Is it possible to re-publish a survey after adding a new File type Q?

[LucieS]

Hi there, 

we've got a live survey (developed in Survey123Connect) and now need to give users the ability to attach files. I hoped to be able to add a File type question to the existing survey but I fear this might not be possible without losing the data. So I was just wondering whether anyone else has faced this issue in case there was some kind of workaround for this?

Thanks,

Lucie

[abureaux · Accepted solution]

I added a file question to my test form and got this:

To resolve this, I...

1. I went to the Feature Layer in Portal, then the Layer:

2. I clicked "Enable Attachments"

3. Then I went back to Connect and was able to publish (Ignore the random additions. The point is the database won't be wiped out):

[LucieS]

Hi,

just to say a massive thank you- your solution is much simpler than the workaround I was planning on using so very grateful for your help!

Thanks,

Lucie

[ChristopherCounsell]

If you click 'learn more' it will take you to a documentation page that covers this:

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/updatesurvey.htm

Generally it will only prompt to overwrite when a field is incompatible (i.e. string vs integer), or you're adding/updating a repeat (table). Much better than the pre 2.5 days where it always overwrote...

However there is a note on images/attachments:

Image, audio, and file questions cannot be added unless attachments are enabled for the feature layer. If a survey included an image, audio, or file question when it was created, attachments are already enabled.

It looks like Survey123 Connect doesn't have the capability to enable attachments on re-publish, so you have to do it yourself manually.