Finding Missing Data: Step 4(A)

This article is part of a sequence of articles on troubleshooting missing data. If you arrived here directly, please start from the first article here.

Step 4A: Server <> Exported CSV record mismatch:

You are here because, in the previous step, you selected "A) The number of submissions collected on devices and uploaded to the server matches the number of records next to the form title on the server’s Export tab. That is, all submissions are on the server. But the number of rows in the exported CSV is less than the number of records on the server, so not all submissions on the server appear to be in the exported CSV" as your response.

Are you:

(A) exporting data directly from the server console’s Export tab? 

(B) Or Using our desktop software, SurveyCTO Desktop, to export your data?

From the server console

If (A) >> When you run the export, please carefully note any warnings or error messages that you see during the export process. Please take a screenshot of this error message if necessary. And then create a support request to the support team via the My requests link in the top right, giving details about your situation and attaching the text or screenshot of the error message.

If you are a free community user and do not have access to our support team, attempt to understand and follow the instructions in that error message. You can also post the details of your issue and the text or screenshot of the error message to the community forum to get help from other users.

Using SurveyCTO Desktop

If (B) >> After you run your data export using SurveyCTO Desktop, did it finish with a message that says COMPLETED? Or did it finish with a message that reads COMPLETED WITH ERRORS? Click on VIEW DETAILS to reveal a log of events.

Also note the VIEW SYNC HISTORY button in the top right of SurveyCTO Desktop to consult a history of past runs. There's no need to run SurveyCTO Desktop just to check the details log.

There are two common types of errors:

1. You are experiencing Internet connectivity issues. You may still be able to browse the Internet but the connection may not be stable enough to download and export all submissions in one go. If the errors indicate an internet connectivity issue (e.g. messages like the connection “timed out”) please just run SurveyCTO Desktop again a few times. Each time SurveyCTO Desktop will download some additional data that it was unable to retrieve in the prior attempts and will continue where it left off. It would also be most ideal to run SurveyCTO Desktop over a better Internet connection in this case. Keep re-running SurveyCTO Desktop until the number of records in the CSV match the number of records on the server.
2. Internet connectivity is OK but certain individual submissions are not being exported. This is usually because the raw files for those submissions stored on your computer are corrupted. If this appears to be the case:

(A) Make sure SurveyCTO Desktop's Local storage location folder is not in a syncing folder like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box. A synced folder location can corrupt submissions or create read/write conflicts during export. You can fix this by changing the internal storage directory to a non-syncing location by going into Desktop settings in SurveyCTO Desktop, into GENERAL options. See Local storage location, and Browse to pick a new folder location. Then run SurveyCTO Desktop again. This will download everything afresh from the server so will be slow, but all submissions will be fixed and exported. 

(B) If you are sure that SurveyCTO Desktop's Local storage location folder is not in a syncing folder, there might have been other issues on your computer hard drive that caused certain downloaded submissions to become corrupted. If you have not purged any data from your server, re-download the data from the server by going into SurveyCTO Desktop's Local storage menu, selecting the form/s in question, then selecting either local storage clean up option (either Delete definition and data or Delete data only should work), and click on CLEAN UP NOW... Then re-download and export data for this form again. Do all submissions now export?

If you followed the above steps but the problem persists, please open a support request with our support team by clicking the My requests link in the top right of this support center. When you do so, attach a text file that contains the full details logs from SurveyCTO Desktop (from clicking on VIEW DETAILS and SAVE TO DISK).

If you are a free community user and do not have access to our support team, you can post a request for other users to help you in the community forum. Provide as much detail as possible to make it easy for other users to assist.

Do you have thoughts on this support article? We'd love to hear them! Feel free to fill out this feedback form.