Saved Forms - can they be deleted from a device?

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Robin Fatch

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Jul 8, 2016, 11:33:44 AM7/8/16
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Hello,

Is there a way to delete "saved forms" from a device once they have been synced and sent to the server?

Ideally, for security purposes, we do not want our completed forms saved on a device after they have been synced. Is there a way to set this up, to either automatically or manually delete the forms once they have been synced with the server?

Thanks,
Robin

Jeremy W.

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Jul 8, 2016, 12:02:07 PM7/8/16
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Hi Robin,

You can configure your application not to retain saved forms. To do this go to Application Settings -> Android Settings -> Set Saved Forms to Disable.

Forms that have been successfully sent to the server will no longer be visible on the phone.

Jeremy

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Jeremy Wacksman
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Robin Fatch

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Jul 8, 2016, 1:47:39 PM7/8/16
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Hi Jeremy,

Thanks. I actually did this (set saved forms to disable), but there are still saved forms listed and viewable on the tablet after syncing...any ideas?

~Robin

Phillip Mates

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Jul 8, 2016, 1:52:19 PM7/8/16
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Hi Robin, 

I believe the 'Days for Review' feature (documentation here) should be what you are looking for

Jeremy W.

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Jul 8, 2016, 1:58:24 PM7/8/16
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Hi Robin,

Not sure if this will help but if you change the application settings you will need to make a new version of the application and deploy that to the device.

Also - if you want to just remove a single saved form I think you can just long-press on it from the list of forms and you will have an option to remove it.

Jeremy

Robin Fatch

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Jul 8, 2016, 2:04:28 PM7/8/16
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Hi Jeremy,

Could this actually also be tied into the "days for review" setting? Are these two independent settings for an application ("days for review" and "saved forms"), or do they work in conjunction?

I had previously set "days for review" to "Forms are never removed" because I didn't want forms to be deleted prior to sync. Would this affect their "save" function as well?

I just now swapped days for review to "one week", with saved forms disabled, and logged out/in of the app - but the saved forms are all still listed and available on the tablet...

Thanks,
Robin

Phillip Mates

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Jul 8, 2016, 2:13:24 PM7/8/16
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Hey Robin, 
 
Could this actually also be tied into the "days for review" setting?
Yes, the 'Days for Review' feature is what you want and documented here

I had previously set "days for review" to "Forms are never removed" because I didn't want forms to be deleted prior to sync.
The 'Days for Review' feature only removes forms that have been synced to the server. 

I just now swapped days for review to "one week", with saved forms disabled, and logged out/in of the app - but the saved forms are all still listed and available on the tablet...
You will probably have to wait a week after the forms are synced up to the server for them to disappear.

Robin Fatch

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Jul 8, 2016, 2:25:58 PM7/8/16
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Hi Philip,

Thanks. So as long as "days for review" only removes forms that have already been synced to the server, then we will probably set this to the smallest amount of time (one day).

Would I need to wait one week since I changed the setting from "never removed" to "one week" to expect saved forms to be deleted from the tablet? I currently have forms viewable on the tablet from months ago, even after changing the setting and logging in/out. Some say "[Unavailable]" under the form name, but are actually viewable if you click on them...

~Robin



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Robin Fatch

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Jul 8, 2016, 2:42:22 PM7/8/16
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Hi guys,

I missed one of Jeremy's earlier replies - this works now! I hadn't deployed a new version last time, but once I do, this works as expected. My "saved forms" list now just has forms from today.

~Robin
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Phillip Mates

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Jul 8, 2016, 2:44:24 PM7/8/16
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Would I need to wait one week since I changed the setting from "never removed" to "one week" to expect saved forms to be deleted from the tablet?
yes, on every login, CommCare checks if there are any forms that were submitted over a week before and removes them. If you want to play around with this, you can always set your phone's clock to a week from now and try logging in. (remember to set it back to normal afterwards!)
 
Some say "[Unavailable]" under the form name, but are actually viewable if you click on them...
"[Unavailable]" should generally be ignored, it means CommCare had trouble loading some details about the form in question. 
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