TheScarfedOne

Yep - that sorts the display issue - but now on clicking "Book" the entry doesnt get added, no matter what the setting on the number of lessons.

Also using a separate app her...qres which is similar, and launched from script

Great, thanks :-) Will leave it as "off" for the moment - but I will definately be using it, so can test more if need. Will PM personal email to keep in touch on the issue.

Attached screengrab of fault

Hmm, not sure where the attachment went. Will try reposting it tomo

Great, thanks. Ive done that - but it looks like something isnt right? See attached. The dropdown is empty.

@nickbro - can you give me some more info on how this works and how to do it, perfect!! :-)

Might be worth looking at the DriverPacks option to build a full repository - saves a bit of time when a new PC comes in! So far - not needed any extra drivers

It is kind of. It is more a fix for those who forget to do a DBAttach if moving a database between servers; but you can apply it to the "Atomic" error - where the recomendation is to do the Dettach Re-attach.

Annoyingly, the "Print Timetables" entry is still there on the Reports menu - directly below it is the "new" way of Timetable printing. @PhilNeal - when is that entry going - as particularly for those running SIMS on Terminal Server (RDS) - NovaT4 Timetable Print Wizard throws a hissy fit anyway!

Another diversion from my usual blog posts - but this one came out of necessity, when I had issues with my SQL databases for SIMS and FMS. Many of you may know that FMS has its own "SQL" logins, as does SIMS - but at least with that, you can set it to use Windows Authentication. Anyway, my problem - I was greeted by FMS with the lovely "Cannot rollback atomic" error whenever logging in. It turns out this error (after some digging) has lots of causes - none of them really to do with SIMS or FMS. This error is documented here http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/99696-fms-fault.html most recently, and http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/25956-fms-problem.html historically. There are also some SupportNet articles on it too. It is, as the error states an SQL error. Essentially - what has happened is that a transaction is in a "stuck state" relating to a login. Ways of clearing it... well first off - when was your last backup - and have you been doing backups using DBAttach. If not, then we are going to need a copy of all the SQL logins so we can recreate them. If you detattach and reattach a SIMS/FMS DB without it (ie move a server) - then you wont have you logins brought across. The script to do this is as shown below. You need SQL Management Studio for this, and then you are thinking - how do I run it? Well, copy and paste it into a "New Query" (yes - click the "New Query" button in Studio. Then, its Execute. The output from this needs saving somewhere safe. Next up, run DBAttach to dettach the database. This will run its own backup - but I would still take your own first. Then - go into your SQL Data folder, and copy (yes, copy) the two database files for FMS (and or SIMS) out somewhere else for safe keeping. Rename them something sensible (like add the date and time on the end). Remove them from the SQL Data folder... as when you run DBAttach to re-attach the DBS (point at your backup, or the files you just had) - it will copy them back into the SQL Data folder. Check after doing the DBAttach (to dettach...confused with all that yet!) that the DB has gone from SQL Studio. Also look in the Logins under Security whether your user accounts are still there. If the first time of this full procedure fails, I would try removing your offending logins - as the import script (the output of running the query script shown here) will recreate them. Hope this helps. Of course - this is all at your own risk, and will not be supported by Capita. That being said, this is likely what they do if they have to have your DB to look at - and its what I did with my local support team. USE master GO IF OBJECT_ID ('sp_hexadecimal') IS NOT NULL DROP PROCEDURE sp_hexadecimal GO CREATE PROCEDURE sp_hexadecimal @binvalue varbinary(256), @Hexvalue varchar (514) OUTPUT AS DECLARE @charvalue varchar (514) DECLARE @i int