ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet

One Button Scan
Prepared by: Approved Date: Gary J. Gustafson Functional Specification

Version 1.00

Revision History
Revision 1.00 Date 03/01/2013 Description of Change First Production Version Author Gary J. Gustafson

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

Table of Contents
Revision History ................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents................................................................................................................. 2 1.0 Overview ................................................................................................................... 3 2.0 Important System Requirements ................................................................................. 4 3.0 General Work Flow ..................................................................................................... 5 4.0 Student Attendance Sheet Overprinting ........................................................................ 7 5.0 Program Configuration ................................................................................................ 9 5.1 Export Folder .......................................................................................................... 9 5.2 Merge Client Version ............................................................................................... 9 6.0 Scanned Data Integrity Rules .................................................................................... 10 7.0 Overprint File Structure ............................................................................................. 11 7.1 Logos on the Attendance Form............................................................................... 13 8.0 Scanned Data Output Files ........................................................................................ 14 8.1 Output File Naming Convention .............................................................................. 14 8.2 Output File Location and Check .............................................................................. 14 8.3 Scanned Attendance Records ................................................................................. 14 9.0 Design Export Merge Client Installation ...................................................................... 15 10.0 Installation of ScanTools Plus Link Runtime ............................................................. 16 11.0 Installation of the One Button Scan ........................................................................ 17 11.1 Preconditions..................................................................................................... 17 11.2 Installation of the Software................................................................................. 17

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

1.0 Overview
The purpose of this document is to describe the function, operation and features of the One Button Scan (OBS) and Overprint solution developed for Literary Assistance Centers. The application provides the means by which Student Attendance sheets can be overprinted with student roster information and the resulting sheets scanned to a result text file. The Software presents as a Windows dialog box containing the controls required to invoke and manage these functions.

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

2.0 Important System Requirements

This Software is designed to run on personal computers under Microsoft Windows XP Pro or Windows 7 (32/64 bit). It creates, destroys, reads and writes temporary and permanent files in its installation directory (C:\Scantron\LAC_OBS) on the C: drive. It assumes that the current operator has sufficient system permissions to perform these tasks. It requires the installation of the 2.0 .NET framework (included with the distribution media), Windows Installer 3.1 (included) and the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) V2.8 (included). One or more of these components may already be present on more recent computers running Windows XP / Windows 7. The Software uses Microsoft Access database files for its scanner configuration and temporary data store. It does not require Microsoft Access to be installed. The Software will not be designed for a multiple instance, networked database environment. Although the system will be designed to for use with the scan ahead features of the iNSIGHT 20 and iNSIGHT 30 image scanners, the OBS will work with any of Scantrons image enabled scanners. The Software requires the use and external installation of Scantrons Design Expert Merge Client. The Software will support the use of either Merge Client V5.3 or V6.0, which will be selectable by editing the programs configuration file. By default, it will assume Merge Client V6.0 has been installed on the target computer. The Software will use and install ScanTools Plus application Z600.SDS. The Software does not require ScanTools Plus to be present nor will it interfere with regular ScanTools Plus if it is present. This Software will be tested under Windows 7-64 bit.

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

3.0 General Work Flow

When the software starts, either from a desktop icon or menu item, the operator will be presented with the main form:

1) The operator uses the Overprint feature to produce one or more student attendance forms (See Student Attendance Sheet Overprinting below) which are completed by staff in the field. The completed sheets are gathered and stacked for scanning. 2) If necessary, the operator uses the features on the Configuration dialog (See Program Configuration below) to set the desired output scanned data path. 3) Completed stacks of attendance sheets are placed in the scanners input hopper and the operator clicks the Start Scanning button. 4) As sheets are scanned, they will be checked to ensure certain marking requirements are met (See Scanned Data Integrity Rules below). For example, if there is a problem resolving the Group ID Number, a Key from Image (KFI) dialog box will be displayed:

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

The operator will have the option of correcting the value or rejecting the form. If a form is rejected, none of its data will be saved to the scanned data file. 5) When all data elements pass all integrity tests, the data from the sheet will written to the output data file as described in the Output File Structure section below. 6) The scanning cycle will continue until the operator requests a stop in response to either an empty input hopper, an uncorrectable form based error or unexpected hardware of software error.

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

4.0 Student Attendance Sheet Overprinting

The following discussion assumes that one or more source overprint data files have been prepared and written to an accessible file system location. The overprint data files must follow a specific and rigorous format as described in the section Overprint File Structure below. An example overprint file named ExampleOverPrint.txt will be installed with the application and will be available in the C:\Scantron\LAC_OBS\Overprint folder. 1) The operator clicks the Overprint button. In response, a standard Windows file browser dialog will open, allowing the operator to navigate the file system and select an overprint text file:

Note that the folder chosen is sticky across program runs so the next time the file selection dialog opens it will start in the most recently used folder provided it still exists. The operator selects an overprint data file and clicks Open. 2) The first Merge Print dialog will open:

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

This will allow the operator to print all or a subset of the records in the overprint source data file by setting the controls in the Select Records group. The operator clicks Print. 3) The Print control dialog will open.

