Data Flow
The Data Flow functionality provides the option of synchronizing data between the form and Contact Manager if they were distributed using the following distribution methods:
This article provides full instructions on how to use and adjust the feature.
How to apply the Data Flow feature
Click on the Setup Data Flow button on one of the above mentioned Launch pages.
On the Data Flow page you can setup mapping between form questions and fields of the Contact Manager.
The Form Items pane lists all form questions. Icons which are located next to questions indicate question types.
In the Contact Manager Fields pane you will see the list of Contact manager fields, and their format.
Fields that are marked with the Lock icon can be used for the From synchronization to pre-populate survey questions only, for example: ID field that is used as the unique identifier the To direction of synchronization for such fields is not allowed.
How to set up the Mapping
To setup mapping follow these steps:
Select survey item for the mapping. You can select separate answer choices for the questions that allow multiple answers selection, for example: Check All that Apply.
Map selected survey item with the field of the Contact Manager from the right pane.
Choose the data flow direction:
To - after survey is completed, data overwrites Contact Manager data.
From - when respondents open the survey, questions will be pre-populated with the data from the Contact Manager.
To and From - in this case data flows in both directions.
Both From and To and From types of synchronization can be used to create new contacts in the Contact Manager for new respondents.Click the Apply Mapping button to apply mapping for the selected items.
Follow steps 1-4 again to apply mapping to other items.
The Overwrite with empty values option is used if respondents leave a question unanswered and you want delete data from the appropriate field in the Contact Manager. This is applicable for the To and To and
From synchronization types. If this option is not activated and respondents leave unanswered questions, Contact Manager records will remain the same.
Mapping Rules
The following table lists Form Items and compatible Contact Manager fields:
Question Type | Data Flow Direction | Contact Manager Fields Format |
Pick One (Radio Buttons) , Pick One with 'Comment' | << | General - text of both survey item and Contact Manager field must match. |
Check All that apply | << | General - "Yes" is used as a selected value, "No" as not selected. "1" is used as a selected value, "0" as not selected for the following fields: |
Single Line Texts (not formatted), Muli-line Text | << | Any Contact Manager field |
Single Line Text with Pre-format Options (any format type), Muli-line Text | >> | General |
Single Line Text (formatted) | << | Format of the survey item and Contact Manager field must match. |
Rating scale | << | General - text of both survey item and Contact Manager field must match. |
Matrix | << | Mapping can be set with all Contact Manager fields depending on the question items format. Please see above all possible cases for Pick One, Check All, Dropdown and Text elements. |
Numeric Allocation | << | Any numeric field in Contact Manager: |
Some form and contact manager fields have mapping peculiarities:
Answer choices for the multichoice question types such as Check All that Apply and Listbox that are left not answered may overwrite data in the Contact Manager with the zero or empty values if the To or the To and From mapping type is set.
You can map Rate different items along the scale of your choice question type with the Percent, % data field in the Contact Manager. The data will be converted in the following way: scale will be treated as 100%, which will be divided among all items in equal parts. For example: each item in the five-items scale will possess 20%; first selected item corresponds to 20%, second item to 40%, third item to 60%, fourth item to 80% and the fifth one to 100%.