Survey continuation

[SamMousa]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
It is currently "hard" to store survey progress and have people continue later.
Depending on the survey mode we need to store the lastPageNo, or the lastQuestion.name etc.
With the work being done on inputPerPage mode this will get even more complicated.

Describe the solution you'd like
I'd love an opaque solution:

createContinuationToken(): string {

}

continueFrom(string $token) {

}

The idea here is that you OWN the format of this token, for consumers it is just a string that we store. This

Describe alternatives you've considered
Currently we have to deeply inspect the survey configuration to decide what piece of information we need and which setter to call to get expected behavior.

Additional context

[JaneSjs]

Hi @SamMousa,
You can use the onCurrentPageChanged function to save the last visited page.
If you wish to save the last visited question, you may want to use the onFocusInQuestion function.

If you encounter any particular issue, please feel free to contact us and share a reproducible demo.

Thank you

[SamMousa]

You misunderstand the point I'm making.
I'm using onPartialSend() to store partial data. As part of this data I want to store progress.
The way to store progress is dependent on the survey mode, which makes the consuming code (my code) needlessly complicated.
For every different mode, standard, questionPerPage, inputPerPage I need to store different data.
My proposal would be a simple API where you control it depending on the survey mode.
That way consuming code doesn't break when you introduce a new mode (like the upcoming inputPerPage mode.

This is a feature request, not a bug, nor a question where I need a workaround. I have a workaround, but it'll break again when you introduce inputPerPage and when you introduce another mode etc.
Also, it'll break for any survey where question order is randomized.

Having a opaque continuation token that you control means you can make sure it works with new features:

• It should contain a seed for the pseudo-RNG so random question order can be restored
• It must contain the current "display page" (ie page, or question or input depending on mode)
• It could focus the correct input, like in a matrix question with multiple inputs.
• It could scroll to the correct question

All of these can be done manually by the consuming code, but it'll be hard to maintain when you introduce new features.

[JaneSjs]

Hi @SamMousa,
To save incomplete survey data, we suggest that you use the onValueChanged and onCurrentPageChanged functions. These functions are triggered regardless of the survey layout mode. You can use them to track the most recently visited question and page. For details, please see this demo. Information about the current survey display mode is available through the SurveyModel instance.

We appreciate your feedback and may consider API enhancements in the future.

Thank you

[SamMousa]

I'm sorry @JaneSjs, but these kinds of interactions with you are very frustrating.
Every time I make an issue I try to take the time to make it clear what type of issue it is and what kind of response I'd like.

In this case I very clearly explain that I have a working solution and what the downsides of this solution are. I go on to propose an alternative and lay out it's advantages.

Instead of going into the advantages or the arguments you keep coming up with workarounds and irrelevant information.

1. I do not need a workaround, the current solution I have works and is ugly like every workaround.
2. You keep hammering on about which event to use, but the event is about WHEN to save progress, not HOW to extract it or HOW to apply it.

Again, you're fully within your rights to not like the idea, or not prioritize it, but it is a waste of your time and of my time to suggest workarounds when people create a ticket for the purpose of improving SurveyJS.

The only half argument that connects to my post is this:

These functions are triggered regardless of the survey layout mode. You can use them to track the most recently visited question and page.

But I've not talked about which event to use at all, it is irrelevant. My issue is about what data to save, as I clearly line out.

[JaneSjs]

Hi @SamMousa,
Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate you taking the time to point this out.

I discussed this usage scenario with our developers, and we agreed that enhancing our API in this direction would indeed be helpful. However, we may not be able to prioritize it at the moment, as we're currently focusing on our Roadmap tasks.

To provide as much clarity as possible in the meantime, I wanted to share our current recommendation for handling partial data saving. While the onPartialSend event is one available option, there's also an alternative approach we generally recommend, and I thought it would be helpful to highlight that as well.

We've made a note of this suggestion for future consideration.

Thank you