DECLARE @length int DECLARE @Hexstring char(16) SELECT @charvalue = '0x' SELECT @i = 1 SELECT @length = DATALENGTH (@binvalue) SELECT @Hexstring = '0123456789ABCDEF' WHILE (@i <= @length) BEGIN DECLARE @tempint int DECLARE @firstint int DECLARE @secondint int SELECT @tempint = CONVERT(int, SUBSTRING(@binvalue,@i,1)) SELECT @firstint = FLOOR @tempint/16) SELECT @secondint = @tempint - (@firstint*16) SELECT @charvalue = @charvalue + SUBSTRING @Hexstring, @firstint+1, 1) + SUBSTRING @Hexstring, @secondint+1, 1) SELECT @i = @i + 1 END SELECT @Hexvalue = @charvalue GO IF OBJECT_ID ('sp_help_revlogin') IS NOT NULL DROP PROCEDURE sp_help_revlogin GO CREATE PROCEDURE sp_help_revlogin @login_name sysname = NULL AS DECLARE @name sysname DECLARE @type varchar (1) DECLARE @hasaccess int DECLARE @denylogin int DECLARE @is_disabled int DECLARE @PWD_varbinary varbinary (256) DECLARE @PWD_string varchar (514) DECLARE @sid_varbinary varbinary (85) DECLARE @sid_string varchar (514) DECLARE @tmpstr varchar (1024) DECLARE @is_policy_checked varchar (3) DECLARE @is_expiration_checked varchar (3) DECLARE @defaultdb sysname IF @login_name IS NULL) DECLARE login_curs CURSOR FOR SELECT p.sid, p.name, p.type, p.is_disabled, p.default_database_name, l.hasaccess, l.denylogin FROM sys.server_principals p LEFT JOIN sys.syslogins l ON ( l.name = p.name ) WHERE p.type IN ( 'S', 'G', 'U' ) AND p.name <> 'sa' ELSE DECLARE login_curs CURSOR FOR SELECT p.sid, p.name, p.type, p.is_disabled, p.default_database_name, l.hasaccess, l.denylogin FROM sys.server_principals p LEFT JOIN sys.syslogins l ON ( l.name = p.name ) WHERE p.type IN ( 'S', 'G', 'U' ) AND p.name = @login_name OPEN login_curs FETCH NEXT FROM login_curs INTO @sid_varbinary, @name, @type, @is_disabled, @defaultdb, @hasaccess, @denylogin IF (@@fetch_status = -1) BEGIN PRINT 'No login(s) found.' CLOSE login_curs DEALLOCATE login_curs RETURN -1 END SET @tmpstr = '/* sp_help_revlogin script ' PRINT @tmpstr SET @tmpstr = '** Generated ' + CONVERT (varchar, GETDATE()) + ' on ' + @@SERVERNAME + ' */' PRINT @tmpstr PRINT '' WHILE (@@fetch_status <> -1) BEGIN IF (@@fetch_status <> -2) BEGIN PRINT '' SET @tmpstr = '-- Login: ' + @name PRINT @tmpstr IF (@type IN ( 'G', 'U')) BEGIN -- NT authenticated account/group SET @tmpstr = 'CREATE LOGIN ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) + ' FROM WINDOWS WITH DEFAULT_DATABASE = [' + @defaultdb + ']' END ELSE BEGIN -- SQL Server authentication -- obtain password and sid SET @PWD_varbinary = CAST( LOGINPROPERTY( @name, 'PasswordHash' ) AS varbinary (256) ) EXEC sp_hexadecimal @PWD_varbinary, @PWD_string OUT EXEC sp_hexadecimal @sid_varbinary @sid_string OUT -- obtain password policy state SELECT @is_policy_checked = CASE is_policy_checked WHEN 1 THEN 'ON' WHEN 0 THEN 'OFF' ELSE NULL END FROM sys.sql_logins WHERE name = @name SELECT @is_expiration_checked = CASE is_expiration_checked WHEN 1 THEN 'ON' WHEN 0 THEN 'OFF' ELSE NULL END FROM sys.sql_logins WHERE name = @name SET @tmpstr = 'CREATE LOGIN ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) + ' WITH PASSWORD = ' + @PWD_string + ' HASHED, SID = ' + @sid_string + ', DEFAULT_DATABASE = [' + @defaultdb + ']' IF ( @is_policy_checked IS NOT NULL ) BEGIN SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + ', CHECK_POLICY = ' + @is_policy_checked END IF ( @is_expiration_checked IS NOT NULL ) BEGIN SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + ', CHECK_EXPIRATION = ' + @is_expiration_checked END END IF @denylogin = 1) BEGIN -- login is denied access SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + '; DENY CONNECT SQL TO ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) END ELSE IF @hasaccess = 0) BEGIN -- login exists but does not have access SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + '; REVOKE CONNECT SQL TO ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) END IF (@is_disabled = 1) BEGIN -- login is disabled SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + '; ALTER LOGIN ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) + ' DISABLE' END PRINT @tmpstr END FETCH NEXT FROM login_curs INTO @sid_varbinary, @name, @type, @is_disabled, @defaultdb, @hasaccess, @denylogin END CLOSE login_curs DEALLOCATE login_curs RETURN 0 GO

