Best way to capture 2 separate times as required fields?

[DustyJordan]

Hello,

I'm wondering what the best way to capture 2 time data points in a survey with both being required fields. This is the scenario: we are surveying for a species of invasive ants and will be dropping baits across the landscape. We then return 30-60 minutes later and retrieve the baits and record the observed species. So essentially we have "Drop Time" and "Pick Up Time."

My first idea was to do this in a series of repeats, as we typically have around 20 bait stations, cycling back through each repeat to complete the pick up and results fields as the baits are retrieved. However, if drop time and pickup time are both required fields Survey123 doesn't permit you to move on to the second repeat.

Alternatively, I've thought about doing away with the repeats and having each bait station be a survey that they could save as a draft in the outbox and then reopen and finish as they pick up the baits.

Perhaps there is a better way to do this though. I was hoping someone might have some advice or pointers for me. Thank you in advance!

-Dusty

[IsmaelChivite · Accepted solution]

Hi. It seems to me like having each bait station be its own survey record is a good approach.  If you set a good instance_name property, your records in the Drafts folder will be easier to find. The instance_name is used to label the records in the list and map views.

More about instance name: Survey123 for ArcGIS – XLSForm: Defining Survey Submission Name - YouTube 

[DustyJordan]

Hi Ismael,

Thank you for the quick response! Sounds like utilizing the Drafts folder may be the way to go after all. I'm familiar with setting up instance_name field for record labels in the outbox, but I'll check the link you shared to see if I can learn any new tricks.

Thanks for the advice. 

-Dusty