Dear Network Canvas Users,
We regret to inform you that a bug has been identified in the Android version of Interviewer which could impact the integrity of exported data. We take this very seriously, and while we believe the number of users impacted by this bug is extremely small, we are creating this post in the interests of transparency.
If all the following are true, you may have been impacted by this bug:
- You have utilized Interviewer 6.5.0 or newer on an Android tablet or Chromebook
- You used the “merge sessions” option when exporting your data
- You have exported some data more than once
If any of the above are not true for you, you are not likely to be impacted by this issue and you don’t need to take any further action.
Recommended steps:
-
Update to Interviewer 6.5.2 for Android, which fixes the issue. This release is available from The Google Play Store.
-
Check any data you have already exported for potential errors. These might include:
- Duplicate header rows in CSV files.
- Invalid or “corrupt” data - check if your CSV files can be opened/read, and that your columns and rows are aligned correctly.
It may also be possible that CSV files contain invalid data, such as elements from one interview being present in another. However, we have not observed this in practice.
If you find errors in your data:
- Install the latest update and export your data again.
- Failing that, export from the current version without using the merge sessions option.
- You can also export your data to Server, and then export from Server as CSV to work around this issue, and to provide yourself with a backup.
- Contact us at info@networkcanvas.com with details, and we will assist you as best as we can.
Bug Summary:
Under the specific circumstances above, the app may export incorrect/invalid data.
During the export process, we request a temporary directory from the operating system. We use this to store the files as we are encoding them (for example, each entity attribute list when exporting CSV files), as well as to store the zip we create that contains all of these files.
Once we have finished, there is a ‘cleanup step’ that is supposed to delete the temporary directory so that everything is returned to a fresh state. However, on Android, the app does not have permission to delete this directory, so files were left at the end of each export.
Because subsequent exports use the same file names when the “merge” option is selected, in some cases data from prior exports could be included in subsequent exports, or the files could become “jumbled” with duplicated header rows, or cut-off/invalid row definitions.
Actions we have taken:
To address this issue, we have implemented a fix in our latest release of Interviewer (6.5.2). Since implementing this fix, we have not observed any instances of the issue.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and appreciate your understanding as we work to resolve this matter promptly. Our team is committed to ensuring the highest level of data integrity and user experience.
Thank you for your continued support!