Introduction

School Check IN’s Auto Import Application was designed to facilitate the import process and provide you with the ability to automatically update your data on a regular basis.

How does the School Check IN Auto Import Application work?

We will use your student information system (SIS) as an example to explain the process. From your SIS, create and run a student export. Save this export so you can re-run it again. In this export script, designate a specific location on a specific computer. This will be called your “SCI Import Computer.” 

On the same SCI Import Computer, install the School Check IN Auto Import Application. Once installed, this application will run as a service on your SCI Import Computer. Configuring the import requires that you “map” the data fields and save the mapping. It is very important that the SIS export process retain the same field order.

Once configuration is complete and the Auto Import Application knows where your import files will be found (designated location), then the application will automatically “sense” when a new import file is deposited and will automatically import the data from the new import file. It is very important that this designated location remain constant. Should the designated location change, then you will need to update the configuration and mappings in the Auto Import Client. Please follow the steps below to install and configure the Auto Import Client Application.

For the Auto Import Application to work, it must:

1. Be installed on the SCI Import Computer. Both the files to be imported and the Auto Import Application must reside on the same computer. Installing the Auto Import Application on one computer with import files on a networked drive is not supported.
2. Run as a service on the SCI Import Computer.
3. Have the Auto Import Application properly configured with the correct field mappings.
4. Have new data to import.
5. Have Internet access.
6. .Net Framework 4 Extended
7. .NET 4.0 is required.
8. Visual C++ 2005.
9. Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable –x86

Port 22 needs to be open in the district firewall for SFTP file transfers.

Can we use the SCI Import Computer for other tasks?

Yes, the Auto Import Client runs as a background service and should not interfere with normal daily use.

When are imports done?

All imports done by Auto Import Client are done overnight (between 6pm EST and 6am EST). This rule applies, regardless of file size, or the number of records in the file.

Can Excel files be imported?

Yes, Excel files can be imported, but be advised that Excel may add its own formatting to the exported data. For example, if a student ID# has leading zeros in the number “000012456”, and when open in Excel, the leading zeros may be stripped away, so the student ID# becomes “12456”.

Can Tab delimited files be imported?

No, this type of export file format cannot be imported.

Field Headers

Yes, use field headers in import file.

What do the Import Options do?

ADD/MODIFY – Use to add new or modified records – All existing records will be preserved (no deletions) and new records will be imported and matched records will be modified. Records that exist and are NOT in the import file will NOT be deleted. These records will remain.

STANDARD – Use for daily imports – Existing records that are not in the import file will be deleted, Existing Records that have changed will be modified & New Records will be imported.

NEW – Use for new school/districts or at the start of a new school year. – All existing records will be deleted and all records in the import file will be imported.

Don’t Delete records that were manually entered. This option should be checked when schools have manually entered data and/or modified a record and they want to preserve this information and do not want it deleted. … i.e. School has assigned Key Fob ID#s to Faculty & Staff and do not want this deleted.

STANDARD is recommended.

Installation

The application requires .NET 4.0., Visual C++ 2005 and 2008 Redistributable Package. If you don’t have these components installed on your computer, the installer will assist you with installing them.

1. Download the Auto Import Application from schoolcheckin.com/files/PS_Import.zip
2. Double-click the unzipped setup.exe file to start the installation.
3. The Setup window will be displayed; click Next:
4. Select a location where the application will be installed; click Next.
5. Click Next on the Confirm Installation screen to start install:
6. When the Installation Complete screen appears, click Close.

To access the Auto Import Application, click on the icon on your desktop.

The SCI Auto Import Settings application will then appear:

Configuration

For accessing the application’s menu, click on the Settings drop down menu. The test mode is ON by default.

Please follow the Setup Process in this order. The order does NOT match the drop down list below under Settings. Setup in the following order:

1. User Settings
2. Path Settings
3. Mappings
4. Test Mode
5. Process Now

User Settings

Enter your www.sci.schoolcheckin.net credentials and click the Login button (Found on the application in the Settings drop down menu under User Settings). You need to enter your DA (District Administrator) credentials.

If the login process is successful, Log in box will disappear.

Path Settings

Indicates the folder path for the imports files. Click the Select button. This will open a Browse option. Browse to the location of where the import file will be found. Click Save to keep the location.

File Names:

Note: The import file names should contain a specific word for each import type:
In case of Student import, the files name must contain the text “student” word;
In case of Class import, the files name must contain the text “class” word;
In case of Faculty/Staff import, the files name must contain the text “faculty” or “fs” words;
In case of Parent/Guardian import, the file name must contain the text “parent” or “pg” words;
In case of Vendor import, the files name must contain the text “vendor” or “ven” word;
In case of Volunteer import, the files name must contain the text “volunteer” or “vol” word;

Examples:
SCI_class.csv
SCI_fs.csv
SCI_parent.csv
SCI_pg.csv
SCI_students.csv
SCI_vendor.csv
SCI_volunteer.csv
SCI_powerschool.csv

Mappings

The Mapping Process is the same regardless of which data you are trying to map.

1. Click the Browse button.
2. Navigate to the location of the file to be imported.
3. Select the file.
4. Check the import option.
   STANDARD is recommended.
5. Click on the field pick list.
6. Select the correct field.
7. Select and map all required * fields.
8. When complete, click the Save Mappings button.

Repeat mapping process for other tabs with data to be imported.

To modify an existing saved mapping, do the following:

1. Click [Browse] button.
2. Navigate to the location of the file to be imported.
3. Select the file.
4. Click the Load Headers button
5. Saved headers should now be visible.

Students

Student ID, Student First Name, Student Last Name, Class Name, School ID

Faculty Staff

Employee ID, First Name, Last Name, Job Classification, School ID

Vendor

First Name, Last Name, Password, Email, School ID

Parent Guardian

First Name, Last Name, Student ID, School ID

Volunteer

First Name, Last Name, Volunteer Type, School ID

Classes

Class Name, Teacher First Name, Teacher Last Name, Teacher Employee ID, School ID

The types of files that can be mapped are CSV or XLS . The column names from the import files must be mapped in order to upload them to the server. The mandatory columns are marked with an asterisk. After mapping fields, select Save Mappings.

Process Now

The client service will upload this file on server at a specific time. If user wants to upload file manually, then they can do this by clicking on Process Now button under the Settings Menu.

This will UPLOAD your data files, however the import process itself will run between 6pm to 6am, allowing the data to show in www.schoolcheckin.net.

What Happens

If the Process Now button is clicked or a live import is done, the following steps will be done:

1. The file to be imported will automatically be uploaded to the School Check IN servers at www.schoolcheckin.net.
2. The file will be placed in a queue to be imported overnight between 6 pm to 6 am.
3. The source file on your local computer will be renamed and moved to a sub-folder under the same primary folder where the import files are being located. The processed file will be renamed. For example, if your file is named “students.csv”, then the file will be renamed to “students03122015_13:20.csv” and moved to the sub-folder. The primary folder will no longer show the original file.

Test Mode

Unchecking test mode will ready the application to look at the path folder for any new files and process them to be uploaded to the School Check IN server.

Uncheck Test Mode to use

Email Alert:

Once the nightly import has been completed, contacts set up to receive the import confirmation email will receive a similar email to the one below: