Importing teachers or pupils (Janitor)

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Importing
    2.1 Attributes of pupil's data
    2.2 Uploading the file with pupil's data
    2.3 Preparing the pupil's data
    2.4 Generating the users for the pupil accounts

1. Introduction

The import procedure (Janitor) is copied from the serveratschool project (Courtesy of Mr. P. Fokker) , see http://serveratschool.org/.

The import main functions are:

2.1 Attributes of pupil's data

Janitor is capable of processing two different file formats for upload of pupil's data: fixed record length and comma delimited.

The following attributes are used to construct pupil accounts and classs (grades).

Note that the exact format of the date of birth that is acceptable depends on the file format. For the fixed record length format the individual numbers (day, month and year) can be configured. For the comma delimited files there are three different variations: either 'yy-mm-dd', 'mm-dd-yy' or 'dd-mm-yy'. Note that the dashes '-' may be replaced by slashes '/' or dots '.' when specifying a date. Also, either 2-digit or 4-digit years are acceptable (but see the notice below).

NOTICE: Because some standard file formats only use the last two digits of the year, the correct century is inferred by using the current date, i.e. the date on which the upload is processed. That is, if the value of the two-digit year is greater than the current year, the century is assumed to be the 20th century and thus 1900 is added to the two-digit year. If the value of the specified two-digit year is less or equal to the current (two-digit) year, the century is assumed to be the 21st century and therefore 2000 is added. This construction is based on the fact that it is highly unlikely that a pupil's date of birth will be in the future. This means that in 2005 the years '06' to '99' will be interpreted as '1906' to '1999' and years '00' to '05' will be interpreted as '2000' to '2005'. Note that all years are converted to 4-digit years internally.

NOTICE: The default file format is patterned after the so-called 'EDEX' file format (EDucational EXchange). This fixed record length format is used by many publishers of school administration software in The Netherlands to exchange pupil's data.

NOTICE: The pupil data should not contain comma's ',' or colons ':' because these characters are used as delimiters. This applies to both the Fixed Record Length and the Comma Separated Values.

2.2 Uploading the file with pupil's data

After clicking the import link a screen like the following appears.


confman_import.png

Explanation:

After selecting the correct file (here a file called '2005-2006.TXT), press [Upload]. The file will be uploaded and an overview of classes (grades) and pupils is displayed as shown in the next section. Note that this file '2005-2006.TXT' should be generated by the schools administration software. We use this particular name as a mere example.

NOTICE: The distribution defaults correspond the the EDEX format as mentioned before.

2.3 Preparing the pupil's data

After succesfully uploading the file a screen like the following appears.


janitor_upload_pupils2.png

This screen consists of two (long) tables. The first table is a list of classes-to-be. This table is labeled 'groups'. The second table contains a list of all pupil-accounts-to-be. This table is labeled 'users'.

The first table ('groups') has three columns.

The second table ('users') has four columns.

The message in red ('More editing required') at the top of the screen indicates that there are some issues that need to be resolved before the accounts can be created. An example is the suggested username 'andre marie'. This username contains a space which is not acceptable in a username. Therefore the record is shown with a different background colour. The following colour coding is used:

At the bottom of the page there are two buttons: [Recalculate] and [Go back] as shown in the illustration below.


janitor_upload_pupils3.png

After editing the appropriate fields ('Class', 'Username' or 'Full Name') you can press the [Recalculate] button. This instructs Janitor to re-evaluate the collection of new accounts. Any conflicts that yield a 'red' background must be resolved. Issues in an 'orange' background are mere warnings but are acceptable as far as Janitor is concerned.

A solution for the name clashes might be to add a digit to the younger pupils with the same name, e.g. Mary Wollenstonecraft in grade 6 gets to get the account 'mary' whereas Mary Fields in grade 1 gets the account 'mary1'.

Another solution might be to append the first letter of the last name to the first name, e.g. William Morris in grade 7 gets 'williamm' (with two M's) and William Blake (also in grade 7) gets 'williamb'. However, this does not solve the problem completely, because by the same token William Bradford in grade 3 would also have a claim on the account name 'williamb'. There is no ultimate answer for these problems, you have to develop your own strategy here.

NOTICE: The example with the Williams illustrates that the account names should not just be unique within a grade (the two Williams in grade 7) but throughout the complete school population. There is only a single list of accounts on the server and all accounts have to be unique.

NOTICE: It is important to construct the account names very carefully because the username is associated with the pupils throughout their school careers.

NOTICE: It may be hard for Maria Montessori, the teacher in grade 7, to link the names 'william1' and 'william3' to the correct William. The easiest way to learn who is who is probaly to ask the local systems administrator (Freddie Frinton) or the ICT coordinator (Amelia Cackle). They can easily retrieve an overview of all classes where the usernames are shown together with the full names.

You can use the [Recalculate] button repeatedly while working your way through the lists, resolving all pending issues. In the two illustrations below all 'red' issues are resolved but an 'orange' issue is introduced. The pupils of grade 1 and grade 2 are combined into a single class (grade). This is also indicated via the comment 'Name is used more than once'. However, despite the 'orange' issues Janitor still considers the data acceptable, as indicated by the remark 'Everything looks OK' at the top of the screen.


janitor_upload_pupils4.png


janitor_upload_pupils5.png

NOTICE: The whole procedure, from uploading a file upto the moment that you can press the [Generate] button has to take place in a single session. There is no way to save your changes and continue lateron.

2.4 Generating the users for the pupil accounts

After Janitor displays the message 'Everything looks OK', you should press the button [Generate]. The following then appears on the screen.


janitor_upload_pupils6.png

Here you see the list of pupils with their class, username, fullname and generated initial password. This information has been stored in the users table of Site@School. This list is presented only once so print it and keep it in a safe place! After you return to the pupils main page you see a download link in the menu:


janitor_download.png

After the import has finished the information is also stored in a file stored in starnet/media directory. The filename is random (MD5) filename of 32 characters, which is hard to guess from the outside world. When you press the download link an email is sent (if your email address is filled in in your user preferences) with a CSV file containing the imported pupils/teachers.


janitor_download_finish.png

The email contains a list of comma delimited entries, which can be copied to eg. excel or saved as a seperate file on your computer for later reference.

Class, Username, Fullname, Password:
class6,bipin,Bipin Chandra,ADZT2016
class6,fred,Fred Salarbux,HKMR2359
class6,william2,William Bradford,LNVX8530
class6,william3,William R. Morris,DPUV0892
class7,alice,Alice Longworth,ADLM2790
class7,caroline,Caroline Lucretia Herschel,JNRT3604
class7,abigail,Abigail Adams,ADRU8091
class7,alicia,Alicia Boole,MPSV1689
class7,andremarie,Andre marie Ampere,TLZB1249
class7,andrew,Andrew Reese,AGPU5789
class7,branwell,Branwell Bronte,HIPV1478
class7,catherine,Catherine Hayes,ENSX1278
class7,mckay,McKay Alidjan,ZYDM1258
class7,william1,William Blake,DJVX2340
class7,william4,William Tilghman,DFNV1378
Because the file contains sensitive information (passwords) it is best to delete the file after the email was sent! This can be done with the filemanager.

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Author: Dirk Schouten <schoutdi (at) knoware (dot) nl>
Last updated: 2006-02-22