sms:0291920995?body=We%20really%20need%20to%20fix%20the%20pipe)
• Phone—tel:0291920995

Of course, you can also use the link buttons to launch Field Maps or Collector by providing the app link in the URL editor.

Link to Survey123 from QuickCapture

You can use link buttons to launch Survey123 field app from QuickCapture. In QuickCapture designer, we made the configuration/integration experience as easy as possible. If you want to link to a survey from QuickCapture, you don’t have to manually construct the Survey123 link or custom URL, QuickCapture Designer will do it for you. In Designer, you can not only configure a link button to launch Survey123 field app directly and link to an existing survey, but also add survey questions and pass dynamic content to this selected survey. Again, you can match a fixed value, a device variable, or a project user input variable to the survey question, and the actual value for these variables will be captured and replaced by QuickCapture app through the link button. Optionally, you can pass captured location in QuickCapture as the input for the geopoint question in the survey, and configure the experience to return to QuickCapture after a survey is successfully submitted.

Let’s use the Pipeline Patrol project to demonstrate how to use QuickCapture and Survey123 together to record daily pipeline patrols and document identified hazards. In the project, patrols that encounter no issues are usually recorded with the tap of the Patrol Complete button; If any hazards are identified, they can be captured with additional buttons; For hazards that require detailed reporting, you can launch Survey123  from QuickCapture to collect more information through the smart form in Survey123:

1. First, add the link button Valve Leak and set it to launch the Survey123 field app.
2. Select a survey you want to link to.
3. Select and add questions from the survey and pass predefined values to these questions. When configuring this, Designer is automatically constructing the Survey123 custom URL based on your selection made on the UI.
4. Toggle on the options to pass location to Survey123 and return to QuickCapture after the survey submission.

Save the project and download it to your device. From the video below, you can see the Survey123 field app is automatically opened when pressing the Valve Leak button from the project. You may also notice that the questions we configured from the Designer are already populated with the captured values now in Survey123. Once the survey is submitted, it will jump back to the QuickCapture app to continue data capture. This capability streamlines the field data collection workflow and optimizes different data capture scenarios. For rapid data collection, simply keep tapping the buttons in the QuickCapture project; For detailed data entry, use the link buttons to open Survey123 to add more information.

Let us know if you have any feedback or questions on this.

ArcGIS QuickCapture 1.8 is now available. It includes, great stability enhancements in the mobile app plus a handful of new features in designer.

ArcGIS QuickCapture is Esri's rapid field data collection mobile app. If you are not familiar with QuickCapture, have a look at this short video:

We just updated ArcGIS QuickCapture across all supported platforms. The new build number is 1.7. With this new release, you can build much more powerful field data collection mobile apps, while keeping the end-user experience as simple as the single tap of a button. This video gives summarizes the highlights of this release:

Bigger buttons, of course.

With this update, you can configure your QuickCapture apps with bigger buttons. This is useful when authoring projects for large tablets, with very few or even a single button.  Larger buttons help you take full advantage of the available screen real estate on the device, facilitating data capture. 

Enhanced Project User Inputs (Define lists from designer)

When configuring your QuickCapture app, you can define a Project User Input. A Project User Input presents a dialog  where information can be entered, prior to start capturing data. This information can then be used to automatically populate attributes of collected data. For example, say you are building a Pavement Condition QuickCapture app. You may want to configure a Project User Input for field crews to enter a charge code number or the ID of the field crew.  That charge code or field crew ID can then be automatically added as an attribute to every feature collected. Checkhttps://community.esri.com/community/arcgis-quickcapture/blog/2019/10/06/understanding-user-inputs-i... for more details on Project User Inputs.

Up until this release, you could only create free text Project User Inputs. That is, a dialog with either a single line or a multi line text input control.  Starting with version 1.7, you can also present a list with well defined values.  Using lists makes sense when you want to limit entries to a well known collection of choices. It is easier for users to pick an option than having to type.

The animation below shows you can now create a Project User Input and define a list of values for it.

Once you have your project input dialog defined, just as before, you can choose which buttons will make use of that value.

Enhanced Project User Inputs (Remember previous entries)

To facilitate quick data entry from end users, the QuickCapture mobile app now remembers previous Project User Input entries. In the animation on the side, for example, the Police Officer Reporter app presents a dialog for end users to enter the ID of the person that will collect data. Note that the dialog presents two options in a list right below the text input control. The end user can either enter a new ID, or tap on any of the previously entered IDs.

The QuickCapture mobile app will list the three last entries. The idea listing previous entries is to accelerate data capture and reduce errors when entering this information.

Locked Groups

QuickCapture buttons can be logically organized in groups.  Groups help end users navigate across QuickCapture apps that include many buttons.

By default, groups can be collapsed and expanded by end users.With this update, the QuickCapture app author can decide to hide the handle to collapse and expand a group. This is useful when you want to make sure a set of buttons will always be visible to users.  You can control the group properties from QuickCapture designer.

Link buttons (launching any URL)

Link buttons allow you to open other mobile or web apps right from within ArcGIS QuickCapture. For example, you may want to configure a button to open a live dashboard in a web browser, a PDF file or launch a Survey123 smart form.  With link buttons you can convert your QuickCapture project into a launchpad for other applications.

The animation below shows how you can add a new link button into a QuickCapture app, to launch a website.

You can include dynamic content in your target URL. For example, you may want to add custom URL parameters to center a Web AppBuilder application at the user's location, or pass a filter into an ArcGIS Dashboard. For more information about URL parameters in ArcGIS Dashboards and Web AppBuilder, check the following links:

• URL parameters—ArcGIS Dashboards | Documentation 
• Use URL parameters—ArcGIS Web AppBuilder | Documentation

In the animation below, we are passing the current latitude and longitude of the user when the link button is pushed. Note that dynamic content in the URL can be populated from device variables as well as from the Project User Input.

You can really launch any URL from a link button. This includes URLs to launch mobile apps.  For example, using app link syntax you can launch Survey123, Tracker, Collector, Navigator and even third party apps. Here are some links to help you better understand how to build URLs to launch other apps:

• Open Tracker from a link
• Open Survey123 from a link
• Open Collector from a link
• Open Navigator from a link
• Open Waze from a link

Link buttons (launching Survey123)

If you want to launch a Survey123 smart form from QuickCapture, you do not need to figure out how to build the custom URL link yourself. We have added a streamlined user experience so you can more easily launch Survey123 forms and pass parameters to them.

You can select a survey and what dynamic data you want to pass into it.

Once you configure a link button in this manner, Survey123 will be automatically invoked when you press the QuickCapture button.

With link buttons, you can now model much more sophisticated data collection workflows. You can for example configure a few buttons to capture quick field observations and a button to launch Survey123 to do more involved reporting.

More device variables

Device variables in QuickCapture allow you to automatically populate attributes in the GIS features you collect. Device variables let you capture for example the exact time when a button is pushed, the speed and direction of travel, or the horizontal accuracy of your GPS.  The complete list of device variables is available in the Configure a project—ArcGIS QuickCapture | Documentation help topic.  In this release, we are adding the following new variables:

• Photo: Lat, Lon, Heading
• Travel: Cardinal direction
• Location: DMS, DDM, USNG, MGRS
• Device Info: App Version and Device Operating System
• Length and Area

EXIF metadata

Starting with version 1.7 of QuickCapture, all photos taken from the mobile app will include EXIF metadata.