How do I display pupil photographs into SCO?

Summary
I would like to display pupil photographs into SCO.

Solution
References to pupil photographs can be imported into SCO. This will enable the photograph to be displayed when a pupil is selected on the Income screen in SCO and on a till if SCO is being used in a cashless cafeteria. The photos can also be printed onto cards for pupils to use for cashless catering.

To enable pupil photos to be displayed in SCO you will require:

• The image files of the pupil photographs saved as Bitmap or JPEG files.
• A data file containing pupil’s Forename, Surname, UPN (or Pupil ID) and the photograph image filename (see step 1 below).

1. Create a report of pupil data including reference to photograph

Pupil photograph references are imported into SCO in a similar way to other pupil data, as documented in the SCO Installation Guide. One additional field – Photo – is required containing the filename of the corresponding image for the pupil.

If using SIMS.Net, the photograph image filename may be the pupil’s Admission Number in SIMS.Net. You may need to consult your school’s photographer to confirm this. If this is the case, then generate a report in SIMS.Net as detailed below.

If using another pupil database system (e.g. CMIS, Integris) it may be possible to directly generate a report containing a reference to the photograph image file. Alternatively, it may be that the school has another record of pupil photographs which can be used to produce the required import data file.

If using SIMS.Net and image filename matches the pupil Admission Number:

• Create a report as detailed in the SCO Installation Guide – section Import Pupil Data.
• When creating the report, select an additional relevant field required for Admission Number. This will produce a report showing details of each pupil including their Admission Number.
• Change the Admission Number column heading to Photo.
• Save the data as a CSV file.

2. Configure import settings

Using Notepad, open the file scoimport.ini from the SCO folder on your local C: drive (eg c:\sco). Edit the following section at the end of the file:

' Change following to APPENDBMP, APPENDJPG or APPENDNONE to control extension
' added to photo filenames (.BMP, .JPG, or no action):
' APPENDNONE

The parameter in the third line should be changed according to whether your photograph filename references have filename extensions and whether they are jpeg or bitmap files:

• Image references with BMP filename extensions

If your image references are to bitmap files with a .bmp filename extension (e.g. 12345.bmp), amend the parameter in the third line as follows:

' APPENDBMP

• Image references with JPG filename extensions

If your image references are to jpeg files with a .jpg filename extension (e.g. 12345.jpg), amend the parameter in the third line as follows:

' APPENDJPG

• Image references without filename extensions

If your image references are to files without any filename extensions (e.g. 12345), amend the parameter in the third line as follows:

' APPENDNONE

• Save and close the file.

3. Location of photograph image files

The actual photograph image files need to be saved in a folder on your network which is accessible by all SCO client PCs and tills (if applicable).

This could be an existing folder that is accessible to all SCO users or you may need to copy the image files to a new folder. For example you may want to copy the image files to the default SCO photograph location, i.e. the SCO\Photo folder on your server.

You then need to set the path for the photographs on each SCO client PC:

• Click on Start, All Programs, Schools Cash Office, SCO Configuration.
• Click on Show advanced settings.
• Ensure the Photo path is correct.
• Repeat this step on each PC running SCO.

4. Import the pupil data

This only needs to be carried out once and can be done from any client PC.

IMPORTANT: Before importing, carefully review the data to ensure that you have the expected data.

• In SCO, click on the Admin tab and select Import pupils from external system.
• Select the CSV file you saved earlier and click Open.
• Click Yes when prompted.
• Click Close.
• Click on Configuration, Pupils.
• Select a pupil.
• Click on the Photo tab. The pupil’s photo should be displayed. The photo will also be displayed on a till after the pupil is selected.

References

• Refer to the SCO Help Centre for further information
• SCO Installation Guide
• FAQ1034 How do I update pupil data?

ID: FAQ1039
Last Update: 25 August 2009
Module: SCO, SCO Cashless Cafeteria