This support article is a part of our series on troubleshooting form designs. See the bottom of this article for the other parts in this series.
When you complete a test form instance, you can submit its data to the server, and also save the form instance for later testing.
When you get to the end of a test form instance, you will get a page that looks like this:
You have a few options.
1. Do you want to save this form data?
From here, you can either discard the data you have entered (but you can still save it as a test form instance, which we'll get to soon), or you can save and submit the data to the server. If you choose to submit your form to the server, your form will need to be deployed, so if your form is not yet deployed, you will be asked to do so.
| If you are testing submitting form instances, it is a good idea to hide the form from collection devices. To hide deployed forms from collection devices, have the form title start with "Test - ". To learn more, check out our documentation on hiding forms during testing. |
Submitting test data is a great way to make sure form instances can be submitted (such as making sure tricky constraint expressions are being met), make sure non-relevant fields do not become relevant again, look at trends to make sure data generally appears as expected, and more. You can look at that data in the Data Explorer, and export it using SurveyCTO Desktop.
| Remember you can also make sure a form can be submitted using the Validate form option discussed in part 5, section 1 Test view toolbar. |
It is a good idea to purge your test submissions before beginning actual data collection. To learn more, check out our support article on purging data on your server.
2. Do you want to be able to resume testing using saved progress?
This is for saving your test form instance so you can test with that data again later, as described above in part 2. That way, if you update the form definition later, you can test with that same data, and make sure the form continues to work well.
There are three options:
- Yes, save all progress up to this point: Save the data entered into the form as a test form instance, so you can resume it later. If you are working in a saved test form instance, this will overwrite that test instance with the new data.
- Yes, but only keep progress saved earlier: This will only appear if you are working in a saved form instance. If you select this option, the test form instance you previously saved or opened will be kept, but the new data you entered will not be saved.
- No, do not save progress, and discard any progress saved earlier: Don't save your data as a test form instance. If you are working in a saved test form instance, it will discard that test instance.
More on troubleshooting form design
When you are ready, you can check out the other articles in this series on troubleshooting form design.
- Intro and using the test view: Why it is important to test your forms, and how to use the test view options.
- Saving and resuming progress: How to save your test progress so you can use it in the updated form definition without needing to start over.
- Using the form inspector: Using the form inspector to find errors in your form.
- Submitting test data: Ensuring data is correct when submitted to the server.
- Test view toolbar and other tips: Other details on the test view and form inspector not covered in the other parts.
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