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Calling all SIMs Data Managers and the like, Any help or advice needed, all donations gratefully accepted. Let's imagine for one horrific moment that SIMs got wiped completely and there are no backups. *quiet sobs* How would you go about trying to repopulate your student details with the minimum of manual labour? Hypothetically, I had an idea that you could get hold of the most recent census file, reverse engineer it and turn it into CTF file(s), letting SIMs do most of the legwork. It would require some XML jiggery pokery, but on paper, seems reasonable? Alternatively, collating all available data from various different other sources into a spreadsheet/csv file, and turn that into a CTF file. Then churning out data collection sheets for parents to fill in any gaps. Does anyone have any thoughts on this approach, pitfalls, other ideas, another way of doing it? There may be more back door options I don't know about or bright ideas from your collective experience. All entirely hypothetical of course. Many Thanks Databird

I generate an XML file from a sims report on my work server and copy/paste it onto my laptop. Every time I do so it increases in size and a large chunk gets copied from inside the text and appended after the final closing tag - obviously making the XML unusable. The only way I can stop this is to zip the file before copy/paste. The effect is quite reproducible and seems to happen to any xml output more than a couple of hunderd lines long. Anyone any idea why this is happening and how to stop it? A snippet from one of the received files is below (with UPNs changed). See how part of a previous UPN field is appended after what should be the final tag and the last line of the file finishes part way through the tag This is a shortend version of the received file. [code] 24046 X879991678001 100.00 0 0 0 2 ... other records 23259 B879991606710 100.00 0 0 0 2 9991606724 <---- Final tag but it starts repeating records here, starting with part of a upn 100.00 0 0 0 2 22608 N879992106025 100.00 0 0 0 2 ... other records 23182 M879992106735 100.00 0 0 0

I'm currently trying to create a report in XML which will be read by another piece of software and I need to include photos in that report. I have created the report and it exports the data as expected. My question is, what format is the photo data in? ie. If I were to programmatically import that data, what format is it? Hope someone can help.

Hey all, Hoping somebody can help me, really can't seem to get this XML to apply Start menu + Taskbar settings. The GPO itself is applying fine, just doesn't seem to be adjusting anything. Attached image of xml code

Below is the unattened file ive put together. There are two issues so far that im stuck on.1st. I only have one image at the moment and would like it to be chosen automatically. Ive filled out the details however the choose image screen still shows.2nd. The Winodws setup screen shows on first boot asking for username/compname, input langauge etc. I thought id put enough detail in to pass that all over and have a hands off process from start to finish. Am i missing something or is there and error in what I already have?Any help would be appriciated. 1 true Primary true NTFS Local C 1 1 0 true OnError #######.local #####- ###### 0 1 OnError true true ######## ###### ########.local ######## ######## ####### desk.wim desk 0 1 true true en-GB en-GB en-GB en-GB en-GB en-GB #######.local ####### ####### ########.local LQBUADEAbQAzAHQAYQBiAGwAMwByAC0AUABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA== false ######### true ######## true true Work 1 QQBkAG0AaQBuAGkAcwB0AHIAYQB0AG8AcgBQAGEAcwBzAHcAbwByAGQA false NQB0AGUAMQAxAGEAUABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA== false ####### Administrators ###### false false false false 085 true

Hi All, I am having some problems running a SIMS custom made report using CommandReporter and I was wondering if you could help me diagnose the problem. Basically I have created a custom made report in SIMS which returns basic pupil info, but it has a series of filters included to also return pupil results. I've also created a program in Excel (using VBA), which you set up and tell it what data you want from SIMS. The VBA program then creates an XML definition file to run CommandReporter with, which tells SIMS what year group I want data for, which subject and what aspects of data. The report returns an XML file with the pupil data in, which my VBA code reads and it adds the data to the excel spreadsheet for a HOD to analyse. I have been running this for a couple of years now and all works really well. However, I'm now trying to set this system up in a different school, and it's not working. I've exported the custom report from the previous school to the new one, and it loaded in fine. The VBA code can run the report, but all that gets returned is an XML file with no data. I can run the report from within SIMS fine, but it's when I run it remotely and feed it my def file that it doesn't seem to like it. I think I've narrowed down where the issue is, and it seems to be when I try to change the year group. If I remove that from the def file the report runs, and returns the data, but if I try and feed it the year group, it just returns no data at all. For the life of me I can't see what's wrong, or what I'm doing wrong. Can anyone suggest anything, or give some tips on how I can diagnose the issue? My def xml file uses this code... Year Integer Year group Yr 7 1 Yr 7 When I run paramdef the output I get looks like this... so I'm using the correct filter code. I've tried changing the from List to Integer (and String) but the same thing happens. Year List Year group Yr 8 1 Yr 8 Any help will be much appreciated! Chris

