Millisecond Forums » Millisecond Forums » Inquisit 6 » Skipped sessions in batch script?

Skipped sessions in batch script?

hsmartin — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 16:47:39 GMT

Hi!

I am encountering an issue with the batch script. It seems that occasionally a session will be skipped when participants click the initial personalized link we send. We just asked a researcher to test it out, and the same thing happened to her. We know it's not an issue with launching sessions directly via the player app and entering sessions numbers, as the participants (and the researcher) only clicked the personalized link. For example, Judy (our fellow researcher) repeatedly clicked the personalized link and successfully was directed to session IDs 1-7 (in order), but then session 8 never opened. Instead, it went right to session 9 (and then 10, then 11, etc).

What are some possible explanations for how a session could be skipped? I've double checked the batch and session scripts to ensure there are no typos. Also, it appears to be a different session that has been skipped each time there's an issue (i.e., sometimes every session will be perfect and in order; sometimes a participant will be directed through every session except session 3; other times a participant will be directed through every session except session 6; etc).

Thank you so much! We really appreciate any help!

RE: Skipped sessions in batch script?

Dave — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 16:47:39 GMT

+x[quote]

[b]hsmartin - 10/7/2022[/b]
+x[quote]

[b]hsmartin - 10/7/2022[/b]
Hi!

I am encountering an issue with the batch script. It seems that occasionally a session will be skipped when participants click the initial personalized link we send. We just asked a researcher to test it out, and the same thing happened to her. We know it's not an issue with launching sessions directly via the player app and entering sessions numbers, as the participants (and the researcher) only clicked the personalized link. For example, Judy (our fellow researcher) repeatedly clicked the personalized link and successfully was directed to session IDs 1-7 (in order), but then session 8 never opened. Instead, it went right to session 9 (and then 10, then 11, etc).

What are some possible explanations for how a session could be skipped? I've double checked the batch and session scripts to ensure there are no typos. Also, it appears to be a different session that has been skipped each time there's an issue (i.e., sometimes every session will be perfect and in order; sometimes a participant will be directed through every session except session 3; other times a participant will be directed through every session except session 6; etc).

Thank you so much! We really appreciate any help!
[/quote]

Oh also interestingly, each of the times a session has been skipped, it was when the sessions were completed in one sitting with me supervising. I'm wondering if it makes a difference whether participants return to the Safari screen with the green "start" button and go from there vs clicking the link (which creates a new Safari page)?
[/quote]

The log for session #7 has this oddity:

Two invocations of the finish page, about 3 minutes apart. The 2nd hit on the finish page occurred at 13:30:17 (UTC), just a few seconds before the next launch at 13:30:23 (UTC).

Not sure how the participant managed that, but maybe this rings a bell for you if you were present during the session. Whatever happened there must have been responsible for the skip from #7 (with two finish page hits) to #9. One guess: The browser was closed after session #7, reopened a few minutes later by clicking on the original link, and as the first order of business the browser restored the previously openend tabs.

A perhaps useful aside: We changed the sessionid behavior a bit, so it should now tbe possible to pass the session number in via URL parameter as well, thereby overriding the internal session counter. That is:

https://mili2nd.co/eo6b?subjectid=judy&groupid=1&sessionid=1 should directly fire up the tasks for session 1,
https://mili2nd.co/eo6b?subjectid=judy&groupid=1&sessionid=2 the tasks for session 2,
https://mili2nd.co/eo6b?subjectid=judy&groupid=1&sessionid=8 the tasks for the previously skipped session 8,
and so forth.

RE: Skipped sessions in batch script?

hsmartin — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 15:51:00 GMT

+x[quote]

[b]hsmartin - 10/7/2022[/b]
Hi!

I am encountering an issue with the batch script. It seems that occasionally a session will be skipped when participants click the initial personalized link we send. We just asked a researcher to test it out, and the same thing happened to her. We know it's not an issue with launching sessions directly via the player app and entering sessions numbers, as the participants (and the researcher) only clicked the personalized link. For example, Judy (our fellow researcher) repeatedly clicked the personalized link and successfully was directed to session IDs 1-7 (in order), but then session 8 never opened. Instead, it went right to session 9 (and then 10, then 11, etc).

What are some possible explanations for how a session could be skipped? I've double checked the batch and session scripts to ensure there are no typos. Also, it appears to be a different session that has been skipped each time there's an issue (i.e., sometimes every session will be perfect and in order; sometimes a participant will be directed through every session except session 3; other times a participant will be directed through every session except session 6; etc).

Thank you so much! We really appreciate any help!
[/quote]

Oh also interestingly, each of the times a session has been skipped, it was when the sessions were completed in one sitting with me supervising. I'm wondering if it makes a difference whether participants return to the Safari screen with the green "start" button and go from there vs clicking the link (which creates a new Safari page)?