u8dmtm

We are a school.

As with the existing reports, the report would be set to export as XML onto a location on the SIMS server and would be run via commandreporter at scheduled times. A few minutes later, the resulting XML file is then read from a script which updates a SQL Server DB. The idea will be that we use that data (in the SQL Server DB) to provide attendance data on a future parent portal (aka online reporting) and potentially on existing data systems such as progress tracking and student learner profile.

We use scheduled commandreporter and custom reports to export timetable and student data from SIMS to be imported into other data systems. In the same way, I would now like to create a custom report in SIMS.Net which reports AM/PM attendance marks for all students over a period of time (such as an academic year) and would like the report to export as XML, ideally in the following basic format (the xml tags are hypothetical): session =”pm” mark=”\” /> Etc. etc. Etc. etc. Is anyone aware of a way to do this?

We want to provide a TV recording and streaming service which does the following: Allows staff to book TV recordings, including Discovery channels Allows those recordings to be stored centrally Allows staff / students to access stored recordings and view over network Allows simultaneous viewing of live TV over the network Does anyone have any ideas of how we can do this? Since we need Discovery channels we will need Sky TV.

Have you considered using Windows Sharepoint Services? It is free with Server 2003 and saves the hassle of creating something from scratch, it is also easy to configure and supportable since it's a Microsoft product. Here's how to set it up: How do I install Windows SharePoint Services?

At this point in time you might as well wait for Windows 7. However, we've got a couple of rooms running on Vista and to be honest we've never had any serious issues with it. Once you get it how you want it it is just as good as XP but looks nicer IMO.

I would check your service level agreements to see if you have any leverage there, then get your SMT to do some arm twisting.

Why not use smartbuild on one machine up until the point where you get the RM build window (after XP is installed, where you specify computer name, domain, AD location etc.) then use an imaging program like Acronis Snap Deploy or Ghost to duplicate the HDD onto the rest of the machines, then you just image them, give them a name and let CC3 run its course.

My vote goes with Acronis. Easy to use and full trial software available to see if it suits.

Call me picky, but one of the things that really irritates me about Vista is the domain logon screen. So I was hoping that with Windows 7 there might have been a rethink and a classic logon screen, as available in XP and 2000 resurrected. Apparantly no such luck. Does anyone know why Microsoft have gone for the domain logon screen with the pointless empty box about for Vista and Windows 7 and whether any hope exists for a class logon in the future? I have attached an image of what I envisage a classic logon looking like. http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv170/dmtmeaney/Win7Idea.png

It depends what your salary requirements are, since if they are flexible you should be able to enter a wide range of IT fields at the entry level.

Good school ICT staff are specialists at providing ICT provision and support to schools and already use best of breed suppliers and services in each technology area. This is why future investment in ICT in schools should be school led, not supplier led.

The essential arithmetic for me is that if you were to take the total amount of money to be spent on ICT through BSF and divide it by the number of schools involved and instead of the current arrangement, simply giving that money directly to schools with it ring-fenced for ICT and some Key Performance Indicators then ICT provision / support will improve anyway. Proponents of BSF forget (or deliberatly ignore) the fact that comparing "before" and "after" is not a flat playing field when you consider the differing levels of funding in place. If the BSF movement is genuine and not, as many suspect, a gravy train for local authorities and big-business then why are Headteachers not given the option of receiving the ICT funding directly to the school and spending it as they see fit within guidelines? Since this does not appear to be permitted within the parameters of BSF then either those in charge of BSF have no faith in the ability of Headteachers, existing IT support staff and the wider industry or they have something to hide - namely the worry that such a model may work better than the big-money lock-in arrangements which currently characterise BSF. With a 'local freedom of choice' approach, schools with existing innovation can accelerate it, and those without receive the ring-fenced funding and guidelines they need to get up to standard, and they could still buy in to a managed service if that's what's best for that school.

I can recomend the HP dc7800 USFF (Ultra Small Form Factor) with the Hp L1908wi monitor. The computer attaches to the back and is as good as an all-in-one but with the easier maintenance of separate devices. It also comes with a 3yr warranty as standard.

I am looking to replace a couple of old centralised colour laser printers with one fast good quality one (A4). I have been looking into a Xerox PagePack which includes maintenance and toner for a fixed annual fee. Does anyone use PagePack and if so would you advise going down this route? Also if anyone has any experiences of the Xerox 6360dn printer I would be interested in that too.

We will be implementing Citrix during next FY, with initially about 60 client devices in school. We though it would also be making good use of the investment if at night we could allow remote access from home to the service so that students / staff could use some school software via the Citrix Web Client. However, we have been told that to offer this service, on top of the 60 Citrix concurrent licences and 60 MS Terminal Services licences we would have to buy or subscribe to a MS Terminal Services licence for every user (i.e. 1200 students and 120 staff), even though only up to 60 users could be using the service concurrently. Can anyone shed some light on this as there doesn't seem to be much info out there (or I can't find it anyway). Thanks.

You could use Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0, which is free. See here: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Overview

We are introducing Citrix and this will include a number of thin-client laptops. We have trialled the Wyse x90 and been very impressed, however the cost of about £400 seems steep when netbooks are in the region of £200. I am therefore thinking of using netbooks instead of the Wyse x90s because we could buy more / spend less. Can anyone sugest any downsides to this thinking?

You could also query a timetable database to find out which lesson they are in at the time.

I would sugest going for an Access DB rather than Excel and then create a nice front end for teachers to enter the data into (perhaps even browser based). You could then also create a web page which serves the relavent marks based on username (using Integrated Authentication in IIS) and use that as the user's wallpaper.

Excellent, thanks to all. Drive F: is a mapping so needed to use NET USE to map it for SIMS and it then worked without a problem.

Thanks, that was useful. The output returned was: Login failed for user username. Reason: Incorrect F:\Apps\Sims\Connect.ini file It looks like I will need to log this issue with our LA (who provide SIMS support). Unless anyone knows of a quick fix?

Drive S is a drive letter on the server (not a mapped network drive) and is also where the batch file itself is run from. Just to be sure, I moved everything to C: and tried again, but the same issue persists.

I am using CommandReporter to export reports to XML files from SIMS.Net and have put a number of these command lines into a batch file. When I run the batch file logged in as an admin on our SIMS.Net server it works fine. When I schedule the same batch file, the batch file runs (because it makes entries in the Event Logs) but the CommandReporter aspects are not running. Does anyone have any idea why not? Below is a representation of the batch file: eventcreate /L Application /T INFORMATION /SO WDX /ID 0001 /D "WDX XML Data Export Process Began" C: CD C:\Program Files\SIMS\SIMS .net\ commandreporter.exe /USER:SimsUsername /PASSWORD:SimsPassword /REPORT:SimsReportName /OUTPUT:"S:/Users/Username/My Documents/WDX/Students-StudentData.xml" /QUIET eventcreate /L Application /T INFORMATION /SO WDX /ID 0002 /D "WDX XML Data Export Process Completed"

We have decided to implement a SAN. Has anyone recently done this, and if so, what advice can you offer?