For basic
synchronization scenarios, you can configure your data entry application for synchronization by selecting
Synchronization from the
Options menu:
To add support for data synchronization to your application, check the Enable synchronization box.
The following Server options can be specified:
- CSWeb: Synchronize with a CSWeb server. This requires a properly configured CSWeb server. The data dictionary for the application must be uploaded to the CSWeb server. For more information about CSWeb servers, see the CSWeb help documentation.
- Dropbox: Synchronize using the online file sharing service Dropbox. This requires an account with Dropbox.
- FTP: Synchronize using an FTP server. This option requires that you have an account configured on an FTP server.
- URL: Specify the URL of the CSWeb server or the URL of the FTP server. For CSWeb servers the URL should start with http:// or https://. For FTP servers the URL should start with ftp://, ftps:// or ftpes://. The URL is not used for Dropbox.
- Test connection: Click this button to attempt to connect to the server to verify that the URL and settings are correct.
The following Sync options can be specified:
- Synchronize main data file: This setting determines how the main data file is synchronized. There are three options:
- Upload changes to server: Only data that is modified on the device will be sent to the server. No data will be downloaded from the server. This is the most common option for interviewers when all interviewers will work on unique assignments.
- Download changes from server: Only receive modified data from the server. Do not upload local changes. This might be used for a supervisor who wants to see what changes interviewers have made but does not want to make changes themselves.
- Sync local and remote changes: Send local changes to the server and download changes from the server. This option can be used when multiple interviewers need to work on the same assignments. Note that if both interviewers modify a case at the same time, one will overwrite the changes made by the other.
Simple synchronizations do not support synchronization of external dictionaries or files other than the .pen and .pff files. To implement these advanced synchronization scenarios, you can create your own synchronization routines using
logic functions.
The synchronization options are used to synchronize data with a server but are not meant for deploying and updating the application itself. To download an application to a mobile device or update the application files of an existing application on a mobile device use the
Deploy Application tool to package and upload an application to a server. Interviewers can then download the application to their mobile device using
Add Application from the Entry Applications screen of CSEntry. Interviewers can also download to an application using
Update Installed Applications from the Entry Applications screen of CSEntry.
If the synchronization options have been configured, then the operator can launch the synchronization when running the data entry application. Synchronization may not be run while entering case data.
On mobile devices, the synchronization may be launched from the case listing view by choosing Synchronize from the menu or tapping the following icon:
On desktop devices, select the Synchronize option off of the File menu.
In order to download the data that has been uploaded to the server, use the Data Viewer's
download function. This will download all the data on the server into a single CSPro data file that can be used by other CSPro applications and tools.