Overview
By default, CommCare ODK offers a few features to help manage forms on the device. Since some of these features are not visible until discovered, and thus somewhat confusing, this page lays out the basics of how forms are managed.
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Currently Incomplete and Saved form management can be disabled (as long as you are running CommCareODK 2.1 or above) by turning on CommCare Sense mode in the UI Settings for your app in CommCare HQ's app builder (select "true" from the drop-down menu next to CommCare Sense)are enabled by default. You can disable them by going to your Application Settings and choosing "disable" for each feature under the Android Settings section.
If you have CommCare Sense (in the Applicatoin General Settings) turned on, then that will also disable both Incomplete and Saved Forms.
When the features are disabled, incomplete and saved form records are not created, and all of the user interface options pertaining to them will be removed from the CommCare application's home screen.
Incomplete Forms
What are incomplete forms?
Incomplete forms are forms that have been started but not finished. This This could happen, for example, if the client or user is suddenly called away but plans to finish the form later.
Instead of losing the information the user has already filled out, the user can save the form to the phone as "incomplete" and return to it at any time.
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If an incomplete form is stale and should be removed, this can be done from either of the 2 screens described in the steps to continue the form. To remove an incomplete form from the Incomplete Forms screen, you can long-click a form and then choose Delete Record
Considerations for Using Incomplete Forms
Incomplete forms are most useful for projects where people are frequently interrupted but able to resume work relatively quickly. In addition incomplete forms is only recommended for advanced users.
It is important not to leave incomplete forms open for a long time, because this makes it more likely that case data will be changed before the form is actually submitted. For example, if you have an incomplete form about a particular case, and then fill out another form that updates the same case prior to finishing the incomplete form, your case data may not reflect the most recent information.
In addition if a project uses incomplete forms the Form Completion Time report will likely not be accurate, as uses the total time from when the form was first opened until the time when the form was closed. If an incomplete form is left open for a long time this will throw off the calculations used in this report and it will appear that users are taking a very long time to complete forms.
Unsent Forms
Once a form has been entered and processed by CommCareODK it is stored in an encrypted format to be sent to the server as soon as a connection is available. These unsent forms aren't available to view individually, but the number of unsent forms can be checked by navigating to the CommCareODK home screen and reading the message underneath the Sync with Server button. If that message does not contain a notification about unsent forms, all forms have been sent.
Saved Forms
What are saved forms?
Once a form has been completed CommCareODK, it is then saved on the device in an encrypted format so it can be reviewed in a read only format in the future. Forms remain saved on the phone for a while even after they have been sent to the server. You can choose how long they stay on the phone by using the setting Days for Review in the Android Settings section of the Application Settings.
Forms are only saved to the device in this way after they have been processed and submitted to the server.
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If necessary the records can manually be removed from the device's local storage in the same manner as Incomplete forms.
Considerations for Using Saved Forms
Saved forms are useful in projects where users want to be able to refer back to forms that they recently submitted, or a supervisor wants to be able to spot-check recent submissions. This can be a useful part of workflow, but it is important to note that if the app is reinstalled or a user logs into another device the saved forms will not be restored; they are specific to the device from which they were submitted. Submitted forms are always available from CommCareHQ.