Inspection Workflows Part 5: Configuring ArcGIS Survey123 

Hi JS III! Glad you like the videos and great question! The need for the different Esri mobile apps comes up often. I hope I can explain it briefly here. If you've set up Field Maps, it's easy to see how Survey123 could appear redundant. For some users, it might be. However, Survey123 is far more robust when it comes to making "smart forms". Yes, Field Maps does have the capacity for some conditional questions and other data entry methods, but Survey123 offers even more advanced types of data entry and conditional logic. Also, Survey123 does look more like a traditional form. For some less tech-y or non-GIS users, this is a preferred means of entering data since it may appear more familiar to them than the Field Maps forms. Where Field Map lets you see data on a map, Survey123 is a "familiar face" to non-GIS folks who want to enter data. Lastly, Survey123 does have the ability to produce reports based on surveys submitted. For example: if a gas utility needs to submit to the government a paper form for each valve inspected this year, Survey123 has the ability to push the digital survey results to a template Word document for each inspection record. This pulls the data out of GIS and puts it back onto a paper form for submission and compliance purposes. So, if you're thinking beyond just field work, this could be another benefit of using Survey123 for some of your workflows. Honestly, it comes down to what is best for your organization's needs. There really isn't a "right" or "wrong" answer. So, you might not need Survey123, but you never know when it might come in handy. I think technology awareness is one of the best skills of the modern GIS professional. Survey123 common uses: - When an ArcGIS user wants a highly complex form for collecting data - When having a robust map isn't necessary - Data entry that's more form-like for those less familiar with GIS -Need to produce traditional/paper reports from data collected digitally Field Maps common uses: - When you need a map-centric app for viewing/editing spatial data - Map-based data entry - Simple smart forms for data collection Hope this helps!

Hi Eric you are really great men… I was actually right on time for my project combining the two apps for my survey work… just the operation mode between the two apps back and forth in case of several facilities inspections is a bit hard…

Hello again, Claire! Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you've found the videos helpful, that's what they're here to do! If I understand you correctly, you want to pull attributes from the parent feature (in my example, a hydrant) and store them in the related record for reporting purposes. This is possible! In fact, you're already doing it by following this tutorial with the hidden field for the GUID. You just need to make some simple updates. This is known as "URL Parameters." Here's a common example that I'll use: a user wants the asset ID attribute that is stored in the parent hydrant feature class (let's say it's called "Parent_assetID") to also be added to each inspection record. First, any question that you add to a Survey123 survey MUST have a field/attribute in the hosted feature layer to store that question's answers, in this case, it will be in the related table since that's where the survey's results are stored. In our example, you could add another "text" question to the survey Excel table called "assetID" in column B. In ArcGIS Online, go to that survey's related table and add a "string" field WITH THE EXACT SAME NAME ("assetID"). Now your survey has an assetID question, and the hosted feature layer's table has a place to store that question's answer. Republish your survey. Second, you need to tell the computer to automatically pull the assetID attribute value from the parent feature and throw it into the survey. Here, you need to know the name of the field that stores the assetID from the parent hydrant layer, in this example, I made up the attribute field "Parent_assetID". We now have everything we need! Third, go to the web map that is powering this workflow and open the pop-up configuration for your parent feature, in my video it was the hydrant. There, you wrote a hyperlink that pulls the "GlobalID" attribute from the parent and throws it into the "ParentGUID" field of the survey/related table. Find that URL and add the following to the very end of it: &field:assetID={Parent_assetID} (put in your own values) In total: arcgis-survey123://?itemID=fb0fc84b4edd4bb082ab8703b0ae878&field:ParentGUID={GlobalID}&field:assetID={Parent_assetID} Long story short: &field:={} is an expression that you can use over and over again to have as many attributes as you want come over from the parent feature into the related record when using Survey123. I've seen some organizations pull over 5 or more. It's a cool way to ensure parent attribute values und up in the inspection for any reporting purposes. Some things to note: - You could make this be a hidden question. That's fine, just make sure you go to Column S (bind::esri:fieldType) in the Excel table and set this field type to match the field type you add to the attribute table in ArcGIS Online (string, integer, double, date). If it is a string/text question, set Column T (bind::esri:fieldLength) to have the same length. Again, the fields in the survey have to match the fields in the ArcGIS Online table exactly otherwise the survey will fail to publish. After making any changes, save your Excel table and republish the Survey. - Depending on the field, consider not making them "hidden" but expose them but change the column H (readonly) value to "Yes". This way a field worker can see the attributes, like the assetID, in the survey but they can't change it. I think it's reassuring for for field crews to be able to see this info, and it's reassuring to you that they can't change it. - If you update the survey, make sure all users download the latest version of the survey to their mobile devices. -If you go to add a new field to the survey, and you can't, it might be because you created one of those feature layer views to drive symbology (as shown in my second video in this series). Feature layer views lock your layer and prevent you from making schema changes (adding new fields). You will need to first delete the feature layer view, then you can add the fields to the hosted feature layer. Once the schema has been updated, you can rebuild the feature layer view. NOTE: make sure you delete THE FEATURE LAYER VIEW and not the hosted feature layer. The hosted feature layer stores all of your data, the feature layer view just lets you symbolize it. Be careful here! - Here's a blog about URL parameters if you want to learn more: community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-survey123-blog/survey123-tricks-of-the-trade-web-form-url/ba-p/894722 Hope this helps!

Unfortunately, it is not possible to do this. Survey123 does not work with versioned data in an Enterprise Geodatabase. doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/survey123withexistingfeatureservices.htm#GUID-0D7E6B27-CD3D-43C1-A9BA-22DC6BB446CB