Entry getting reset on switching visibility based on relevant value

[BonnieWeller1]

I have a section in my form where I am switching between repeats based upon a value selected. There are two repeats within a repeat. For each bird sighting, the user may take multiple pictures of the bird. The photos can be on the device or made with a standalone digital camera. If the option "device" is selected the "image" option appears as a repeat via condition set in relevant. If the user selects "standalone" a text box to add the filename from the camera for later reference is displayed as a repeat.

I am witnessing two problems (still testing in Connect):

1. After selecting an option (either one) I add say 3 photos and then add another bird sighting. I go to add 1 photo for this sighting, the repeat section shows 1 of 3 (retains previous photo count). I don't want it show any count initially.

2. After entering all the data, as I go back through the repeats (birds and photos) and check my values, I noticed that sometimes the data gets erased if I am switching between the "device" and "standalone" repeats between bird records. I assume it has something to do with things getting reset as I turn on and off the repeats visibility based on the relevant condition.

How can I retain these values?

Thanks in advance

[Jim-Moore]

Hi Bonnie, thanks for the description of the issue. Could you please provide the XLSForm for your survey?

Thanks, Jim

[BonnieWeller1]

I attached the file (Survey Photos Test.xlsx). I am also not able successfully send it from my desktop Survey123 if I switch between photos taken with the device and photos taken with a standalone camera. (It will post if I have just photos uploaded/taken or a filename-not both in the same survey). How can I hide this option (photoDevice) after selecting so that it forces the user to select just one option (ie. either use a camera or your device on a survey. Not both.

[Jim-Moore]

Hi Bonnie, thanks very much for the XLSForm.

Regarding (1) in your original post, this is related to an issue that we're aiming to have fixed in the 3.2 release. An update will soon be available on EAC for testing.

Regarding (2) you're right: responses are not stored for questions that are not relevant, so when switching between the 'device' and 'standalone' options any entered data will be lost. One way to work around this would be to simplify the form so that it uses one repeat for photos, instead of two. Please see Example1 attached. In this example, all records (regardless of whether they're 'device' or 'standalone') are recorded in the same table; for each record, the user specifies if the photo was taken with the device or standalone camera.

Alternatively, if you require the data to be stored in two separate tables (one for 'device' and another for 'standalone', as per your original design) you could keep the two repeats separate (something like Example2, attached).

Jim