Data deleted from Outbox upon app autoupdate

[LorettaWinton]

Hello,

Twice now I have had data that was in my Outbox (I was using Survey123 out of cell service range on iPad mini). When I got back into range my apps autoupdated, including Survey123, and all the data I had collected was lost. I determined this because I no longer had an Outbox at all. I have now turned off autoupdate. But this is a real problem that should be fixed in future versions. Will it be? I don't suppose there is any way to recover that data is there?

Thanks for answering all my questions,

Lori

[HannahFerrier]

Lori,

Think of your surveys as emails. When an email is in your outbox, the email has already been sent but it is waiting to sync. Once it is able to sync, your email will then move into your Sent mailbox. When surveys are completed, but cannot be updated online because you have no internet, they will be in your outbox.

After you get an internet connection, your outbox isn't lost, it's just empty. And your surveys are not lost, they are just being moved. All of the surveys in your outbox are being sent and then moved along into your Sent surveys.

I hope this helps,

Hannah

[LorettaWinton]

Thanks for your reply Hannah,

I apologize that I was not clear. What I mean is that on March 7 I took a bunch of surveys. With each survey I used the 'Send Later" option as I was not in cell service range. I had about 120 records in the Outbox. Then when I got back into cell service range on March 8, the Survey123 mobile app for iOS updated to the new version released on March 8. After that update, all 120 surveys were gone and there was no longer an Outbox from which to "Send Surveys".

I also lost a bunch of data in February, after the Valentines update to the Survey123 mobile app for iOS.  The app works awesome when it does not update prior to uploading surveys. I have now turned off Settings>iTunes & App Stores>Updates so  apps no longer automatically update. But that is not an ideal situation and people are certainly going to lose data as did I. Obviously, this is a bad thing.

I really look forward to your reply, maybe I did something stupid, but I can't see how.

Thanks,

Lori

[HannahFerrier]

Lori,

Apologies for the late reply, I have been reproducing your issue and working with our developers to explain your issue...

You are correct - when Survey123 for iOS is updated from the App Store, you will no longer be able to access any previous draft surveys or surveys in your outbox. Good news - they have not been deleted, they still exist, but the path to the records has changed with the update. I can get your records back for you, but the process is a little complicated. You will need to manually update the path values in the database. Let me know if you need the details. Bad news, this issue will not be addressed until after the next release.

Please make sure that you have submitted all surveys on your device before the next update of Survey123 is installed on your device.

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention,

Hannah

[LorettaWinton]

Hannah,

Thanks for your reply. I would definitely like to recover that data. Could you give me explicit instructions for doing so?

Thanks a bunch and I REALLY hope this issue gets fixed.

Lori

Lori (Loretta) Winton, PhD

Forest Pathologist, SouthCentral & Interior Alaska

Forest Service

Forest Health Protection, R10 Alaska Region

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[DamSafetyWID]

This happened to us today. We were working on a draft survey on iOS, when a popup to update the app popped up. We clicked update, and then once finished our draft survey was deleted. 

It would be great to know how to solve this issue ... @HannahFerrier @LorettaWinton 

Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation

Water Investment Division │ Dam Safety Program

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Cell: (802) 636-7099