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Time limit counter stops when closing browser

  • bdeprez
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6 years 5 months ago #159627 by bdeprez
Hi all,

I noticed a weird thing - not sure if this is normal behavior of LimeSurvey or if this is a bug.

My survey has tokens and token persistence is enabled and all questions have a 15 second time limit.

Now, if you close your browser while the counter is counting down (eg. at 10 seconds), the counter stops counting down (quite logical since there is no script running anymore). However, if you then later restart the survey from the token URL, the survey is reopened at the last question (this is OK) but timer starts counting down again from where you closed the browser (in my example at the 10 second mark).

This is a bit tricky -> in fact, somebody could read the question, close their browser, google the answer and then relaunch the survey and select the right answer... :ohmy:

Can anything be done to prevent this from happening?

Thanks!
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  • tpartner
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6 years 5 months ago #159648 by tpartner
Replied by tpartner on topic Time limit counter stops when closing browser
That is the expected behaviour. There is no way to have a timer run in a closed browser.

Cheers,
Tony Partner

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  • bdeprez
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6 years 5 months ago #159649 by bdeprez
Replied by bdeprez on topic Time limit counter stops when closing browser
Hi Tony,

thanks for the quick response!

I was thinking if it wouldn't be possible to build in an extra check when the survey is opened and lands on a timed question because it skips it if the original timer expired. Wouldn't it be possible to have an additional check, something like this:

'now' > (last timestamp + question time limit) then skip question

that would catch the cheaters :-)

Just an idea
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6 years 5 months ago #159655 by tpartner
Replied by tpartner on topic Time limit counter stops when closing browser
I suppose you could do that with JavaScript but it would require adding a hidden question to all of those groups to store the timestamp. Is it really worth the effort?

Cheers,
Tony Partner

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  • holch
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6 years 5 months ago #159752 by holch
What if I block Javascript completely in my browser? Then I have all the time in the world. For what you are trying to do, there is probably always some kind of way around it.

I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
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  • DenisChenu
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6 years 5 months ago #159759 by DenisChenu
Replied by DenisChenu on topic Time limit counter stops when closing browser
Current system in LS use COOKIES and javascript. But holch have totally roght : just deactivate JS, and enter exactly what you want.

PS : i really think this advanced setting must be in plugin and not in core (maybe a core plugin, but not in core).

Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
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