Strange behavior with photo uploads in existing survey

[TylerBragg2]

We started experiencing some issues today with uploading photos to a survey that has existed for about 6 months and has performed perfectly until now.  This is an internal survey (to our org) that is populated using the Survey123 web form, not the mobile app, and is accessed via a link provided in a custom pop-up from the Field Maps mobile app.  I should also state that I use custom URL parameters to open the survey in edit mode so that the survey is updating an existing feature in the feature layer rather than creating a new one.

The problem we are experiencing is that photos will simply not attach to the survey.  The photo upload option is available and, when selected, brings you to the screen to choose between the photo gallery on the phone or to use the camera to take a new picture.  You can select either option, but it just does not upload the photo.  Usually, a thumbnail of the photo is displayed on the survey showing that you uploaded a photo, but this is not happening now (it still has the "select and image file" button).  

Since this survey is designed to be filled out using the web form, I also tried uploading photos to a survey from my desktop, but it still does not work.  Same behavior.  I also tried switching the default internet app on the phone from Chrome to Samsung Internet and it made no difference.  

This survey was published with Survey123 Connect version 3.12, and then re-published with version 3.13 with no change.  

Has there been an update to the Survey123 web form recently that would cause or contribute to this behavior?  

I have many other surveys published that allow photo uploads, and the ones I've checked seem to be working fine.  We seem to be having the problem with just this one for some reason, and as I stated, it has worked perfectly until the issue was brought to my attention today.  

Any advice or ideas?  I'm happy to provide further information if needed.  

Tyler

[Anonymous User]

Hi @TylerBragg2,

How was your survey published, via Survey123 Connect or the web designer?

Can you please try republish with latest 3.14 Connect or web designer, and retest attaching images on iOS devices via the web form?

Are you using any constraints, filters or other configurations on that specific image question that is not working? Can you share your XLSForm so we can take a look? Thanks.

Regards,

Phil.

[TylerBragg2]

Hi @Anonymous User , and thanks for your reply!

The survey was published via Survey123 Connect (I think originally with v3.12). 

I downloaded v3.14 Connect and re-published the survey.  No change on iOS device, Android, or from Windows desktop.  None will allow the upload.  

There are no filters or constraints on the image questions, other than that I have them in groups.  I have three groups that allow 5 photos for one group, 10 photos for the other two groups.  This was done for a very specific reason, being that I need allowance for several photo uploads, but I don't want to use repeats for a number of reasons.  By doing it the way I have, I can set the groups to be collapsed by default (thus taking up minimal space on the survey), but the users can expand the groups and add up to 25 photos if needed.  By doing it this way, I can reference the individual photos for feature report generation.  This has worked perfectly up until now (well, last week).  You will see this in the attached xls form.  

Again, I'll note that this survey is designed to be opened up in edit mode from Field Maps.  The feature is already created elsewhere, then the field staff use this survey to go in and add pertinent attribute data to the feature layer.  No related tables or anything like that on this one, so it's pretty straight-forward.  

Thanks!

Tyler

[Anonymous User]

Hi @TylerBragg2,

Thanks for the additional information and xlsx file. We will take a look and get back to you.

Can you also provide an example of the URL you are using to launch the web app in edit mode for an existing survey. Do you also pass attributes/values to the survey from Field Maps with the URL parameters?

Regards,

Phil.

[TylerBragg2]

@Anonymous User here's the URL:

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/192a4eacc3634ea19d511963dc723076?mode=edit&globalId={globalid}&assignmenttype={assignmenttype}&status={status}&address={address}&priority={priority}&submitdate={submitdate}&duedate={duedate}&description={description}&Dispatcher_Name={Dispatcher_Name}&latitude={latitude}&longitude={longitude}&version=latest

As you can see, I do pass several attributes into the survey using the URL parameters.  Again, all this has been functioning perfectly well for 6 months now.  And I have other applications that function similarly that aren't experiencing problems (that I'm aware of at the moment). 

