Answers and results

For the respondent, an auxiliary table question works like a regular selection question, with one important difference: since the list can have thousands of options, it has a search and loads the options gradually, as the person scrolls the list.

1. Answering the question

1. Tap (or click) the question to see the options. In the Dropdown menu, the list opens when the field is tapped;
2. To find an option, type part of the text in Search. Uppercase, lowercase and accents do not matter;
3. Choose the option. In Multiple selection, check as many as you want and tap Done: the field shows how many options were selected;
4. If the desired option is not in the list and the question has the "Others..." option, choose it and type the value in Specify here....

If the question has a mapping, other questions are filled as soon as the option is chosen.

Messages that may appear in the question

Message	What it means
"No options found."	No option matches the search or the question filters.
"The options could not be loaded."	The options could not be fetched, usually due to a lack of connection on the web version. Use Try again.
"The options of this question are not available. Contact the form owner."	The question cannot offer options, for example because the table was deleted. Let the form administrator know.
"Some options have no description. Please let the person in charge of the form know."	Some records ended up without text from the display template and cannot be chosen. Learn more...

2. In the app, even without internet

In the app, auxiliary table questions work without internet. For that, the records of the tables used by the forms on the device are downloaded during synchronization, together with the forms. Only the records the questions can offer are downloaded, respecting the question and workspace filters.

• The first time, the form only becomes available after every record has been downloaded. Until then, it appears as Form not available: "This form is not yet available to be answered." Just stay connected and wait for the synchronization to finish;
• After that, the app only downloads what changed in the tables, on each synchronization;
• If the form is opened while a larger update is in progress, the notice "The auxiliary table options of this form are being updated and may be incomplete." appears.

Low browser storage

In the version of the app used through the browser, there may not be enough space to store large tables. In this case the notice "There is not enough browser storage to download the auxiliary table data of a form, which cannot be answered offline. Free up space and sync again." appears.

3. When sending the answer

When it receives the answer, Hashdata checks whether the chosen option is still available. This avoids storing a record that was removed from the table, or that stopped meeting the filters, between the moment of the answer and the sending — a common situation in collections made without internet.

If the option is no longer available, the answer is not sent and the Option no longer available notice appears:

• On the web: "The option chosen in the question '...' is no longer available, because the auxiliary table changed. Use the button below to go to the top of the form and choose another option.";
• In the app, in the list of collections to send: "The option chosen in the question '...' is no longer available, because the auxiliary table changed. Edit the collection and choose another option to send it."

Along with the answer, Hashdata stores the data of the chosen record that is checked in the Export tab. This way, the answer keeps the information from the moment of the collection, even if the record changes later in the table.

4. Results

In Forms → open the form → Results → Data, the question column shows the text of the chosen option, as it was displayed to the respondent.

To filter the answers by an auxiliary table question:

1. Open the form and go to Results → Data;
2. Open the filter of the question column;
3. Search and choose an option: the table then shows only the answers that contain it.

The filter works like the one for the other selection questions. The only difference is that the list shows the question options coming from the auxiliary table, with search and gradual loading.

In the integrations (API, HD Reports and BI), each answer also carries the fields of the chosen record that are checked in the Export tab of the question.

5. Common problems

What you see	What to do
The form appears as Form not available in the app	The table records are still being downloaded. Connect to the internet and wait for the synchronization.
A new table option does not appear in the app	Sync the app to download the table changes.
"Option no longer available" when sending	The chosen record was removed or stopped meeting the filters. Edit the collection and choose another option.
"An auxiliary table was not updated: the forms on this device use more than 50 different filters on it."	There are too many forms with different filters on the same table. The data already downloaded is still available; contact the forms administrator.
The search does not find an option that exists in the table	The option may be outside the question or workspace filters.

Next steps

• Learn more about the question configuration;
• Learn more about automatic filling.