No-Code workflow automation with ArcGIS Survey123 (Directions Magazine)
On February 10, 2022, Directions Magazine hosted a webinar covering No-Code workflow automation with ArcGIS Survey123. In this post you will find the recording, resources and Q&A.
Recording
Click here to watch the recording
Slides
Q&A
Q. How much Microsoft Power Automate and Integromat cost?
A. Think about how much they will save you! To your question, you can use Integromat and Power Automate for free, with certain limitations. For details, check the pricing pages for Integromat and Power Automate. Ah! By the way, you can use this Integromat promo-code link if you want to get a free Basic subscription for one month.
Q. This session demonstrated how to do workflow automation with Microsoft Power Automate and Integromat. Are there more no-code third-party options available?
A. We focused our presentation on Microsoft Power Automate and Integromat because they have a ready-to-use Survey123 connector. However, technically you can automate tasks using other third-party tools such as Tray.io, Zapier and any other workflow automation environment with support for webhooks. A great example is FME from SAFE software. Check out the Automating Workflows from Survey123 to ArcGIS using FME Server tutorial for details.
Q. Can I automate workflows, without coding, on top of Survey123 using ArcGIS tools?
A. Yes. In his Event-Driven Integrations with Data Interoperability blog post, @BruceHarold illustrates how to automate tasks with the ArcGIS Pro Data Interoperability extension. ArcGIS Velocity and ArcGIS Workflow Manager can also be used to automate tasks when a Survey123 form is submitted.
Q. In the report violation demo you created the survey using the web designer. Can I automate tasks on top of surveys authored from Survey123 Connect?
A. Yes. How you create the survey does not make any difference.
Q. You demonstrated how to load Survey123 records in Excel. Is it possible to load data into other systems?
A. Yes. Check the complete list of integrations available for Integromat and Microsoft Power Automate for details. Microsoft SQL Server, SnowFlake, Oracle, AirTable, MongoDB and Amazon RedShift are some examples of connectors available.
Q. If I want to load Survey123 records in Excel, do workbook columns need to match the field names in ArcGIS?
A. No, you just need to map the data from your form to the columns where you want the data to go. Check the Load Survey123 data into Excel instantly with Microsoft Power Automate step-by-step guide for details.
Q. How can I trigger my workflow when Survey123 updates a record in ArcGIS?
A. By default, Survey123 will only trigger your workflow when a new record is created. However, you can also trigger workflows after an update.
If you are using Integromat, you can control the trigger events when you setup the hook. See below.
If you are using Microsoft Power Automate, you can control the trigger from the Survey123 website Webhooks dialog as shown here:
You can make your flows do different things depending on if the trigger is for a record update or a new record. The Survey123 hook payload includes a property called Event type, which takes a value of add or edit. For example, if the Event type is edit, you would then use an action to update a row in your spreadsheet or some other table.
Q. Is it possible to include a photo submitted from a Survey123 form as an e-mail attachment?
A. Yes, check details in these two blog posts:
- Survey123 tricks of the trade: Working with attachments in Microsoft Power Automate (Esri Community)
-Working with Survey123 attachments in Integromat (ArcGIS Blog)
Q. Is it possible to save submitted attachments to a specified folder through Power Automate?
A. You can upload your attachment to a cloud folder. If you sync your cloud folder with a local folder in a computer, you will effectively have all attachments show up in your local folder. Check the two links in the previous question for more details.
Q. The workflow examples I have seen send a notification when a survey has been created. Can the workflow check for updates once a day, and then send a summary?
A. Yes. It is possible through a scheduled trigger. This is supported with both Integromat and Microsoft Power Automate. When you schedule a module in that way, your flow will not have any Survey123 payload to work with. However, you can use the HTTP module to query a feature layer through the ArcGIS REST API and invoke actions in other modules as appropriate. This is an advanced workflow that requires good knowledge of the REST API, but it is doable.
Q. Can you email a Survey123 URL with query parameters to prefill certain fields for a new survey response?
A. Yes. You can also include a link that opens a record in edit mode! Check the URL parameters syntax here and here. Once you understand the syntax, simply insert an expression in the body of your email message to dynamically construct the <a href> HTML link.