Let me give you just a little background on this layer so you understand what it's doing:  I created a work order system for our sewer department.  I have another survey built from this feature layer that is the "dispatch" survey.  From that, we actually create new features that represent a new work order for the crew.  Only attributes pertinent to the dispatch information are populated in that survey.  I have some automatic notifications set up using integromat, so the field crew gets a text telling them there's a new work order.  Then they open up Field Maps to a map that shows only new or in-progress work orders.  They can find the point they're looking for, open the pop-up, then there's a link to this survey.  From this survey, they fill out all information pertaining to the work order, including pictures, then they can mark it as completed and submit.  Completed work orders are filtered out of the map so they only see ones that still need worked.  Then there's a dashboard where you can view all the work orders and the details of each (and there's a third survey that's a "master" editing version that's embedded into this dashboard so that the admins can edit anything they need to).  

So that's a brief overview of how this survey ties into the workflow.  I find that knowing the background about something helps me to understand things a little better.  

I'm thinking about completely rebuilding this survey from scratch, exactly the same as it is, and publishing new to see if that works.  I can't really afford for this thing to be non-functional for any length of time, especially for unknown reasons.  I've already got the field guys quizzing me about it daily.  

Thanks!

Tyler

[ZhifangWang · Accepted solution]

Hi @TylerBragg2 ,

Thank you for sharing the information.

We have identified an issue in the Survey123 web app for image questions published from Survey123 Connect 3.14, they cannot accept JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) files, including photo taken from a webcam, where PNG files can work as expected.

The details are in this post https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-survey123-questions/jpg-not-accepted-anymore-in-survey/m-p/1149... , would you mind confirming if this is your case?

Thanks,

Zhifang

[TylerBragg2]

@ZhifangWang  and @Anonymous User 

I briefly tested the photo upload with several .png files and yes, what you mentioned above does seem to be the case for me.  The .png file appears to upload correctly.  

That brings me to the question - is there a work-around for this?  I believe I still have Survey123 connect versions 3.12 and 3.13 installed on my computer.  Would it work for me to go back and re-publish this survey with an older version to get it working again?  Or is it even possible to revert a published survey back to a previous version.  

As a side note, I believe I will have to change my URL parameters to remove the "version=latest" in order for this to work.  My survey was originally published with 3.12, then updated with 3.13 and I was still experiencing this issue, but my theory is that because of the "version=latest" parameter, it was using the 3.14 version of the web app.  Would you agree with this part? 

Thanks to all for digging into this.  Now to identify a temporary fix to get things up and rolling...

Tyler

[ZhifangWang]

@TylerBragg2 ,

Republish a survey by using a previous version of Survey123 Connect can downgrade its version and possible to use an older version of the Survey123 web app to avoid any issue introduced by the latest version of the web app.

However, it is suggested to turn on version lock for the web app in Settings->Version on the Survey123 website, this ensures your survey will not be affected by a new release. When you need to "upgrade" a survey (republish in a new version of Survey123 Connect or the Survey123 website after a new release) to utilize new features, it is strongly recommended to test your survey by changing the option to "Always use the latest version" temporarily or append ?version=latest in the survey URL before upgrading.

Thanks,

Zhifang

[TylerBragg2]

@ZhifangWang Excellent information.  Thank you!

Tyler

[TylerBragg2]

@ZhifangWang  and @Anonymous User 

I just conducted a test to see if I could identify a solution, and it worked.  Here's what I did:

I did still have the 3.12 version of Survey123 Connect installed.  I opened the survey up and re-published it from 3.12.  I then opened the "Settings" tab of the survey in the Survey123 web app to verify that it recognized it as being published with 3.12 and it did.  I then ensured that it was fixed to this version and not to update to the latest version.  I then removed the "version=latest" url parameter from my link to the survey, opened it from Field Maps using that link, and it appears to be functioning properly for now.  I will continue to monitor this application to ensure proper function.  

It would be great if you could update this thread or the other one you linked when the bug has been fixed, or when the expected fix will occur.  

Thanks again!

Tyler