Survey123 to form

Bring a Survey123 survey over by exporting its XLSForm and importing into a GratisGIS form item.

intermediate

A Survey123 survey can be brought over as a GratisGIS form by importing its XLSForm on the form designer. That is a file import, not a Survey123 drop-in. The ArcGIS Online content importer skips surveys and forms. The field PWA runs the form offline. It is not Field Maps.

Getting the XLSForm out of Survey123

Two paths, depending on how the survey was authored:

  • If you built it in Survey123 Connect (the desktop authoring tool), you already have the .xlsx. Use that.
  • If you built it in the Survey123 web designer, open the survey in Survey123 Connect once (it'll download the .xlsx representation) or use the API: GET /content/items/<id>/data on the survey form item returns the XLSForm.

Pick the backing item type

Before importing, decide what the responses are bound to:

  • A new data layer (the survey records features on a map). The form import wizard offers to create one with a schema matching the form. Pick this for spatial surveys.
  • An existing data layer whose schema is compatible with the form. Pick this when you're consolidating spatial data already in GratisGIS.
  • A new form submission collection (non-spatial). For surveys like satisfaction questionnaires, training rosters.

You can change which item the form binds to at import time; you can't change it after.

Running the import

  1. Create a new form in GratisGIS (or open an existing form's designer in "import / replace" mode).
  2. Click Import → **XLSForm (.xlsx)**.
  3. Pick the binding (data layer or form submission collection).
  4. The importer reads the survey, questions, choices, and settings sheets, maps each row to a GratisGIS question, and shows a preview.
  5. Review the warnings list (see below) and click Apply.

What carries over

  • Questions. Most XLSForm types map directly: text, integer, decimal, select_one, select_multiple, date, time, dateTime, geopoint, geotrace, geoshape, image, audio, video, file, note, calculate.
  • Choices. Each select_one / select_multiple choice list becomes either an inline list on the field or (if you ask the importer to) a reusable Pick list item.
  • Required / read-only / relevant / constraint column values.
  • Default values. Including computed defaults that use the expression language (today, position, username).
  • Group structure. Begin-group / end-group are honored as form sections; nested groups become nested sections.

What does NOT carry over

  • Pulldata / external choices from a Survey123 reference CSV. The importer surfaces these as warnings; rebuild as joined layers or pick lists in GratisGIS.
  • JavaScript helpers in calculations. The XLSForm expression dialects align mostly; anything that calls a custom function specific to Survey123 needs a rewrite.
  • Theming / images. Survey123 themes don't transfer; rebrand in the form item's designer.
  • Existing responses. The form definition imports; the data (existing submissions) is a separate move. Export from Survey123 as CSV / FGDB, import into the bound data layer.

After import

  • Test submission. Open the form in the field PWA preview mode and submit a test response. Verify it lands in the bound item.
  • Sharing. Set deliberately on the new form item; AGO sharing didn't carry.
  • Public submission URL. If you want anonymous public submission, enable it in the form's settings; the form gets a tokenized URL distinct from the org-internal URL.

See also

  • Form. The native item type docs.
  • Importing an XLSForm. The field mapping reference (covers ODK and KoboToolbox alongside Survey123).