Quick reference

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

Survey123 Connect question type	Survey123 web designer question type	Description	Supported in Survey123 field app	Supported in Survey123 web app
integer	Number	Whole number input.	Yes	Yes
decimal		Decimal input.	Yes	Yes
range	N/A	Input for a given range of numbers.	Yes	No
text	Singleline text, Multiline text, Email, Website, Address	Free text response. A regular expression is applied to Email and Website. The geocode appearance is applied to Address.	Yes	Yes
select_one list_name	Single choice, Single choice grid, Dropdown, Likert Scale, Rating	Multiple choice question; only one answer can be selected. Replace list_name with the name of your choice list.	Yes	Yes
select_multiple list_name	Multiple choice	Multiple choice question; multiple answers can be selected. Replace list_name with the name of your choice list.	Yes	Yes
rank list_name	Ranking	Ranking question; orders a list of choices. Replace list_name with the name of your choice list.	Yes	Yes
note	Note	Displays text on the screen. Note can also handle hidden calculations.	Yes	Yes
geopoint	Map	Collects a given GPS coordinate. This defaults to current location.	Yes	Yes
geotrace		Collects a line on a map.	Yes	Yes
geoshape		Collects a polygon on a map.	Yes	Yes
date	Date	Date input.	Yes	Yes
time	Time	Time input.	Yes	Yes
dateTime	Date and Time	Date and time input.	Yes	Yes
image	Image, Signature	Accepts either an image from the device's files or a directly taken photo.	Yes	Yes
begin group	Group, Page	Begins a group of questions.	Yes	Yes
end group	Group, Page	Ends a group of questions.	Yes	Yes
begin repeat	N/A	Begins a set of repeating questions.	Yes	Yes
end repeat	N/A	Ends 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
username	N/A	When signed in with an organizational account, this question is automatically populated with the account username.	Yes	Yes
email	N/A	When signed in with an organizational account, this question is automatically populated with the account email address.	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
barcode	N/A	Scans a bar code or QR code.	Yes	No
start	N/A	Start date and time of the survey.	Yes	Yes
end	N/A	End date and time of the survey.	Yes	Yes
deviceid	N/A	UUID representing the specific device on which the survey was taken.	Yes	No
audio	N/A	Records an audio clip in the field app. It accepts an audio file in the web app.	Yes	Yes
file	File upload	Accepts a file on the device.	Yes	Yes

Question differences between app and web

While the table above describes what question types are available across Survey123 Connect, the Survey123 field app, the Survey123 web designer, and the Survey123 web app, there are differences in their behavior and implementation across platforms.

• The 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.
• The 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.
• Geopoint, 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.
• Audio questions don't allow recording in the Survey123 web app. Instead, they allow the user to browse to and attach an existing audio file from their device.
• Several appearances available in Survey123 Connect are instead available as separate question types in the Survey123 web designer. This includes Multiline Text, Dropdown, and Likert Scale.
• For 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 Image, File Upload, and Signature.

Survey worksheet columns

The following table contains all columns supported by Survey123. These columns are available on the survey worksheet in the Advanced template.

