adding autoincrementing respondent counter to survey

Question

This seems trivial but can’t figure it out. I would like to include a simple “respondent counter” variable in a survey, with the counter autoincrementing with each (completed) response. That is, the data table of responses should contain a simple integer field showing “1” for the first repondent, “2” for the second and so on.

I’ve looked into various possible solutions, such as:

setting embedded data in the survey flow (no counter options)
post-survey options (no counter options)
quota functionality (“quota count” comes close, but is a single auto-updated number, not a field within each survey response)

Importantly, I need this counter variable already present in the survey reponse/data table in order to add it to a contact list (and have it available for downstream surveys). So offline creation of the counter (e.g., based on response datetime) is not an option. Any suggestions welcome.

TomG · Answer

I think the best way is to use a survey flow web service call to keep and update an external count and return the counter as an embedded data field.

Another approach would be to use a quota and the piped quota count to calculate the counter (e.g., counter = $e{ qo://QO_xxx/QuotaCount + 1 }). However, with this approach you might end up with some duplicate and missing counts due to simultaneous responses (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 6, etc.).

Sign up

Login to the Community

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded