Using Survey123 and Collector together?

[ThomasSpindler1]

So, I created a survey and was testing it out.  I opened my survey data in the web map and noticed that attachments are available.  Naturally, I saved the web map, opened Collector, and noticed that everything just works.  I can edit, add data and attachments.  Is this by design, meaning will it always work this seamlessly? 

Currently, we're using Collector and ArcGIS for Server with ArcGIS Online.  If yes to the above question, am I correct to assume it will work the same using Portal for ArcGIS?

[AdrianWelsh]

Thomas,

These are some tough questions. I think you are pushing the boundaries of some of this stuff. I am going to tag Collector for ArcGIS​ and Portal for ArcGIS​ since you mentioned both of those. There is not a lot of activity in these groups, unfortunately. If you do not hear from someone on here in awhile, I would suggest contacting Esri support on these questions.

[ThomasSpindler1]

Thanks for the reply Adrian.  I'm not sure of the practical use of my question, more just curious about the capabilities.  Part of me wonders if this is important to recognize, because assuming your groups are departments within your organization, things can dicey if your Survey123 web map is editable in Collector.  I feel like you would want to separate out Survey123 groups vs. Collector groups.

[DerekLaw · Accepted solution]

Hi Thomas,

> Is this by design, meaning will it always work this seamlessly?

Yes. A survey created from Survey123 for ArcGIS consists of 2 items: a form item and a hosted feature layer. The hosted feature layer works and behaves like any other hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Online; which means it can be used and leveraged by all the other ArcGIS Platform client apps such as: Collector for ArcGIS, Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS, Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS, Story Maps, etc. This is one of the advantages of the ArcGIS Platform.

> I feel like you would want to separate out Survey123 groups vs. Collector groups.

Great observation and this may be the case, depending on your business workflow(s) requirements. By default, surveys are private and not shared with anyone. The survey owner controls who has access and we recommend that you leverage groups to control who can access and work with your surveys.

> ... am I correct to assume it will work the same using Portal for ArcGIS?

At a high level yes. Although, using Survey123 for ArcGIS with Portal for ArcGIS currently has some limitations, from the help doc:

Troubleshoot—Survey123 for ArcGIS | ArcGIS

Also, please review this blog post: Survey123 and ArcGIS for Server

Note that these statements,

"If using Portal 10.3.1 you will not be able to publish surveys that:

• have questions with a NAME longer than 30 characters (OK to have long Labels)
• have a Title longer than 19 characters
• include a repeat."

are no longer true. We are in the process of updating the blog post.

Hope this helps,

[ThomasSpindler1]

Thanks Derek!  Using these tools in tandem really empowers the end user, great stuff!!

[CurtPope]

One question we have posed is: is there any way to access the table so that we can do a join or a relate since its hosted on AGOL? We are trying to use Survey123 begin to get our maintenance records into a GIS environment.

[DerekLaw]

Hi Curt,

> ... is there any way to access the table so that we can do a join or a relate since its hosted on AGOL?

Yes, this is possible. You can add the hosted feature layer to ArcGIS Pro and/or ArcMap, then perform a join or relate to the data.

Hope this helps,
Derek

[CurtPope]

It does help, though we would like to be able to relate the tables so that we can then the survey feature service with related tables in collector so that our maintenance guys can update the related tables in collector since they do not have access to ArcMap.

[CarmelConnolly]

Hi Derek Law,

Are you aware of any customers using Survey123 & Collector together in force? Are there any issues encountered or any that you envision?

Carmel

[DerekLaw]

Hi Carmel,

Please see this customer example, Gulfport Energy: Apps Are the New Workflows​

Hope this helps,