Column	Description
type	Select a question type from the provided list. Enter a valid list name if using a select_one or select_multiple question.
name	The field name in the feature layer.
label	The question label displayed in your survey.
hint	Information that can help to answer the survey question.
guidance_hint	Additional information, only displayed after pressing an icon.
appearance	Select the appearance of this field in your survey.
required	Select yes to require a value in this field before completing the survey.
required_message	When a required field has no response, the message in this column will appear to prompt for an answer.
readonly	Select yes to set the values in this field to read-only. These values cannot be edited in the survey.
default	Set the default value for this field. This will prepopulate the survey with the default value. This can be used to save time by either supplying a commonly used answer or showing the type of answer choice that is expected.
calculation	Perform calculations using the values of preceding questions (for example, ${number} * 100). Reference the calculate field to display the result (for example, The answer is ${calc}).
constraint	Limit the range of numbers that can be entered (for example, .>0 and .<100). It can be used with all question types.
constraint_message	When constraint conditions are not met, this message will appear to prompt a valid answer.
relevant	This allows you to skip questions or make additional questions appear based on the response to a previous question. A question is made visible by meeting the conditions in the relevant column (for example, ${name} = 'value'). A question hidden by this column submits only null values.
choice_filter	When using cascading selects, this field holds the expression to match the additional attribute columns on the choices tab (for example, attribute = ${value}).
repeat_count	This value specifies the number of records available in a repeat. Once the repeat count has been specified, records cannot be added to or deleted from the repeat.
media::audio	Copy an audio file to the media subfolder for your project and type the name of your audio file (for example, audio.mp3) to present audio with your question.
media::image	Copy an image file to the media subfolder for your project and type the name of your image file (for example, image.jpg) to display an image with your question.
bind::type	A field type that overwrites the default field type for the question.
bind::esri:fieldType	Define the target field type in the feature layer. This can be used to overwrite the default field type (for example, calculate and select_one fields are strings by default. To save the values in the feature layer as integers, select esriFieldTypeInteger).
bind::esri:fieldLength	Define the target field length in the feature layer. You can use this to overwrite the default field length.
bind::esri:fieldAlias	Provide values for the field alias in the feature layer. You can use this to overwrite the default field alias values, which are derived from the question label.
body::esri:style	Provide expressions to define the style and behavior of a question (for example, the background color for groups and repeats).
bind::esri:parameters	Provide parameters for a question that are specific to Survey123 (for example, parameters to control the behavior of repeats when editing your survey).
parameters	Provide standard XLSForm parameters for a question (for example, the start, end, and step parameters for a range question).
body::accept	Set file types accepted for the file question. Accepts file extensions, with multiple file extensions separated by commas (for example, .jpg, .png).
body::esri:visible	This allows you to skip questions or make additional questions appear based on the response to a previous question. A question is made visible by meeting the conditions in the body::esri:visible column (for example, ${name} = 'value'). A question hidden by this column still contains and submits values.
body::esri:inputMask	Provide an expression to use an input mask to provide a set format for data entry using characters and symbols.
label::language (xx)	Provide translations for your question labels. The language must be specified by its name and code (for example, label::Español (es)). Add a new column for each language. The list of languages will appear in a drop-down menu in the survey.
hint::language (xx)	Provide translations for your question hints. The language must be specified by its name and code (for example, hint::Español (es)). Add a new column for each language. The list of languages will appear in a drop-down menu in the survey.
guidance_hint::language (xx)	Provide translations for your guidance hints. You must specify the language by its name and code (for example, guidance_hint::Español (es)). Add a new column for each language. The list of languages will appear in a drop-down menu in the survey.
required_message::language (xx)	Provide translations for the message that appears if a required question is not answered. The language must be specified by its name and code (for example, required_message::Español (es)). Add a new column for each language. The list of languages will appear in a drop-down menu in the survey.
body::accuracyThreshold	Provide a numeric value for the threshold (in meters) above which geopoint results will not be accepted. This only applies to geopoint questions.
bind::esri:warning	Apply an expression that displays warnings if conditions are not met.
bind::esri:warning_message	The message that displays if the bind::esri:warning conditions are not met.
bind::saveIncomplete	Set to true if the app is to automatically save the response after the question.

Appearances

You can enter the following values into the appearance column for specific types of questions to alter how they appear or behave. For more information on each, see Appearance.

