Survey123 Drafts Folder will not save data in repeat

[Anonymous User]

The Survey was created and published from survey123 Connect 3.9, then republished with 3.12.

There is a repeat section with a photograph and text field input.  But saving the form to drafts only ever saves the FIRST set of data that was entered.  Returning to the form and adding data (in this case a photograph and comment), then resaving the draft never works.  Only the first set of data entered into the repeat is saved.  Subsequent additions are lost.

This is the workflow that shows it.

1. Start a form, input everything, take a photo and add a comment.
2. Hit the X in the top left, “Save in Drafts”, turn off app (swipe away).
3. Reopen the app, hit the arrow to add a new photo, add comment.
4. Hit the X in the top left, “Save in Drafts”, turn off app (swipe away).
5. Once I open up the draft again, the photo and comment I took the second time is gone

Is this behaviour a bug?  or resulting from the use of the repeat?  i have read of versions of this behaviour being patched on the site.  But not quite this.  And it continues with the latest updates of survey123 and connect (3.12).

Has anyone else observed this or come up with a solution / workaround?

thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Hi @Anonymous User,

Can you confirm what device/model/OS version you are using? Does this occur only on that one devices, or all devices?

Also, can you share your XLSForm survey (xlsx file and media files) so we can take a closer look to see if it is related to the configuration of the survey?

Regards,

Phil.

[Anonymous User]

Hello Phillip,

This behavior is most reported by iphone users.  I am specifically testing with an iphone 8 running iOS 14.7.  It is definitely happening on more than one device, but i cannot confirm that it is happening on ALL devices.  I added the excel form below. 

thank you,

[Anonymous User · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous User,

Thanks for sharing your XLSForm, I am able to reproduce the issue and can confirm it is related to the repeat_count value when you save to Drafts, and re-open to edit the survey. If repeat_count is used, any edits to repeats will not be saved. This also applies to surveys in other folders such as Sent and Outbox when editing.

This is a known issue and currently in our backlog as BUG-000127011. The best workaround for now is to not use repeat_count if you are requiring users to save to Drafts and re-edit the survey. I tested without repeat_count in your survey, and I can save to Drafts and re-open survey, save draft again, and all edits are saved and submitted.

Another option is instead of using a repeat to add multiple images to the same survey, you can use the multiline appearance on the image question. Please refer to below resources:

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/xlsformsappearance.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_792A857AF8474F03BDFDA26CED2C3FDE

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-survey123-blog/survey123-tricks-of-the-trade-photos/ba-p/897907

Regards,

Phil.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you Philip.  That does appear to have corrected the behaviour.