SIMS Database ID - have I got the right field?

[Quatermass]

Just to check : Am I right in thinking that in SIMS reporting, the "SIMS Database ID" is the first field under the CESThirdPartyFields node, simply called "ID" - and that (here at least) it's a 5 digit number?

[LosOjos]

For people (students/contacts/teachers) I tend to use Person_ID as it's consistently available across all relevant report focuses, plus it's a fairly short number (easier to do manual lookups by ID if necessary)

[Quatermass]

Sorry to be dim, is Person_ID the same as the field I mentioned?

[LosOjos]

Sorry to be dim, is Person_ID the same as the field I mentioned?

 

Hard to say, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much consistency as to exactly what the ID field you mentioned is, that's why I use Person_ID - it's always available and always called Person_ID so you can be sure to get a match. You have to be in Third Party Reporting group to see it, but it's not always under the CESThirdPartyFields node (helpful!), sometimes it's at the root node

 

[Quatermass]

Ah - your screenshot shows the student view, and ours is the same. But where do you choose it from in staff view?

[LosOjos]

Ah - your screenshot shows the student view, and ours is the same. But where do you choose it from in staff view?

 

Irritatingly, it seems it is now just called ID had to open up one of my reports that uses it to find it. How annoying!

 

So, write off what I said - there is no consistency!

 

EDIT: the more useful answer would be - try a couple of ID options and find which works best for you. I use the ID formerly known as Person_ID because it's short, simple and numeric; there is also External_ID (at least, there was! Not sure what they call it now) which is an alphanumeric string, roughly 15 characters long. Still usable but harder to lookup manually if the need arises.

Edited January 20, 2014 by LosOjos