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Using Valpac.Net

 

 

Edition: 20 January 2009

 

(L)   INSTALLING AND USING THE DEPARTMENTAL SOFTWARE PACKAGE "VALPAC.NET"

 

INTRODUCTION

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

WHAT'S NEW IN THESE INSTRUCTIONS

INSTALLING COLLECTION DATA FILES

GETTING STARTED

FLAT ASCII FILES AND VALPAC.NET's ACCESS DATABASE

GENERAL POINTS ABOUT USING VALPAC.NET

              [OK], [proceed] and [Exit] buttons

              Selecting Items

              Printing and saving reports

FILE MENU ITEMS

              File../..Import flat ASCII file to database table (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              File../..Export tables as flat ASCII files (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              File../..Compact and repair database (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              File../..Zip/encrypt database (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              File../..Exit (Student, Staff and Space collections)

VIEW/EDIT TABLES MENU ITEMS

              View/edit tables../..Database tables (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              View/edit tables../..System lookup tables (Student, Staff and Space collections)

REPORTS MENU ITEMS

              Create reports../..Validation reports (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              Create reports../..Distribution report (Student and Staff collections)

              Create reports../..STUD summary report (Student collection)

              Create reports../..CREG summary report (Student collection)

              Create reports../..PROF summary report (Student collection)

              Create reports../..SFTE summary report (Student collection)

              Create reports../..Credit report (Student collection)

              Create reports../..Other reports  /  SAPSE 2.7 (Student collection)

                                                                 SAPSE 2.12/2.13 (Student collection)

                                                                 SAPSE 2.18 (Student collection)

VIEW/PRINT REPORT MENU ITEMS

USER ACCESS MENU ITEMS (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              User access../..Login

              User access../..Change password

              User access../..Add/edit/delete users

DEFAULTS MENU ITEMS

HELP MENU ITEMS (Student, Staff and Space collections)

              Help../..Collection documentation

              Help../..Contacts for assistance

              Help../..Program authors

 


1.            INTRODUCTION

 

1.1          This document provides information that will enable higher education institutions to run "VALPAC.Net".  This is a software product maintained by the Department of Education.  It replaces the previous software product “VALPAC2”.  VALPAC.Net is a stand-alone PC program which will operate under 32-bit Windows operating systems (e.g. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000).  It is provided to higher education institutions as a tool which they can use in preparing, validating and checking the accuracy of data in files required by the Department for its unit record Student, Staff and Space data collections.  The data for those collections are to be sent to the Department as Access databases which are generated using VALPAC.Net functionality.  VALPAC.Net includes functionality for validating the data, producing reports from the data and for encrypting and compressing the databases.

 

1.2          VALPAC.Net has functionality that enables it to be used for either or all of the Student, Staff and Space collections.   When VALPAC.Net is first installed, the Student collection functionality for Submission 1, 2000 for Institution 199 (“Dummy institution 2”) is visible to the user.  If you wish to use the Staff or Space collection functionality, this can be done easily though the Defaults menu option.  Switching between the Student, Staff and Space functionality is done through the Defaults menu option, as is switching between submissions, years and institutions. 

 

1.3          VALPAC.Net is useable for all submissions for all years, commencing with Submission 1, 1999 for the Student collection, the 2000 submission for the Staff collection and the 2007 submission for the Space collection.

 

1.4          These instructions explaining how to use VALPAC.Net encompass the Student, Staff and Space collections.

 

 

2.            INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

 

2.1          The initial version of the VALPAC.Net software is provided to each higher education institution on an installation CD.  The CD is accompanied by brief installation instructions. 

 

2.2          The installation program will install all the software that is required for all VALPAC.Net functionality.  VALPAC.Net does not require the user to have Microsoft Office installed on their PC.  Viewing and printing of VALPAC.Net reports is undertaken though in-built VALPAC.Net functionality, and requires the freely available Office Web Components (Installed automatically by the installation application). 

 

2.3          Users who wish to use VALPAC.Net functionality for data already submitted to the Department or which have been prepared for submission, must do this:

 

(a)      If flat ASCII files have been imported into the previously used software product “VALPAC2” and then modified within VALPAC2, then they must be exported using VALPAC2's File  / Export data to flat ASCII file function. 

 

(b)      Then copy the flat ASCII files applicable to the particular year/collection/submission into the appropriate folder which will have been created by the VALPAC.Net installation application.  The folder structure is explained below in Section 6 - Installing Data Files.  These files may be the ones that were exported in step (a).

 

(c)      Through the VALPAC.Net Defaults function, set the appropriate Collection, Institution code, Year, and Submission. 

 

(d)      Use the VALPAC.Net File  /  Import flat ASCII file to database table function to import the flat ASCII files.  The imported data will be placed into a database that will be created automatically by VALPAC.Net for the collection/institution/year/submission. 

 

2.4          VALPAC.Net’s summary reports and distribution reports can generate statistics for the prior year as well as for the current year.  In order for that functionality to operate, the user will need to do this:

 

(a)      Ensure that the flat ASCII files for the prior year are copied to the appropriate folder for the prior year/collection/submission. 

 

(b)      Through the VALPAC.Net Defaults function, set the appropriate Collection, Institution code, Year (the prior year), and Submission. 

 

(c)      Through the VALPAC.Net Files../..Import flat ASCII files into the database function, import the data.  VALPAC.Net will automatically create the database for the prior year’s data.

 

(d)      If you want the Summary reports to show data for the prior year, generate the summary reports for STUD and CREG (if you are processing the Student data), or PROF and SFTE (if you are processing the Staff data).  These reports will generate the derived data tables STUDFINAL and CREGFINAL or PROFFINAL and SFTEFINAL, for the prior year.  This step is not required if you only want to generate a Distribution report.

 

(e)      Through the VALPAC.Net Defaults function, set the appropriate Collection, Institution code, Year (the current year), and Submission. 

 

(f)      If you are generating a Summary report, click the "[  ] Include prior year comparison?" checkbox.  This step is not required if you only want to generate a Distribution report.  Then generate the report.  The report will automatically include data for the current year and the prior year, together with the percentage differences from year to year. 

 

2.5          IMPORTANT NOTE:  When VALPAC.Net uses data from a prior year's database it uses the "most recent" database in that prior year: If there is a Sub3 database it uses that;  If there is no Sub 3 database but there is a Sub2 database, it uses that;  If there is no Sub 3 or Sub 2 database but there is a Sub1 database, it uses that.

 

2.6          VALPAC.Net does NOT link into VALPAC2's databases or require that VALPAC2 and its databases be present on the user's PC.  VALPAC.Net creates its own new databases and they have names and structures that are entirely different to those of VALPAC2.  The earlier created VALPAC2 databases are not compatible with those of VALPAC.Net.

 

 

3.            SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

 

3.1          The following hardware and software is required to run VALPAC.Net:

 

ITEM

MINIMUM REQUIRED

RECOMMENDED FOR MOST EFFICIENT OPERATION AND FOR LARGE INSTITUTIONS

Processor

Pentium 2, 133 Mz

Pentium 3, 600 Mz

RAM

64 Mb

128 Mb

Hard disk space available for VALPAC.Net, its files and reports

For the processing of one submission for one year, 5 to 7 Mb of hard disk space per 1,000 students, plus 1 Gb of disk space for virtual memory operation.

For the processing of one submission for one year, 5 to 7 Mb of hard disk space per 1,000 students, plus 1 Gb of disk space for virtual memory operation.

Monitor

Video resolution of at least 800 x 600

Video resolution of at least 800 x 600

CD ROM

Any speed

Any speed

Operating system

Windows 95, 98, 98SE, Me, 2000, 2000NTFS, NT

Windows 98, 98SE, 2000, 2000NTFS, NT, XP

Microsoft applications such as Office

None required.  Any version installed will be ignored.

None required.  Any version installed will be ignored.

Printer

6 ppm Laser printer which is able to print 8-point Arial font.

12 ppm laser printer which is able to print 8-point Arial font.

 

3.2          Because of problems associated with Windows ME, it may be difficult to install VALPAC.Net on some PCs with that operating system  Therefore, successful installation on Windows ME systems cannot be guaranteed.  If VALPAC.Net’s installation program is unable to install VALPAC, users are advised to change their operating systems.

 

4.            WHAT'S NEW IN THESE INSTRUCTIONS

 

4.1          This is the first version of these instructions.

 

 

5.            INSTALLING COLLECTION DATA FILES

 

5.1          Before using VALPAC.Net to process data for the Student, Staff or Space collection the user must place a number of flat ASCII data files in specific folders which are created by VALPAC.Net during its installation. 

 

5.2          The installation of VALPAC.Net will create all the necessary folders on your PC.  The installation program will place the folders in the Program Files directory of the root folder of the drive selected by the user during installation (e.g. Drive “C” or Drive “D”).  The top level folder is \VALPAC\.  In that folder is located the VALPAC.Net executable program in the file VALPAC.EXE

 

              Assuming that the drive that you nominated during installation was the C:\ drive, the installation would have created these folders and copied the files referred to into the correct folders:

 

FOLDER

FUNCTION OF THE FOLDER

C:\Program Files\Valpac\ASCII Export\

This folder will contain any exported ASCII files which the user can create from the collection database using the valpac.Net Export function.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\ASCII Source\

The user places ASCII files in this folder prior to importing them into the VALPAC.Net database.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\Database

This folder will contain the collection databases that VALPAC.Net will create for each Institution for each collection and submission.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\Help\

This folder contains all the HTM files that comprise the VALPAC.Net on-line collection documentation.  The files are placed there by the installation program.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\Log

This folder contains error logs created by VALPAC.Net to be used for troubleshooting.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\Reports

This folder contains all the Excel reports created by the user in VALPAC.Net.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\System\

This folder contains the system database which contains lookup tables that are used by VALPAC.Net. The database is name SystemDatabase.accdb. The database is placed there by the installation program.

