The problem I had then is better explained with this scenario:
I created a test form with one drop down called "option", with four choice, "one", "two", "three" and "four". I ran the form 4 times selecting "one" the first time, "two" the second, and so forth.
Then I renamed the first option in the drop down to "two" and deleted the second item (called "two" from when I set it up). Now, the responses list shows that the first response (which was previously "one") is now "two" and the second response (which was previously "two") is now blank. The third and fourth responses still show as "three" and "four". And if I do the export, it shows the responses in order as "two", "", "three", "four".
I still have the e-mails I received during the registration of the original form, so I have the info. I just need to have people go through all of the e-mails and update the excel sheet with the correct information.
Could you suggest a way pull items from a drop down list without screwing up the data on formassembly so it cannot be exported?
Thank you for the detailed explanation of this issue.
Let me first try to explain why the export is currently doing what you're seeing. The export displays your data using the latest revision of your form. Because the latest revision doesn't include some of the options in your multiple-choice questions, these are omitted from the export.
The data isn't lost by the way, if you go to the 'response' data, you can actually see responses as they were submitted (the report uses the older revision when needed).
The current behavior would be fine if for instance you just corrected a typo in a multiple-choice option, or removed something you don't need to report on anymore. In this case, the latest revision of your form would be the best reference for the export.
In your situation, the export, as it is, isn't very useful because you need it to reflect historical changes. This is a perfectly valid business case and we should be able to handle it without making you jump through hoops or use complicated workarounds.
We still need to figure out how to best handle those different scenarios though. In the meantime we can export a correct file for you. Please open a support request with the name of the form and we'll take care of it within 24h.