Appearance	Applicable question type	Description	Supported in Survey123 field app	Supported in Survey123 web app
minimal	select_one, select_multiple, barcode, begin repeat	Presents multiple responses (select_one, select_multiple), multiple questions (repeats), and a text box (barcode) in a hidden or minimized style.	Yes	Yes
minimal compact	begin repeat	Presents questions inside a repeat as both collapsed (compact) and hidden (minimal).	Yes	Yes
compact	select_one, select_multiple, begin group, begin repeat	For select_one and select_multiple questions, presents choices horizontally in a space-efficient manner. For groups and repeats, presents questions in a collapsed state at startup, which can be expanded by the user.	Yes	Yes
compact-n	select_one, select_multiple	Presents choices horizontally in a space-efficient manner, with a maximum amount of columns specified by n. For example, compact-3 limits the question to a maximum of three columns.	Yes	Yes
horizontal	select_one, select_multiple	Displays answer choices horizontally and in columns.	Yes	Yes
horizontal-compact	select_one, select_multiple	Same as compact appearance.	Yes	Yes
image-map	select_one, select_multiple	Displays an attached SVG image with selectable regions.	Yes	No
autocomplete	select_one	Answer choices appear in a pull-down menu with text input to narrow options.	Yes	Yes
likert	select_one	Makes the answer choices appear as a Likert scale.	Yes	Yes
multiline	text, image, file	Presents a text question as a multiline text box. It allows multiple attachments for an image or file question.	Yes	Yes
predictivetext	text	Enables predictive text for mobile devices.	Yes	No
nopredictivetext	text	Disables predictive text for mobile devices.	Yes	No
year	date	Selects only a year for the date.	Yes	Yes
month-year	date	Selects only a month and year for the date.	Yes	Yes
week-number	date	Selects a week number.	Yes	No
distress	integer	Displays the question as a colored sliding scale.	Yes	No
spinner	integer, decimal	Adds buttons to increase and decrease value.	Yes	No
numbers	integer, decimal	Displays a custom numerical keyboard for this question.	Yes	No
calculator	integer, decimal	Displays a custom calculator widget for this question.	Yes	No
thousands-sep	decimal	Displays answers with thousands separators. It applies to prepopulated answers only.	Yes	No
no-ticks	range	Displays the range slider without positions, minimum values, or maximum values.	Yes	No
draw	image	Allows the user to open a canvas window on which to sketch.	Yes	Yes
annotate	image	Allows the user to open a canvas window on which to sketch that also supports annotation on images.	Yes	Yes
signature	image	Presents a UI for signature capture. The signature is added to the feature as an attachment.	Yes	Yes
new-rear	image	Limits the question to only taking a photo, using the rear-facing camera as the default.	Yes	No
new-front	image	Limits the question to only taking a photo, using the front-facing camera as the default.	Yes	No
hidden	All	Hides the question from view while still accepting defaults and calculations.	Yes	Yes
field-list	begin group, begin repeat	Displays the group of questions on a separate page when the survey style is set to pages.	Yes	Yes
table-list	begin group	Presents a set of select_one questions inside a group with a common choice list in a table format.	Yes	Yes
geocode	text	Search for and submit a geocoded address.	Yes	Yes
hide-input	geopoint	Collapses the coordinate entry section when the survey is opened in the web app.	No	Yes
press-to-locate	geopoint, geotrace, geoshape	For geopoint questions, only accepts a location after the user interacts with the question. For geotrace and geoshape, it centers the user's location without capturing a point when first interacting with the question.	Only for geopoint	Yes
spike	image	Requires a Spike device and Spike app. It uses Spike integration to measure distance and location in a photo.	Yes	No
spike-full-measure	image	Requires a Spike device and Spike app. It uses Spike integration to measure distance, location, area, and lengths in a photo.	Yes	No
spike-point-to-point	image	Requires a Spike device and Spike app. It uses Spike integration to measure distance between two photographed points.	Yes	No

Parameters

Some question types in XLSForm have additional parameters that allow you to control the style or behavior of questions in a survey. In some cases, these parameters complement the appearances that a question type supports. For an overview of the parameters supported by each question type, see XLSForm parameters.

Data validation

Entering yes as a value in the required column causes the survey question to require that the question contain a value before the form can be completed.

Default values

Entering today() into the default column of a date question sets the default value to today's date.

Responses to a select_multiple question type work differently than others, with each checked answer entered in the order it was selected, separated by commas. To define several values as defaults in a select_multiple question, separate them with commas, for example, item1,item2,item3.

Formula operators

The operators listed in the following table can be used in the constraint, calculation, and relevant columns, although many may not be usable in all of them.

For more information about calculations and constraints, see Formulas, and for more about the use of the relevant column, see Form expressions.

Operator	Description	Example
.	The current answer	.=1
+	Addition	${question_one} + 4
-	Subtraction	${question_one} - 4
*	Multiplication	${question_one} * 4
div	Division	${question_one} div 4
=	Equal	${price}=9.80
!=	Not equal	${price}!=9.80
<	Less than	${price}<9.80
<=	Less than or equal to	${price}<=9.80
>	Greater than	${price}>9.80
>=	Greater than or equal to	${price}>=9.80
or	Or	${price}=9.80 or ${price}=9.70
and	And	${price}>9.00 and ${price}<9.90
mod	Modulus (division remainder)	${question_one} mod ${question_two}

The following nonmathematical functions can also be used:

