Offline Forms
- Christy Kolle
- Numa Schultz
- Karl Burkum
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Purpose
When you are working in locations without internet access you can still create Activity records that are saved locally on your device. These records will need to be uploaded into MetaField once internet connection has been restored. Below are instructions for working in offline mode. The offline features for DIY forms were built to use your internet browser to store information for use offline. Therefore it is important to know that if you clear your browser history or cache you will remove these offline files, including any Activity records that have not been uploaded to the server. The first step for using Activity offline is to download all the necessary projects and forms to your device. You must have an internet connection to to this.
The steps below must be performed on the device and using the browser on which you plan to use in the Field to capture your Activity records offline.
To save your forms for offline use follow these steps:
Step | Description | Example |
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1. | While you have an internet connection login to MetaField. From the main Field menu select Activity, Safety or Evaluation. |
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2. | You should see one or more Groups (blue bars). When you select a Group you can view all the Forms (white bars) for the Group. Select the Forms that are needed for offline use by clicking the "offline" button. If you have previously worked in forms, all Forms that you have already accessed should already be saved for offline use. Clearing your internet history will clear the form from offline use. In order to use the form when you don't have an internet connection you will need to repeat the steps above. |
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Saving Projects to Use Offline
Similar to saving Forms for offline use, you will need to save the projects that you want to work with when creating DIY form records. This will need to be done while you have a internet connection.
Creating Offline Activity Records
When there is no connection, forms will load in Offline mode. If you have downloaded or opened any forms they will be loaded for usage when you are offline. When you open the main form screen, it will look very similar to when you are online. To complete a form you need to choose a Group first and then the desired form. Fill in the form as normal. After saving the record, it will be stored in your browser’s cached storage on your device. You will navigate to a page that confirms that your form record has saved.
Related Forms
If your form has a Related Form Setting, after saving your record offline you’ll get a link to complete the related form.
If the related form is missing from the local cache, you’ll get a message in after saving the original form.
Working With Previously Saved Offline Records
To browse local form records select the Offline Records button in the main activity page. After you select this button you will be navigated to the page with all locally saved forms. When there are records saved locally, on top of the activity screen will have a warning with the count of the Offline records. Tapping on the warning will navigate to the Offline Records page.
Offline records page is available both in Online and Offline mode. The page contains all forms saved in the browser’s store. Sorted in alphabetical order, from oldest to newest record.
Search by Form Name
You can use the search field to quick filtering by form name.
Tapping on any record will bring a dialog with available action for the selected Activity record. Available actions are Edit and Upload. To dismiss the popup tab anywhere outside it.
Editing an Offline Record
From the Offline Record List if you choose the Edit options you can make changes to the record saved to your device's browser or upload the form record to the MetaField server. Editing and saving a local form is just the same as normal filling.
Uploading an Offline Record
Upload option will be available only when there is an internet connection. Choose this option when you are ready to save your records to the MetaField server.
Uploading Form Records
 Once you have reestablished an internet connection and logged into MetaField you can upload your records. To do this you will need to open the Offline Record screen, select the record you wish to upload and select Upload. This will upload the form record to the MetaField server, and assign an activity number to it.
The form record will be uploaded to the Project, for which it was initially created, no matter which Project is currently selected.
Editing and Saving a Local Form in Online Mode
An alternative way of saving form records to the server is by editing a record saved to your browser's device when online. When you choose edit an Offline record, once you save your record it will automatically be uploaded to the MetaField server. You will be navigated to the normal saved summary page:
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Logistics
- If your browser is shut down or mobile device crashes during the entry of data on an offline form, that data will be lost.
- Completed forms already saved to your local device will be retained until they are uploaded to the server - even if your browser is shut down or your mobile device crashes.
- Save as Draft works in offline mode. It saves your work and bypasses any validation / required fields. It can be used as a data safeguard until you upload the completed form record back to the server. Data validation still required after you save your completed form record.
- If users clear their browser cache, local forms would be lost / cleared.
- Users are warned if they attempt to shut down their browser before saving any form data that is in the process of being entered.