@PhilNeal, Ive put a post about this on my blog - hope thats ok.

The other option that I use is the advertisement (as it used to be called in 2007) to be "as soon as possible" and on a schedule "if failed". This installs department group software which is advertised to collections based on ad groups (set as membership rules).

Late catch on this issue, so not sure if you've fixed it. Posts about this be on my blog. Look out for the apply in user context option on the options tab on the GPP for each printer. Tick it, it speeds it up.... A lot.

That's odd... I had the very same error last week with this. @PhilNeal...something we can get support to look at? My fix was a detach reattach. There is also a script that I can post up which captures all you SQL login det,ails so you don't have to recreate them. PM me if you need anything

You could script it as a startup script to add the network via an XML export. Will add the code tomo

That's exactly what you have do do if you are using the original 2007 Packages. The new Apps allows multiple app installs per TS step. There was a way of sequencing in 2007, but never got it to work fully...

On Wednesday 11th July, I was pleased to be able to welcome collegues from the Plymouth area to a “pilot” meeting – where we could discuss and collaborate on the various challenges we faced. We were also fortunate to be joined by a number of industry specialists to offer their advice and details of emerging trends. The event started with Paul Harris, from the Micrsosoft Schools Business Team. Paul opened with the advert for Microsoft Surface – and that is the new Microsoft Surface, the tablet/slate; not the table which used to have the same product name. The original “Surface” is now called PixelSense. The video – and the new site – can be found here http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/default.aspx The stirring introduction over, we moved into the Microsoft Lync managed presentation and demo – sadly Paul couldn’t join us in person. Paul talked about the forthcoming Windows 8 release – and announced the RTM in August; for Software Assurance customers this would be available nearly instantly. We were shown how Windows 8 was designed to bridge the gap between the personal device and the corporate device – one environment on both, which was everything you needed at the time. Office 365 for Education now being free was another big announcement which was discussed – and how it can encourage collaboration and efficiency. The slide deck for the presentation can be viewed here: http://sdrv.ms/S3buhe Next up was Chris Lim from Trustmarque Solutions – the first of two “industry insight” sessions from them. Chris presented about Processes and Procedures for the Success of IT Support. ITIL is the framework used in industry, the education sector has its own implementation of this – FITS. The slide deck can be viewed here: [ATTACH]14898[/ATTACH] A break followed, then we moved into a brief discussion and presentation from yours truly about recent partnership work with Microsoft. As many have noticed, there has been a blog series on the Microsoft Schools Blog about systems implementation and change – IT Systems for the Future. The platform – HyperV; and the management system – SCCM, were both shown – and the fact that this was only part of the story when we want to talk integration. Bringing the FITS processes in, designed to bring structure; I overviewed how theses “landed” in real life. If anyone would like any further information about this; or would like a site visit – please let me know. With all the recent talk of Academies – Terry Watts (scomis), updated us about recent changes to their support model for Schools. SIMS changes, service updates and performance were all on the agenda! A brand new training suite was also opened at their offices in Exeter two days later, where further evidence of their growing partnerships with industry players was clear. Lunch followed, where there was plenty of opportunity to catch up with colleagues and the presentation team. There certainly seemed to be lots of collaboration and networking going on, new and long standing colleagues alike. Sean from Smoothwall joined