Cannot send survey due to unknown error

[garciakaylaaa7]

Hi everyone, I have had issues with Survey123 when submitting some of my data. I keep getting the message "Survey could not be sent due to the following error: Unknown error."

It only occurred on a few of my surveys when uploading but I can't figure out why. There doesn't seem to be any differences between the forms that have been submitted and these ones. 

[DougBrowning]

Usually that is from trying to attach an image that is too large.  Photos must be under 10 MB.  If they are over that, usually a screen grab or something like that, which is not good to use.

[ChristopherCounsell]

The operation rolled back message indicates that something when wrong while the feature edit was being applied.

Common reasons for this include non-editable or missing fields or invalid values for the fields.

You may have something like a string value being too long for the field. E.g. a calculated string value of 1000 characters into a strong field that allows for 255.

Or you are trying to insert string values into an integer field.

You may be able to narrow it down by accessing the logs. Otherwise you need to look at your survey123 XLSForm, how values are getting populated (particularly custom url values, calculations), and if they match the target service fields.

sharing your XLSForm also helps

[GarethBaker1]

I've got three different users working on three different surveys who have reported the same error in the last couple of weeks. They're using Android phones with Survey 123 being installed via Microsoft Intune (work Play store) against an ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9.1 portal.

There doesn't appear to be any obvious logic such as large photos or incorrect data types which are causing some records to upload successfully and some not. In most cases these forms and users have worked absolutely fine for a couple of years which makes me wonder whether there is a bug that has slipped in with a recent app update maybe?

They basically get the same unknown error message as the original poster.  I've suggested for now that they edit the survey and then save it in drafts as that will at least allow them to submit other surveys without attempting to send the dodgy ones again.

Will raise with UK technical support as this looks like it's becoming a more widespread issue for us (though I imagine it will be one that is tricky to try and replicate).

 

[ChristopherCounsell]

@GarethBaker1 what you are posting is a different error message. An 'unknown error' is like the 999999 error. It means they have not added an error handler for the scenario. This happens when it's an uncommon, new, unconventional or just overall vague scenario. Users often joke about these error messages in Map/Pro but a large majority of the time it can be identified by walking through the environment and steps.

The error message by @garciakaylaaa7 is a conventional error message. It's generally associated with the applyEdits operation being rolled back when the feature edit (survey submit) fails to fully commit. @DougBrowning and I have suggested common reasons for why this may occur - the convention.

It may be that your issue is related but we have no reason to suspect as such at this time. I would suggest making a new thread. Especially with Enterprise being involved - it's a very different environment.

I'd also suggest all posters include your version of Survey123 Connect (from publish), field app version, and the original XLSForm. Ideally provide the survey123 field app logs when the error occurs. You could also look to check the ArcGIS Server logs to see if the server-side error is more informative. Without this, we are just speculating and can only go so far.

As for this being a bug, it's possible. It's also possible it was an intentional design change. Or there was a change to your environment - with Enterprise, that could mean anything across the portal, server, data store, web or mobile environment. I'd start with the basics - server logs. Work with support and feel free to share any info you can to the community.

It's also possible that the XLSForm had an underlying design flaw that only manifested recently. Maybe it was certain values (like a long string for the rolled back error). Or maybe it's just an old survey form with some invalid data checks that finally encountered a submission issue. For example, we had surveys with 'hidden' question types and 'required'. This is not supported nor logical. We starting getting issues with submission when Survey123 fixed a bug where unfulfilled requirements were still able to be submitted. Another example would be a reserved word as a field - it may work in Survey123, portal, and hosted feature layers, but error out when ported to an Oracle database. If you can share the XLSForm, we may be able to identify unusual configurations. I've seen a lot.

Cheers

[GarethBaker1]

Thanks @ChristopherCounsell and apologies. I was looking at the thread title and first line of the original post which states "unknown error" and didn't really pay attention to the screenshot which as you say has a different error message!

I will do a bit more digging in server logs etc (if I can get one of the users to come into the office) and will post in a separate thread as suggested.

Thanks
Gareth

[ChristopherCounsell]

Good pickup - maybe they're getting both error messages. Can't rule out it's not related to what you're seeing. We'll see.

[FedericoRiet_Sapriza]

Hi  @ChristopherCounsell @DougBrowning 

I have the same issue, I got an error and can't send the survey. I did a test and sending without photos and still the issue. I have the latest version of S123. Also this started to happen in January 2024 ( I have no survey data with date 2024) worked fine before that.

I'm attaching the XLSForm.

Many thanks

Federico