SIMS Quickletter

[ndavies]

Ok so Capita have changed their mind on using the rtf and gone back to doc for this, but now (after applying the Dec update) I can't use the field or in the doc template to insert the students reg group.

 

Any ideas what it's now called, or where it's gone.

all work fine still....

[localzuk]

From what people here have been saying, it has never been available.

[TechMonkey]

I haven't checked since the december update but the series of events I remember went something like:

RTF version on each individual station

Changed to SIMS form that couldn't be changed except by an individual person and didn't include headers or footers

Changed to DOC on each station but had to use the template they supplied as a basis as it contained macros that generate various bits. Also users had to have ability to run macros.

 

I will check what its like at the mo, but haven't had any complaints and they usually come thick and fast!

[ndavies]

Yep, confirmed with Capita.

 

Used to be a doc, then became an rtf, now back to being a doc. using the field is no longer allowed. still it's not a major setback..unlike power cuts...

 

What's wierd is that in SIMS.net folder on workstation, there is both an rtf and a doc. When you change the rtf then open the doc, the doc refreshes itself to mirror what the rtf looks like, using a macro...

[sahmeepee]

Yep, confirmed with Capita.

 

Used to be a doc, then became an rtf, now back to being a doc. using the field is no longer allowed. still it's not a major setback..unlike power cuts...

 

What's wierd is that in SIMS.net folder on workstation, there is both an rtf and a doc. When you change the rtf then open the doc, the doc refreshes itself to mirror what the rtf looks like, using a macro...

 

Presumably that's to handle the situation where people already had rtf files set up which they were happy with. Part of our login script checks to see if there's a newer rtf in our sims setups directory than the one on the local machine. If there is it grabs a copy. It's a shame you can't make SIMS.net do that itself during its startup checks.

[PhilNeal]

Just a reminder. Any user defined report created in the student focus can be called from the student details screen. This creates a single "report" for the student you are on. This gives you access to all fields.

 

The changes to QuickLetter were made to allow the easy saving of the letter back to the DMS. To start with we couldn't see how to achieve that by using Word but now we have.

[sahmeepee]

Just a reminder. Any user defined report created in the student focus can be called from the student details screen. This creates a single "report" for the student you are on. This gives you access to all fields.

 

Aha! That is genius - I never would have spotted it!

 

The changes to QuickLetter were made to allow the easy saving of the letter back to the DMS. To start with we couldn't see how to achieve that by using Word but now we have.

 

That is good news. It seems that on my PC when I open the QLT doc, it pulls in the QLT rtf file, but changes the page size to Letter instead of A4. Is this the case for everyone? I haven't tested it extensively on our site. It shouldn't be a problem here - I'll just change our login script to grab a tweaked version of the QLT doc file from the SIMS setups folder.

[sahmeepee]

Just a reminder. Any user defined report created in the student focus can be called from the student details screen. This creates a single "report" for the student you are on. This gives you access to all fields.

 

The changes to QuickLetter were made to allow the easy saving of the letter back to the DMS. To start with we couldn't see how to achieve that by using Word but now we have.

 

I now have a question for Phil or any SIMS ninjas out there...

 

Q) Is there a way of making custom reports upload to the DMS in the same way as the Quick Letter template now does?

 

I tried using a renamed copy of the quicklettertemplate.doc as the basis of a word mail merge report, but it didn't behave as expected when I ran the report from the student's details page: I got 2 documents on screen - one showing the merge field names with a "quick letter save and close" button; one with correctly merged data, but no "quick letter save and close" button.

 

It would be really handy if office staff / HoYs could draw on a pool of preprepared letters home and be able to save them into the DMS in one smooth motion.

 

Should I be filing a change request on Supportnet or can this be done today?

[DMcCoy]

While on the topic of sims and docs, it gets a lot less fun with docx

 

To make profiles work the only solution is to disable ALL macro security in word. Even the allow when requested option doesn't work, this i'm told is the only solution. For something that is now "compatible" with Office 2007 it is an unacceptable one.

[kxv2020]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure this can't be done as yet!! It does need to be manually uploaded to DMS...

 

The idea of central pool for all Year Heads does sound like a good idea - ChangeRequest!

 

I now have a question for Phil or any SIMS ninjas out there...

 

Q) Is there a way of making custom reports upload to the DMS in the same way as the Quick Letter template now does?

 

I tried using a renamed copy of the quicklettertemplate.doc as the basis of a word mail merge report, but it didn't behave as expected when I ran the report from the student's details page: I got 2 documents on screen - one showing the merge field names with a "quick letter save and close" button; one with correctly merged data, but no "quick letter save and close" button.

 

It would be really handy if office staff / HoYs could draw on a pool of preprepared letters home and be able to save them into the DMS in one smooth motion.

 

Should I be filing a change request on Supportnet or can this be done today?