Generally, the operator will need to choose the desired post script printer and to set the Printflex flag. If the operator desires to print both the background image and the overprint data (i.e. printing is being done on blank sheets of paper), then the Printflex flag should be checked. Otherwise, if printing onto pre-printed background sheets, the Printflex flag should be left clear. 4) When printing only the overprint text onto pre-printed forms, it may be necessary to adjust the location of the print output through the dialog made available by clicking the Printer Alignment button. The printer alignment process is described in the Design Expert documentation and will not be repeated here.

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

5.0 Program Configuration

In response to the operator clicking the Configuration button on the main dialog, the programs Configuration dialog will open:

5.1

Export Folder

The Export Folder specifies the location to which scanned data files will be written. It can be changed to any location accessible by the current computer operator. To change the location, the operator may key a location directly. Or a folder location may be chosen by double clicking the white text box. In response, a standard Windows folder browser dialog will open, allowing the operator to choose a location.

5.2

Merge Client Version

The application will work with either Design Expert Merge Client Version 5.3 or 6.0. The version used by the OBS is controlled by the <MergeClient> XML tag in the LAC_OBS_Settings.xml file. By default, the XML tag will contain a value appropriate for Merge Client V6.0 as it is not anticipated that the OBS will be used by older clients running earlier versions of Design Expert. If necessary, the tag value can be checked with text editor such as NotePad. The default installation folder for Merge Client V5.3 is: C:\Program Files\Pearson NCS\NCS DesignExpert MC\MergeClient.exe

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6.0 Scanned Data Integrity Rules

The OBS will enforce the following data element integrity rules: Group ID Number Must be complete (all digits, no omits, no multiple marks) Correctable via heads up Key from Image (KFI) Week of Year (WOY) Must be complete Value in {01, 02, 53} Correctable via heads up Key from Image (KFI) Sheet Number (SH) Must be complete Value in {01, 02, 99} Correctable via heads up Key from Image (KFI) Attendance Element Reported in the form W.DD where W is in {0, 1, 8} and DD is in {00, 25, 50, 75} Omits in the fractional component reported as 00 Omits in the whole number component are reported as 0. Multiple marks in either the whole number or fractional component result in the value 9.99 being reported. There is no KFI correction for these data elements Miscellany There will be no sheet sequence integrity checks

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7.0 Overprint File Structure

The attendance sheet overprint text files requirements are determined by the Design Expert Merge Client software used to perform the sheet printing. The file will be a tab delimited text file. The first record in the file will be header record listing the names of the fields the file contains. See the example file (ExampleOverPrint.txt) included with the applications documentation. The following fields are required: GID Group ID seven digits, OMR pre-slug and header overprint WOY Week of year two digits, OMR pre-slug and header overprint SH Sheet Number two digits, OMR pre-slug and header overprint ClassID Class Identifier text block without newlines extends from the Class ID: label the Wed attendance column. WeekID Week Identifier text block without newlines extends from the Week ID: label the Wed attendance column. Schedule Schedule text block w/o newlines extends from the Schedule: label the Wed attendance column. S01P1 S01P2 etc, to S13P1 S13P2 Student Information Text Blocks Following the Schedule field are thirteen pairs of student information text blocks. The names of the fields are in the form SddP1 and SddP2 where dd is a two digit value from the set {01, 02 13}. The pairs are printed in order from top to bottom on the sheet and the P1 text is printed above the P2 text. These text blocks run the approximate width the Student Information column. Un-used values should be indicated by a single space (blank) character.

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Overprint Fields Design Expert View

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

Overprinted Attendance Sheet

7.1

Logos on the Attendance Form

By default, the Design Expert definition file (LAC_BASE.DEW) that controls form printing contains a graphic element in the upper right hand corner (over the Thurs, Fri, Sat columns) which is used for customized logos. The graphic printed in that location is drawn from the Logo.tif file. If a customized logo is desired, the Logo.tif file can be replaced with one different from the pure white version installed with the OBS. IMPORTANT! The color choices are limited to the color palette on the form itself (black, white and rose). If a logo file with a different color palette is used, the Merge Client module will most likely throw an unhandled runtime error and refuse to run. In addition, the LAC_BASE.DEW file may be permanently damaged so it is recommended that a backup copy be made prior to experimentation with customized logos. Note that the OBS will install three logo files. The first, Logo.tif, is the default, and Scantron Logo.tif and White Logo.tif are include for experimentation and development purposes.

