When keying large numbers of questionnaires using a team, it is possible to take advantage of a local area network (LAN) to make it easier to manage data files. There are multiple options for using a LAN to facilitate data entry. In all cases, CSPro must be installed on each of the computers that will be used for keying.

It is possible to have multiple keyers, each using their own computer, key to a single data file that is located on a shared network folder. When launching the data entry application, enter or browse to the path on the network drive where you want to save the data. After having done this once, the path to the data file will be saved in a PFF file. You can then place a copy of the data entry application and the PFF file on each computer and have the keyers run the PFF file to start data entry. All keyers will enter data into the same shared data file.

Sharing a single file between multiple simultaneous users is only possible when using non-text data sources such as CSPro DB. Data files in text format cannot be shared.

By default, each keyer will be able to view, modify, and verify cases in the shared data file entered by other keyers. This can be restricted by setting the CaseListingFilter in the PFF filter. See Run Production Data Entry for more information.

CSPro supports the transfer of data files between computers using the synchronization. This can be used to transfer data between the keyers' computers and a synchronization service. Normally synchronization is used to transfer data over the Internet to a central server, but it can also be used with a server that is connected only to the local network.

When using synchronization, each keyer enters data to a separate data file on their computer. After entering data, they use CSEntry's synchronize functionality to transfer the data that they keyed over the network to a synchronization service. The combined data from all keyers can then be downloaded from the service.

CSPro supports several kinds of synchronization services, including CSWeb, Dropbox, and FTP, any of which can be used for network data entry.

To enable synchronization in your data entry application, see the Simple Synchronizations documentation. After entering data, keyers select Synchronize from the File menu in CSEntry to send data to the server. To download data from the server, use Data Manager's download feature. This will automatically combine the data from all the keyers into a single data file that can be used for further processing.

Data synchronization is only possible when using the CSPro DB and Encrypted CSPro DB data sources. Data files in text format cannot be synchronized.

In older versions of CSPro that did not support data synchronization or sharing files over a network, it was common to have each keyer enter data into a file on their computer and then use either a CSPro program or a DOS batch script to copy files from the keyers' machines to a shared network folder. Following that copying, the Concatenate Data tool was used to combine the keyers' files into a single data file for further processing. While this is still possible, it is more complex and error-prone than the above options.