us to talk us though how the "Bring your own" (BYOD) agenda can be safely implemented with your systems to ensure esafety. We were shown details of the product range in brief, but the discussion centred more around the concepts of safe internet access - and the perennial filtering argument. Their slide deck can be viewed here: [Coming Soon] Also involed were the team from Overland Storage. The change in the curriculum is having a significant impact on all our systems - with ever increasing demands on space. Digital media is becoming the defacto standard for curriculum delivery, and it is well recognised that the most inspiring content is audio and video. Overland discussed how they have seen industry deal with the same challenges - which can be equated to the increasing training and supporting literature demands. Further to this, there is then the challege of security of this data, ie backing it up. A pilot project is expected to start over the coming months with Schools backing up to eachother. A slide deck provided by the team can be viewed here: The Storage Conundrum - Plymouth IT Mgrs.pptx Another break - and then it was back to TrustMarque for their second presentation of the day. This time, it was centred on Licensing - and how to get the most from it. Most are familiar with EES, and the benefits it has had for the UK market. Often misunderstood - Fiona talked to us about the product set available, and the ways to ensure best value. We then moved on to Adobe - and I was thrilled that Fiona was able to announce a new "EES like" model is being developed by them for the Creative Suite. This has the potential to save schools thousands - and it wont just be limited to single Schools. Confederations will be supported so long as there are "defined links" between establishments. More information will follow on this as soon as it is available from Adobe UK. For now - Fiona's deck is available here: [ATTACH=CONFIG]14897[/ATTACH] Lastly, it was over to Simon from Ruckus. Wireless has always been a contentious issue in Schools, ever since it was put out there as "the solution" by the media. In dense high use areas, Schools just havent been able to take advantage of it - with staff complaining of poor coverage, speed etc. Simon talked to us about what makes Ruckus different - based on its use in industry. He talked about the technology, not the product - and why wireless systems traditionally don’t work well. We were also shown the future. His slide deck will be added shortly. I would like to thank all the Schools who gave their time to join us for what I hope was an enjoyable and informative day. Thanks must also go to all the Suppliers and Manufacturers who supported the event. Finally, a big thanks to Paul Harris from Microsoft for the Keynote; as well as the unseen names and assistants in setting the call up – Tim Bush and Mark Reynolds. Contacts: Paul Harris Consultant Internal Schools Business Manager to Microsoft Ltd [email protected] @paulnharris 0118 909 4437 Chris Lim Solution Manager – Microsoft & Integrated Solutions - TrustMarque Solutions [email protected] Terry Watts Engineer - scomis 01392 385300 Neil Cogger Pre-Sales Manager - Overland Storage [email protected] 0118 989 8027 Sean Lazenby Education Sales Manager - Smoothwall Ltd [email protected] 0113 3874 183 Fiona Gemmell Education Specialist - TrustMarque Solutions [email protected] 01904 561 663 Simon Hollister Ruckus EMEA [email protected]

@PhilNeal - can I nudge you to grab the right dev to answer this one?

For sending the bulk messages to parents - I would suggest looking at dedicated products such as Groupcall, ParentMail, Teachers2Parents etc (search the forums for these - there are plenty of discussions on the merits of all). These systems will all maintain a record of contact, use the details maintained in your MIS, as well as reduce the admin overhead of actually doing the message/grouping parents to send to.

agreed with @cscott above... you need to set up split dns so that you can use the same point of access whether onsite or offsite. Im having to do this myself right now too!

Another one into the mix... I use AD groups, with Search Collections pointed at them...

