macros and Sims

[cgilmour]

Hi

I'm a recent newbie on Sims having used it for about 10 weeks and been on 3 courses but I have a fair background in a previous job of oracle databases and unix (sadly no SQLserver or microsoft).

 

My question is when entering Add-ins type data reptitively into MS Word style templates e.g. Add-ins -> REsult Descirption - then picking and choosing appropriate grade/pupil data to report in, is it possible to record macros or write VB scripts which would do the sme as much of this is quite repetitive.

 

I tried recording a macro but it didn't seem to work when I went into the Add-Ins menu option in Word

 

Also how much do people get involved in the backend database for tasks or do you leave data entry /reporting tasks purely carried out via the front end screens (there was a vague mention of licensing agreements and accessing the DB directly - sorry if I appear naive asking this! ?

 

Cheers

Chris

[matt40k]

Don't access it directly. Within SIMS .net, go Reports > Design Report.

 

I would recommend registering on SupportNet - http://support.capitaes.co.uk/websupport. There is alot of info on there, also within SIMS .net > Documentation. Your local LA\Capita can offer SIMS reporting which will do want to you.

[LosOjos]

Hi Chris,

 

like Matt said, don't access the DB directly, Capita don't like it, you'll get no support (without paying a hefty sum!) if you break it and it's so prone to change and has such a complicated structure, you're better off just steering clear and using the report builder in Sims.

 

As for recording macro's to add in fields to individual reports, as far as I'm aware it's not possible (though I'd gladly be proven wrong!)

 

You'll no doubt soon find Sims reporting capabilities don't quite cut it for certain tasks, this post should get you started on ways to get the data you need.

 

Oh, and welcome to EduGeek!

[cgilmour]

Thanks ,

 

 

Josh -seems from the (long) thread you pointed me to that my question may have been a little naive.. I was very used to accessing complex DB's - writing SQL to extract necessary data etc. - shame I'm not allowed to with Sims - of course I would have thought the creation of a readonly user would have got round the issues of any accidental changes being made - or just exporting the DB to another server/location - indeed if you are using queries that only extract data I'm not sure why there is an issue.

 

Also in a mature application I would have thought that the underlying database would have some degree of relational logic and be pretty welll designed and understood - otherwise how would the DB perform adequately if badly designed.?

 

How does Sims cope with ever increasing data - is there a tuning job which is run from time to time to keep performance up to scratch?.

 

Thanks again for your prompt replies

 

cheers

Chris

[matt40k]

You really need to read the manuals. You can pretty much do everything with the report engine and it's alot faster, easier then doing it directly in SQL. Less problems too.

 

You have valid memberships that will check the students etc against a set of rules, system\db diagnostics will check for errors. There is a reindex patch which, well you know. Few other bits, like attendance mark archive.

[cgilmour]

OK - Thanks - thanks for the pointers

Cheers

[LosOjos]

Don't know if you picked up on it in that thread I pointed to (it is huge!) but have a look in your Sims directory for "CommandReporter".

 

It's a command line tool to run reports (that you have already made within Sims), and I've found using this to export XML in to an access database has enabled me to create a lot of reports that would otherwise be quite painful to make in Sims.

 

Not the best way in the world of doing things, but I feel it gives you a lot more freedom doing it this way.

[sahmeepee]

Thanks ,

Also in a mature application I would have thought that the underlying database would have some degree of relational logic and be pretty welll designed and understood - otherwise how would the DB perform adequately if badly designed.?

 

You might have thought that. An alternative viewpoint would be that the app had gathered in quite a lot of cruft along the way. I know from looking through the tables in our SIMS database that there are at least seven tables which relate to Welshness - I'm not sure how many tables there are in total in the latest database version.

 

Some elements of SIMS perform poorly after updates and are later fixed by applying reindexing patches released by Capita.