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9 common ArcGIS Survey123 errors and how to troubleshoot them

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Author Jordan Tishler

Have you encountered errors in ArcGIS Survey123 before and have no idea where to start in tackling them? Well, in this blog post, I’ll show you how to interpret and solve errors like a pro in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect. 

Did you recently get an error in ArcGIS Survey123 and do not know where to start troubleshooting? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! This blog post will go over nine common ArcGIS Survey123 errors and how to fix them. You’ll be tackling errors like a tech support pro in no time. 

The different types of errors 

Let’s look at the common errors users encounter when using ArcGIS Survey123.  

Note: This blog post covers errors you might encounter in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, not the web designer. 

There are three main types of errors:  

  1. Saving errors
  2. Publishing errors  
  3. Send errors 

1) Saving errors

Saving errors occur when attempting to save a survey in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect. These are generally caused by improper use of the .xlsx sheet when creating the survey.  

An error message in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect with a red exclamation mark stating "Error converting XLSForm". Below the message is a statement reading "Unmatched begin statement: group"

Example save error

2) Publishing errors  

Publishing errors occur when you try to publish the survey. They will either not let you publish or cause the software to fail to publish your survey. 

A green box in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect with the text “Publish Form 5” as the header. Inside the box text is displayed: “This survey cannot be published,” and below that “Only one geometry field is allows per table, 2 found in Form_5

Example publishing error

3) Submission errors/send errors 

Submission errors occur when submitting or sending a survey. For example, if a user downloads and submits a survey entry, they will receive an error message (in red) or a warning (in gold). 

A phone screenshot with an error dialog box in the center. The screenshot shows the ArcGIS Field Maps application. In the dialogue box, there is an error message with a red exclamation mark stating "Send Error”. Below the message is a statement reading: "This survey could not be send do to the following error: String or binary data would be truncated. The statement has been terminated.” Below this there is more text, as follows: “Shows: yes diameter 25 radius: 5 Areas: 79 test 1231231. Do you want to edit the survey?” Below this are two options to proceed: yes and no.

Example sending error from the ArcGIS Survey123 field app

Screenshot of a survey error in ArcGIS Survey123. The top of the screen displays a red dialogue box. The box has text stating: “Failed to submit.” Below this is a dark red box with the following text: “[{“id”:0”addResults”:[{“objectId”:-1”uniqueID”:-1,”GlobalID”:”{89FA472A-0091-4429-82D1-77371348802}”,”success”:false,”error”:{“code”:1000,”description”:”String or binary data would be truncated.\r\nThe statement has been terminated.”}}]}]

Example error from an ArcGIS Survey123 web submission

Screenshot of a survey error in ArcGIS Survey123. The error is at the top of the screen in an orange dialogue box. In the box is text stating: “Survey submitted successfully, but an error occurred while triggering webhook.” Below this is a darker orange box showing more text: “https://hook.us1.make.com/fkfeajb18tqs8hnteji6e4qnkskscc4t Load failed”

Example warning from an ArcGIS Survey123 web submission

Common errors and how to solve them 

In this section I will show you nine common errors, three for each different type of error. I’ll discuss their causes and how to fix them.

Save errors 

  • Error: Unmatched begin statement: group.

  • Error: Something broke the parser (dependency cycle amongst the Xpath expressions: related question).

  • Error: There has been a problem trying to replace ${field} with the Xpath to the survey element named ‘field’. There is no survey element by this name. 

Publishing errors 

  • Error: Unmatched begin statement: group.

  • Error: Something broke the parser (dependency cycle amongst the Xpath expressions: related question).

  • Error: There has been a problem trying to replace ${field} with the Xpath to the survey element named ‘field’. There is no survey element by this name. 

Submission/send errors 

  • Error: Only one geometry field is allowed per table, 2 found in Survey_Name.

  • Error: Warning: This survey has already been published. The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey.

  • Error: The custom feature service submission_url is not compatible with this survey.  

Common save errors 

Error: Unmatched begin statement: group. 

An error message in ArcGIS Survey123 with a red exclamation mark stating "Error converting XLSForm". Below the message is a statement reading "Unmatched begin statement: group".

Cause: This error is caused when you open a group or repeat statement in ArcGIS Survey123 but don’t close it, or vice versa. 

Solution: To include a group in your survey, you must have both a begin group/end group enclosing your questions. Otherwise, these need to be deleted to successfully resolve the error. Same applies to repeat portions. 

Error: Something broke the parser (dependency cycle amongst the Xpath expressions: related question). 

An error message in ArcGIS Survey123 with a red exclamation mark stating "Error converting XLSForm". Below the message is a statement reading "b’ODK Validate Errors:\n>> Something broke the parser. See above for a hint.\n Dependency cycles amongst the xpath expressions".

