What's new in ArcGIS Survey123 (June 2024)
UPDATE July 2, 2024 - A minor bug fix was released for the Survey123 field app (ver. 3.20.68) to address the following issues:
- A bug was fixed in which surveys referencing feature services in ArcGIS Enterprise, with attachments, could not be submitted.
- A bug was fixed in which images could not be added to surveys that were opened from the Sent folder or Inbox.
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Introducing the June 2024 release of ArcGIS Survey123! (version 3.20) This update brings a range of new features and overall product improvements that will enhance your experience with Survey123. Let’s explore what’s new…
- Location list question in the web designer
- My Favorites gallery view
- Survey123 report page
- ArcGIS Experience Builder widget for Survey123 feature reports
- Barcode question is now part of the web designer
- Change question type of an existing question
- Recycle Bin support in Survey123 Connect
- Other Enhancements
- List of Bug and Quality Improvements to the Survey123 field App
New Location list question in the web designer
A fundamental aspect of Survey123 is its capability to incorporate location data within your digital forms. The Survey123 web designer gives you the option of capturing location information through a GNSS/GPS sensor, by specifying a location on a map or by inputting an address. However, there are situations where the location options are predetermined, necessitating that the end user simply selects a location from a pre-established list. An example could be completing a form for a census track, country, or store location. In this release the web designer now includes a new Location list question type.
The Location list question allows users to choose a location from a drop-down list. The choice is submitted as text and its corresponding geometry is submitted as the location for the survey response. The Location list question is populated from a feature layer and the layer can contain point, line, or polygon (area) features. This question type behaves in the same way as a select_one question with autocomplete and search. Learn more about the new Location list question in the web designer
When authoring the Location list question in web designer, two questions are created in the behind xlsx form: a select_one question with the search appearance to populate the list, and a geopoint, geotrace or geoshape question with the pulldata(“@layer”) calculation to grab the geometry of a selected choice item:
Organize your surveys with the My Favorites page
As our users continue to discover innovative applications for Survey123 within their organizations, they frequently encounter the need to manage a growing number of surveys. These surveys might be actively in use, under development, or perhaps older and archived. Our users have asked us for a more efficient method to organize and prioritize frequently used surveys, we are excited to introduce a new “Add to Favorites” button on survey cards, along with a “My Favorites” page in the My Surveys gallery. This enhancement is designed to streamline survey management and ensure quick access to your most valued surveys.
New Survey123 Report Page
A key functionality of Survey123 is the ability to export survey feature data into custom reports in either PDF or Word formats through the use of report templates. Besides generating reports on the Data tab of the Survey123 website and the automation workflow; in this release, we are introducing a web page for the reporting capability. This update will be useful in scenarios such as:
- Allowing others a streamlined experience to generate reports; without needing access to all parts of the Data tab UI.
- Embedding the reporting capability into other ArcGIS apps, such as ArcGIS Dashboards.
To get started, click the new share icon in the upper right corner of the Report panel on the Data tab. Copy the report link URL and open it in a new tab.
The new report page is similar to the report panel and offers equivalent capabilities. You can share the report page with others or embed it in other applications.
Additionally, URL parameters can be used to further customize the report page. For example:
- `?inputFeatureTemplate=Hydrant {objectid}, Status: {status}` defines the feature template in the “Input feature” preview area.
- `?hide=selectTemplate,showCredits` hides the “Select a template” dropdown and the “Show credits” button.
To learn more about this new report page, check out this help topic
New ArcGIS Experience Builder widget for Survey123 feature reports
We are also introducing the new Feature Report widget to bring the Survey123 reporting capability (also known as feature report) into ArcGIS Experience Builder. This widget allows you to integrate reporting capability with dozens of other widgets to create a powerful web application. The end user of the web app can simply and conveniently choose and generate reports in a custom-made experience tailored to their specific task.
The following video demonstrates a fire hydrant report application in Experience Builder, which includes a Map widget and a Feature Report widget. Users can select multiple fire hydrants on the map to generate a summary report. Learn more about the Feature Report Widget in Experience Builder.
The Barcode question is now part of the web designer
You can use the Survey123 mobile app to scan barcodes using your device’s camera, no need for external barcode hardware. By simply scanning a barcode you can quickly capture the unique identifier and other asset information into your form. This helps to reduce errors and speeds up data capture. The Barcode question type is now available in the Survey123 web designer, which was previously only accessible through Survey123 Connect.
Change question type of an existing question for a published survey
Have you ever built and published a Survey123 form only to wish later that you would have used a different question type as an input? Maybe you chose a Singleline text question but not regret not choosing an Email or Website question type. Or you would prefer to change a Single select question to a Dropdown question. Good news! The Survey123 web designer now allows you to change the question type of an existing question in your form. It’s important to note that not all question types are interchangeable, and you can only switch between question types if the underlying field type remains the same. The image below shows some of the options available for changing question types. For more information see Update a survey.
Recycle Bin support in Survey123 Connect
When the recycle bin feature is activated within an ArcGIS Organization, any survey that is deleted in Survey123 Connect will have its contents moved to the organization’s recycle bin. This process provides a predefined period (typically 14 days) during which items mistakenly deleted can be recovered.
Other Enhancements
- Question Constraints: The web designer now includes expanded options for applying constraints to questions. This includes the introduction of constraints for setting both minimum and maximum character counts for text-based questions. For date-related questions it’s now possible to restrict answers to only those before or after a specified date. Additionally, there’s an option to define the number of images to be captured/uploaded, with the flexibility to set a minimum, maximum, or an exact count.
- Enhancements to Camera and Image/File Upload Features in the Survey123 Web App: Now, when a desktop computer is equipped with multiple cameras, users have the flexibility to switch between these available cameras directly within image questions, enabling the capture of images from different angles or sources. For questions that involve uploading more than one image or file, users can now easily drag and reorder these files.
List of Bug and Quality Improvements to the Survey123 field App
Version 3.20
- BUG-000155875 - Slow performance when attempting to add a language through the ArcGIS Survey123 web designer when the survey contains several choices
- ENH-000159350 Improve performance on Survey 123 Web Designer when creating 100+ questions
- BUG-000161577 - Questions with calculator and numbers appearance do not respect calculationMode
- BUG-000160775 - Editing Sent surveys allows for editing images with the annotate appearance but any changes do not get submitted to the feature service
- BUG-000165769 - dateTime values overwritten when navigating through repeats
Read the What’s new in Survey123 help topic to review other features added in this and prior updates.
If you’re planning to be at the 2024 Esri Users Conference, we encourage you to take advantage of the many Survey123 technical sessions available and come meet the team at the Esri Product Expo. This is a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of Survey123 and engage directly with the experts behind it.