Exporting Attendance Data

Exporting Attendance Data

Exporting Attendance Data from Compass

Compass attendance data can be manually exported any time throughout the year. This can be done annually, quarterly, monthly, fortnightly, weekly, daily or on an ad-hoc basis.  Exporting attendance data from Compass and importing it into your School Information System (e.g. CASES21/CHESS, Denbigh, Integris, etc.) is how you report your school's attendance data back to your governing body (e.g. Department of Education and Training).
For Victorian Public Schools, Compass has the ability to automatically write-back attendance data into CASES21 via eduHub, removing the need for schools to manually export attendance data at regular intervals.  For information on this process, please refer to the section in this article ''Automatically Importing Attendance Data via eduHub (for Victorian Public Schools only)."

Permissions

To manually export Attendance data, you will need access to the Attendance page under the Organisation menu (grid icon). This requires the AttendanceBase permission.

For Victorian Public Schools who want to access the automatic write-back function, to set this up, you will need to access the Administration Tools menu and so will require the Configure permission.

For information on having permissions assigned for staff at your school, please refer to our Permissions article in the Knowledge Base.


Automatically Importing Attendance Data via eduHub (for Victorian Public Schools only).

Compass has the ability to automatically write-back attendance data into CASES21 via eduHub, removing the need for schools to manually export attendance data at regular intervals.

Once enabled, Compass will export attendance data into the school’s eduHub folder at approximately 3:00 PM each school day, which will then be automatically imported into CASES21 at the end of each school week. 

Once the upload has been completed from eduHub into CASES21, an email is sent to the school mailbox from the DET to advise whether it was successful and to provide guidance if further actions are required to address issues that were found. This information can also be found in Compass by accessing the Errors in Attendance Import to CASES article from our Knowledge Base.

The write-back functionality works with your school's existing CompassLink synchronisation service, so there is no need to install a new CompassLink service on your network.

eduHub write-back setup process:

Request eduHub write-back for automated attendance upload via DET Service Desk
Raise a Service Request to the DET Service Desk requesting eduHub write-back for automated attendance upload to be enabled for your school and please ensure this request is made with the authorisation of your Principal or Business Manager. IMTD will enable eduHub for automated attendance upload for your school and contact you to confirm it is active.

Setup writeback in CompassLink
Note: You must have a configured CompassLink synchronisation service for this process to work. The DET will also provide you with a UNC username and password for write-back.
  1. Log into your school portal as a user who has the AdminTools permission and go to Administration Tools (Cog icon > Administration Tools)
  2. Navigate to Client Manager and ensure you have a Compasslink instance installed and running (the light indicator in the first column is green instead of red).
  3. Find the Compasslink instance that is used for syncing data and click the pencil icon on the right side. The Client Settings modal will be displayed
  4. Locate the Integrated Services panel and click Add Service. A new modal will pop up.     
  1. For Service, select 'eduHub v1 Write-back (CASES21)'
  2. Set Data Location to \\{eduHub directory}\write-back (For example: \\1234AFS99\eduHub\write-back).
  3. Enter all other required details: UNC Username, UNC Password, and UNC domain .
  4. Set UNC Domain to EDU002
  5. Ensure that the information you have entered is correct and then click 'Save'.
Once saved, navigate back to the Administration Tools page (under the cog menu icon) and go to Import Jobs. If the information you provided to the eduhub Write-back service above are correct, you should see an export job created every week day after 3pm.

Please note that you do not need to move or upload the csv file to eduHub. Once an export has been sent to the eduHub folder, it will show the status 'Pending Response'. At the end of the school week, CASES21 will then import the file from the eduHub folder, and the status will change to 'Complete', ' Warning', or 'Error'.

To view the Warning or Error message, click one of the dashes in a column of the export.
     

     


For information on how to fix any Warnings or Errors, please refer to the Errors in Attendance Import to CASES article from our Knowledge Base.

If you require any further assistance configuring the automatic write-back function please contact our Support Team via support@compass.edu.au.

Fixing Warnings or Errors

Warnings or Errors generally occur when there is a discrepancy of data relating to a student.  Below is a list of potential errors or warnings you may come across and how to resolve them.

Attendance Records After Exit Date
This warning indicates that the listed student is not exited within Compass on their actual exit date, as the school has taken some time to export Student data to Compass or update the third-party timetable package where applicable. This causes Compass to collect attendance data after the student's CASES exit date. When the attendance data is imported back into CASES using the Compass Attendance Export report a warning is presented in the Warning Report.

To resolve, find the student within Compass in an 'Advanced Search'. As the student's status has been changed from 'Active' to 'Left' in CASES, they will not appear in the standard search. Enter the student's name or Student ID in the search box and click on 'Advanced Search'.
     

The student's name will show in the Advanced Search results. Click on the name to navigate to the student's profile and then click on the Attendance tab.

You will be able to determine from the student's Attendance Summary tab whether attendance data exists for the student after their CASES exit date. For example, if Chelsea is appearing on the CASES Warning Report and her Exit date is recorded in CASES as 18th March, you can check her Attendance summary page on Compass to see that there is attendance data recorded after the Exit date: 


Correct the enrolment dates for all the student's class enrolments by setting their Finish Date to match the Exit date on CASES. Go to the Attendance > Enrolments tab on the student's profile page. Then tick the box beside the class names to select them.
    

Click 'Selected Enrolments'. From the drop down menu, select 'Set Finish Date' and change the enrolment finish date to the exit date recorded in CASES for the student.

