Failed to execute 'transaction' on 'IDBDatabase': The database connection is closing (NYC)

User Support Data Collection
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Description

I am conducting a community survey in New York City of the Nepali-speaking/Himalayan communities. I created a QR code with a link to the survey form in Kobo web forms, so respondents can fill the survey on their own device with a member of our team present.

The survey has both Nepali and English options.

Since this is in NYC, most people filling it out have iphones and are using Safari.

We just began piloting the survey and frequently when people reach the end, they encounter the error “Failed to execute ‘transaction’ on ‘IDBDatabase’: The database connection is closing.”

At this point, it seems that the data is completely lost. Our survey takes about 20 minutes to complete, so this is a major problem.

Is there a way to prevent this? Do I need to use different software?

Note by moderator: I’ve removed the “Steps to Reproduce / Expected behavior / Actual behavior / Additional details”

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@eamkraut Welcome to the forum.

If possible could you please share your xlsform so we can test it on our side?

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(attachments)

survey_spreadsheet_bug_troubleshooting.xlsx (67.6 KB)

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@eamkraut
Thanks for sharing your form.

This issue is usually related to connectivity problems or, in some cases, memory management on iOS devices.

We’ll investigate this further and keep you updated.

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Thanks George,

The survey is meant to be taken by people on their own phones all over the city. Is Kobo just not the right tool for that then?

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@eamkraut
Totally understandable concern. Kobo can still work well for this, the issue is specifically tied to how Safari handles IndexedDB when the browser tab gets backgrounded/killed due to memory pressure, which is more likely on longer, self-administered surveys.

We’re looking into it on our end.

A couple of options in the meantime:

  • Switch the webform to “online-only” mode (rather than online/offline), this avoids local storage entirely, so the IndexedDB issue shouldn’t occur. It does mean respondents need a steady connection while filling it out. Note this generates a new link, so you’d need to share that with respondents

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We’ll keep this thread updated as we learn more.

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Thanks George,

I actually tried the online only link briefly, but unfortunately a respondent still got the error. Do you think that was a fluke?