 

The database is password protected.

 

VALPAC.Net will not function without this database.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\System\Updates

This folder is used for updates issued by the Department of Education.

C:\Program Files\Valpac\Zipped

This folder will contain the zipped encrypted file that VALPAC.Net can produce from the collection database, as the file to be sent to the Department as the institution’s return.

 

5.3          You must place the flat ASCII files which are described in subsection 1.2 of Section D - Processes involved in preparing returns, in the appropriate folder named \ASCII SOURCE\.  All source files are placed in the same folder irrespective of the year or collection. For instance, if you installed VALPAC.Net on your C drive, the six ASCII files for any submission of the Student collection for 2000 would be placed in this folder:

             

                        C:\Program Files\Valpac\ASCII Source\

 

5.4          If you were preparing the first (and only) submission of the Staff return for 2000, the two ASCII files required would also be placed in this folder: 

 

                        C:\Program Files\Valpac\ASCII Source\

 

 

6.            GETTING STARTED

 

6.1          Start the VALPAC.Net application by double-clicking on the VALPAC.Net icon  which was created by the installation application and placed by it on your desktop.  The icon is a red academic trencher cap.

 

6.2          When the Login user form appears after the application has initialised itself, select "ADMIN" as the User, and enter "1234" (without quotes) as the Password.  Then click on the [Login this user] button.  This means that your selected user name is ADMIN.

 

6.3          The main menu form will appear.

 

6.4          If you wish to do so, through the User access  /  Add/edit/delete users function change the password for the ADMIN user (you) to one that you prefer to use.  If you have other staff who will use VALPAC.Net, then create User IDs, Passwords and Permissions for each of them. Then exit that form.

 

6.5          Through the Defaults function select the Collection (Student, Staff or Space), Year, Submission number and Institution.  Save those details then exit that form.

 

6.6          You will then be able to exercise all the VALPAC.Net menu options.  Much of the functionality of VALPAC.Net is self-evident.  The following notes explain aspects that may not be self-evident.

 

 

7.            FLAT ASCII FILES AND VALPAC.NET's ACCESS DATABASE

 

7.1          The data which institutions need to prepare outside VALPAC.Net are in the form of flat ASCII files in fixed-length ASCII format.  These flat ASCII files are placed by you in the appropriate \ASCII Source\ folder specified above in Section 6.  However, VALPAC.Net performs all its operations (e.g. report generation, editing) on an Access 2007-compatible database which is created automatically by the Visual Basic Microsoft Ace engine when the File../..Import flat ASCII file to database table function is used.  The flat ASCII files are converted by VALPAC.Net to tables in its Access database for the Institution/Collection/Year/Submission.  Until that function is run, no VALPAC.Net operation can be undertaken.  Therefore, after placing the flat ASCII files in the appropriate ASCII source folder, the first thing you must do is to use the File../..Import flat ASCII file to database table function to import the data..

 

7.2          Because all VALPAC.Net functions are performed on the tables in the Access database, if you were to place a new flat ASCII file in the appropriate \ASCII Source\ folder, it will be totally ignored by VALPAC.Net.  Before VALPAC.Net will use the data in such a new flat ASCII file you have to import it into the Access database by performing the File../..Import flat ASCII file to database table function on it.  If you use the "Replace" option during that operation, any editing which may have been made by you on the existing database tables through the VALPAC.Net  View/edit tables../..Database table function will be lost.

 

7.3          Another consequence of the arrangements is that any editing of a database table which is undertaken using the VALPAC.Net  View/edit tables../..Database table function will NOT be implemented in the flat ASCII file from which the original data were imported.  However, if you exercise the  File../..Export table as flat ASCII file function, VALPAC.Net will create flat ASCII files from the tables in the Access database.  These files will include any edits that have been made through the VALPAC.Net View/edit tables../..Database table function.  However, the export process will overwrite any flat ASCII files that were exported previously and you will NOT be warned about that or asked if you wish to proceed or not.  Any changes made to a table using the VALPAC.Net editor will be incorporated in the newly created flat ASCII file which will overwrite any previously exported flat ASCII file. 

 

7.4          The flat ASCII files that were originally imported into VALPAC2 will be left untouched, because they would have been placed in the \ASCII Source\ folder, while the exported files are sent by VALPAC.Net to the folder \ASCII Export\.

 

 

8.            GENERAL POINTS ABOUT USING VALPAC.NET

 

8.1          [OK], [Proceed], [Make report], and [Exit] buttons (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              The [OK] button, [Proceed] button, [Make report] button, and other buttons with a similar type of action caption will commence an appropriate operation after you have made a selection of the item or items to work on. 

