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| − | The Automation Module is used to perform various automated tasks in the SIMS database such as maintenance, report generation, behaviour rule generation and data transfers to third party software.
| + | <span style="font-size:24pt">Automation</span> |
| | + | {{DISPLAYTITLE:<span style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);">{{FULLPAGENAME}}</span>}} |
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| − | The IEP writer facility in PARS uses the Connect server to communicate with the SIMS database. A new [[Configure Preferences| preference]] has been added and should be configured to support this: <br> <br> | + | The Automation Module is used to perform various automated tasks in the SIMS database such as maintenance, report generation, behaviour rule generation and data transfers to third party software. Generally there is very little you need to do with automation, as it runs itself. However you may need to do some configuration to get it started. <br> <br> |
| − | Section: ''General'' <br>
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| − | Permission: ''PARS Connect URL - Used for IEPs and Student Review writeback should be edited with your Connect URL.'' <br> <br>
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| − | =Installation= | + | =='''Usage'''== |
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| − | PARS Connect will need to be installed on an IIS Server with SIMS workstation components installed. '''We do not recommend this Server to be your SIMS SQL Server as this could potentially cause performance issues.''' If you already use PARS Connect and it IS currently on the SQL server, we would suggest moving the installation to a separate server, unless you know your server to be of sufficient spec.
| + | ====The jobs that the automation module performs==== |
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| − | For more information on installing PARS Connect, please [[Installing PARS Connect|see this page]]. <br> <br>
| + | To view and manage the jobs that the automation module will perform, go to the '''[[job list]]'''. <br> <br> |
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| | + | =='''Configuration'''== |
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| − | If you currently are using PARS Connect all you will need to do after running the service pack is to "Begin" and then use the ServiceController to ensure the Keep Alive service is updated. For more information about keep alive, please [[Installing Keep Alive|see this page]]. <br>
| + | ====Installing automation==== |
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| − | Please note that your Pastoral team may require access to PARS Connect Automation if they run specific jobs weekly for attendance, behaviour, grading etc. <br> <br>
| + | Automation is installed when you run a '''[[service pack]]'''. Follow the instructions on the service pack page for instructions. <br> <br> |
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| − | =Logging in= | + | ====Testing automation==== |
| − | Login using your SIMS user name and password <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:CAlogin1.jpg]] <br> <br> | + | Once this is done you can '''[[How to test Automation is working|test automation is working]]''' by following this instructions on this page. <br> <br> |
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| − | If you do not have a full PARS Connect licence, when you log in you will see a page similar to this: <br> <br>
| + | ====Troubleshooting==== |
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| − | [[File:AClic2.jpg]] <br> <br> | + | If automation doesn't appear to be working, please follow our '''[[troubleshooting automation]]''' guide. <br> <br> |
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| − | '''This is not an error message'''. This page is simply informing you that you do not have a full PARS Connect licence. It is important to note that you can continue to use PARS Connect for Automation and reporting free of charge. <br> | + | =='''Frequently asked questions'''== |
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| − | '''NOTE: If you cannot see a licence code or you are logging in for the first time, please click the refresh cycle icon then click Apply.''' <br> <br>
| + | This is a list of frequently asked questions relating to attendance. For the answers to any of these questions, please go to '''[[automation FAQ]]'''. <br> <br> |
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| − | [[File:ACimage01.jpg]]<br> <br>
| + | *I can see a message about the Automation module not running |
| | + | *On the status tab, it says automation has never polled |
| | + | *There is an update available for the KeepAlive service |
| | + | *Pupils are missing from the All Years group <br> <br> |
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| − | =Main menu= | + | =='''List of pages'''== |
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| − | Open the Main menu by clicking the icon, top left hand corner. The screenshot below shows the full range of menu options that are available if you do not have a full PARS Connect licence. <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:limitedmenu.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ==Configure Proxy==
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| − | PARS occasionally needs to access the internet e.g. to post [[Manage Helpdesk Tickets|helpdesk tickets]], download [[Slip designer|review design templates]], send external [[Email|emails]] and [[Text Messaging|SMS/text messages]] and for various other reasons.
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| − | The [[:PARS Connect|PARS Connect]] IIS server needs to be able to connect to the internet to check for a valid license file. If it requires a proxy server then this is also configured here.
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| − | Often direct access to the internet is not available on workstations that instead connect via a proxy server.
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| − | If this is the case on the school network, select "Configure proxy server" from the [[System Management]] section of the [[PARS main menu]].
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| − | There is a "Test proxy settings" button at the top of the screen that will indicate if a connection to the internet can be made. If it fails to connect, enter the proxy details in the text boxes as follows:
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| − | If Microsoft Internet Explorer is setup correctly (i.e. you can access webpages without entering a username/password) then simply enter '''DEFAULT''' in the "Proxy details" box, save and test again. If this still fails, enter the IP/Port number of the proxy server in the "Proxy details" textbox and if necessary, a fully qualified domain name, username and password in the boxes below. Save and test again. <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:proxy01.jpg|600px|These settings will work for the majority of schools]] <br> <br>
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| − | ==Licence Details==
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| − | Use this screen to update and/or verify your licence code. If your proxy details (above) are correct then you should not need to do this as PARS will check the licence details online itself. However if this is not working, you can copy and paste your licence code into the bottom section of this screen and click "Update licence". <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:caverify.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ==Automation==
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| − | ===Login===
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| − | This login name and password should be the SIMS user name and password for automation to use. This is usually a generic SIMS user name (SYSTEMADMIN) or that of your Network Manager <br>
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| − | [[File:calogin2.jpg]]
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| − | <br>
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| − | <br>
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| − | ===Status===
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| − | This section lists all the jobs which have run and the time generated <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:ACstatus01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Today===
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| − | This tab will show all activities that are scheduled to run today. <br>
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| − | You will see different icons on this page displaying the status of each job:
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| − | *The green tick means the job successfully ran earlier in the day
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| − | *An empty white box means the job is scheduled to run later today
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| − | *A red circle means the job is scheduled to run in the past. It will not run today, but will run tomorrow if automation is working properly <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:auto_today01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Jobs===
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| − | N.B. Any legacy report jobs will need to be reconfigured for the new Automation module.
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| − | To do this generate the report from within PARS Connect and then click the "Automate" button when the report has run.
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| − | Please note that any automated reports that are to be filtered, grouped or have columns hidden...
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| − | ...MUST be configured via PARS Connect only.
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| − | This page lists all of the jobs that will be performed by the automation module, whether they are System Jobs (such as refresh all years, delete old notices and run behaviour rules) or report jobs created by users (such as weekly attendance reports for SLT created
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| − | '''[[Job List|Follow this link for a full list of the jobs performed by the automation module]]''' <br> <br> | |
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| − | [[File:auto_jobs01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | The days of the week show which days the job is going to run on; green indicates days that the job will run, red is for days that the job will not run.
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| − | To view and edit the details of these jobs, click on the 'Magnify Glass' icon next to the job. You can also run jobs manually by clicking the 'play' icon. <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:autojobdeets.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ==Reports and creating automated report jobs==
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| − | If you do not have a full licence for PARS Connect you can still access a wide variety of reports using PARS Connect. <br> <br>
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| − | If you want to set-up a report to run automatically to send either to yourself or other members of staff, then these can easily be configured via the 'reports' menu options. First find the report that you would like to run i.e. Attendance, Behaviour, Grading, etc. Run the report using the same pupils that should be on the report when it is automated.
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| − | '''NB - if you want your automated report to have hidden columns, filtered data or groupings applied, then you must create and automate your report via PARS Connect. Reports can be filtered using PARS .net, but you cannot filter, group or hide columns.''' <br> <br>
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| − | ''Click this link to see our guide to using reports: [http://www.tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/PARS/files/basic%20reports.pdf A guide to using reports]. <br>
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| − | ''There is a less detailed explanation further down this page.'' <br> <br>
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| − | <u>'''Example of Automating an Attendance Report'''</u> <br>
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| − | For training purposes, the following is a commonly-used automated report: An attendance report to show to each HoY detailing all the pupils in their year group with less than 85% attendance year to date. As we want each HOY to see only their Year, then we will need to create one automated report per year group in the school. <br> <br>
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| − | Go to [[PARS main menu]] > [[Attendance]] > [[Attendance reports]] <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:caattrep01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | #'''Choose Report: Attendance Summaries > group percentages > session attendance <br>'''
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| − | #'''Select a date range <br>'''
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| − | #'''Select pupils in Year Group <br>'''
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| − | #'''Accept to run report <br> <br>'''
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| − | [[Image:autorep01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Show / Hide columns===
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| − | You can decide which columns to display on the report by clicking the "Show/hide columns" button from the top toolbar and unticking any columns that you do not want. <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:autohide01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Ascending / Descending ordering===
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| − | You can order the data in the report so that it is highest to lowest or vice versa. This also works for non-numeric columns such as name, which can be ordered alphabetically. <br> <br>
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| − | To order by a column, simply click on the column header. <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:descending01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Filter data===
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| − | You can filter reports so that only certain data is shown. A typical example of this is filtering to show only pupils who are less than 85% attendance. There are two ways to filter reports. <br> <br>
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| − | '''1. There is a white space beneath each of the column headers - this can be used to add a filter.''' <br>
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| − | Click the button next to the white space to choose how you will filter the data in that column, and type the value into the white space (use decimal numbers if you are entering a percentage i.e. 85% = 0.85) <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:filterwhitespace.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | '''2. Alternatively you can use the filter builder at the bottom of the report.''' <br>
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| − | Click on the link and a window will open. Click the plus symbol next to "And" to begin creating your filter. <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:filterbuilder01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | *Click on "Name" and you will then be able to choose which column you want to apply to filter to.
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| − | *Next choose the operator - this is how the data will be filtered.
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| − | *Finally choose the value that you would like to use when filtering your data. If you are entering a percentage then please convert it to decimal numbers first i.e. 85% = 0.85 <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:fuilterbuilder01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Grouping data===
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| − | Report data can be grouped, meaning that similar data will group itself with other similar data on the report. A common example of this is running a report for a year group, and then grouping the data by registration group. <br> <br>
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| − | To group data on a report, click and drag the column that you would like to group by into the grouping section at the top of the report. <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:autogroup03.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | When a report has been grouped, the data will be displayed like this: <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:autogroup04.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | ===Automating===
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| − | Once you have finished organising the data on your report, you can automate it. To do this, click the automate button from the top toolbar: <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:CAautomatebutton.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | This will open a window where you can choose the details for the automated report job: <br> <br>
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| − | [[File:automate01.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | If you click the small button to the right of the "Email to" field, a window will open allowing you to select staff members. PARS will find the email addresses for those staff members, provided that the emails are in SIMS. Alternatively, you can enter multiple email addresses by hand, by seperating them with a semi-colon ; <br> <br>
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| − | [[Image:automate02.jpg]] <br> <br>
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| − | =Automation Troubleshooting=
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| − | Please see [http://tascsoftware.co.uk/wiki/pars/index.php?title=Portal%3ATroubleshooting here] for troubleshooting help.
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| − | =Usage=
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| − | =Configuration= | |
