Hello!
I'm designing a survey for volunteers to monitor bluebird boxes. The volunteers will visit the same boxes each week and record data each time. Some volunteers monitor up to 30 boxes a week. We used Survey123 last year with a lot of success, however, the biggest frustration was not being able to easily see the previous week's survey. Knowing what was in the box the week before is useful for knowing what to look for in the current week.
Right now, the best solution I can think of is to use the search bar to search for specific boxes. However, doing this for 30+ boxes each week will be tedious. Is there a better solution to view a submitted survey in a sea of sent surveys?
Thank you!
Solved! Go to Solution.
Not necessarily, no. You could handle exporting a CSV for only the newest repeat/inspection entry a few different ways, but using the "Export Data" option in your item details page is going to export the who dataset at once.
If you ONLY want to show your most recent inspection in a CSV, here's some off-the-cuff ideas.
That's just a handful of ideas, but it'll depend on how you want it to be set up. Making each bird box a feature on layer 0 and each inspection a record on layer 1 will automatically build a "relationship" between the layers when you publish it. This can make working with the data -a lot- easier in many cases, but slightly more difficult in a few I suppose. I try to give myself both options by copying over some of the layer 0 data over to my repeats behind the scenes. For instance:
(integer)${birdBox_number}
(integer)${birdBox_size}
begin_repeat
(hidden, integer field type)${birdBox_number_copy} = ${birdBox_number}
(hidden, integer field type)${birdBox_size_copy} = ${birdBox_size}
end repeat
This way, I have the built-in relationship and can link dashboard actions with stuff like GlobalID & ParentGlobalID and restore backups easier, but I also have a simple, human-readable spreadsheet for layer 1 that I can use easily for simple tasks.
Have you considered using Survey123's Inbox feature? And you could also format an instance name that would be more easily read, including probably just the "Date Monitored" and "Box Number", something like that.
Hi Katherine! Thanks for your quick response. How does the inbox feature differ from viewing a survey in the sent folder?
If I remember correctly, the outbox will show you records that you've submitted. But the inbox shows all records for the feature layer and you can select the record to edit the existing point.
Check out the "Enable Editing" section of this documentation: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/prepareforediting.htm
Hope it helps!
How about a survey with a repeat (allow adds, but read only access for existing) + inbox?
Layer 0 - Bird box location, description, etc.
Layer 1 - Your repeat where each repeat record represents an inspection.
Users can use the inbox to find the bird box closest to them, open it up and view existing records, and then add a new inspection.
This is a great idea! Thanks, Derrick.
Doing this approach will lead to the data being exported in a difference .csv for each repeat, correct?
Not necessarily, no. You could handle exporting a CSV for only the newest repeat/inspection entry a few different ways, but using the "Export Data" option in your item details page is going to export the who dataset at once.
If you ONLY want to show your most recent inspection in a CSV, here's some off-the-cuff ideas.
That's just a handful of ideas, but it'll depend on how you want it to be set up. Making each bird box a feature on layer 0 and each inspection a record on layer 1 will automatically build a "relationship" between the layers when you publish it. This can make working with the data -a lot- easier in many cases, but slightly more difficult in a few I suppose. I try to give myself both options by copying over some of the layer 0 data over to my repeats behind the scenes. For instance:
(integer)${birdBox_number}
(integer)${birdBox_size}
begin_repeat
(hidden, integer field type)${birdBox_number_copy} = ${birdBox_number}
(hidden, integer field type)${birdBox_size_copy} = ${birdBox_size}
end repeat
This way, I have the built-in relationship and can link dashboard actions with stuff like GlobalID & ParentGlobalID and restore backups easier, but I also have a simple, human-readable spreadsheet for layer 1 that I can use easily for simple tasks.
Thank you for the details! I start looking into these options. I appreciate your response!