Q. Can you automate email notifications from a shared email address?
A. Yes. This is typically done through a shared mailbox. Check this Shared mailboxes in Outlook video for details. Once your account has access to a shared mailbox, you can configure the Send email module to send the email under that address.
Q. Can you create a CMMS follow-up work order or preventive maintenance cycle when a Survey123 form is submitted?
A. It depends on your CMMS software. Please check with your CMMS vendor if their software is compatible with Integromat or Microsoft Power Automate. If not, you could still trigger actions in your CMMS software if a documented REST API is available. Right from within Integromat and Microsoft Power Automate you can invoke REST operations through the HTTP modules.
Q. We want to use S123 and Power Automate to send a notification when a public facing survey is submitted. However, Survey123 has no CAPTCHA to prevent malicious entries. Is there any way Power Automate can filter out malicious submissions?
A. We plan to enable CAPTCHA for Survey123 web forms. Stay tuned as we will make CAPTCHA available to Beta testers in the next few weeks. Additionally, you can use data enrichment workflows to associate metadata with all submissions as a first step to filter out non-relevant content. Both Google and Microsoft for example have natural language and image classification services that can help you enrich submissions to facilitate QA/QC workflows.
Q. How can I send an SMS?
A. Check the Integromat and Power Automate integrations registries for SMS connectors. There are multiple options available.
Q. In Microsoft Power Automate, my Survey123 connection expires after two weeks. Is there a way to stop this?
A. No. Your connection will need to be updated, or recreated. You can renew the connection from the Data-Connections dialog in Microsoft Power Automate.
Q. In Microsoft Power Automate, what does the Premium label in a connector mean?
A. Power Automate connectors are classified as Standard or Premium. Access to Premium connectors is provided through paid subscriptions. See details here.
Q. I cannot create Survey123 reports from Microsoft Automate. Why?
A. Automation of Survey123 reports is only available in Integromat at this moment. We are working with Microsoft to bring Survey123 report generation into Microsoft Power Automate. We do no have a release date for this yet.
Q. Has Esri engaged Microsoft to add an official ArcGIS Enterprise connector for Power Automate? My organization won't support a custom connector in Power Automate if it is not registered with Microsoft.
A. Yes. Following Microsoft's recommendations, we support connectivity with ArcGIS Enterprise through a custom connector. Steps are available here. Should Microsoft recommend a different approach, Esri will follow it.
Q. Will automated tasks consume ArcGIS Online credits?
A. No, unless you add logic in your tasks that uses Premium ArcGIS Online services. For example, if you create a flow to automatically create a Survey123 report, the report creation will consume ArcGIS Online credits. Check the ArcGIS Online credits help topic for a detailed list of credits consumed by capability.
Q. Can I create more than one automation on top of a survey?
A. Yes.
Q. What about all the folks that are collecting data sans wifi or even cellular? Most field collection takes place in the boonies where cell coverage is spotty at best.
A. Workflow automation flows trigger when the data is submitted to ArcGIS. If the user was online or offline when the data was collected does not make a difference. You can collect data while offline and then send all the records to ArcGIS once connected. At that point your flow will be triggered. Survey123 supports offline data collection through the Survey123 field app. It is available for iOS, Android and Windows devices.
Where to learn more
Survey123 workflow automation with Integromat
- Getting started with Survey123 and Integromat (Esri Community)
- Survey123 tricks of the trade: Integromat (Esri Community)
- Working with Survey123 attachments in Integromat (ArcGIS Blog)
- ArcGIS Survey123 Automate workflows with Integromat (YouTube 4 minute video)
- ArcGIS Survey123: Create reports with Integromat (YouTube 4 minute video)
Survey123 workflow automation with Microsoft Power Automate
- Load Survey123 data into Excel instantly with Microsoft Power Automate (ArcGIS Blog)
- Getting started with Survey123 and Microsoft Power Automate (ArcGIS Blog)
- Survey123 tricks of the trade: Working with attachments in Microsoft Power Automate (Esri Community)
I'm new to power automate, I have created several flows to send email on a submitted survey123 form. One form I tested, it sends an email with only the header. No other information? 2 other flows do not send any email?
I have used feature attributes selections from the dynamic content drop down in the body of the email, but the information does not show?
example of my flow.....