Cause: This error is caused when a calculation loops back on itself. A question with a calculation cannot include itself in the calculation. For example, if your question is called “square”, you can’t put that in a calculation on the “square” question as it will endlessly loop the calculation. 

Solution: Scroll through the error by hovering over it to identify where the error is occurring in the survey. Then, delete the problematic calculation and place it in a hidden field. This way, you can still achieve the desired result without breaking the survey. 

Error: There has been a problem trying to replace ${field} with the XPath to the survey element named ‘field’. There is no survey element by this name. 

An error message in ArcGIS Survey123 with a red exclamation mark stating, "Error converting XLSForm". Below the message is a statement reading, "There has been a problem trying to replace ${Diameter} with the XPath to the survey element named ‘Diameter’. There is no survey element by this name.”

Cause: This error is caused by not having the suggested field name/question in your survey. This generally happens because when you add dynamic values to the calculation field. These are case-sensitive, which makes it easier to get them wrong. 

Solution: Scroll through the error by hovering over it to identify where the error is occurring in the survey. Then change the calculation to the proper name of the field with the proper casing.  

Common publishing errors 

Error: Only one geometry field is allowed per table, 2 found in Survey_Name. 

A green ArcGIS Survey123 dialogue box with the text “Publish Form 5” as the header. Inside the box, text is displayed that reads: “This survey cannot be published.” Below that, an additional message reads: “Only one geometry field is allows per table,2 found in Form_5

Cause: This error is caused by having two geometry questions in a survey at the same time. For example, both a geopoint and a geotrace question. 

Solution: Delete the extra geometry question by right-clicking on the row it’s associated with and pressing delete. If you would like the user to input multiple points into a survey, use a repeat question instead.  

Error:  Warning: This survey has already been published. The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey. 

A green ArcGIS Survey123 dialogue box with the text “Publish Form 5” as the header. Inside the box, text is displayed in red that says: “Warning: this survey has already been published”. More text in black states that “The existing feature service is not compatible with the survey.” Below this, in bold, a message reads “Field diameter in Form_5 has a type mismatch: esriFieldTypeString != esriFieldTypeInteger”. Below this is more red text: “If you republish this survey all previously collected data will be lost.” Then there is a switch with text beside it that reads: “I understand the existing feature service will be deleted.

Cause: This error occurs when you attempt to republish a survey after changing the question type of an already published question.  

Note: This error does not prevent you from publishing, but it will delete all current records and produce a new feature service with a different URL/ID. 

Solution: When republishing a survey, make sure that all fields are the same type as in the previous upload. If you overwrite your local file, you can restart the editing process by redownloading the survey. Additionally, if you do not need to transfer attachments, you can copy the current records from the existing feature service and append them to the new feature service.  

Error: The custom feature service submission_url is not compatible with this survey. 

A green box in ArcGIS Survey123 with the text “Publish Damage Assessment” as the header. Inside the box, text is displayed that says: “The custom feature service submission_url is not compatible with this survey.” Below this, red bold text states, “Fields not found I the feature service: 1.

Cause: This error occurs when the submission URL for the feature service is not the same as the survey, making it incompatible with the survey. 

Solution: Make sure the submission URL in your survey is pointing to the correct hosted feature layer in your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise organization account and that it has all the same fields in the survey. 

Common submission errors 

Error: Survey submitted successfully, but an error occurred while triggering webhook. 

Screenshot of an ArcGIS Survey123 survey error shown at the top of the user’s screen in an orange dialogue box. In the box there is text stating: “Survey submitted successfully, but an error occurred while triggering webhook. Below this is a darker orange box showing more text: “https://hook.us1.make.com/fkfeajb18tqs8hnteji6e4qnkskscc4t - Load failed”

Cause: This error indicates that a webhook attached to your survey did not trigger correctly. The cause could be anything from the webhook being disabled or insufficient credits in your webhook account. 

Solution: Delete the webhook if it is not needed or fix it if you plan to continue using it. 

Note: If this warning appears, the survey will still be submitted and recorded in ArcGIS Survey123, but the webhook will not run. 

Error: String or binary data would be truncated. This statement has been terminated. 

A phone screenshot within the ArcGIS Field Maps application with an error dialogue box in the centre. In the dialogue box there is an error message with a red exclamation mark stating, "Send Error”. Below this is a statement reading: "This survey could not be send due to the following error: String or binary data would be truncated. The statement has been terminated.” Below this there is more text as follows: “Shows: yes diameter 25, radius: 5, Areas: 79, test 1231231. Do you want to edit the survey?” Below this are two options to proceed: yes and no.

Cause: This error occurs when a select_one or select_multiple question exceeds the characters available in the field length. For example, a select_one answer that exceeds the default limit of 255 characters. 

Solution: Adjust the possible survey answers to meet the 255-character limit. If you need more than 255 characters, you can increase the character limit for a survey field by specifying a greater field length in the bind::esri:fieldLength column for that field/question.  