Function	Description	Example
selected(question, value)	Checks whether answer is selected. Used for select_one and select_multiple questions.	selected(${question_one}, 'a')
count-selected(question)	Returns the number of selected answers for select_one and select_multiple questions. Also returns the number of attached files for image, audio, and file questions using the multiline appearance.	count-selected(${question_one})
string-length(question, expression, or value)	Returns the length of a nonempty string.	string-length(${question_one})
substr(question, start, end)	Returns the substring beginning at the specified start and extends to the character at index end -1, where start and end begin at 0.	substr(${question_one}, 1, 2)
not(expression)	Returns a false value if the expression would return true, and a true value if the expression would return false.	not(selected(., 'yes'))
if(condition, a, b)	If the condition evaluates to true, returns a; otherwise, returns b.	if(selected(${question_one}, 'yes') and selected(${question_two}, 'yes'), 'yes', 'no')
true()	True	true()
false()	False	false()
uuid()	Returns a random UUID string.	uuid()
random()	Returns a random value between 0 (inclusive) and 1 (exclusive).	random()
today()	Returns today's date, internally stored as local midday. Used in date questions.	today()
now()	Returns a time stamp for this instant. Used in time and dateTime questions. Behaves the same as today() in date questions.	now()
once()	If a question already has a value, returns the existing value. Useful when using random() or uuid() in a repeated question to ensure the value doesn't change when you browse through the repeat records in the form.	once(uuid())
boolean(question, expression, or value)	Returns true if the value provided is not null. It's recommended that you use boolean-from-string() instead. Caution: This function will always return true in the Survey123 web app. For alternatives, see Empty values.	boolean(${question_one})
number(question, expression, or value)	Converts to number. Conversion varies depending on data type. Note: If this function is empty, it will return NaN and the question will remain empty.	number(${question_one})
int(question, expression, or value)	Converts to integer. Conversion varies depending on data type. Note: If this function is empty, it will return NaN and the question will remain empty.	int(${question_one})
string(question, expression, or value)	Converts to string. Conversion varies depending on data type.	string(${question_one})
date(question, expression, or value)	Converts a number or string to a date object, without preserving time.	date('2017-05-28T04:39:02+10:00')
date-time(question, expression, or string)	Converts a number or string to a date object.	date-time('2017-05-28T04:39:02+10:00')
decimal-date-time(question, expression, or string)	Converts a date object into a decimal date-time number.	decimal-date-time(${date_question})
decimal-time(question, expression, or string)	Converts a time object into a number representing a fractional day in the device's time zone.	decimal-time(${time_question})
format-date()	Fits an existing date or time value to a defined format.	format-date(${previous_time}, '%H:%M')
coalesce(value1, value2)	Returns the first nonempty value. Supports only two values.	coalesce(${question_one}, ${question_two})
concat(value1, value2, …)	Returns the concatenation of the string values.	concat(${question_one}, ' and ', ${question_two})
max(value1, value2, ...)	Returns the maximum value in a given range, or to a single question across repeats.	max(${question_one}, ${question_two})
min(value1, value2, ...)	Returns the minimum value in a given range, or to a single question across repeats.	min(${question_one}, ${question_two})
sum(repeat)	Returns the sum of all responses to a given question across repeats.	sum(${question})
count(repeat)	Returns the amount of responses to a given question across repeats.	count(${question})
pulldata()	Returns information saved in an external CSV file, or in the properties of an answer. For more information, see Work with external content.	pulldata('info', 'email', 'name', ${previous_question})
version()	Returns the version of the survey defined in the settings worksheet.	version()
boolean-from-string()	Returns true if the string provided is 'true' or '1'. Otherwise, returns false.	boolean-from-string(${question_one})
contains(string, substring)	Returns true if the given string contains the substring.	contains(${question_one}, 'red')
starts-with(string, substring)	Returns true if the given string starts with the substring.	starts-with(${question_one}, 'The')
ends-with(string, substring)	Returns true if the given string ends with the substring.	ends-with(${question_one}, 'hand.')
selected-at(question, number)	Used for select_multiple questions. Returns the name of the choice selected for the given number, counted starting from zero; for example, '2' will return the third selected choice.	selected-at(${question_one}, 2)
jr:choice-name(choice_name, 'question')	Used for select_one questions. Returns the label associated with the name of the choice in the given question. Be aware that the question must be defined inside quotes.	jr:choice-name(${select_one}, '${select_one}')
	Used for select_multiple questions. Returns the label associated with the name of the choice in the given question. The selected-at() function must be used to extract the label for individual answers. Be aware that the question must be defined inside quotes.	jr:choice-name(selected-at(${select_multiple}, 3), '${select_multiple}')
join(separator, question)	Concatenates all answers to a given question in a repeat, separated by the given separator.	join(',', ${question_in_repeat})
regex()	Applies a regular expression to the question's input. For more information, see Regular expressions.	regex(., '^\d{5}$')
position(..)	Returns the index of the current record in a repeat. For more information, see Repeats.	position(..)
indexed-repeat(question, repeat, index number)	Returns the value from a specific question in a repeat record. For more information, see Repeats.	indexed-repeat(${room_no}, ${floor}, 3)

Mathematical functions

The following mathematical functions can be used in the calculation column of your survey:

