Question about offline forms

asked on May 4, 2016 • Show version history

How do offline forms behave if the user starts filling out the form while they have an internet connection, but lose their connection before they submit, then click submit? I'm assuming it automatically saves it locally and then uploads it to the server when connection is restored, but I wanted to double-check.

We have a client who will be filling out a form while walking on large properties that are located in the middle of nowhere. The concern is what happens if they lose their connection and try to submit. Do they get an error message, or is Forms now smart enough to handle it gracefully? I watched the demo in the webinar but that only handled a situation where the mobile device was put on airplane mode before the user started filling out the form.

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replied on May 5, 2016

Hi Ege,

You need to download the Form locally to the device prior to working on it - the basic idea is that you're saving a local copy, workign on that completetly local to your device, then submiting it back to the Forms server at a later time. So connectivity while filing it out shouldn't be releavant, since you've already flagged it for local work.

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replied on May 5, 2016

Thanks Pava.

How does it handle situations where the app crashes while the user is filling out a form? Does it periodically auto-save the data the user is entering (similar to MS Office software) so that when they reopen the app, they can continue where they left off?

The client wants 100% assurance that there won't be any data loss while users are filling out forms, because the users will be touring large properties (e.g. huge apartment complexes) and cannot go back to the areas they've already visited just to refill those sections of the form. So I'm trying to think of anything and everything that can possibly go wrong. I hope that makes sense.

(They also don't want to have to manually save their progress, ala "Save as Draft". They want it to be totally seamless. They currently lug their laptops around, and MS Office works really well with its auto-save feature. We're trying to convince them to switch to Forms, which is obviously easier to use, but we need to provide these guarantees.)

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replied on March 2, 2018

Hi Laserfiche - any update on this question. I have a client requesting the same level of assurance in online mode and mitigating data loss.

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replied on August 16, 2018

We also have clients asking. Apparently if they start working on a Form while connected then have to Save as Draft. It cannot be accessed offline. I would expect all drafts to be available in the Draft section. In my testing, it doesn't appear to work that way.

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