Fix Date and Time in Survey123

[JasonSchilling1]

I'm building a simple form in Survey123 Connect. On a given day, I'll be recording multiple observations and want to have to record the date and survey begin time only once. Is there a way to set up the these fields so that I can  enter it for the first observation and then have it automatically populate for every one thereafter? Seems like a simple function, but I haven't been able to figure it out yet. 

[TimothyHales]

I've moved your post into the Survey123 for ArcGIS‌ place. You will get a much better answer there as Community Help‌ is intended for community help and feedback. You browse all of the available places on GeoNet from Communities. 

[CarmelConnolly3 · Accepted solution]

Hi Jason,

Entering today() or now() into the Default column for a date/dateTime row will auto fill these fields with the current date/time you're filling out the form: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/quickreferencecreatesurveys.htm#ESRI_SECT...

I believe the new 1.9 release of Survey123 has fixed the bug so that this functionality works in Repeats if you're using them.

Using the question types Start and End will enter the start/end date/time of the survey into the database into the background: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/quickreferencecreatesurveys.htm#GUID-2D96...

Carmel

[JasonSchilling1]

Thanks Carmel! That was an easy fix.

[JasonSchilling1]

What if I'd like to answer questions at the beginning of a survey that aren't time or date related, and have those answers automatically populate for each record of the survey? For example, I want to record the sky conditions and the observer name once I start the survey and then record sightings of eagles throughout the morning. I don't want to have to record the sky conditions and observer name for every eagle (row in excel) that I observe. Is there a way to do this?

Jason

[CarmelConnolly]

Hi Jason, 

Would this all be in the one survey entry? If so, you would be able to use calculations: Formulas—Survey123 for ArcGIS | ArcGIS  

If the first sky condition question name was SkyCondition, then you'd enter ${SkyCondition} into the calculation column of the second sky condition question row. Whatever is entered for the 1st question will automatically be entered for the second question. 

If this is across multiple survey entries, then using Favorite Answers might be the solution: Prepopulate answers—Survey123 for ArcGIS | ArcGIS 

Carmel

[JasonSchilling1]

Hi Carmel,

This would be for multiple survey entries. I found a solution in the repeat function. I didn't realize that using that function would allow me to only enter survey date, sky condition and observers once, while being able to enter multiple eagle locations (rows in excel). 

Thanks for your help.

Jason