 

              To stop an operation that is in progress (e.g. the generation of a report), click on the [Stop] button if it appears on the form.  A [Stop] button may not take immediate effect during some operations (e.g. Compacting a database, creation of some temporary tables), so be patient.  Additional hitting [Stop] will not hasten the stopping.

 

              To quit VALPAC.Net after all operations are completed, use the File../..Exit function.  This is preferable to clicking the box [X] at the top right-hand corner of the screen, because the Exit function cleans out unwanted tables.

 

8.2          Selecting Items (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              In many circumstances you will need to select an item or items before VALPAC.Net will perform an operation on the item/s.

 

              Selection of items such as files, tables, elements and validation rules is made by clicking on the item.  Selection is achieved by left-clicking the item.

 

8.3          Printing and saving reports (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              When a report is generated it will be shown on the screen and you will be able to scroll forwards and backwards through the report.  At that time you will be able to print the report through the [Print] button.

 

              You can cancel the sending of a report to the Windows print manager through hitting the [Cancel] button on the VALPAC.Net dialog box after it pops up.  However, once all the report has been sent to the Windows print manager, the only way to cancel its printing is through the Windows print manager.  VALPAC.Net has no control over the printing of a report after it has been sent to the Windows print manager.

 

              VALPAC.Net saves all reports automatically.  Summary reports, Distribution reports and Validation reports are saved as tables in the database for the institution/collection/year/submission.  Then later you can view any saved report through the VALPAC.Net function View/print reports and then print it, if required.   Credit reports are saved as Excel-compatible worksheets, which are not part of the VALPAC.Net database.  These worksheets can also be viewed or printed through the View/print reports function.  They can also be loaded into Excel outside the VALPAC.Net application.

 

 

9.            FILE MENU ITEMS

 

File../..Import flat ASCII file to database table (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              This function is only accessible if the user has “IMPORT” Permissions.

 

              The initial data prepared by the institution is in the form of flat ASCII files in fixed length format.  However, VALPAC.Net performs all its operations (e.g. editing, report generation) on an Access2007 - compatible database which is created from these flat ASCII files by using this VALPAC.Net function. 

 

              The flat ASCII files to be imported must be placed in the folder specified in Section 6.2.  The flat ASCII files are then converted to tables in the Access database by initiating this function.

 

              The Student collection database tables that can be created in this way are:

 

·                     CESM  (Qualification CESM).

·                     CRED (Credit value)

·                     CREG (Course registration)

·                     CRSE (Course)

·                     QUAL (Qualification)

·                     STUD (Student)

 

The Staff collection database tables that can be created this way are:

 

·                     PROF (Staff profile)

·                     SFTE (Staff FTE)

 

The Space collection database tables that can be created this way are:

 

·                     BLDG (Building)

·                     CAMP (Campus)

·                     ROOM ( Room)

 

              VALPAC.Net will indicate in check boxes on the screen which of the ASCII files could be found in the relevant folder.  To create a table in the VALPAC.Net database from a flat ASCII file, check the appropriate box above the name of the flat ASCII file. If you want to create a number of tables, check more than one check box. 

 

              Then set check marks to indicate whether the data is to be appended to data which were imported in a previous operation or to replace any existing data:

 

Replace:   ALL the existing data in the table will be erased and replaced with the data you are importing.  This means that any changes you made to the existing table will be lost.  If you want to keep an amended table, export it first using the Files../..Export data to flat ASCII file function.

 

Keep and Append:  the existing data in the table will be retained and the imported data will be added to the table.  This is only useful if you are importing data from different campuses, or want to add some records which were not available at the time of an earlier import operation.

 

              VALPAC.Net can convert relevant text data to uppercase as the data are imported.  The “Standard” conversion option is set to a checked state (i.e. “on”) as the default state, and users are advised to leave the setting in that on state.  If this option is checked, text data for elements for which codes are case sensitive will be converted to upper case.  For example for the element 012 (Gender), "m"s and "f"s would be converted to "M"s and "F"s.  The elements for which this option will operate are those coded “Y” in the field “Capitalise” in the Elements lookup table.  This table can be view through VALPAC.Net’s View/edit tables../..System lookup tables function. 

 

              There are also conversion checkboxes which allow the capitalisation if desired of imported data for these elements:  001 (Qualification code), 007 (Student number), 030 (Course code) and 037 (Staff number).  The default setting for these checkboxes is "unchecked" so that the capitalisation process is NOT implemented as a rule;  change this setting if it is necessary for your data.

 

              It should be noted that VALPAC.Net’s validation processes does not distinguish between upper and lower case (e.g. a lower case “m” will be detected as being valid for Element 012 (Gender), as will the upper case “M”.)  Upper and lower case letters are treated in summary reports and distribution reports as being equivalent.  For that reason, those reports will group data for upper and lower case versions of the same string, with the item first found being shown in the reports.

