ArcGIS Survey123

What's new in Survey123 for ArcGIS (May 2019 Update)

[Original content from Survey123 for ArcGIS blog in GeoNet]

 

We are happy to announce a new web-only update to Survey123 for ArcGIS. Here is what is new!

New Integromat module

Integromat is an amazing online automation platform. With it you can easily automate tasks, visually connecting all sorts of apps together. We believe that facilitating your work with platforms like Integromat can tremendously help you embed Survey123 within larger enterprise workflows, making sure your Survey123 data flows nicely into the way people work within your organization.

Many of you have been experimenting with Integromat and Survey123 since we first added support for webhooks in 2018. The uptake of webhooks with Survey123 has been pretty spectacular!  Some of the most common task automations we have seen include:

We have worked closely with our friends at Integromat to add a new Survey123 Integromat module. This means that you can now bring your Survey123 data into Integromat much more easily and do much more with it than before. For a quick overview describing how Survey123 and Integromat work together, watch this short video:

If you are just getting started, you can create an Integromat account and give it a go on your own. Start with something simple like automating e-mail notifications or adding a row into an Excel spreadsheet when survey data is submitted.  We added some integration templates to help you get the gist of it.

If you want more formal training, I suggest you watch the 1-hour Automate E-mail Notifications with Survey123 for ArcGIS Live Training Seminar by Brandon Armstrong and Derek Law.

Image of Survey123 Live Traiing Seminnar banner

For those of you already familiar with Survey123 and Integromat, you will find that this new module, lets you do some more advanced things you have been asking for.  For example:

Delete and update submitted records

You can now use the Data tab in the Survey123 website to delete and update submitted records. This comes very handy if you need to do some quick cleanup of test data during your survey design process, or to make adjustments to already submitted data to your survey.

This is how it works: First login to the Survey123 web site, select a record in the table shown in the Data tab and then use the Edit button in the panel on the right to enable editing on the individual response form. Make your changes and submit!

Shows the data tab in Survey123 website
Editing records from Survey123 website

You can use the Edit and Delete options for both surveys created in Survey123 Designer as well as Survey123 Connect. However, if your surveys were created in Survey123 Connect, be aware that the Edit button will be disabled when working against a survey with a repeat.

Update submitted records from a Survey123 web form

You may be already aware that you can update existing records in your feature layers using the Survey123 field app. Starting with this update you can update existing records with Survey123 from your web browser too!

This is possible by opening your web form with URL parameters.  The Survey123 Tricks of the Trade: Web form URL parameters blog post introduces the concept of web form URL parameters. Now you can use URL parameters to edit existing records.

The syntax is fairly straight-forward:

Our Survey123 Tricks of the Trade: Editing records from a web form blog post goes into all of this in greater detail.  For example, it describes how to dynamically create editing web forms in a web map popup, how to integrate web editing web forms in Operations Dashboard or how to use edit web forms with web hooks.

Other enhancements and fixes

This is very handy if you want to clone survey designs within your ArcGIS organization. Create a survey first using Survey123 Designer, then share the survey with someone else by granting access through the Viewer group sharing settings in the Collaborate page. Next, have that second person login into the Survey123 website and show ‘Surveys I can view results for’ in the survey gallery. The Save As option will be available on the survey tile menu to clone the survey.

 

The Save As… option in the Survey123 website is only available for surveys authored in Survey123 Designer. If you want to clone a survey authored in Survey123 Connect, use the Save As… option in Survey123 Connect

About the next update

As mentioned above, this update is exclusive to the Survey123 website. As usual we wanted to release both updates for the website and Survey123 field app together, but we decided to pull back on the Survey123 field app at this time. We are doing our best to bring some important fixes you have reported to the Survey123 field app soon. The current schedule is set for an update in 5 weeks (late June 2019). Our Survey123 for ArcGIS Early Adopter Program is making early beta builds of our next update available for testing. The Survey123 website will also be updated in late June.

About the author

ismael

Ismael Chivite joined Esri in 2002. A geographer by training, he loves helping people leverage GIS to improve the way they work. As a Senior Product Manager, Ismael is always looking for ideas to create new and improve existing Esri products. Outside working hours: Legos, rock climbing, Romanesque architecture and jamon iberico. On occasion, he enjoys jamon during working hours too.

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