| About SIMStoPTP |
| Preparing for Installation |
| Downloading SIMStoPTP |
| Downloading SIMS data usage statement |
| Installing SIMStoPTP |
| Starting the SIMStoPTP service |
| The SIMStoPTP Event Log |
| Upgrading From a Previous Version of SIMStoPTP |
| Viewing Data Exported by SIMStoPTP in the SIMS Report Designer |
| FAQs About SIMStoPTP |
| Troubleshooting |
| About SIMStoPTP |
| SIMStoPTP is a Windows service that installs on the server running SIMS in your school. At scheduled times it runs reports against the SIMS database using the SIMS 3rd party reporting tool (Command Line Reporter). It then uploads this data to the PTP servers. All report definitions used by Pupil Tracking Limited are transparently available through the SIMS report designer. PTP report definitions have 'Pupil Tracking Limited' listed under the supplier column. This ensures that schools can always see the data that PTP is exporting from SIMS. |
| Preparing for Installation |
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.SIMS User Account Connect.ini [SIMSConnection] Then no further action is required. However, if the file reads: [SIMSConnection] then you need to navigate to the directory in the redirect path above, copy the connect.ini file from here and paste it into the local directory |
| Downloading SIMStoPTP |
| The SIMStoPTP MSI file (Microsoft Software Installer) can be downloaded here: |
| SIMStoPTPv1.0.7.msi |
| Downloading SIMS data usage statement |
| Download a signed statement regarding Pupil Tracking Limited's use of the data held on your SIMS database: |
| Statement_of_SIMS_data_usage.pdf (18kb) |
| Installing SIMStoPTP |
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| SIMStoPTP must be installed on the server running SIMS.NET by a user who has administrator account privileges. To install SIMStoPTP simply execute the MSI file. The only setup details you will need besides the SIMS username and password is the school ID. This can be found by logging in as an administrator of PTP and navigating to Settings > Automate data import from MIS. Note, once installed the Windows service will need to be manually started (see below). |
| Starting the SIMStoPTP Service |
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| Navigate to 'Services and Applications' by either right clicking on 'My Computer' and selecting 'Manage' or by navigating to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. Double click on SIMStoPTP and click the start button. You may optionally choose to set the startup type to 'Automatically'. This will ensure that the service starts automatically on server re-boot. On clicking the start button the SIMStoPTP service will attempt to connect to Pupil Tracking Limited's servers to validate the school ID and collect its schedule run times. If for any reason the service cannot connect, then the service will not start and an error will be written to the event log (see below). |
| The SIMStoPTP Event Log |
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| All success and error messages are written to an Even Log named 'PTLog'. Each error message contains details about what caused the error and provides all the information required to troubleshoot the issue. At times it may be necessary to email the contents of the event to Pupil Tracking Limited. Errors will be logged for many reasons. For example, if the internet connection was down at the scheduled time or if SIMS .NET was unable to run the report etc. |
| Upgrading From a Previous Version of SIMStoPTP |
| To upgrade SIMStoPTP simply uninstall the existing version and re-install the new version. You may also need to edit the PTService.exe.xml config file and provide the address of your proxy server. See the Troubleshooting section below for details. |
| Viewing Data Exported by SIMStoPTP in the SIMS Report Designer |
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| Before a report can be run against the SIMS database a report definition must be imported into SIMS.NET. Report definitions imported by SIMStoPTP can be identified using the supplier column within the SIMS report designer (Report definitions are imported automatically by the SIMStoPTP service). |
| Frequently Asked Questions about SIMStoPTP |
| Q: Will installing the SIMStoPTP service affect the PTP database? A: No. The SIMStoPTP service merely passes XML files from your SIMS server to our PTP servers. No updating of PTP will take place until you have enabled the appropriate modules through the PTP administration menu. |
| Q: Does SIMStoPTP write any data to the hard drive on our school server? A: No. No data is ever written to the hard drive on your server. |
| Q: How are SIMS user account details stored? A: The SIMS username is stored in plain text format so that the user of SIMStoPTP can be identified. However, the password is stored in an encrypted format. |
| Q: Can I control the scheduled time(s) that the SIMStoPTP service runs? A: Real time processing times can be changed by the school. However the batch processing time cannot. Our batch processing times are staggered to maximize server work load and efficiency. However, if you would like a specific batch processing time then please contact us and we will do our best to fit around your requirements. Your current batch processing time can be viewed through the PTP administration menu under Settings > Automate data import from MIS. |
| Q: How is the data transferred from our SIMS server to PTP? A: The SIMStoPTP service uses web services running over SSL (Secure Socket Layer). SSL ensures the encryption of all requests and responses between your SIMS server and our PTP servers. |
| Q. I need to change the SIMS username and password credentials used by SIMStoPTP. What do I need to do? |
| A. Because the SIMS password is stored in an encrypted format within the XML config file it is not possible to manually alter the credentials this way. An uninstall and re-install of SIMStoPTP will be necessary. By setting up a new SIMS user specifically for SIMStoPTP this situation can be avoided. |
| Troubleshooting |
| The 'PTlog' event log can be used to troubleshoot all issues. |
| Problem - On checking the event log and scrolling down through the error you see something like the following message:
System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server ---> |
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Solution - SIMStoPTP has a problem detecting your proxy settings. Add your proxy address to the config file: Navigate to C:\Program Files\Pupil Tracking Ltd\SIMStoPTP\PTService.exe.Config (An XML file) <system.net> When placed directly above the closing </configuration> tag the above XML will tell the client to use the system defaults plus the proxy address given. Replace ‘http://myproxyIPaddress:80’” with your own proxy IP address and port number e.g. http://123.132.234.67:8000. This has fixed the above issue in 100% of cases. |
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Problem - On checking the event log and scrolling down through the error you see something like the following message: |
| Solution - This kind of error normally reports that the user could not login to the SIMS Command Line Reporter. This is a SIMS error not a PTP error. The cause of this error is normally a) The SIMS user credentials have been incorrectly entered or mis spelled when installing SIMStoPTP b) Your server is configured to only allow logins to SIMS at certain times of the day. |
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Problem - On checking the event log and scrolling down through the error you see something like the following message: SIMS.net Command Line Report Importing Utility 7.60 |
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Solution - We have experienced a small number instances where the date format for the "Local System account" is in the wrong format for the SIMS Command Line Importer to import SIMS report definitions through SIMStoPTP. This is because SIMStoPTP runs as a service and like most services it runs as "Local System account". This has recently (28/09/2010) been evident in schools running Windows Server 2003 after installing SQL 2008. This issue has so far not been evident with Windows Server 2008. To resolve the issue in Windows 2003 unfortunately requires a minor registry edit. Windows has now provided a graphical user interface for this in Windows Server 2008. On a Windows Server 2003 box navigate to Start > Run >In the Open box type "regedit" and navigate to the following key:
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SIMStoPTP Installation Guide