Error: Error connecting to ArcGIS Online. Error code:3 host not found.  A phone screenshot within the ArcGIS Survey123 application showing an error dialogue box. In the box there is a red triangular sign with an exclamation mark inside. Below that, bold text states: “Error connecting to ArcGIS Online”. Below this is more text: “Error code: 3. Host not found.” Below this there is a button for “Try again” on the left and a button called “Cancel” to the right.

Cause: This error occurs when there is an insufficient connection to send the survey—for example, when connected to a wi-fi source without an internet connection to send the entry (example: printer wi-fi). 

Solution: Run an internet speed test to ensure you have a recommended minimum upload speed of 5 Mbps on your current connection. If not, connect to a faster/stronger connection point and resend the survey. If you need to use your survey offline, look here for more information. 

How to troubleshoot errors on your own 

What if your error isn’t listed above? In this section, we will explore how to view and interpret errors, as well as how to use ArcGIS Survey123 Connect’s built-in troubleshooting tools to gain a better understanding of errors. 

Interpreting an error 

Most errors provide the line number or question name where the issue occurs in the survey file, helping you locate the problem for effective troubleshooting. It’s a good idea to search for these errors on the Esri Community to see if other users have encountered them. Often, users have faced similar issues and found solutions. 

Analyzing a survey for errors  

Before publishing or republishing a survey in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, you can analyze it for errors or readability problems. Just click on the Analyze button on the publish dialogue box and ArcGIS Survey123 will notify you about any potential errors with your survey. 

A screenshot of a green dialog box within ArcGIS Survey123 Connect with a header of “Publish Form 5”. In the box there is text stating that “The survey will be updated without affecting the existing data”. Below, at the bottom of the box, are four buttons. From left to right they say: “Options”, “Analyze”, “Publish survey” and “Cancel”. “Analyze” has a red square around it highlighting the button.

Click on “Analyze”

In this dialogue box, ArcGIS Survey123 will inform you of critical errors, warnings and information problems.  

  • Critical errors are urgent and should always be resolved before moving forward. 

  • Warnings may cause problems, depending on your survey, so it’s advisable to review them.

  • Information problems/recommendations are best practice recommendations for your survey.  

    • For example, adding a survey title.

More detailed information is provided in the Excel error report attached to the analysis.

A screenshot of a white dialog box within ArcGIS Survey123 Connect with a header of “Analyze survey”. In the box there is a title stating “Results” with a paragraph below stating: “The Analyze survey tool checked the survey’s XLSForm for errors, issues and recommendations. The following table provides a summary of the results. For detailed information, see analysis-20240909160206.xlsx.” The xlsx filename is highlighted by a red box. Below this there are three statements, the first starting with a red circle with an exclamation mark in the centre, then showing a message stating “Critical: 0. Issues that impact publishing or data storage”. Below this, a black triangular sign with an exclamation mark in the centre begins a stating titled “Warning: 0. Issues that impact survey behaviour and performance”. Finally, a circular symbol with an exclamation mark in the centre begins a message stating “Information: 3. Recommendation and best practices”. Below this is a button that says “Close”.”

Click on the error report

When using the Analyze survey tool report, problems like the “string would be truncated” error can be found before the survey is published. You can also access direct documentation links to learn more about any errors and easily resolve them.

A screenshot of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with six columns and two rows. The first column, titled “Severity”, contains one cell: “Critical”. The second column, titled “Message”, contains one cell: “One or more choices in the test choice list exceed the field length for the select_one test question.” The third column, titled “Description”, contains one cell: “Choice names must not exceed the field lengths for the questions that use the choice list. The test choice list contains the following choices that exceed the field length for the select_one test question: 1231231, 123123”. The fourth column, titled “Worksheet”, contains one cell: “choices”. The fifth column, titled “Cell reference”, contains one empty cell. Finally, the sixth column, titled “Learn more”, contains one cell: “Learn more”, in blue as a hyper link.

Example error report record

Final thoughts 

When creating a survey in ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, errors can be frustrating, especially if you’re unsure where to start. However, with the information in this blog post, you can tackle these errors with confidence. Understanding why the errors occur will help you address them effectively, reducing the need to contact tech support. However, if this blog did not resolve your error, please contact us at Esri Canada Technical Support or your local distributor. 

Do not live in terror and fear an error! You now have the skills to be an ArcGIS Survey123 Connect error repairer.  

Extra Resources 

About the Author

Jordan is an Associate GIS Analyst at Esri Canada. He focuses on using his knowledge to create, analyze and map data with Esri technology in support of organizations and customers. Jordan has a diploma in Geographic Information Systems from Fleming College as well as a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from the University of New Brunswick. Before coming to Esri Canada, he activated his passion in GIS by pursuing the technology side of forestry. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, baking and learning new things about technology.

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