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Deactivated survey data
- mitch54
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10 years 8 months ago #98033
by mitch54
Deactivated survey data was created by mitch54
How do I retrieve data from a survey that has been deactivated more than once? A client was tweaking a survey and deactivated it, tweaked it some more, then deactivated it again and did the same a third time. Now they need the data from the first deactivation. How can I get that?
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- DenisChenu
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10 years 8 months ago #98036
by DenisChenu
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
Replied by DenisChenu on topic Deactivated survey data
And you don't use export to lsa before deactivate .....
You can add/remove some columns in your sql-admin-system to the ols survey table. If The old survey table and new survey table have same column, then you can import from an ols survey.
Denis
You can add/remove some columns in your sql-admin-system to the ols survey table. If The old survey table and new survey table have same column, then you can import from an ols survey.
Denis
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
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- holch
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10 years 8 months ago #98042
by holch
I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
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Replied by holch on topic Deactivated survey data
I am always very suprised how little people care about their data until they need it.
Me on the otherside, I export the colected data every few days, just to make sure that I don't loose everything. Because it might be some work to fit the different datafiles together, but at least you can.
But that doesn't help your client now.
I think the data is still stored in the MySQL-database, so it might not be lost. But after so many changes, I don't think that you will get it back into LS again directly via the GUI. But to be honest, I am not an expert in this, because I try to avoid situations like this as much as possible.
However, I am also not too happy how LS treats activating/deactivating and old data. I hope that we can find a better solution for 2.1 maybe.
Me on the otherside, I export the colected data every few days, just to make sure that I don't loose everything. Because it might be some work to fit the different datafiles together, but at least you can.
But that doesn't help your client now.
I think the data is still stored in the MySQL-database, so it might not be lost. But after so many changes, I don't think that you will get it back into LS again directly via the GUI. But to be honest, I am not an expert in this, because I try to avoid situations like this as much as possible.
However, I am also not too happy how LS treats activating/deactivating and old data. I hope that we can find a better solution for 2.1 maybe.
I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.
The following user(s) said Thank You: mitch54
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- Mazi
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10 years 8 months ago #98045
by Mazi
The data is still there. When de-activating a survey, it is moved to a backup table with the survey ID and the timestamp of deactivation.
In general you should always export your data before de-activating a survey so you can later merge it using tools like Excel or SPSS.
At the current situation the best approach might be to export the data of the backup tables as CSV file, e.g. using DB tools like phpmyadmin. Then you can try to import that data at Excel or SPSS and merge it with other data.
For upcoming LS versions no solution is in sight, though this issue is discussed within the development team frequently. It is a technical problem related to the current DB design (all answer data is stored at one table for each survey).
Best regards/Beste Grüße,
Dr. Marcel Minke
Need Help? We offer professional Limesurvey support: survey-consulting.com
Contact: marcel.minke(at)survey-consulting.com
Replied by Mazi on topic Deactivated survey data
And I am always surprised why people don't read the warning messages when deactivating a surveyholch wrote: I am always very suprised how little people care about their data until they need it.
The data is still there. When de-activating a survey, it is moved to a backup table with the survey ID and the timestamp of deactivation.
In general you should always export your data before de-activating a survey so you can later merge it using tools like Excel or SPSS.
At the current situation the best approach might be to export the data of the backup tables as CSV file, e.g. using DB tools like phpmyadmin. Then you can try to import that data at Excel or SPSS and merge it with other data.
For upcoming LS versions no solution is in sight, though this issue is discussed within the development team frequently. It is a technical problem related to the current DB design (all answer data is stored at one table for each survey).
Best regards/Beste Grüße,
Dr. Marcel Minke
Need Help? We offer professional Limesurvey support: survey-consulting.com
Contact: marcel.minke(at)survey-consulting.com
The following user(s) said Thank You: mitch54
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- DenisChenu
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10 years 8 months ago #98047
by DenisChenu
With phpmyadmin (if mysql)
- copy lime_old_survey_sidnumber_datetime to lime_old_survey_sidnumber_datetime_backup (like you i allways do backup before)
- Look at lime_survey_sidnumber column and : add/remove/update column of lime_old to be the same than lime_survey
- Go to LS admin/response and use the "import from a deactivated table"
- Sammoussa made a system to import old survey changed table to new survey. Didn't test it but can have a look, Mazi : it's in 2.1 ?
- I do a VV export/import system with "look only at EM_code" the a vv export from one suvey can be imported in another survey with "EM code" correspondance (same EM code => import in same column).
Denis
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
Replied by DenisChenu on topic Deactivated survey data
Yes, always renaming and don't delete : lime_old_survey_sidnumber_datetime.holch wrote: I think the data is still stored in the MySQL-database, so it might not be lost.
Yes, not possible by default but :holch wrote: But after so many changes, I don't think that you will get it back into LS again directly via the GUI.
With phpmyadmin (if mysql)
- copy lime_old_survey_sidnumber_datetime to lime_old_survey_sidnumber_datetime_backup (like you i allways do backup before)
- Look at lime_survey_sidnumber column and : add/remove/update column of lime_old to be the same than lime_survey
- Go to LS admin/response and use the "import from a deactivated table"
For 2.05:I hope that we can find a better solution for 2.1 maybe.
- Sammoussa made a system to import old survey changed table to new survey. Didn't test it but can have a look, Mazi : it's in 2.1 ?
- I do a VV export/import system with "look only at EM_code" the a vv export from one suvey can be imported in another survey with "EM code" correspondance (same EM code => import in same column).
Denis
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
The following user(s) said Thank You: mitch54
The topic has been locked.