E10 - Synchronisation to Simon Schools (CSV) via Export

Modified on Fri, 30 Jan at 1:31 AM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preamble
Type of sync
Which data is sent to the other system?
Other important information
Steps to Synchronise data
Troubleshooting

Preamble

Timetabling data that exists in the timetable files is usually sent on to one or more other non-Tes systems, such as student learning management systems, reporting systems, administration systems, and many more. The Tes integration team works with other systems to make sure that the data required to be sent is in the correct format. This document outlines the synchronisation process for Simon Schools.

While Tes takes all care to ensure any mention of the other system is correct and up to date, it is the user's responsibility to check with the other system prior to an initial sync. If the user becomes aware of any changes to the other system, we would very much appreciate this feedback.

Type of sync

This sync is performed by exporting a csv file that has been correctly formatted, ready to be uploaded into Simon Schools.

The Simon Schools export function will export the following TXT files:

Duties
StudentClasses
Timetable
TUnAvail (Meetings, teacher unavailability, and room unavailability)

Which data is sent to the other system?

This table lists many of the data and features found in Tes and, where known by TEs specialists, whether they are also understood by the other system.

Note that Tes builds many excellent features to help users build high-quality timetables, and while these features can be sent onto the other system through the synchronisation process, not all systems have built the capability on their end to receive/display these features.

Tes Timetable feature	Notes on feature	Has this feature received by the other system?	Other notes
Bell times	Bell times as per the Grid structures	No
Campuses	Campuses and their associated rooms	Yes
Classes	Classes as per Class data screens	Yes
Class lists		Yes
Composite classes (linked classes)	One teacher teaching more than one class at the same time	Yes
Duty roster		Yes
Faculty data		No
Grid structure codes		Yes
Multi-file	Two (or more) timetable files	No
Multi-grid	Multiple grids with different bell times	No
On-call roster		No
Priority classes	The priority class that shows on students' timetables where they have class clashes	No
Room data	Room Code	Yes
Rotation classes	Classes from particular rotations	No
RTO roster		No
Student data	Student Code	Yes
Study roster	Study classes, staffing and rooming roster	No
Sub-classes		No
Teacher data	Teacher Code	No
Teacher days off (Unavailables)		Yes
Timetable data		Yes
Two (or more) rooms at once		No
Two (or more) teachers at once		No
Year levels (non-numeric)	Year levels such as SPT, LSUP, ROLL, Yr9+10, etc.	No

Other important information

Period Numbers

When exporting to Simon, all period names will be replaced with a numeric period number. This number starts at 1 for your first period and increases by 1 for every subsequent period. See the example below where the numeric period numbers are in red:

Steps to Synchronise data

Step 1: Check if any Simon Schools set-up is required

Many systems require some setup prior to receiving timetable data from the timetable file. Check with Simon Schools.

Step 2: Configure the Timetable file

In the Timetable file, select File > Synchronise > Configure
In the Configure tab, select 'Simon Schools(csv)' from the drop-down list of options.
Select the Configure button, which will open the Connection tab. A destination folder must be selected to direct where the .csv files will be saved. Select 'Browse' and locate or create the desired location.

Sync each time you save - This means the sync will occur automatically on a Ctrl-S save. In this case, data is first saved locally to disk, and then an attempt is made to sync with all external systems. This is simple, but you may want to disable this if the external systems or your network is slow to sync, or you want more control over when you publish data through to other systems. No message is shown on a sync-on-save, as it is done quietly. Only an active sync via menu/ctrl-K will show a completion message.

4. Once the location is mapped, go to the 'Other' tab. Select the suffix length that you have in your class data.

Simon expects all classes in your file to have the same suffix length.

Please keep in mind that Simon also counts your class ID separator as an extra character. For example, if your class codes contain a separator, such as 11DRA.01 or 11DRA_01 or 11DRA-01, then you have a three-character suffix - the separator (“.” “_” or “-”) and the class identifier, “01”.

Option

Details

Suffix length

Which suffix length should I choose?

The table below gives some examples of class codes and their suffix lengths. You need to choose the suffix length that matches the majority of your class codes. Any class codes that don’t match the selected suffix length will be modified to match when they are exported.

Important: Separators (dots, dashes, underscores) are included in the suffix length:

Class code	Suffix	Suffix length
12MAT1	1	1
12MATa	a	1
12ENG.1	.1	2
12ENG.a	.a	2
12HIS.11	.11	3
12HIS.1a	.1a	3

Edit Duty Period Description

The timetable file now exports duties to Simon Schools. These are exported to a file called “Duties.txt” in the same folder as the other Simon files.

You may want to provide your periods with the equivalent duty period names in Simon. You can do this by navigating to File > Synchronise > Configure, selecting 'Simon Schools (csv)' from the top-right dropdown, and clicking 'Edit Duty Period Descriptions' in the 'Other' tab.

Step 3: Perform the sync export

The following steps will be performed each time new data is to be sent to Simon Schools:

Navigate to File > Synchronise > Sync now.
Select/ensure that the Simon Schools(csv) option is chosen in the Filter menu on the top right.
Select 'Create TT publish file'

A number of files will be created, which will be used to import into Simon Schools

The table below details the type of data contained in each CSV file when exported:

File Name	Data Column (A)	Data Column (B)	Data Column (C)	Data Column (D)	Data Column (E)	Data Column (F)
Duties.txt	Day Number	Duty period description (Entered in sync config)	Duty area	Teacher code	Campus code	N/A
StudentClasses.txt	Student code	Class code	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Timetable.txt	Day number	Period number	Class code (special requirements on suffix length, may not be the exact class code from the Timetable file)	Room code	Teacher code	Campus code
TUnAvail.txt (Contains meetings, teacher unavailabilities, and room unavailabilities)	Meeting name (for meetings), or N (teacher not on property (unavailable)), or R (room unavailable)	Teacher code, or room code (for room unavailability)	Day number	Period number (edited)	N/A	N/A

Step 4: Upload/Import the CSV files into Simon Schools

For information on how to import this to Simon Schools, please contact the Simon Schools support team.

Troubleshooting

If the classes under Classes > Class data have an incorrect suffix length compared to what you have selected under the Other tab in Synchronise > Configure screen, you will get the following error message that also allows you to click on Open action log to display the complete list of classes that don’t have correct suffixes:

The above screenshot indicates that the class suffix length is 1, while 2 was selected in the 'Other' tab.

The sync report under Health Check will also indicate if there are any class codes that do not match the Simon requirement and what you have selected in the Other tab. This will help you identify the issue without going to the Synchronise screen and discovering the error when exporting.

The screenshot above indicates that there are about 335 classes that don't have the correct suffixes. For example, 7ART1 has 1 suffix while in the 'Other' Tab, 2 suffix length is selected.