Survey checks for updates when loaded from web link

[abureaux]

When a survey is launched from a web link, it doesn't check for updates to the survey or the linked content (e.g., CSV). This means users are using out of date content and have to open their surveys manually and one at a time to get all the updates.

When a survey is launched via URL and the Survey123 Field app is opened, the app should check for updates to the survey AND linked content before opening the survey.

[RobertAnderson3]

This post is from 2 years ago and yet still seems to be the case, and for some reason has had very little response to it, so I'm hoping commenting will raise it back to the top and get some more responses because the fact this does not work is absolutely breaking all my URL work flows.

[Vinzafy]

It's unfortunate this idea hasn't gained more traction! When launching from URLs, not having the workflow check for updates to things like survey updates or linked content updates has the potential to cause major problems for folks, especially when in field and out of signal.

Additionally, not having external choice lists (e.g., via linked content) update even when a survey is updated in Survey123 is strange. It seems the only way to update external choice lists as linked content is by having each user open affected surveys one-by-one.

This is an extra step that could easily be missed, especially for workflows that launch surveys via URL. A fair assumption would be that linked content updates would be included with survey updates, however that is not currently true.

[abureaux]

I forgot I made this post and made a duplicate. Same root cause for both posts. https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-survey123-ideas/stop-newly-downloaded-surveys-from-auto-startin...

It's pretty embarrassing having to explain to new employees that they have to update the thing they just downloaded so they can see their name (which is stored in a linked CSV).

[RobertAnderson3]

Same root cause I guess but I think different enough that it's fair to separate them, especially with the workflows using URL schemes being the big impact here, since the survey will have been downloaded before, just not the CSVs. 

I use the same method for employee names, and vehicles, and assets, and it is a pain now.

[ChristopherCounsell]

Does anyone have workarounds? 

Thinking of trying something like a dummy 'version' value in the map pop-up URL, and if it doesn't match the form version default in a null question, a warning is shown to suggest updating.

Still a pain to update URLs when this should work from the get go

[RobertAnderson3]

Still an issue and I'm not sure of workarounds, nothing I've found.

I have a bug I logged with Esri Support (Canada) a while ago, figure I should drop it here: BUG-000141398

It was escalated on February 23, 2024 so let's hope that means it's going to make progress.