What are the changes to Survey123 Web Form's Query Parameters?

Answer

What is changing?
Survey123 version 3.4 introduced the ability in the Survey123 web app (also known as the web form) to update and view existing GIS features using the mode URL query parameter. Essentially, this query parameter allows you to pass the Object ID of an existing GIS feature to preload data into a web form to view or update its contents. More details about use cases and syntax can be found at the following links:

• Survey123 Tricks of the Trade: Editing records in a web form
• Editing in the web app help topic
• Survey123 Tricks of the Trade: Web form URL parameters

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/36ff9e8c13e042a58cfce4ad87f55d19?mode=edit&objectId=41

This URL uses the objectId to set the feature that will be updated from the Survey123 web app. Support for the objectId parameter ends with surveys published with 3.9 or newer.

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/36ff9e8c13e042a58cfce4ad87f55d19?mode=edit&globalId=06f98757055a4965ae7ebe0cd7f0087d

This URL uses the globalId to set the feature that will be updated from the Survey123 web app. Supported with version 3.9 and newer.

How will this change affect me?
This change can potentially break existing workflows where static or dynamic links are used to update/view existing features using a web form. For example:

• If you have embedded a web form within a dashboard to edit the selected record from a list element, this change in Survey123 query parameters can break your existing Survey123-Dashboard integration.
• If you have a custom web map pop-up with a link to a survey web form in edit mode, this change may break your workflow.
• If you have shared static HTML links in websites, e-mails or by other means, the links may stop loading the data to be updated.

Any survey published prior to 3.9 will continue to work normally and without modification to the query parameter, unless version locking  is disabled or the survey is republished with 3.9 or a newer version.

What should I do about this?
Before upgrading to version 3.9, we recommend that you prepare for this change:

1. Start now documenting the web applications or workflows where you make use of the mode=edit or mode=view URL parameters.
2. At the time of 3.9 release, existing surveys and links should continue to work without change, unless you have disabled version locking in your survey.  You should plan to adjust your URLs to be using globalId or otherwise things will break as soon you re-publish your surveys.

To make the change, you must change the URLs to use globalId instead of objectId, and also republish your surveys from either Survey123 Connect 3.9 or Survey123 web designer.