Post 3 in this mini-series giving you the information from the Capita LA Event... and up this time; a bit of history of the SIMS Learning Gateway product with where it's headed. Incidentally at this point - this is probably the worst product name! It is NOT - never has been, never will be, was never supposed to be - a Learning Gateway. Nor was it ever going to be a replacement for SIMS.net! I did have some great discussions with Phil Neal and new product manager Ben Jones about this. Now we have got that out of the way - what was this session all about? In short - the latest developments to the SIMS Learning Gateway [sLG] (grrr - there's that name again!). Ben Jones (and a nice big welcome to the new product manager) told us how his intention is to revitalise the product into playing a key role in a school's parental engagement policy whilst providing return on investment for schools. Ben Jones, took over in Feb 2012... and was frank (as most of us as an audience were with him) about the need for updates in a dramatically changing market place. The original product has been around since 2006; and Home School communications have changed a lot since then. There are many more products on the market - many with significantly more polished interfaces. However, despite that backdrop - over 41 LAs host SLG. This is roughly 1 in 2 Secondaries and 1 in 8 Primaries. 450 are self hosted, 650 hosted on Capita Platform. Those are massive statistics, and its still rising... This is a changing market - and not surprisingly after the demise of BECTA, there was a drop off in school take up. Since then, there has also been a push back against the drive. Making good progress with the Assessment for Learning, driven by changes in the primary sector. Drive for quicker feedback and monitoring of truancy. So what has been the success driving SLG adoption? This all centres around maximising the potential of SIMS. From the first post in this mini-series, I talked about Schools being data rich, and not quite knowing what to do with it... well SLG can help. It provides simple tools for viewing data, and can be a way of getting it in. The less IT literate amongst us are often happier with browser access - this is direct feedback from Schools. The future development of SLG is targetted to allow access from all tablets inc iPads. The other driver is still parental engagement - which still forms part of Ofsted requirements. Despite some of the perceptions, it can offer cost and efficiency savings through reporting to parents online rather than on paper. In turn, this can drive up School standards and the School Community thought better feedback to parents and increasing reporting timescales. As a direct correlation to this, one of the latest updates to SLG surrounds parents. Data collection sheets are a classic case of inefficiency. These are traditionally printed and sent home with Students or completed on parents events. The online version will allow changes to be reported at the time, directly. An important note - the School stays in control of data at all times, choosing what changes get made; and like with the rest of the SLG framework - what information is shown. What schools who are using the product actually say then? This may surprise you - direct honest feedback on the failings! Communications and messaging Lack of understanding of capability. Redesigned marketing materials, with real life implementations Template how to guides and starter sheets available, based on real schools How to videos and guides Production of news letters, to keep users informed The most important part of this discussion - and it was more of a discussion than a presentation - was outlining what was coming up. Summer Parental two way communication... Data collection sheets. Parents view what you want them to see, and allow them to modify it for approval by school. Online reports will open in new window Profiles, screen jumping to top of the page on refresh fixed Report card, hide historical reports Data collection sheet (more detail below) Data collection sheet detailed discussion... This feature was driven by the desire to reduce the need for paper copies (which get lost) and school chasing parents. The system works through reusing drop down lists populated by options in SIMS - helping ensure data consistency. That being said, in certain areas, you will also be able to add free text where option not available. To ensure legal compliance, you can hide contacts where "Do not disclose is set" Marking a shift in the development in SLG - you might be surprised to seen that the screen is in a wizard format - actually making it visually pleasing for the user. According to Ben, this is part of a drive for the "new SLG" to be much more user friendly. The wizard displays as a series of screens: Basic details Contacts Medical Dietary Travel Ethnicity Currently missing is parental responsibility, eg when to teach PHSE. This is coming in autumn, when ability to choose which wizard screens are available. As to be expected with a wizard - a "finish" option shows you the entries you have made with confirmation. This removes the ability to make other changes after, until they are approved. The School can view the information in Routines, SLG, Data Collection. This is not auto copying yet. Instead, until added in Autumn, there is a copy option with a link to where the data needs to go. You then mark them as actioned and closed. Autumn Auto writeback, with validation SLG teacher attendance iPad compatibility, popup with bigger buttons Homework enhancements to include homework data fields in reporting Mark sheet autosave Coming soon Mobile view versions Drive adoption of student use through above Options web part for choosing from above And the future of SLG? The roadmap on SupportNet shows all - and is being regularly updated by Ben. The product can only grow with the support and feedback from the community. Ui refresh of web parts for student details... Spring Mobile views Password reset process Discover integration... Could lead to governor website, slt, parents view of their child as part of cohort Homework enhancements Pick which documents to publish