Function	Description	Example
pi()	Returns pi.	pi()
acos(value)	Returns the arc cosine of the value.	acos(${question_one})
asin(value)	Returns the arc sine of the value.	asin(${question_one})
atan(value)	Returns the arc tangent of the value.	atan(${question_one})
cos(value)	Returns the cosine of the value as an angle in radians.	cos(${question_one})
sin(value)	Returns the sine of the value as an angle in radians.	sin(${question_one})
tan(value)	Returns the tangent of the value as an angle in radians.	tan(${question_one})
exp(value)	Returns the natural exponent of the value.	exp(${question_one})
exp10(value)	Returns 10 to the power of the value.	exp10(${question_one})
log(value)	Returns the natural logarithm of the value.	log(${question_one})
log10(value)	Returns the base-ten logarithm of the value.	log10(${question_one})
sqrt(value)	Returns the square root of the value.	sqrt(${question_one})
atan2(value1, value2)	Returns the arc tangent of the quotient of the values.	atan2(${question_one}, ${question_two})
round(value, power)	Returns the rounded value.	round(${question_one}, 5)
pow(value, power)	Returns the value to the power specified.	pow(${question_one}, 3)

HTML formatting

HTML can be used in the label or hint field, or the labels of choice lists, to alter the appearance of the text displayed, as described in the following table:

Tag	Attribute
a	href, style
img	src, width, height, border, alt, style
video¹	autoplay, controls, height, loop, muted, poster, preload, width
audio¹	autoplay, controls, loop, muted, preload
source¹	media, src, type
span	style
table	width, height, cellpadding, cellspacing, border, style
div	style, align
font	size, color, style
figure	style
figcaption	style
dd, dl, dt	style
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6	style
tr	height, valign, align, style
td, th	height, width, valign, align, colspan, rowspan, nowrap, style
p	style
b, strong, i, em, u, ul, ol, li, tbody, br, hr
abbr	title
sub	style
sup	style

¹Only supported in the Survey123 web app.

Tip:

By default, a hyperlink created with HTML formatting that is opened in the Survey123 web app will open the destination in the same tab as the survey. To open this link in a new tab instead, add target="_blank" to the a href tag, for example:

<a href="https://www.esri.com" target="_blank">Link to Esri website</a>

Regular expressions

Regular expressions are sequences of characters that define a search pattern. They can be used in one question to determine its value based on other questions or to constrain data entry. A regular expression can be built from the subexpressions listed in the following table. For more information, see Formulas.

Subexpression	Match
^	Matches beginning of line.
$	Matches end of line.
.	Matches any single character except newline.
[...]	Matches any single character in brackets.
[^...]	Matches any single character not in brackets.
\A	Beginning of entire string.
\z	End of entire string.
\Z	End of entire string except allowable final line terminator.
re*	Matches 0 or more occurrences of preceding expression.
re+	Matches 1 or more occurrences of preceding expression.
re?	Matches 0 or 1 occurrences of preceding expression.
re{ n}	Matches exact number of occurrences of previous expression defined in place of n.
re{ n,}	Matches n or more occurrences of preceding expression.
re{ n, m}	Matches at least the number of occurrences defined by n and, at most, defined by m in preceding expression.
a| b	Matches either a or b.
(re)	Groups regular expressions and remembers matched text.
(?: re)	Groups regular expressions without remembering matched text.
\w	Matches word characters.
\W	Matches nonword characters.
\s	Matches a whitespace character: tab, line feed, form feed, carriage return, or space.
\S	Matches nonwhitespace.
\d	Matches digits. Equivalent to [0 through 9].
\D	Matches nondigits.
\G	Matches point where last match finished.
\n	Back reference to capture group number n.
\b	Matches word boundaries when outside brackets. Matches backspace (0x08) when inside brackets.
\B	Matches nonword boundaries.
\n, \t, and so on	Matches new lines, carriage returns, tabs, and so on.
\Q	Escape (quote) all characters up to \E.
\E	Ends quoting started with \Q.

For example, the regular expression regex(.,'^[A-Za-z]*$') requires the user to enter only letters, no numbers or special characters, into a string question.

Esri field types

The bind::esri:fieldType column can be used to overwrite the default field type with one of the following values. For more information, see Esri custom columns.

Field value	Result
esriFieldTypeDate	Date
esriFieldTypeDouble	Double-precision floating point numbers
esriFieldTypeInteger	Whole numbers
esriFieldTypeString	A series of alphanumeric symbols
esriFieldTypePointZ	Enables altitude capturing in geopoints
esriFieldTypeGUID	Globally Unique Identifier
null	Null field, does not store values

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 select_multiple questions do not contain spaces or commas.