Latest Contributions by DougBrowning

I came up with a low tech free option using Data Driven Pages 2 years or so ago.  Still being used every day though. See my post here for full code  https://community.esri.com/thread/170563 ... View more

Would the new database views work for this?  Normally it is talked about for aces rights but maybe it will work for this. https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/collector/field-mobility/control-access-to-data-in-collector-through-feature-layer-views/ ... View more

This free add on will do it.  Used it a lot and pretty slick. https://marketplace.arcgis.com/listing.html?id=c34019b0623041608df4d06970a7a96a ... View more

Samsung/Android all the way. I ran 175 Samsung Tab As and Tab 2s (the old ones not the S2) for 4 years.  We only had 3 break and only one of those was non people related (bad GPS that was fixed under warranty).  I was getting them on Amazon for $170 8 inch and $230 9.7 inch.  That is a very reliable piece or hardware for the price!  In fact at that price we stopped getting Otter boxes.  The plastic screen is terrible in the sun and the case cost almost as much as the tablet.  (A Ziploc bag worked better.)  If it breaks just toss them and get a new one.  f we got anything it was a child type rubber surround and a tempered glass screen cover for about $10 each (glass vs plastic is highly recommended). We could get new ones more often since to get a iPad with as much space would be like 3X cost. SD card.  When you start making tpks it is critical.  I had over 70GB of tpks working perfectly.  Could carry 17 million acres of imagery and 300+ SDE FCs on a $23 card. Getting files on and off the tablet/card is so much easier.  Plus our IT dept said no way to ITunes. Other apps.  So many apps that cost $ on Apple are free for Android. If you really need rugged check out the new Samsung Active 2.  It is fully rugged from the start.  Even has a pen that will write in the rain.  Not much more $ than a regular with a case. I am surprised you want LTE.  We had wifi only for years and it was fine.  Esp since the vast majority of our field work had no signal at all.  With wifi all over and offline options make sure it is realty worth all the cost.  Esp when someone decides to take a entire state offline and blows up your data plan.  My new job they have lots of success with a Verizon hotspot.  They have a few at the office that people can check out for use when they need it.  One will cover an entire crew vs paying for each member to have it.  Plus it works for any wifi device. I understand my work required a lot more offline than most so some of this may not apply. It is a good idea to get one of each and test them out before committing. Hope that helps. ... View more

The workflow is to use Survey123 for the complex forms and launch them from Collector.  One is for mapping, one is for forms.  You can launch and send data back and forth between the apps.  Should get you what you need. Survey123 is now 3 years old with a whole team of people working on it.  So for you (I assume a single developer) to reinvent it on your own is a fairly tall order. That said we used to use a 3rd party app called MobileMap - but that was because Collector was beta at the time.  The single developer kept up for a few years but it got tougher. Hope that helps. ... View more

Well after getting this out to the field we found an issue.  If a user goes back in a repeat it will recal as soon as they change repeat records - which updates the field to the current total vs what it was at the time. So if they are on Repeat #2 then hit back to Repeat #1 it automatically changes the calc field from 1 to 2.  It also then wipes data from a relevant we have based on that field. So as long as they just go forward it works but be careful using this! Thanks ... View more

ArcMap 10.1 can do it if you have access to that.  I kept an old 10.1 around for years just for this.    (This actually really caused issues for us and our developer.  We were counting on it then they shut it off in 10.2 and on.  Even as a Esri partner our developer got nowhere with tickets and escalation.  Each dept blamed the other for turning it off and we never did get a fix or answer. )   There is another hack.  If I remember right you had to add the layer to a Mosaic Dataset then cache that MD.  This hides the source from ArcMap so it takes it.    Then ArcPro came along and it seems to work just fine caching a service.   Be careful though because a run away script can get you blacklisted by the Esri data host.  Happened to us!   Also be aware I have 5 open bugs on the Caching tools - mostly using a AOI - for 3 years and counting now.  So issues may come up. Create Tile Package is the slowest but also the most reliable.   Good luck. ... View more

My guess is that you turned Airplane mode on which then cut your GPS off. In Android you can turn on Airplane mode then manually turn Location back on. Also if you will be very remote it helps to go in and switch the Location settings to GPS only.  That way it does not hunt for WiFi all day long and drain the battery. On Apple devices I have no idea but I think its similar settings.  Also check to make sure your device even has a standalone GPS.  Some budget line Androids and a bunch of budget iPads have no GPS chip. Hope it helps. ... View more

