SIMS Attendance missing weeks

[Rammie]

We've got a bit of a problem with Attendance (6 or 7), which we've created ourselves, but I've no idea if it can be overcome readily. We caused the problem by messing about with the registration groups after the start of term (don't ask...). Anyway, it appears that Attendance doesn't want to know about anything before a registration group was created. Result is that we cannot add or edit any attendance information for certain reg groups or pupils before mid-September, which is when our 'adjustment' occurred:doh:

 

Evidently, SIMS date-tags when the reg-group was created and Attendance won't look at anything prior to that date. Anyone know where we can find these date-tags, so we can adjust it prior to the start of term? We have SQL freaks on hand. We also have a pilot system, so we're not overly worried if we break it at the first attempt:ear:

[matt40k]

Didn't think you would want to "change" the "timetable" mid year, as it = mass pain.

 

What do you mean by "SQL freaks" are these Capita guys, pilot for what?

 

I prob would just run a report about all the groups list pre-mess up then change it back. Not sure if you would have change the effective date for this.

 

PS: Hope you've got a good backup system in place (plus a load of backups)

[Rammie]

No, the SQL freaks are us; I mean we've got techs who know what they're doing with SQL. By 'pilot' I mean we have a duplicate system setup, so I can 'play' with it away from the live system until I get it right. I'm not looking for alternative solutions, what I'm looking for is clues to where I'm looking in the SQL database for the right date-tags to fix.

[matt40k]

Well if you manually editing SIMS you've basically gone out of support. I can only recommend ways of doing anything with Capita software, as it includes error checking etc.

 

Good luck with that.

 

Out of interest, why have you gone directly into SQL?

[Theblacksheep]

We caused the problem by messing about with the registration groups after the start of term

 

A 'un-named member' of 'a school i know' done this too... and its still not fixed.

[Rammie]

Matt, don't put words in my keyboard - I didn't say we'd ever changed anything in the SIMS database manually; that would be naughty, wouldn't it? Our skills with SQL are unrelated to SIMS and we know enough to know when to keep our hands in our pockets:D

 

Why go looking at SQL? Because nothing in SIMS itself (that I've discovered) allows me to fix the problem. I appreciate suggestions about retracing my changes and restoring stuff, but that isn't what I need to do, trust me. Would it help to reset the clock to August and re-create the reg groups? I know this would affect any on-line users, but if we ignore that for the moment (it's nearly half-term), would that work?

[User3204]

Have you asked Capita to have a look at it ?

They're quite good at solving problems with their SQL database.

[PhilNeal]

Please log a case via your support unit. What you have done is perfectly normal and should not present a problem. If it does we will fix it because it would be our fault not yours!!

[matt40k]

I was waiting for Phil to response. Almost worth closing the thread after he posts

 

Let us know how you get it on.

[Rammie]

For the record, this is how this problem was resolved.

 

Although Attendance 7 is obstructive about editing marks within groups, it is possible to edit marks for individual students for any session, including those sessions for which they were not a valid member of a registration group (at the time). So the answer is to go into edit and select the individual student option instead of the registration group option. Then you can retrace your steps back to the "missing" weeks and add marks successfully.

 

Admin still aren't happy because they can't run the sheets through the reader, but at least it's do-able. Clearly, I didn't have my lateral thinking hat on that day