Importing past student changes from Potentiality

Past students can update their personal details through a web service called Potentiality. Synergetic can integrate with Potentiality to import those changes into the Synergetic database so your organisation's information stays current. You can manage the updates through the Import/Export Student Data window. See Import/Export Student Data window.

Contact Synergetic Management Systems to configure the Synergetic Potentiality integration service.

Note: To import student information, you must have at least the SELECT security permission for the DEV module and the PST:PastStudentImportExport resource. See Group/User Security Maintenance - Groups view in the System maintenance manual.

Importing past student changes into Synergetic
To import updated past student information into Synergetic:

1. Log into Potentiality and select Export as XML.
2. Download the XML file and save it.
3. Open Synergetic and select Module > Development > Past Student Data Import/Export.
   The Import/Export Student Data window is displayed.
   
4. Click .
   The Import XML File window is displayed.
   
5. Click .
6. Navigate to the file you saved in step 2.
7. If there are already records in the Import/Export Student Data window, you can:
   • select Remove existing records before inserting new ones to work only with the records in the XML file
   • clear Remove existing records before inserting new ones to work with both the existing records and the records in the XML file. Any existing records that match those in the XML file are overwritten.
8. Click .
   The file is imported and displayed in the Import/Export Student Data window.
   
   
   Note: If the XML file contains invalid dates, the following error is displayed:
   
   Check the file for dates that do not follow the MMDDYY format. That is, two digits for the date, month and year without slashes or periods. For example, the 6th of October 2011 should appear as 061011, not 06102011 or 06/11/2011.
   
   Tip: You can view and configure the Synergetic fields used by the Potentiality import by searching for Potentiality in Configuration File Maintenance. See Configuration File Maintenance window in the System maintenance manual.
    
9. Check that each student has been correctly identified.
   
   Note: Records with an ID of 0 indicate the student has not been identified in the Synergetic database. You must identify the student in the Synergetic community before you can update their information.
   
   
   
10. If a student has not been identified, highlight their record and click .
    The Find Name on Community window is displayed.
    
11. Find the relevant past student.
12. Click .
    The record is matched to the community member.
    
13. Look through the list of students for any whom you do not want to update.
    
    Tip: You can use the navigation buttons ( , , , ) to go to the first, previous, next and last student records.
     
14. Highlight students you do not want to update and click .
    
    Note: Once a student is removed from the update list, they can only be replaced by reloading the XML file. This overwrites any change authorisations or updates you have made. For this reason, it is best to remove any unwanted students before you make changes, so your changes are not lost if you mistakenly remove a student and have to reload the file.
     
15. Select a student and examine the Changes between Synergetic and the import file for this person area.
    
    
    Note: Some fields may have information that Synergetic cannot accept. These values cannot be imported through this window and need to be entered manually through the student's Community Maintenance record. Make a note of these changes before you update a student's details, as the information is lost once the student has been processed.
    
    
    
16. Select Authorised for each field with changes that you want to accept.
    
    Note: If you authorise a field with a blank Potentiality Value, the existing information is deleted. Make sure you select which fields are authorised carefully.
    
    Tip: You can also authorise a record by double clicking on it, or highlighting the record and pressing the space bar. To authorise all non-blank valid fields, click . All fields which are not blank and can be accepted by Synergetic are authorised.
     
17. When you have selected all the changes you want to include, repeat steps 15 through 16 for the remaining students.
    
    Tip: You can update individual students as you finish authorising their changes. Click to update the current student only. This removes them from the grid so you can easily see which students are still to be processed.
     
18. Click .
    The changes are incorporated into Synergetic.