Guide to case management part 3: Collecting data using case management

This article is part 3 of our series on case management. See the bottom of this article for the other parts in this series. You can also check out our webinar on case management; skip to 17:39 to learn how to use case management in the field to collect data.

In this article, we discuss how to fill out forms associated with cases on mobile and web forms.

On a mobile device

In SurveyCTO Collect, the Manage Cases menu does not appear by default, so it needs to be set up to appear:

1. Within the app, tap on the three dots in the top-right.
2. Select Admin Settings.
3. Under USERS CAN ACCESS MAIN MENU ITEMS, check the box for Manage Cases.
1. If your enumerators are only using case management, you can also uncheck the box for Fill Blank Form.
4. Select the device’s back button.
5. On the app’s main menu, the Manage Cases button should now be available.

In the Admin Settings in the left image, notice how Manage Cases at the top has been selected. Now, Manage Cases appears at the top of the main menu.

Enumerators can tap Manage Cases from the main menu to access their cases.

Using web forms

The Manage Cases menu option will be automatically visible to logged in web form users if a case management dataset is deployed on your server. To use web forms, go to the following URL:

https://servername.surveycto.com/collect/main.html

Be sure to replace "servername" with the name of your server. To go to the case management menu directly, go to:

https://servername.surveycto.com/collect/cases.html

If you log in as a web form user, and you do not see the Manage Cases option, even though there is a server dataset with the ID "cases", that user may have a different cases dataset assigned to them, or they may not have any cases assigned to them. To learn more, check out part 6, section Troubleshooting.

Web collect's Manage Cases menu in "Table" view.

Enumerator selection

There is more information in part 2, section Enumerator management.

If any of the cases have an enumerators value, and there is no enumerator saved for that workspace, when you first open the Manage Cases menu, it will ask you to select your name.

Simply select your name (or the name your manager told you to select), and tap OK.

Selecting the enumerator

There are three ways to select an enumerator: select from a list (the left tab), manual entry of the enumerator ID (middle tab), or scan a QR code with the enumerator ID (right tab). The method that appears by default will be determined by your manager, but you can switch between them as needed.

Adding a new enumerator

It is not possible to add an enumerator from the Manage Cases menu. If you cannot find yourself in the enumerator list, there are two ways to add you:

1. Fill out a form that has an enumerator field.
2. Have a form manager add you from the server console.

Talk to your manager about the best way to add you.

Showing other enumerators

If it says Show other enumerators, it means some enumerators have been hidden from view based on your username. Tap that to show all available enumerators. You may be prompted to enter a code in order to show all enumerators.

If it does not say Show other enumerators, it simply means you are already viewing all available enumerators.

No enumerator selection screen appears

If you are not asked to select an enumerator, and you are brought straight to the Manage Cases menu, don't worry. It just means either no cases have an enumerator value, or there is already an enumerator saved for that workspace.

Changing the selected enumerator

The case management screen will say at the top which enumerator is currently selected. You can tap that button to change it.

If it does not have that button, it simply means no cases have an enumerators value, so there is no need to select an enumerator.

Case management views

There are two types of case views in the Manage Cases menu: tree and table. To change the case view, on the Design tab, go to the cases dataset, click Settings, select the view you would like to use, and click Save.

Tree

"Tree" is the more basic case view.

Tree list. In this example, each case label (see below) is in bold.

In the tree view, each case label will be displayed in bold, and underneath, it will list the forms assigned to that case. To open a blank form for that case, tap on the form you would like to complete under the case label under Fill Blank Form.

Forms that have already been finalized will be in green, and it will say if the form instance has been submitted to the server (it will say "Sent on" instead of "Finalized on"). If there is a warning in red, it means the form definition needs to be downloaded; if you tap on it, you will be brought to the Get Blank Form page, and you can download the needed form definition(s) from there.

One form is finalized	One form needs to be installed

If you tap on a finalized form instance, you will be brought to the Send Finalized Form menu to submit it. If you do not want finalized or sent forms to be shown, in the server dataset Settings on the Design tab, un-check Include finalized+sent forms, and click Save. This cannot be turned off in table view (see below).

Table

In the "table" view, cases are listed in rows that display information about the case. You can add as many or few columns as you'd like to the table. To add or remove columns, go to the server dataset's Settings on the Design tab, and under Include which columns, move the columns you would like to be displayed from Available fields to Selected fields.

Table. This example shows just two columns, but you can set it up to have as many or few columns as you would like.

You can even include columns that are not part of case management in the table. To learn more, see part 4, section Cases dataset as a server dataset.

When the enumerator taps on a row, it will show a view very similar to the tree view, except there will be just one case.

Tapped on a table row. View is similar to the Tree view, but the details of only one case are shown.

Transferring cases

Case data can also be transferred to another collection device using SurveyCTO Collect. This can be helpful for:

1. Giving other enumerators access to the latest case data (either from the server or from another collection device), and
2. Allowing another enumerator to complete a case created on another device.

To learn how, check out this video.

Examples

Let's say a group of enumerators are working in an area with poor internet. Enumerator 1 fills out a form that publishes to the cases dataset, creating a new case. But, Enumerator 1 does not have time to complete that case. They can use offline case transfers to transfer that case to Enumerator 2, so Enumerator 2 can work on that case.

For another example, let's say multiple enumerators are working on the same case, where Enumerator 1 starts the case, and Enumerator 2 completes the case. Enumerator 1 can fill out a form that publishes data to the cases dataset, and then transfer the case to Enumerator 2. Even if Enumerator 2 already has that case in their SurveyCTO Collect workspace, they will receive the latest cases dataset updates, and they will be able to use the data entered by Enumerator 1.

A case that exists on one collection device can be transferred to another collection device. This will allow the receiving collection device to work on cases created using another device, and also pre-load form data entered using that other device

More on case management

Be sure to check out the other articles in this series on case management.

1. Introduction: Why it is a good idea to use case management, and examples of where it can be used.
2. Creating and managing cases: How to create a server dataset that can be used for cases, and how to add and edit your cases.
3. Collecting data using case management (this article): How to fill out cases forms on both a mobile device and in web forms, and creating automated workflows with case management
4. Case management workflows: How to identify form instances as being part of a case, and how to publish to and pull data from the cases server dataset.
5. Multiple cases datasets: How to assign different server datasets to different user roles for case management.
6. Tips, tricks, and troubleshooting: Additional tips about what can be done with case management, as well as how to troubleshoot when something is not working.
7. Example - Publishing to a case, and retrieving from that case: Walking you through a case management example, including pulling from and publishing to a cases server dataset.

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