ArcGIS Survey123 supports a large amount of the XLSForm specification. This reference guide provides a summary of the XLSForm features that you can use in Survey123. Surveys can be created in either Survey123 Connect or the Survey123 website; some features are only available in one or the other, and some are available in both.
Question types
The following table describes the question types that are available across Survey123 Connect, the Survey123 field app, the Survey123 web designer, and the Survey123 web app. In some questions, there are differences in behavior and implementation across platforms; for the differences, refer to the notes after the table.
| Survey123 Connect question type | Survey123 web designer question type | Description | Supported in Survey123 field app | Supported in Survey123 web app |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| audio⁴ | Audio⁴ ⁶ | Records an audio clip in the field app. Records an audio clip or accepts an uploaded audio file in the web app. | Yes | Yes |
| barcode | N/A | Scans a barcode or QR code. | Yes | Yes |
| begin group | Begins a group of questions. | Yes | Yes | |
| begin repeat | N/A | Begins a set of repeating questions. | Yes | Yes |
| calculate | N/A | Performs a calculation on values in the form. The calculate field contains the outcome of the calculation. | Yes | Yes |
| decimal¹ | Decimal input. | Yes | Yes | |
| date | Date input. | Yes | Yes | |
| dateTime | Date and time input. | Yes | Yes | |
| deviceid | N/A | UUID representing the specific device on which the survey was taken. | Yes | No |
| email² | N/A | When signed in with an organizational account, this question is automatically populated with the account email address. | Yes | Yes |
| end | N/A | End date and time of the survey. | Yes | Yes |
| end group | Ends a group of questions. | Yes | Yes | |
| end repeat | N/A | Ends a set of repeating questions. | Yes | Yes |
| file | Accepts a file on the device. | Yes | Yes | |
| geopoint³ | Collects a given GPS coordinate. This defaults to current location. | Yes | Yes | |
| geoshape³ | Collects a polygon on a map. | Yes | Yes | |
| geotrace³ | Collects a line on a map. | Yes | Yes | |
| hidden | N/A | Creates a field in your feature layer that is not displayed on the form. Use the bind::esri:fieldType and bind::esri:fieldLength columns to specify the data schema for this field. | Yes | Yes |
| integer¹ | Whole number input. | Yes | Yes | |
| image | Accepts either an image from the device's files or a directly taken photo. | Yes | Yes | |
| note | Displays text on the screen. Note can also handle hidden calculations. | Yes | Yes | |
| range | Slider⁶ | Input for a given range of numbers. | Yes | Yes |
| rank list_name | Ranking question; orders a list of choices. Replace list_name with the name of your choice list. | Yes | Yes | |
| select_one list_name | Dropdown⁵ ⁶, Likert scale⁵ ⁶, Rating⁶, Single select⁶, Single select grid⁶ | Multiple choice question; only one answer can be selected. Replace list_name with the name of your choice list. | Yes | Yes |
| select_one_from_file file_name.csv | N/A | Multiple choice question; only one answer can be selected. Replace file_name.csv with the name of the file located in the survey's media folder that contains the list of choices. | Yes | Yes |
| select_multiple list_name | Multiple choice question; multiple answers can be selected. Replace list_name with the name of your choice list. | Yes | Yes | |
| select_multiple_from_file file_name.csv | N/A | Multiple choice question; multiple answers can be selected. Replace file_name.csv with the name of the file located in the survey's media folder that contains the list of choices. | Yes | Yes |
| start | N/A | Start date and time of the survey. | Yes | Yes |
| text | Address⁶, Email⁶, Multiline text⁵ ⁶, Singleline text⁶, Website⁶ | Free text response. A regular expression is applied to Email and Website. The geocode appearance is applied to Address. | Yes | Yes |
| time | Time input. | Yes | Yes | |
| username | N/A | When signed in with an organizational account, this question is automatically populated with the account username. | Yes | Yes |
¹The web designer combines integer and decimal questions into a single question type named Number. A check box in the properties of the question allows the survey designer to define which input is required.
²The email question types provided in Survey123 Connect and the Survey123 web designer are implemented differently. The implementation in Survey123 Connect automatically populates with the email address of the organizational account the user is signed in to. The implementation in the Survey123 web designer is instead a text field that only accepts formatting matching an email address.
³Geopoint, geotrace, and geoshape questions have been combined into a single question type named Map. A check box in the properties of the question allows the survey designer to define which input is required. An additional question type named Address allows for submitting geocoded points.
⁴Audio questions don't allow upload in the Survey123 field app as they do in the web app. To allow upload of audio in the field app, use a File question.
⁵Several appearances available in Survey123 Connect are instead available as separate question types in the Survey123 web designer. These include Multiline text, Dropdown, and Likert scale.
⁶For each question, the web designer provides an option to cache the answer. In the web app, after submitting a survey record, the answer to the question will be cached in the browser and preloaded into the next submission made for this survey on that device. Caching an answer can be set for all question types except Audio, Image, File upload, and Signature.
Default values
Most question types allow you to define a default answer that is automatically used when the survey is loaded. This has the same purpose as the default column in XLSForm.
Data validation
Checking This is a required question on the Edit tab causes the survey question to require that the question contain a value before the form can be completed.
Most questions also have functionality to set a minimum and maximum length. This prevents the survey from being submitted unless the response to the question is within the defined limits. This function has the same role as either the constraint or bind::esri:fieldLength column in the Survey123 XLSForm specification.
Special characters
Question names and choice names should not contain special characters, such as spaces, commas, hyphens, parentheses, brackets, or characters such as $, %, and #. It is important that choice names for Multiple select questions do not contain spaces or commas.