FAQ Number : P4                                     Latest Update: 10/6/06

GENERAL

Do not run the import until after the SIMS.net system has been promoted - ie all new students given an admission number and all existing students moved up a class. This will not be ready before the end of the first week back at school, and can take a couple of weeks in some schools, so DO NOT start until you are sure this has been completed.

Student list appearing on SETUP screen is last years and not this years

There could be a couple of reasons for this. The first is that it is too early - SIMS has not yet been promoted and so everyone is still in their old classes. Check with the SIMS administrator, and if it is the case abandon your import (close PFM and come back in) and try it next week.

Alternatively, it could be that the report you ran last time you did a student import is being found this time instead of the one you have just created in SIMS. If this is the case, you must find and delete the old one. It will be called PFMPUPIL.CSV and will probably be in the same folder as PFM (check where this is by going into PFM  and up to FILE - Where am I?) or it might be in the SIMS folder. Check these places and delete any file called PFMPUPIL.CSV wherever it is found. Then rerun the import.

I am not being asked to select the file created in SIMS.net - names are coming up automatically

This means that the report you ran last time you did a student import is being found instead of the one you have just created in SIMS. If this is the case, you must find and delete the old one. It will be called PFMPUPIL.CSV and will probably be in the same folder as PFM (check where this is by going into PFM  and up to FILE - Where am I?) or it might be in the SIMS folder. Check these places and delete any file called PFMPUPIL.CSV wherever it is found. Then rerun the import.

Students appear 'garbled' on SETUP screen 

You probably do not have the right combination of software version and SIMS.net report version.  PFM must say 6.04.07C, Ca or Cb across the top. If it does not, you need to upgrade to this version. Go to www.istekuk.com and request an upgrade immediately. You also need the SIMS.net report called PFM Pupil Report(Sues Version). If this does not show when you go into SIMS, you need to download it from the website and import it into SIMS.net. Click here for the report.

If you continue to have 'garbled' students even with the correct versions, it is probably the inclusion of quotation signs is the student records - usually in the address or medical notes. These confuse the import process and lead to the wrong piece of information in each field.  You can try opening the file yourself in Excel and tracking down the " signs, and removing them or you can email it to us on info@istekuk.com and we'll find the offending items for you.

Students have been duplicated and are in last years class as well as this years

The students imported last year may not have had admission numbers. Check by going to SETUP - Click on button that says Students Without an Admission Number. If there are more than a couple, this is your problem. You must immediately RESTORE from the backup called BEFORE IMPORT that you were advised to take, and follow the instructions by clicking here.

Students have been duplicated and are in the same class twice

Again, probably an admission number issue. Follow instructions from the paragraph above.