Calculated Dates Dependent on Default Dates no Longer Work after 2.7 Update

[ChristopherMatechik]

Hi,

I have two date fields. One is the date a turtle nest was found, or ${Date_Found}, and has a default value of today(). Another date field, called ${Days_Old_70} calculates when the nest will be 70 days old based on when it was found. This is very critical information because it tells surveyors when they can expect the nest to hatch. It uses the following expression:

date (decimal-date-time(${Date_Found}) + 70)

Before I upgraded to version 2.7, both the default date ${Date_Found} and the calculated field (${Days_Old_70}) would automatically fill in. Now, the calculated date remains null unless I click on the ${Date_Found} field and then re-enter today's date or I click on the calculated field,pick a random date, and then click refresh.

Is it possible to make it automatically refresh?

Thanks for your help.

[JamesTedrick · Accepted solution]

Hi Christopher,

In 2.7, a change was made to prevent questions with calculations that were also not relevant from submitting data.  At the same time, as you note, questions are not conducting calculations when becoming relevant. This appears to be causing the issue you are seeing, as the date calculations you are using also have relevant calculations.  This behavior will be corrected in a future release of Survey123.

If possible, changing the type to calculate for these questions will automatically cause the calculations to be conducted automatically.  If manual input is required, then manual refreshing will be needed for now.

[ChristopherMatechik]

Thank you James. I am familiar with the previous problem of calculations that were not relevant submitting data. I actually posted about it a few days ago and I wondered if the issues were related. I’m glad to see ESRI is moving forward to fix these bugs.

I did change the calculated dates to calculate question types and they are working. However, it is a little inconvenient that calculated question types are hidden and that is why I decided not to use them to begin with. That being said, I am glad you are aware of the problem and I will patiently wait for the next release. It is only a minor inconvenience at the moment.

Thanks for your help,

Chris

[ChristopherMatechik]

As a follow up, what is the best way to keep up with releases of new versions of Survey123? Is there a way to receive notifications when they are released?

[JamesTedrick]

Hi Christopher,

First I would encourage you to join the Survey123 beta in the Esri Early Adopter Community.  There we post in-development versions of the application, along with early documentation of new features

Second, the best way to follow updates in Survey123 is through the blog here on GeoNet.  I've just added a link to the RSS feed (if you use Feedly or similar) to the group's home page (it's a bit buried otherwise) - the direct link is https://community.esri.com/groups/survey123/blog/feeds/posts