 

              During import, VALPAC.Net prevents the import of non-numeric data or space-only values into fields that should contain dates or only numbers.  Where the imported data contains such invalid data, VALPAC.Net changes the data to the defaults for the field/s involved.  The defaults that will be used by VALPAC.Net can be seen in the system lookup table named “Elements”.  The contents of that table can be viewed through the  View/edit tables../..System lookup tables function.  The values of the defaults have been set so that they will be clearly inappropriate and will stand out like a beacon when any distribution report or summary report is generated.

 

              After the appropriate boxes are checked, the import operation can be commenced by hitting [Import ASCII file/s].

 

              The import operation can be stopped at any time by hitting [Stop import].

 

              The import function converts the institution’s flat ASCII files to tables in VALPAC.Net’s Access database.  Before the data extracted from ASCII records are added to the Access database as a table, VALPAC.Net automatically makes the following changes to any images of records that have an incorrect structure:

 

·                     It truncates long record images to the correct length

·                     It pads short record images with spaces to the correct length

·                     It replaces non-printing characters with spaces.

 

              The modifications are made to images of the ASCII records, NOT to the ASCII records themselves, so the original ASCII files are NOT modified at all. 

 

              On completion of the import operation, details about how many records were imported, structure errors detected, date and time of import and the person who imported the records will be shown in the grid. 

 

              If there were any records which had structure errors you can see which records they are by going to the View/edit tables../..Database tables function and inspecting the information in the "InitialError” field, which is the extreme right column of the data grid.  The table should be sorted by the InitialError field so that records with structure errors are all adjacent to each other.

 

              When [Exit] is hit, VALPAC.Net will automatically compact the database to make sure that any slack space in the database is purged.

 

File../..Export tables as flat ASCII files (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              This function is only accessible if the user has “EXPORT” rights.

 

              This function allows you to export VALPAC.Net tables as flat ASCII files.  This is useful if you have modified any of the originally imported data using the VALPAC.Net editor, and want to keep a copy as a flat ASCII file.

 

              To create a flat ASCII file from a table, check the check boxes above the tables to be exported. 

 

              You may also wish to output the tables in sorted order.  If so check the appropriate box. 

 

              It is also possible to include in the output ASCII files the text from the "InitialError" field.  This will mean that the output records will be 30 characters longer than normal.

 

              After the option boxes have been set as checked or unchecked, then hit [Export ASCII file/s].  The ASCII files created will be placed in the ASCII EXPORT folder.  You will NOT be warned if there is already an ASCII file in the folder.  If you want to keep the ASCII file which was last imported, shift it to some other folder before you run the VALPAC.Net export function.  Because the files are output to this folder, the original ASCII files from which the database tables were created will not be overwritten because they were placed in the ASCII SOURCE folder.

 

              Hitting [Stop export] will stop the export operation.

 

File../..Compact and repair database (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              If you use the VALPAC.Net editor to delete a record, the particular record is flagged by the Microsoft Ace engine (which creates Access 2007 compatible databases) as being deleted, but is not physically removed from the file.  In order to purge "deleted" records (thereby freeing slack space), you need to run this function from time to time.  This will physically remove the "deleted" records from the file and reduce the size of the Access database.  It will also purge the VALPAC.Net application of any non-essential temporary database tables.

             

              VALPAC.Net automatically compacts the database after completion of any import operation or regeneration of the derived data tables CREGFINAL or STUDFINAL.  However, you should run this function after any significant number of record deletions have been made through the VALPAC.Net editor.

 

              This function also attempts to repair faults that may have been created in the database from problems such as power outages.  If the database is behaving unpredictably, run this function to see if it has any beneficial effect.  After running this function you should then compact the database.

 

File../..Zip/encrypt database (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              This function prepares a zipped and encrypted file comprising the database and all the validation report files.  The file is then to be posted to the Department's ftp server using ftp and Internet.

 

              The function undertakes these processes:

 

·                     Requests a 12-character password to be used in the encryption process.  The user will need to remember this password because he/she will need to inform the Departmental contact officer of it so that the officer can decrypt the file when it is received.  There is no way that decryption can be undertaken by the Departmental officer if he/she does not have the password.

 

·                     Generates and saves the Detail validation report and Summary validation report for each table, including validations for all elements.

 

·                     Compacts the database.

 

·                     Generates the zipped and encrypted file.

 

              The user will be informed if any fatal errors were encountered in the validation process.  However, this will not stop the process.

 

              The file generated will be located in the ZIPPED folder.  The name of the file created will have this format:

 

          YYYYCCCCNNNSn.ZIP

 

Where:

          YYYY is the year (e.g. 2000)

          CCCC indicates the Collection and is either STUD, STAF or SPCE

          NNN is the institution's code

          Sn indicates the submission, and is either S1, S2 or S3

 

 

File../..Exit (Student and Staff collections)

 

              Exits VALPAC.Net and purges any non-essential temporary database tables.