ArcMap 10.1 can do it if you have access to that.  I kept an old 10.1 around for years just for this.  (This actually really caused issues for us and our developer.  We were counting on it then they shut it off in 10.2 and on.  Even as a Esri partner our developer got nowhere with tickets and escalation.  Each dept blamed the other for turning it off and we never did get a fix or answer. ) There is another hack.  If I remember right you had to add the layer to a Mosaic Dataset then cache that MD.  This hides the source from ArcMap so it takes it.  Then ArcPro came along and it seems to work just fine caching a service. Be careful though because a run away script can get you blacklisted by the Esri data host.  Happened to us! Also be aware I have 5 open bugs on the Caching tools - mostly using a AOI - for 3 years and counting now.  So issues may come up. Create Tile Package is the slowest but also the most reliable. Good luck. ... View more

The way I do it is move the Primary Point up to Collector then launch the Secondary Forms from there.  This is especially handy if the Primary Points are pre-established - adds a spatial component vs just forms.  See more info in my post here https://community.esri.com/groups/survey123/blog/2016/07/30/understanding-survey123s-custom-url-scheme The other way is to fill out 1 form per Secondary Point then link them together with some type of Key and a relationship class.  To take the next point open a form from Sent or Outbox and pick create a copy (vs edit) then you can just change just the info you need to making it pretty fast. Hope that helps. ... View more

After some testing I got this to work for me. So if my field is say Point_No and I have another filed called RecKey in the repeat  then I add this to the Calculation of Point_No count(${RecKey}) Works great. Make sure to pick another field in the repeat.  Any will do just not itself since that throws an error.   So count(${Point_No}) does not work for some reason. Will this cause any issues? Hope it helps. ... View more

Any update on this?  Getting the repeat number would be very helpful.  Thanks ... View more

In my project I created a Collector map with all my points to visit.  This FC has a Status field that is basically To Do, Completed, Issue.  All start as To Do and Green symbols on the map.  I launch 9 different Survey123 forms from the Collector map popup.  This pushes any needed data, like Plot ID, site type etc, to the form.  I have several relationship classes that link the forms and points together on the ID I pass to Survey123. Then when the user is done with the form they edit the point in Collector and change to Completed - which changes the color to Red.  This way we have a nice little web map status map via browser (or Collector) of what is done and not done.  This was a last minute add but a huge hit for the users. Plus with the points in Collector you have full navigation to the point, can log tracks to get there, check distances, have background info like custom roads, the list goes on.  For your project a user could easily see on the map if the new point was too close.  Also you could add a buffer polygon around the points that shows the user the distance they need to be out.  You can also see all the survey123 data right in the Collector map via the relationship classes. It seems like a lot of people are focusing on the forms and using inbox but forgetting about all the spatial aspects to their projects.  I look at it as - all data you have before you leave for the field should be in Collector, new data goes in Survey123. I have a whole workflow posted on how I connected all this together using Relationship classes if you are interested. Hope that helps. ... View more

Sorry it has been awhile but just after posting this I lost my entire HD due to a IT "patch". Due to this I can no longer show you what I was seeing. Luckily I had just published the surveys the day before.  I was able to retrieve the surveys using the download option.  Props to you guys that the new 2.7 does a much better job of downloading ALL the form info needed.  In the past metadata, or media, or something would go missing (going back to 2015 when I started with Survey123). But this points out even more how important it is to allow the path to the Surveys to change! Our IT only backs up My Documents on the C drive so I lost everything in Survey123 (minus some older backups).  I just do not understand putting it buried in a part of the users drive that almost no one ever backs up (and an area that many VMs bar the user from even seeing).  Very bad spot where it is now in my opinion.  I have got into the habit of backing them up manually but really I should not have to. Really needs to be a network drive.  Many IT depts are locking out the C drive completely now.  In fact the last big Survey123 project I had was close to getting shut down simply because no C drive on our VMs.  If Survey123 is ever going to transition from small projects to enterprise scale this whole storage/share/production/dev/test file juggling needs to get worked out. Please take this as constructive feedback. thanks ... View more