Saving Data from a Public Survey

[DenaS1]

I have a fairly long survey I am implementing and that is a public survey. During test runs, it is sometimes not possible to complete the survey in one sitting. In other times, if someone has a bad internet connection, they lose the survey.

Is there any way to configure the survey to auto save (like in the field app) or add a "Save" button so that the data goes into the arcgis online database? Can the submit button be added to different pages?

I fear losing the data that has already been entered if someone intentionally or unintentionally closes the survey before clicking "submit". If neither of the above options are available, what are some creative solutions to backing up data once it has been entered, but before it has been submitted?

[JamesTedrick]

Hi Dena,

Currently, there is not an efficient way to do this for all respondents.  What a user can do is submit a survey; afterwards, you can provide an editable link (see Survey123 Tricks of the Trade: Editing records in a web form).  This is an area that is planned for improvement in Survey123 in the future.

Another alternative would be to use the Survey123 field app instead of the web app; this may be more appropriate in environments that have poor internet connectivity.

[DenaS1]

Thanks for the reply.

Reading through the link you sent, it is not clear if someone without an arcgis account can edit a link.

Is it the "web hook" approach that you are suggesting? With this, can anyone update their survey answers? Can anyone edit any survey answers, or just their own?

Is the field app something open to the public? My understanding was that someone needed an app on their phone to use this service, which would be a high order for someone taking a public survey....

Are there any other creative solutions to saving data mid-survey? For example, could you link 2 surveys such that when someone clicks "submit", the data is saved and sent and a second survey opens to add the rest of the data?

Thank you

[JamesTedrick]

Hi Dena,

If the survey has been shared anonymously and set up for editing, then any person could in theory use a link to edit a record that was submitted anonymously.  Normally we recommend against setting up a survey shared to everyone for editing for this reason.

A web hook would one means of providing the user an editable link after submission, provided they supplied their e-mail as part of the form.

The field app is available to the public to download; as you note, it does require downloading the application.  Using the Inbox feature would require users to have logins.

[DenaS1]

Thanks!  I got the webhook set up in Integromat following Survey123 Tricks of the Trade: Editing records in a web form. I tested the service and it worked (click submit> email sent to survey taker with a link to edit the survey response).

However, a client just took the survey, and when they clicked submit they received an error: "Failed to submit...operation rolled back. operation rolled back. operation rolled back. operation rolled back. strong or binary data would be truncated. the statement has been terminated." see attached.

Thus, the data never saved and was lost. Yet, the client still received an email with a link for him to edit the survey, even though the error said the survey was never submitted.When you click the link, it takes you to the survey and a new error message appears "Editing is not possible because the record specified by the objectID parameter cannot be found"

Can you explain any of this or help me fix whatever underlying issues may have caused this error? The worst part is that we lost all the data from that survey. 

[JamesTedrick]

Hi Dena,

The most likely cause of this issue is that too many characters are being stored in a text field or note.  Too diagnose further, I would need to see the form; if you want, please share with me via jtedrick AT Esri.com