Data Management

Data Management:

Set Up Scheduled Import (to bring in the most up to date data for your faculty, staff, and students)
Set up End-of-Year Process (moving students from grade to grade) with reminders to make sure everything runs smoothly before the end of the year).

Set Up Scheduled Import

Set Up Automated Import

There are three steps to set up a Scheduled Import.

Note: Steps 1 and 2 are setup by you. You can DIY or schedule an appointment for Step 3.

Step 1: Schedule an export from your SIS or Host Application using the required file format for your top level service (you may need their help). See https://www.goidm.com/cheat-sheets-page for import file specifications.

Run a query for a specific export (if you are unsure of what you need for an export file, email support@identiMetrics.net)

Name the export file idMimport.txt or idMimport.csv or use your district's naming convention

Schedule a daily export daily on FTP or SFTP site

Step 2: Direct the scheduled export to a folder on your district’s network.

Pull file from FTP or SFTP site (using a utility for transferring files like FileZilla. Your SIS or host application company may have more options or a specific preference)

Create a folder on the C drive of the computer/server where the identiMetrics top level service is running called identiMetricsImport

Direct the scheduled export to the identiMetricsImport folder you created

Step 3: In identiMetrics, set up options for the daily scheduled import.

Navigate to the Enrollment Manager on the server with the identiMetrics Top Level Service (Distributor or Biometric Engine)

Click on Service Management - Select Backup from the dropdown to save all records before making changes to the Options and data.

Navigate to the Service Management again and select Options.

Locate and Fill out the area for Scheduled Import options seen below. Modify the values specific to your organization. For a detailed description of the options please see below.

Note: the Scheduled Import - Folder area uses forward slashes instead of backslashes.

Import Options

Scheduled Import – Run? - Specifies whether or not to run scheduled imports. Can be set to Yes or No. The default is No.

Scheduled Import – Start Time - Start time for import using 24 hour format (00:00 and 23:59). The default is 02:00. Important! Make sure this time does not conflict with any other services in the identiMetrics Program or on your computer/server.

Scheduled Import – Interval Time - Time between imports using 24 hour format (00:01 and 24:00). The default is 24:00.

Scheduled Import – Folder - Location of the import file. The default is <Installation Folder>/Imports.

Note: the Scheduled Import - Folder area uses forward slashes instead of backslashes.

Scheduled Import – File Name - Name of the import file. The default is autoimport.txt.

Scheduled Import – Layout - Specifies which fields are to be read from the import file and in what order. The default for a Biometric Engine is “Last, First, Middle, ID, Level-1, Level-2”. The default for a Distributor is “Last, First, Middle, ID, Level-1, Level-2, Engine Names”

Note: Some Distributor setups do not have Engine Names as an option. If yours does not have an Engine Names Column, you do not have to worry about adding them to the import file. See picture below for what the Biometric Engine Names column looks like.

Scheduled Import – Delimiter - The character used to delimit each field (TAB or COMMA). The default is TAB.

Scheduled Import – Quoted Text? - Specifies whether or not each field is quoted. Can be set to Yes or No. The default is No.

Scheduled Import – Log Level - Specifies if import log is created and how much detail is written (Off, Summary, Detail). The default is Off.

Opt-out and Inactive Fields

The Opt-out and Inactive fields are not required to be in an import file by default. This simply means that they must be set manually through the Enrollment Manager. If the source of your import data can provide the values for one or both of these fields then you can enable them. See the System Management | Properties section of the identiMetrics Enrollment Manager Guide for details on how to set these properties and how they affects the Import and Export functions.

When one or both of these fields are enabled for import then the Scheduled Import – Layout option will be changed to add the appropriate field names. Please note that the field names will be added to the end of the layout. If your import file has them in a different order then you will have to edit this option before importing.

For the import file the Opt-out field can be set to ‘Opt-out’ or ‘Opt-in’ and the Inactive field can be set to ‘Active’ or ‘Inactive.

Pro Tips:

The import process will delete the import file. To make it easier for yourself to know what happened during the import setup, change the Scheduled Import – Log Level to Summary or Detail.

Place the import file in the folder and test by setting the import time to a few minutes in the future. The import log will show you if there were any errors.

You can also schedule an appointment with us on GOidM.com to set up the import file. At the appointment, we will log onto the computer with the top level service and help you set up the import file preferences and test it to make sure it is working.

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For a deeper dive into the settings and how they work, look at our Services Guide.

Set up End-of-Year Process

End-of-Year (EOY) is a process that is run in identiMetrics that ‘promotes’ students from one grade to the next.

This will help you remove students from the database that no longer belong.
You should run the End-of-Year Process yourself at the END of the school year before any new import files enter the system.
Find out more about the End-of-Year Process and how to set it up.

We're here for you if you have any questions.

Please open a support ticket by emailing support@identiMetrics.net or call us at 215-836-5640 Ext 2.