This post continues from my last - discussing the themes and news from the Capita LA Conference. I know this will come as a surprise to some, who will have been expecting more "geeky" System Centre or HyperV stuff - but my community work will also form my blogs too! The Key Note speech at the event was made by Tony Travers. Tony Travers is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, a research centre at the London School of Economics. He is also a Visiting Professor in the LSE’s Government Department; whos research interests include local and regional government and public service reform. He is currently an advisor to the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee and the Communities and Local Government Select Committee. He has published a number of books on cities and government, including Failure in British Government, The Politics of the Poll Tax (with David Butler and Andrew Adonis), Paying for Health, Education and Housing: How does the Centre Pull the Purse Strings (with Howard Glennerster and John Hills) and The Politics of London: Governing the Ungovernable City. Here though - he talked to us about the way in which management and support of Schools has changed. Looking back, Schools started and were maintained locally by bodies often formed by churches. After 1945 onwards, e state stepped in, with LEAs. Were schools then a local service or a national service, really a mix of the two. From 1976 onwards, there was greater Government involvement - increasing to the general "tinkering" which every successive power has felt the need to do. The national curriculum was introduced, followed by endless fiddling with curriculums and exams - which continues to this day. You only have to look at the news lately to see a new ICT Curriculum (now this one I do agree with); changes to the GCSE system, changes to numeracy and literacy expectations from Primary and more. All of this "tinkering" has had a purpose though. The new models have been designed to drive improvement, but how much of is a remodelling of the past, academies and free schools are similar to and an evolution of the old grant maintained schools. We now have a mixture of types of school, giving choice to parents. League tables and inspections allow that to be an informed choice, and to enforce performance. The pupil premium drives improvement by competition between schools. More students equals greater funding. Has this led to a reduced role for local government? What is the role? Admissions, centrally provided services and ensuring capital investment by ensuring places are available. Little power to close failing academies, or plan the system of local schools. Loss of fiscal power too. However, the growth area has been that Councils can also provide ancillary services... Free School Meals, insurance, supply, under achieving pupils, insurance, information services, economies of scale services are just some examples of this. The long and short of it is that LAs have moved from being providers and controllers, to more limited role. Instead, new and strengthened central bodies from Whitehall - Ofsted, Education Funding Agency, DfE. So, what does the future hold, and what issues could it present? The economy is the obvious first point. The constant drive to cut costs brings the challenge of weak growth and likelyhood of school funding being held at below inflation levels. There is bound to be the continuation of new policies - the move to introduce more Academies and the growth of Free Schools. Only in the news in the past few weeks were the announcements to push failing Primaries into Academy Status. To gain a perceived better control of costs, there is also likely to be a further centralisation of funding. Where does all of this leave LAs? It all looks bleak for them, indeed many thought the LA IT role would all but disappear. Instead, a new LA role has grown - to be the invisible guiding role. There to be supporting, able to give guidance; and taking an active interest locally - which central powers cannot do. They are also in a position to be delivering value for money though economies of scale projects and services - on a local level, coordinating the needs of their cluster. Despite the fears to the contrary, they are plenty of examples where LAs continue handling finance for central capital projects as well. Why does the role of the LA matter anyway - and what could explain this "phoenix from the flames"? Greater trust of local councillors rather than MPs Balanced local ear to the ground abilities Emergency support via local secured and invested funds Responsibility for other key services such as social care, public health, planning, crime and disorder And why is this important? Well these relate to education because of the wider impact of the environment out children grow up in. They change the way people feel - change their perception and confidence in a way that Central Government cannot achieve. So, in conclusion - although there has been a move away from Local Government responsibility over the last 50 years, there is still a major role for it. Still a need for the efficiency and scale that Local Government has, despite the press coverage. It is a surprising statistic some may say, but Local Government is more efficient than Central and any small organisation (such as a school on its own).

Hmmm... on 64 bit - I believe it will check just the 64 bit folder. You may have to use the two direct references rather than variables.