 

 

10.          VIEW/EDIT TABLES MENU ITEMS

 

View/edit tables../..Database tables (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              If the user has appropriate "permissions" or "rights", this function allows viewing, editing, sorting, finding records, deleting records or adding new records to any table in the database, using a full-screen, Access type editor.  

 

              Viewing of any database table is only possible if the user has “VIEWDATA” rights.

 

              Editing of the records in any database table is only possible if the user has “EDITDATA” rights.

 

              Where large tables are displayed the table is split into pages and the following buttons are available:

·                     Move to first page

·                     Move to previous page

·                     Move to next page

·                     Move to last page

 

              A search facility is available at the top right corner of the screen to enable searching in a particular column or the entire table.

 

              This function is particularly useful if you want to look at records that have generated error messages (e.g. during the import function) and to change the values in any record.  VALPAC.Net prevents the import of non-numeric data or space-only values into fields that should contain dates or only numbers.  Where the user-entered data contains such invalid characters, VALPAC.Net will automatically change the value of the data to the default for the field/s involved.  The defaults that will be used by VALPAC.Net can be seen in the system lookup table named “Elements”.  The contents of that table can be viewed through the Edit../..View/input/edit lookup tables menu.  The values of the defaults have been chosen so that they will be clearly inappropriate when any distribution report or summary report is generated.

 

              In the extreme right hand side of the grid which shows records for a particular table, there is a field labelled "InitialError".  Where records that were imported were too short or too long or contained non-printing characters or text characters in numeric or date fields, there will be an indication to that effect in this field.  To group the records with errors, sort the database using the field “InitialError”.

 

              Records in a table may be sorted on any field by double clicking field name (column heading). Sorting may take a considerable time for a large table.

 

              You can correct records, add or delete records in VALPAC.Net.  However if changes are made to records in any table, the original data (that is the data in the flat ASCII file from which data were originally imported) will not be corrected.  If an import of data from a flat ASCII file is made at a later stage, all the changes that have been made to the current Access table will be lost. Therefore a safer procedure is to correct the file in the production system, and then to import it into VALPAC.Net again.

 

              If you wish to save the changes made to a table through the VALPAC.Net editor as a flat ASCII file, do that using the File../..Export data to flat ASCII file function.

 

View/edit tables../..System lookup tables (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              VALPAC.Net uses a number of "lookup tables" in some of its functions.  Some of these lookup tables may be viewed by institutions as a matter of interest.  Their content cannot be modified by institutions.

 

              The lookup tables that can be viewed are:

 

·                     Elements:  this contains details for all the elements that are applicable to each of the tables in the Student, Staff and Space collections.

·                     ValidationRules:  this lists the validation rules and shows their applicability by type of institution and submission.

·                     LookupcodesMAIN:  this lists valid codes for all elements other than the postcode, CESM and space elements.

·                     LookupcodesPOST:  this lists valid postcodes

·                     LookupcodesCESM:  this lists valid CESM codes

·                     LookupcodesCESMAll:  this lists valid CESM codes including 2 digit categories

·                     LookupCodesEXAM: this lists valid exam centre numbers and names

·                     LookupcodesSPACE: this lists valid codes for all elements of the space collection.

·                     UGPG:  this lists qualification type codes and a Undergraduate/Postgraduate indicator.

·                     CRSELEVEL:  this lists course level codes, a Research indicator, and the weights used in calculating weighted credit

·                     Institutions:  this lists institution names and codes and a University/Technikon indicator

·                     Updates: this list shows all updates that have been performed on the system

·                     Version:  this shows the date of the SystemDatabase.  The value of Version corresponds with a variable in the VALPAC.EXE application file.

 

              The version information is important because it can be used to check that the system database is one that matches the executable file VALPAC.EXE.

 

11.          REPORTS MENU ITEMS

 

Important note about case:          

 

              It should be noted that VALPAC.Net’s validation processes does not distinguish between upper and lower case (e.g. a lower case “m” will be detected as being valid for Element 012 (Gender), because it is equivalent to the upper case “M”.)  Upper and lower case letters are treated in summary reports and distribution reports as being identical.  For that reason, those reports will group data for upper and lower case versions of the same string, with the version of the string first found being shown in the reports. 

 

Create reports../..Validation reports (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

              This function applies the validation rules for each element to the data in a single table selected for validation.  It can be used to produce either or both of these reports:

 

·                     A one or two-page "Summary report" which reports the number of rule violations for each of the rules which are applicable to data elements in the table selected.  This report is the one which should be generated initially so that the user can get an overall view of the extent to which the data in a table are consistent with the validation rules.