    


Student Not Found
This message can result because a student was enrolled and never attended (or has not yet commenced), or the student has had a code/name change.

If a student was enrolled but never attended (or is a Future student who has not yet commenced), it is possible they have been enrolled in classes and have collated some attendance data.
To resolve, the class enrolments need to be removed completely.

To do this, find the student within Compass in an 'Advanced Search'. As the student's status has been changed from 'Active' to 'Left' in CASES, they will not appear in the standard search. Enter the student's name or Student ID in the search box and click on 'Advanced Search'.  

    

The student's name will show in the Advanced Search results. Click on the name to navigate to the student's profile. 
Go to the Attendance > Enrolments tab on the student's profile page. Then tick the box beside the class names to select them.
 

Click 'Selected Enrolments' and choose 'Delete Selected'.
    

This will erase all attendance data for the student in question.

If the message 'Student Not Found' is displaying because the student has had a name/code change, you will need to ensure their code in Compass matches their CASES student code.

To check this, go to People Management under the Organisation menu (grid icon) and locate the student's user account.  Click the edit pencil icon to open their file.

Click to their Compass tab and check that their Compass/LDAP Username correlates to their CASES Student ID Code.
    

If it does not match, update the code to the correct one and click 'Save'.
Note: Changing a student's Compass/LDAP Username can impact their network login credentials.  Please ensure you proceed with caution and confirm that their code will match in CASES, Compass and on the school's Active Directory.
When situations arise of a student name or code not matching we recommend checking that there are not duplicate accounts for the student within People Management.  Any duplicates need to be resolved so that the student only has one user account within Compass.  Please contact support@compass.edu.au if you need assistance with duplicate user accounts.

How to manually export data from Compass

1. Go to the Organisation menu and select Attendance from the drop-down menu.
2. Select the "Attendance Export" option from the Attendance Reports and Exports section.
     


3. Select the date range you wish to export and choose the appropriate Export Type. See below for details of each export type.
We generally advise schools to leave the Start Date as January 1st, as this allows any retrospectively added Notes/Approvals to be exported and imported in to CASES21, and ensures that the attendance data in CASES21 is up to dat
  • DET CASES21 Period-by-Period (XML)Export for Victorian public schools who have their period structure set up in CASES21/CHESS. Only schools that use CASES21 for timetabling or generate their rolls daily from CASES21 are able to use this option.
    DET CASES21 Half Day (CSV)Export for Victorian public schools - most Victorian public schools will use this export
    DET CASES21 PRS213v1 Absence (XML)Export of only absence data for Victorian public schools
    Generic Period-by-Period (CSV)Not specific to any school systems, simply a period by period export of all attendance data for all students, in CSV format

4. A file download notification will appear. Save this to your computer (remember the location).
WARNING: Do not open this document in Excel before importing. Excel may change the file structure and prevent the file from importing.

After you have exported the attendance data from Compass you must import it into your School Information System.


Manually Importing to CASES21/CHESS (Instructions for Victorian Public Schools Only)

1. Open CASES21 and select Attendance > Import / Export Data > Import data from ERM Systems > Import Half Day Attendance.
(Though if your school does have your period structure set up in CASES21 and is thus importing Period-by-Period attendance data, then click 'Import Period Attendance'.)




2. An import pop-up window will be displayed. Click 'Step 1: Select Half Day Import File Location'.
More information on this process can be found in Chapter 3 of the Cases Administration Guide.

3. Select the file you saved from Compass and click Open.

4. The dates of the import will be listed. Click Next.

5. The import will complete and the words "Import Successful" will be displayed.


Troubleshooting Possible Issues

CASES21 Crashes
If CASES21 crashes upon attempting to import the file then go back into Compass and download an export with a smaller date range, and reimport this file instead.

Message: "Could not find a part of the path 'Y:\sql\backup\CASES21_HalfDay.csv'" (screenshot below)



This is a CASES21 bug that a few schools have reported. Upon importing attendance data CASES is supposed to create the file path indicated in the error message, but often fails to create the folder and is thus unable to do the import.

Go through your computer to the Y Drive, into the sql folder. If there is not a folder called 'sql' please create one now.  If there is an sql folder check that it contains a folder called 'backup'. If it does not, create one now.  
If you have any issues with these steps contact your IT Manager who will be able to assist.


Message: "....absence codes are not enabled"
Within CASES schools can disable attendance absence codes that they do not use, this may be a hangover from using eCASES for attendance records. To enable an absence code open the "Add or Modify Attendance Codes" screen; go to Attendance > Management > Reference Tables > Add or Modify Attendance Codes. Ensure that "Enabled" is set to "Y".

Message: "....unrecognised year level codes"
Year Level codes in a CASES import code must be 2 characters long (07, not 7). By opening a file in Excel before importing the file into Compass, the leading zeros may be removed, causing the above error. To resolve, download a fresh export from Compass and import into CASES21 without opening the file first.

Checking your attendance data has imported

If you would like to check the attendance data has imported, please go to CASES21.

Select Attendance > Import / Export Data > Imported ERM Data and select one of the reports on the right.



The quickest way to check is to open the Attendance by Date function and click the 'Date' drop down box. This date drop down box will list all dates where valid import data has been imported.



Please keep in mind that as you are now using an ERM (External Roll Marking) system (Compass), you will only be able to run the ERM reports in CASES. For all other attendance reports please use the Attendance page on Compass.


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