I've been busy developing software in visual studio that automatically runs sims reports and imports them into my own software's SQL database. This works fine, but now I need to pass a line of text (the name of an aspect) to Command Line Reporter. Example of text is: A8 Computing PRED I have specified in the report ask at runtime, and the variable is: Aspect Name Can anybody help with the XML for this? Mine just does not work. Regards Graham

First post incoming.... I have a SIMS report that runs successfully from within SIMS and I can run it from the command line and generate a params file for it. My intention is to change the dates for a certain bounding parameter dependant on values entered into another script. This parameter is a filter clause and is set to "Prompt at runtime" for just this reason but even so the report requires me to enter 2 "default" date values for 'Start' and 'End' dates. The generated paramsfile has 2 issues for me: The XML is not fully fleshed out by including the "default" start and end dates and therefore requires checking of the schema and/or guesswork in order to create the required XML. The parameter ID seems to be dependant on the information entered into the clause in the report and I have no way of generating a new one. For example changing either of the "default" dates or the prompt text causes the ID to change. Here is the relevant part of the paramsfile as generated using CommandReporter with the /PARAMDEF switch: Active DateRangeRange Active during [color="#FF0000"][/color] You can see the blank element is where I hoped the "default" dates would be. Using the inline schema I reckon the fully fleshed out version with example dates should look something like this: Active DateRangeRange Active during [color="#0000FF"] 2011-09-01T00:00:00 2011-09-20T23:59:59 [/color] However, with the completed params file sorted and saved as above and read back in by the CommandReporter this section seems to get ignored and the report runs with the date values which are stored in the actual report. Either the format of the element is wrong or the parameter ID is now wrong. If the element is wrong how do I find out what the correct syntax should be? If the parameter ID is dependant on the contents of the parameter as some sort of encoded hash how do I generate it? My feeling is that the structure is right but the ID is now wrong but any help here would be very gratefully received. Thanks in advance, Polski

Hello people. Have this opportunity within an exciting e-learning company in West London. If you know anyone who might be suitable we will pay a referral fee of £200 (upon a successful placement). Thanks! Leading West London-based educational e-learning content supplier requires an experienced and proficient Action-Script Developer who can work across all services with experience using Object Oriented ActionScript 3.0 and 2.0, MVC frameworks, Flash product workflow, and good troubleshooting and debugging skills are essential. Candidates must have good written and verbal skills and the ability to work within a team to deadlines. You will have a strong background in applying XML, JSON and other data formats and creating and maintaining frameworks. Also exposure to SharePoint or similar Wiki applications, ASDocs, Apache Ant, Flex, any Project management experience and a knowledge of associated technologies within e-learning would all be an advantage. Permanent role within successful company with a family feel. Salary £40-£45k neg. Please email CV's to [email protected]

I have successfully created an XML for a Start Menu. However, when I add the following code, to add a folder in a 2x2 space, it breaks the XML!! Please help!! If I enter URLs, programs or *.lnk, I get the same result. I have changed the desktopApplicationTile to lowercase for the sake of this post. I have also edited the GPO to create the shortcut for the URL pointing it to the start menu

We email out Individual Reports via Schoolcomms. Have done this for years. Last week I had 20+ parents who couldn't open the report. Never had one complain before. Most were trying to open it on their phones, and most of those were iPhones, but several were android, and several were failing on grown-up devices too. Testing it, they fail on my android phone, and I have xml reports from last year and they fail for me too now, so I'm thinking this isn't one of the billion SIMS upgrades changing the file format... So that leaves me wondering: Has something changed on phone OS's so that they won't go to Microsoft links to resolve the tags in the XML? Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe they never worked, I just imagined it, and no one complained? I feel like I've entered The Twilight Zone. Also, why on earth have SIMS not moved to storing PDFs? Or, if they don't, why on earth does Schoolcomms not convert to PDF on the fly when it sends out the files? We have the next year group to send this week and if that fails as much we'll have to ditch Schoolcomms. Is the SIMS parentapp worth investing in?

Hi all, I am having a nightmare in configuring a default profile for Windows 10 with a functioning start menu. If I use standard local profiles (the current setup) the .xml applies and works satisfactorily using the GPO and tends to work. I want to move to a default profile in order to remove some annoying things that appear at login for users. I have successfully created the profile and it does everything I want EXCEPT from map the start menu. I found that by shoving a 'layoutmodification.xml' into 'App data - Local - Microsoft - Windows - Shell' of the Default User folder; it applies the start menu on login .. then disappears 10 seconds later and then just seemingly refreshes explorer continually; resulting in the machine being unusable. I feel as though i'm so close and would really like to get this fixed. I have tried granting all users full access to the .xml file and this has done nothing. I have also tried changing the '' string in the XML to allow certain groups, this hasn't worked. I am royally stuck at this point! any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

We've just had our website converted to Drupal by our web developer as we're moving towards providing year group specific info for parents(we currently have a static site with very little other than marketing info), one of the per year group pages will be a letters page which will display any letters for that year group. Initially the idea was to update each page as and when however thats obviously going to become unworkable pretty quickly especially when putting up a letter to the whole school would mean editing 10 different pages. I've decided instead to try and use PHP/XML so that all letters get entered into an XML file and then each letters page simply outputs a filtered version of the XML file into a table where the year group matches. I've managed to cobble togeather the output code so far and have started this morning to try and figure out the code for putting the data into the XML file from a form, I only code when I have to so generally end up butchering code examples to do what I want them to do. So far I've found some music playlist code that looks as though it'll do the trick with a little playing. I guess my questions are - 1. Am I going about this the right way? does anyone know of a module for Drupal or even Joomla(presuming that most modules have equivelents in both) that'll do this more elegantly? 2. Am I better off doing this with XML or making use of MySQL? 3. Has anyone already done this and feel like sharing their code? Cheers, James

This used to work under Windows 10 and according to the Microsoft documentation the process is supposed to be the same for Windows 11 (just it doesn't support changing the Start Menu any more, only the Taskbar layout) but I don't seem to be able to get the taskbar apps layout working for our staff users. Here's what I've got: xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification" xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout" xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout" Version="1"> No matter whether I apply this through GPO or Intune though, it doesn't seem to be having any effect. What am I doing wrong? Have Microsoft changed how taskbar management works again and just not told anybody / not updated their documentation?

Hello everyone, I have been getting our end user configuration all sorted for Windows 10 and have the Start Menu layout, mandatory profile (I know!) and default associations all working absolutely fine. However, I cannot for the life of me get the Taskbar Pinned shortcuts to appear - they are listed in the StartLayout.xml file as appropriate so I'm not sure what's going on. Also, how can I get the OneDrive sync client installing for a user when they login using a mandatory profile? Is there any way? Any help with these couple of issues would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

I have an xml file which I use to send updates from one server to another. To be able to test the bandwidth and number of transactions I would like to create 3000 copies of the xml template. The file name of the template is CR-0001-AAA.xml I would like to change the file name automatically to CR-0002-AAB.xml etc. Additionally I need to be able to edit some tags within the xml e.g. CD to SC Does anyone have any suggestions of software that could do this?

We are running SIMS commandreporter successfully to generate csv data out of SIMS. However, we are aware that it would be better to export the data in XML (not least as a spurious comma in some student data recently caused a minor hiccup). XML is a [relatively] new venture for us for this kind of thing (CSV has worked till now so we have not fixed it), but it seems that Python is adept at handling it and so progress drags us forward (another spinning plate). A [test] report has been created to list the classes of students. (see attached pdf, slide 1) Commandreporter generates the xml shown in slide 2 - note the attribute 'multiple IDs' and the 'x0020' in the middle of the attribute labels (hex for the space in the field name in SIMS?) When run manually from SIMS it generates the XML shown in slide 3. No multiple IDs and no 'x0020' in the middle of attribute names. However in the schema the attributes have a 'caption' of the field name. The question is a)why the difference? and b) is the x0020 consistent or might it change (if it is derived from something other than my guess) [would be better/simpler for coding if we can get commandreporter to generate the simpler 'manual' xml] OK that was 2 questions. [No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.] Any constructive help/advice gratefully received, even if only to confirm this is expected behaviour and we have to live with it (should others have come across this also). We did try to generate a paramdef file in case that is relevant, but it did not make much sense to us (other than date fields referred to in other posts). If it helps our cmd file for comandreporter is as follows: "\\server\c$\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net\commandreporter.exe" /USER:username /PASSWORD:**** /SERVER:server /DATABASE:dbase /REPORT:"_xxxx_StudentClassesx(xx)" /OUTPUT:"\\server2\m$\xxxx\xxxxx\StudentClassesx.xml" (comparable syntax works fine for CSV files and when run from CLI) Have not found specific reference to this question in other posts here. TIA xmlvariation.pdf