 

·                     A "Detail report" which reports details about the rule violations.  This is usually a multi-page report from which the user can see exactly which records are in error and the nature of the errors.  Errors can be listed by record number or by error number.  Depending on how many errors there are in the data, this report can be of few pages to many pages in size.

             

              To run a validation report for a table:

 

·                     Select the name of the table to be validated.

 

·                     If you want to generate a Detail validation report in addition to the Summary report, check the “Generate Detail report” checkbox. 

 

·                     Check the validation rules for which you wish details to be printed in the Detail report.  Some rules may not be visible - scroll down to see all the rules.

 

·                     Click [Start validation].

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop validation].

 

              After the report is generated the user can switch between the Summary and Detail report through hitting appropriate buttons.  Any of those reports may be printed.

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

              Users should note that if there are a large number of errors in the data, some detail reports for the Student collection can be very large and occupy a lot of hard disk space.  Therefore the user should run the Summary reports first to get a feeling for the size of the Detail report.  To conserve disk space, detail reports for the Student collection can be deleted through the File../..Compact database function.

 

              The validation rules for all elements in all of the data tables in a collection can be applied as a batch run.  All validation rules are checked, for all tables and all elements.  To run this select the option “All” in the list of tables, the data grid will be disabled as validation rules cannot be selected/deselected.

 

              The function will only work if all tables for the collection are in the database (i.e. six tables if the collection is the Student collection, two tables if the collection is the Staff collection and three tables if the collection is the Space collection).   

 

              If the Detail reports are to be generated in addition to the Summary reports then check the “Generate detail reports” checkbox. 

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

Create reports../..Distribution report (Student and Staff collections)

 

              This function generates a report giving counts of values (a "frequency distribution") which appear in elements in a data table in the database.  The counts are also expressed as percentages of the total. 

 

              The function has an option for also including counts and percentages generated from the prior year's table, and percentage changes between the counts for the prior year and the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student data for 1999 and the staff data for 2000, because there will be no database for students in 1998 and for staff in 1999.

             

              To run a distribution report:

 

·                     Select a table.

 

·                     Select any or all of the elements for which data are to be generated.  Make sure to select at least one element.

 

·                     If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998.  Nor is it relevant to the Staff collection for 2000, because there will be no database for staff in 1999.

 

·                     Hit [Make report].

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When the report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

              It should be noted that some base elements cannot be included in the Distribution report and are not listed as ones available for inclusion.  Such excluded elements are those that would produce a meaningless multitude of rows in the report (e.g. date of birth, student and staff numbers, South African identity numbers.)  However, for some such elements, data can be generated through the Summary report – for example, in the Student summary report, date of birth data have been converted to age in years, and a distribution of ages in years can be generated.

 

 

Create reports../..STUD summary report (Student collection)

 

              This function generates a report giving counts of values which appear in the data for a limited range of "base elements" relating to student/qualifications which are reported in the records in the STUD table. The counts are also expressed as percentages of the total. 

 

              The report also gives counts and percentages for a number of "derived elements" (e.g. age in years, which is derived from date of birth).  The generation of the derived elements will be undertaken automatically by VALPAC.Net.  The data for the derived elements are saved in a table named STUDFINAL which is created by VALPAC.Net and never deleted.  If the derived data table is up to date VALPAC.Net will use it.  However, if the derived data table was created, then subsequently any of the database tables were edited or a table was imported, VALPAC.Net will detect this and will recreate the derived data table.  There is a checkbox which can be used to force the regeneration of the derived data table for the current year.  However, normally, the user can leave this unchecked and rely on VALPAC.Net regenerating the derived data table IF that is required. 

 

              If the "[  ] Include prior year comparison?" checkbox is checked, the application will attempt to find a STUDFINAL table in the latest collection database for the prior year.  ("Latest" meaning the Sub 3 database if it is there; if not, then the Sub 2 database; if not then the Sub 1 database.)  If there is such a database and it contains a STUDFINAL table, that table will be used in the comparison.  However, you should note that that table for the prior year may be out of date, so you may need to regenerate it by loading the database for the prior year then regenerating the STUDFINAL table.

 

              The data tabulated can be a count of all student/qualification records or a “headcount” comprising an unduplicated count of students rather than student/qualifications.

 

              The function can be used to generate the report for a filtered subset of records in the STUD table.  Examples of subsets include:  only undergraduate qualification types;  only first-time entering students;  only South African citizens.  The subset can be defined in terms of one of these dimensions, singly or in combination:

 

·                     Qualification level

·                     Qualification fulfilled status

·                     Qualification approval status

·                     Entrance category

·                     Citizen-resident status

·                     Race

·                     Gender

 

To select a filtered subset of data, click on the drop-down black triangles, then select a subset option from those that are listed.  It is possible for you to select a subset that is the product of a combination of more than one dimension.  For example you could include in the summary report headcount data for just undergraduate qualifications, undertaken by first-time entering students who are South African Citizens.  In other words, the subset specifications operate as AND conditions.

