Supressing creation of .lst .not files etc on Android device

[Keith Tomlin]

Hi - on an Android data-entry device, is it possible to only create the data file and suppress the creation of .sns, .not, .idx and .lst files? I'm asking because, at the end of each survey day, the data files from five tablets will be copied via USB cable onto a laptop where they can then be concatinated and exported. It's important that the data supervisor always copies the data file from each tablet but, because all the files created have a very similar name, there's a risk that the wrong file could be copied. I was hoping to get around this by writing a programme using VBA in Microsoft Access which would identify and copy the data file onto the laptop automatically, but it turns out that devices running the newer versions of Android are no longer recognised as external drives on Windows OS, and so VBA programming won't work.

Many thanks

Keith

[shafique arif]

Hi Keith

I do not know how to do in CSPro but I used to Sync application for this purpose:

1: I used "Synchronize Ultimate" for Android Tablets to get required files from Tablet to DropBox/SD card or USB. This application is available free on Google Play store

2: I used "ALLWAY Sync" for my Window laptop to get file from DropBox

This worked perfectly for me because I am not aware of any feature in CSPro so far.

Regards

[Gregory Martin]

With the forthcoming sync tool, you will be able to copy over data automatically if you set up an FTP server or Dropbox account. Unfortunately, at the moment, you can't suppress the creation of those files. Might it be easier to simply have the data supervisor copy over all files and then you can process them on your end.

Also, if you want to go the VBA route, you can access the Android file system by using the ADB: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html

That's a bit of a complicated solution to your problem, but would allow you full control over the synchronization.

[Keith Tomlin]

Hi Shafique, Hi Greg

Thanks very much for your helpful replies. I have downloaded the Synchronize Ultimate app, and it is effective at copying just the data file into a new folder on the tablet, which can then be copied onto the laptop via USB cable. Greg's suggestion to copy the whole folder onto the laptop is also a good one, and might be a little simpler. I'm afraid DropBox won't be an option as we will be too remote - no internet or cell-phone connectivity at all. But I'm wondering if I can set up each supervisor laptop as an FTP server that the new FTP function in CSPro could then sync to?

Best wishes

Keith

[josh]

You can set up an FTP server on the supervisor laptop using Filezilla Server. That works over a local area network but if you are in the field you probably don't have a LAN to connect both the Android device and the laptop to. You can set up your Android device as a wifi hotspot and connect the laptop to it. Then you can connect to the ftp server on the laptop. You will not have DNS so you will have to connect to the ftp server on the laptop using the IP address. By default I doubt that there is any gaurantee that the laptop will get the same IP address each time you connect to the hotspot. You could probably configure the laptop to use a static IP address as long as it was in the same subnet (192.168.43.xxx). This way you wouldn't have to modify the ftp address in the sync file each time you connect to the hotspot. Let me know if it works. I might want to use for an upcoming survey.