Forms: Numbers changed from what users submitted

Kelsey Cap · 01/08/24

Hello--

I set up a form to collect information about publications for our staff. Each field in the form is required and set to collect numbers only. Many of the responses are coming in inconsistently as a negative number (which would not make sense for people reporting on something they have completed). From people who have submitted the form and also have review access, they report that they submit something as 0 and it changed to -2. This tells me that it is not just making a number negative but actively changing the numbers from what was submitted. First and foremost, why would this happen and how can it be stopped? The form has 10 fields with this formatting and I have received 92 submissions. I will need to validate all of these responses to make sure other numbers (not just negative) are correct. Is there an efficient way to send the responses to respondents to check and correct without giving them access to the sheet?

James Keuning · 01/08/24

Is there an efficient way to send the responses to respondents to check and correct without giving them access to the sheet?

There is. Here is how I would do it. Create a checkbox column called Check, and check that box for records that need to be checked. Create a Contact List column called Contact and put the person's contact in there for each record.

Then create a workflow to Alert Someone. You can set whatever trigger you want, maybe a date, but it won't matter because you will run it manually.

Set your Automation Permissions to Unrestricted (see screenshot)

Create the workflow (see screenshot)

Run the workflow (see screenshot). Replies to that email will go to the sheet owner.

Run it:

Run options:

Matt Hopkins · 01/09/24

@Kelsey Cap - I also discovered the same issue as you described above, so just wondering if you had uncovered anything else that could be causing it...?

Kelsey Cap · 01/09/24

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/412413#Comment_412413

Thanks @James Keuning for this very helpful response. I was starting to look through Dynamic Views but I don't think that would be as useful as your suggestion because alerting folks to their access would be much too complicated.

@Matt Hopkins I've contacted Smartsheets Customer Support and they are looking into the issue. They said this could occur due to "data validation settings, user input errors, or system issues." I have no formulas in the fields, no logic set up, and only data validation is "numbers only" in the form. I would be surprised if that many people submitted a negative number without catching it. I will follow up if I find out more about the issue!

Matt Hopkins · 01/10/24

@Kelsey Cap - Thank you...! We are in exactly the same position in term of the settings applied (numbers only) and no formulas applied either, so seems like a bug. Glad we are not alone...!

Genevieve P. · 04/03/24

Hi all!

Jumping in here to let you know that Forms have received a number of small updates this week; the issue you're describing where numbers are being entered as negative is linked to form input fields with number validation having tiny scroll arrows in the input field. When using a mouse wheel to scroll through the form, the number changes while the mouse is over the number field.

This has now been updated - scroll has been removed from number validation fields! Here's more information: NEW! Forms minor updates and enhancements

Cheers,

Genevieve

Forms: Numbers changed from what users submitted

Answers

Categories