Advanced Logic Text Edit or Backup

@peter-humanfuel - i know your pain of putting in large volumes of logic rules.. i did one form early in the calendar year for a client that had over 4000 (4k) logic rules - so big the logic map stopped working ( i think if stops at about 500 if i am not mistaken)  - and it was only at that point that I convinced the cilent that they had to break it into a series of smaller forms .. 

Since i try to do all things in Typeform without having to use/learn the API (so far successful !!) the logic rules builder is cumbersome but it is reasonably straight forward. While i agree that it would be really nice to be able to import the logic into what i would call a ‘logic block’ (essentially a ‘question’ that holds all the logic you need and can be inserted into your question flow at any point - you could have multiple logic blocks that you could save and insert in my perfect world) i think the bigger issue is “what is the input language/format/structure that can be used to import the logic? straight sql? python scripts? c# ?? cobol, heaven forbid!

I am hoping they get something like this but .. until they do, i go back to old school basics for ‘backups’: first at the macro level 

• whenever i start a project i create a project workspace and a project_backup workspace 
• i make a copy/duplicate of the file(s) as i finish working on it (could be for an hour or a day or a review cycle) and put it into the backup workspace. this includes the google sheet tow which i always always always connect my files (data backups etc)
• when i have changes to make to a typeform, i make a copy of the production version and make all the changes necessary to that copy - they are autosaved (logic rules will be discussed next) at the question level - all the testing and review is done against this copy. 
  • before the typeform goes into testing, i put a copy of the file in the backups directory - not only do i have the original production version still in use but i have the copy that is being edited and a backup of the working copy (alongside the backup of the original) 

I am old enough to have worked with a dual floppy IBM PC then the XT with a 10mb hard drive and dual floppies. I have lost more files due to NOT saving periodically, blackouts and not having a ‘working backup’ of the production version. I have enough psychological scarring - just ask the 7 other voices in my head  - about lack of backups that i learned the hard way in my first typeform (lost the working logic trying to make a tweak.. dammit) that i religiously practice the above back up strategy. 

here’s a photo of some work for a client today - the original and versions 2 and 3 - iterations of questions and logic twice today… (there are backups of these files in the project backup workspace yessir!)

Now for the logic rules:

• like your statement above not wanting to lose the input, I follow some simple (personal) guidelines when i am inputting logic rules into a form - they may seem crazy but … 
  • i create all the variables and save them all 
  • i create all the hidden variables and save them all. 
  • in the logic rule creation, I SAVE the logic after every question’s logic rules are input
    • yes this might seem like a lot if you have 40 questions in your form BUT you might want to think about the design of your form and not the logic here
    • yes it means i have to go back into logic and branching again and navigate to where i am inputting the next set of rules, but it means less chance for data loss
  • IF i have a long set of logic rules that i have input, say to calculate the highest subtotal out of 5, and I am putting all these rules on a single question, then every 10 logic rules in my list i will save the logic rules and then go back in and add the next 10
    • in an example of 5 question groups of 5 questions with 5 answers in each AND determining the top ranked subtotal, there were 190 logic rules in the ‘ranking’ run - so there were 19 “saves’ of the logic and 25 saves for each of the questions. 

I know that is a pain for most people.. and it can be mind numbing to sit there and walk through the sequence for each rule.. but i find that it takes the same amount of time as writing the entire set of sql statements that i would use to do the same thing and then port it into Typeform by the api. You still have to test the logic works in the ‘outside world’ and then import it and test it inside the typeform to make sure that it works. Why duplicate the testing effort? 

it’s old school.. downright curmudgeonly way of doing things. but it reduces the amount of times that I have lost stuff - you also never know when there is going to be an issue between your browser and the Typeform servers: get used to saving your logic work and don’t rely on the autosave (that works on question changes but not logic!!!)

ok.. that was much longer but @Liz gave me the pulpit and i preached from my soapbox…(sort of feels like being at Speaker’s Corner) lol.. 

cheers

des