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8.0 Scanned Data Output Files

8.1 Output File Naming Convention

Output files will be named in the form ASISTSdddddd.TXT where dddddd is a six digit batch sequence number automatically created and maintained by the OBS. The next batch sequence number will be retained by use of a XML tag <nextbatchid> in the OBS configuration settings file (LAC_OBS_Settings.xml). The value may be manually reset by using a text editor such as Notepad to edit the XML tag value. For OBS purposes, a batch number will identify a scanning session the time between the start of scanning and end due to operator choice or internal fatal error.

8.2

Output File Location and Check

The scanned data files will be written to the currently selected output data folder (See Configuration above). Prior to the physical start of scanning, the OBS will construct a new output file name and check to ensure that a file by that name does not already exist. If so, the request to start scanning will be ignored with an appropriate message displayed to the operator.

8.3

Scanned Attendance Records

Student Attendance records will be written to the scanned data file immediately upon the sheets data passing all internal integrity checks. Each scanned sheet will give rise to thirteen comma delimited scanned data records with the following fields: Group ID Week Of Year Sheet Number Student Sequence Number value 1 to 13 indicating the form row from which the data was extracted, row 1 being the top of the form Sunday Attendance Value Monday Attendance Value Tuesday Attendance Value Wednesday Attendance Value Thursday Attendance Value Friday Attendance Value Saturday Attendance Value

There will be no field headers

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9.0 Design Export Merge Client Installation

This OBS assumes the existence of the Design Expert Merge Client on the PC. This program is not installed with the OBS and must be installed separately using an appropriate license key. The required installation files will be located in the \DEW 6.0 folder on the distribution CDROM. A license key is required for installation. Please contact Scantron sales or Professional Services for more information.

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ASISTS Student Attendance Sheet OBS Functional Specification

10.0 Installation of ScanTools Plus Link Runtime

This OBS assumes the existence of ScanTools Plus Link Runtime on the target computer. This OBS will run using either STX Link V7.2.4 or V8.x.x. Since the Version 7.2.4 is not compatible with more recent versions and a copy may already exist on the target computer, there is no automatic installation of STX Link provided. However, one or both versions will be present on the distribution media and can be installed by running the desired executable. STX Link Version 8.0.4 Runtime will be included on the distribution CDROM in the \STX Link 8.0.4 Runtime folder. Run the program by double clicking the ScanToolsPlusLinkRuntime.exe. There are no installation options. The progress dialog will be displayed and will automatically close when installation is complete.

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11.0 Installation of the One Button Scan

11.1 Preconditions
The Software requires the installation of three Microsoft components which may or may not already be present on the target machine. These three components are not built into the set up files but are expected to be included on the distribution media in certain required subdirectory locations. If your installation is from CDROM, the required files will be included in the required locations. Windows Installer 3.1 if this component is not present on the target computer, it is expected to be located in a \WindowsInstaller3_1 subdirectory under the location of the set up files. If this component is not already installed, the installation process will automatically search for it and install it. Installation of this component is usually completed quickly. MDAC 2.8 (Microsoft Data Access Component) if this component is not present on the target computer it is expected to be located in a \MDAC28 subdirectory under the location of the set up files. If this component is not already installed, the installation process will automatically search for it and install it. Installation of this component is usually completed in three or four minutes. .NET 2.0 Framework if this component is not present on the target computer it is expected to be located in a \dotnetfx subdirectory under the location of the set up files. If this component is not already installed, the installation process will automatically search for it and install it. This is a very large component and will take considerable time (20-30 minutes) to install on older computers.

11.2 Installation of the Software

For the purposes of this guide, it will assume that installation is being performed from a CDROM. In practice, this may be any media that contains the required set up files and subdirectory structure. Insert the CDROM. Navigate to the CDROM drive using Windows Explorer. Double click the setup.exe file. The installation process will start. If needed, the Installation process will first install the Windows Installer V3.1, MDAC 2.8 and .NET 2.0 Framework. If any of these installation processes start, accept the default configuration for all dialog boxes. For example:

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This is the first dialog presented during the installation of the .NET 2.0 Framework. You would accept the terms of the license agreement. After all the required components have been installed (or verified to already exist) the installation Welcome dialog box will appear:

Click the Next > button. The Confirmation dialog box will be displayed:

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Click the Next > button. The Progress dialog box will be displayed:

The installation will take a very short time. The final Installation Complete dialog will appear.

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When complete, the Software is ready for use. A program icon labeled LAC OBS will have been placed on the Windows Desktop and an item added to the Program Menu. Either can be used to start the application. The default installation (runtime) location will be C:\Scantron\LAC_OBS.

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