Updating Surveys and Hosted Feature Service Layer

JoshHabel · ‎01-11-2018

Hello,

I have a published survey created in Survey123 Connect that has its feature service layer tied to a webmap, dashboard and a web app. Is there a way to make changes to the survey without having to rebuild my webmap, dashboard, and web app. I am new to using Survey and have not quite perfected what i want on of my forms. On several occasions now i've needed to add questions or make other tweaks to the survey form that have not allowed me to republish the survey through Connect. Each time i have had to delete my feature service layer to publish which breaks my webmap, dashboard, and web app. This is extremely frustrating and takes considerable time to get things back to where i want them. It seems like there would be an easier way to do this. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Josh

BrandonArmstrong · ‎01-11-2018

Hi Josh,

As of Survey123 Connect version 2.5.44, the ability to add new fields to a survey no longer requires the feature service to be re-created in.... I am wondering if you are at the latest version?

Another option would be to use the Survey123 web creator in order to create/update your surveys. By doing this, you will always have the ability to add/remove/alter questions without limitation using the 'Design' feature within the Survey123 website. Keep in mind, some functionality does differ between Survey123 Connect and the Survey123 web creator...

What are some of the other updates that have required you to overwrite your feature service using Survey123 Connect? Taking a look at the Submission URL property may also be of interest to you.

JoshHabel · ‎01-11-2018

Brandon,

I actually started off using the web creator and then switched over to connect for some of the additional features. As to the version I am on version 2.5.44. Here are 2 things i've done recently that have caused this issue.

1 Of My Past Problems

1.) Changing a field type (text to decimal or vise versa)

Current Problem

2.) Adding a brand new field with a calculation to pull in the gps accuracy and making the geopoint collection required. Before I tried this I created a test survey by copying my working survey and publishing the copy with a new name through Connect. I then made several bogus surveys so there would be data on the survey. I then made the changes to the geopoint field and added an accuracy field and published without issue through Connect. However when i try the exact same thing on the working survey it hangs up and will not publish.

BrandonArmstrong · ‎01-11-2018

Speaking to your past problems, it is expected that you would not be able to change the field type of an existing field if there is data within it. This is a property/limitation for all ArcGIS databases... Modifying field properties. In this case, you will need to overwrite the service, or add a new field with desired field type and use ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Desktop in order to transfer the data (i.e. calculate field).

In regards to your current roadblock, it would be helpful if you could share any error messages that you are encountering when attempting to publish. Can you please verify that the survey that you are attempting to update was originally created in Survey123 Connect? Which version?

JoshHabel · ‎01-12-2018

Brandon,

The survey was originally created in the web creator but has since been edited and published several times through Connect. I am currently running the latest version which I believe is 2.5.44. In regards to the error messages the system has not given me any error messages yet. Below is a snapshot of the screen that it shows. It does not progress further than this and I’ve let it run for several hours.

Josh

MarkJohnson8 · ‎03-28-2018

Hi Brandon-

It's great that a survey can now be updated without having to republish the feature service! I feel like this may be a very basic question. I need to simply add some choices to one of my field dropdowns. I have Connect 2.6.4 and have made the changes to the .xlsx file (and renamed it) located in my survey content folder. I click the publish button, it says it's getting data from my folder and then it says it will update the survey and not delete my data. After I choose Publish Survey I don't see the updates on the Form Preview in Connect or on my mobile app. I have deleted the survey and reloaded it with no success. I've searched quite a bit and haven't found the answer but if it's been answered somewhere, a link to the solution would be great. Thanks for your help!!

Mark

BrandonArmstrong · ‎03-28-2018

Hi Mark,

It sounds like the issue that you may be running into is the fact that you renamed the .xlsx file within your surveys content folder. By doing this, you have broken the connection to the other functioning components of the survey and the related service.

Please try to rename the .xlsx file back to its original name and try again. If you would like to change the name of the survey as it appears within Survey123 Connect 'My Survey Designs' and within the Survey123 field app, you can do so by going to Settings > General > Title and filling in the desired name. This name will then be shown in Survey123 Connect and the Survey123 field app.

Please let me know how it goes.

Brandon

MarkJohnson8 · ‎03-28-2018

Brandon-

Thanks for your quick response! I should have mentioned that I had tried it both with the original name and a different name but neither created the update. Do I need to delete the info, iteminfo, webform, xml, and/or json files from my folder so the xlsx will repopulate them? I also saw someone advising to go to AGOL and delete the feature service view file? I feel like I'm just missing one little step.

Thanks again for your assistance,

Mark

BrandonArmstrong · ‎03-30-2018

Hi Mark,

If your XLSForm is still not updating after renaming it back to the original name, it sounds like further investigation will need to take place.

If you are able to upload a zipped copy of your survey folder to this thread, please do so (C:\Users\<username>\ArcGIS\My Survey Designs\<survey>)

Otherwise, please consider following up with technical support so that they can investigate further.

Brandon

BrandonArmstrong · ‎01-12-2018

Hi Josh,

It is possible that you are encountering an issue with updating the schema of a survey using Survey123 Connect that was originally created via the web.

This issue is under investigation, and we are planning for a fix in a future release. As a workaround, you can try to manually delete the feature service view by going to the survey directory in ArcGIS.com. Make sure that you only delete the view and not the feature service.

Please let us know your results after doing so.

Brandon