ASCII STUDENT DATA FILE FAQ

What's a Student Data File?
This is a file which is generated by your school administration software, and contains certain student information such as firstname, lastname, grade, division, and student#.

What's an ASCII file?
An ASCII file (for our purposes) is another name for a Student Data File (see above). It's actually a plain-text file, readable by all computer types and operating systems. It does not contain any formatting (ie. boldface, page breaks, etc.) except for carriage returns. "ASCII" (pronounced "ASS-key") stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

Who needs to do this?
If you are requesting anydigital servicessuch as a CD, school directory, or barcoded ID cards, it isimperative that we receive some information about your studentsin order for us to identify them. If we do not receive this information, we will be unable to produce digital services for your school.In addition, each students' camera card is prepared in advance on our laser printers as opposed to being filled out manually at the time of photography; this reduces the amount of time each student is away from class.

When should we do this?
We require your data file at least two weeks prior to your photo day. We appreciate that school administrators are extremely busy, particularly in the first weeks of school, but without this data we will not know the identities of the students and therefore would not be able to produce the services that you have requested.

What if not all of the students have registered yet?
If we receive a file with "most" of the students, we can work around it by manually adding those students on photo day. If we receive "no" information we cannot create any digital services.

What is required?
Most school software programs used throughout Canada will contain a list of student names, with grade, division, student number, etc. This list can usually be exported from any of these programs and is called an "ASCII textfile"; this is the computer lingo for saying "a student list including names, grades, divisions, and student numbers", and will look similar to this:

Aikens,Michael,2,11,99037
Atlas,John,4,7,99375
Baker,Cindy,4,8,99121
Cappicola,Victoria,7,1,99847

All information required for your digital services must be included in the ASCII file. For example, if one of your digital services requires phone numbers and library numbers to be displayed, you must provide that information with your ASCII file.
You will also need to include a header in the ASCII file or in your email body, which lists the data fields in the exact order that they appear. This tells us what each of the data fields are, and is especially important for differentiating between grades and rooms, or home and work phone numbers. Here is an example of a header:

firstname,lastname,grade,room,student#

Some programs, such as Turbo-School, automatically include a header in the ASCII file.
Please send a single file which includes ALL students, and NOT a separate file for each grade or teacher.
Following the instructionsbelowwill allow you to export a file similar to the above example, which is a "comma-delimited" textfile. Textfiles can also be "tab-delimited", which uses tabs rather than commas to separate the data fields. The proper file extensions are.txtor.csv.
We can also accept MS-Excel spreadsheet files, any version, as long as it contains only columnized text (ie. no formatting, borders, etc.). The proper file extension is.xls.
Note:If you are receiving services which require a library number, and your library program requires student numbers to be zero-padded to more digits than your student number, you must provide library numbers in that fashion in your ASCII file, in addition to your student numbers. For example, the student# data field would contain the normal student number for use with your school admin software, and the library# data field would contain the same number but with the required zero-padding. Unless your school admin software is tied to your library software, you will likely have to manually add this field (via MS-Excel or similar). Remember to include a header so that we know what each data field contains. Please contact your IT support person if you require assistance with this step.
In the following example, the student number is 5 digits, and the library number is the same number but zero-padded to 6 digits.

firstname,lastname,grade,room,student#,library#
Smith,John,03,21,12345,012345

Please include staff names in your ASCII file. At your option, you may include the staff names as a separate file in the same email, or in an email that immediately follows your student data. Acceptable file formats are standard ASCII text files and MS-Excel files. Staff names can also be incorporated (typed directly) into the body of the email; please separate first and last names with a comma and do not use a space. Type each staff name on its own line.

Examples:

John,Smith

Mr. John,Smith

J,Smith

Due to the large number of different computer and software formats and the volume of files we receive during the start of the school year, we require that you sendonly standard ASCII textfiles or Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Files.
Wecannot accept files from WordPerfect, ClarisWorks, or files in any other format such as .pdf.

How can I do this?
If this student list can not be generated by your school board, the instructions below will help you through the process.
We suggest that the file be exported to a floppy disk (normally the a: drive) as it will be easy to locate.

How can I email the file?

  • Run your email program (ie. Netscape, MS-Outlook, Eudora).
  • Select "new message".
  • Enterin the "To:" field.
  • Enter yourschool nameandcityin the "Subject:" field (ie. the subject line should like this:Subject: ForestSchool, CalgaryAB)
  • Enter yournameandtelephone number(with area code) in the message body.
  • Attach the ASCII textfile to the message; this is often done by clickingFile,Attach, at which time you will select the file name from wherever you stored it (ie. your floppy drive or desktop).
    TIP:Often the shortcut for this step is a paper-clip icon; this is the same procedure used to send pictures via email.
  • Click onSend.
  • If your system will not allow you to send an attachment, you can copy and paste the contents of the textfile into the message itself.

What if I do not have email or my email does not work?
If you are unable to send email, you may save the file to a PC-formatted floppy disk or to a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, and courier it directly to our Head Office so that we will receive it prior to 2 weeks before your first scheduled photo day.
Our mailing address is:

Mountain West Studios Ltd.
6869 Merritt Avenue
Burnaby, BC V5J4R5
Attention: Digital Department

Please write the following information on the disk/CD/DVD label:

  • FULL school name (not just an abbreviation)
  • City
  • Contact name
  • Phone number, including area code and extension

Can we send you a fax or printout of the students instead?
Sorry, we cannot accept hard-copy (paper) lists. We can only accept computer data files as described above. It is not possible for us to manually enter all the information in time for your photo day

HOW TO CREATE A TEXT FILE TO

SEND TO PHOTOGRAPHER

BY E-MAIL:

1. Go to Student - User Defined Reports.

2. Retrieve file "Photo ASCII File (Student)" from

central repository.

3. Select report "Photo ASCII File (Student)".

4. Save report to Desktop.

5. E-mail text file on desktop to photographer.

This is a text file with student's CBE number, name,

grade and homeroom.