 

              If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998.

 

              To generate the summary report:

 

·                     Select any or all of the elements for which data are to be generated.  Make sure to select at least one element.

 

·                     If you wish to have the STUDFINAL derived data table for the current year to be regenerated as the first step, check the box “Regenerate derived STUDFINAL…”.  However, as a general rule these boxes can be left unchecked, because VALPAC.Net will normally be able to determine whether or not there is a need to regenerate the derived table/s.

 

·                     Select the basis for counting:  “All” student/qualifications or a “headcount”.

 

·                     If required, set one or more of the subset options.

 

·                     If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998.  Nor is it relevant to the Staff collection for 2000, because there will be no database for staff in 1999.

 

·                     Hit [Make report].  If the derived STUDFINAL data table/s need to be updated, VALPAC.Net will do that as the first step.  If the derived data table/s are up to date, VALPAC.Net will not regenerate them.

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When the report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

Create reports../..CREG summary report (Student collection)

 

              This function generates a report giving sums of values which appear in the data for a limited range of "base elements" relating to course registrations which are in the CREG table.  The sums are also expressed as percentages of the total. 

 

              While the Student summary report generates counts of student/qualifications or student headcounts, and the course registrations distribution report generates counts of course registrations, the CREG summary reports does things differently.  It reports sums of credit values which relate to the course registration records in the CREG table.  For each CREG record for which data are included in the report, the function accumulates one of these three values in the sum reported in the appropriate cell of the report:

 

·                     if the "All credit (E036)" option is selected, the value of Element 036 (Course credit value) is the value included in the summing

 

·                     if the "Funded credit (E512)" option is selected the value of Element 512 (Aggregated credit value all funded courses) is the value included in the summing

 

·                     if the "Compl. funded credit (E513)" option is selected the value of Element 513 (Aggregated credit value for completed funded courses) is the value included in the summing

 

              The report gives sums and percentages for “base elements” and for a number of "derived elements" (e.g. qualification level groups).  The generation of the derived elements will be undertaken automatically by VALPAC.Net.  The data for the derived elements are saved in a table named CREGFINAL which is created by VALPAC.Net.  That table would have been created if any CREG summary report or any Credit report has been generated already.  If the derived data table is up to date VALPAC.Net will use it.  However, if the derived data table was created, then subsequently any of the database tables were edited or a table was imported, VALPAC.Net will detect this and will recreate the derived data table.  There is a checkbox which can be used to force the regeneration of the derived data table for the current year.  However, normally, the user can leave this unchecked and rely on VALPAC.Net regenerating the derived data table IF that is required.  The regenerate checkbox on the Credit reports form has exactly the same effect in respect of regenerating the CREGFINAL derived table for the current year.  The CREG summary report and the Credit reports use the same derived table CREGFINAL when they generate tables.

 

              If the "[  ] Include prior year comparison?" checkbox is checked, the application will attempt to find a CREGFINAL table in the latest collection database for the prior year.  ("Latest" meaning the Sub 3 database if it is there; if not, then the Sub 2 database; if not then the Sub 1 database.)  If there is such a database and it contains a CREGFINAL table, that table will be used in the comparison.  However, you should note that that table for the prior year may be out of date, so you may need to regenerate it by loading the database for the prior year then regenerating the CREGFINAL table.

 

              The function has an option for generating the report for a filtered subset of records in the CREG table.  Examples of subsets include:  Only undergraduate qualification types;  Only first-time entering students;  only South African citizens.  The subset can be defined in terms of one or more of these dimensions:

 

·                     Qualification level group

·                     Qualification fulfilled status

·                     Qualification approval status

·                     Course approval status

·                     Course completion status

·                     Funding status

·                     Entrance category

·                     Citizen-resident status

·                     Race

·                     Gender

 

To select a subset of data, click on the drop-down black triangles, then select a subset option from those that are listed.  It is possible for you to select a subset that is the product of a combination of more than one dimension.  For example you could include in the report data for just undergraduate qualifications, undertaken by first-time entering students who are South African Citizens.  In other words, the subset specifications operate as AND conditions.

 

              If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998. 

 

              To generate the summary report:

 

·                     Select any or all of the elements for which data are to be generated.  Make sure to select at least one element.

 

·                     If you wish to have the CREGFINAL derived data table for the current year to be regenerated as the first step, check the box “Regenerate derived CREGFINAL…”.  However, as a general rule these boxes can be left unchecked, because VALPAC.Net will normally be able to determine whether or not there is a need to regenerate the derived table/s.

 

·                     Select the basis for summing:  “All credit (E036)” or “Funded credit (E512) or “Compl. funded credit (E513)”.

 

·                     If required, set one or more of the subset options.

 

·                     If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998.

 

·                     Hit [Make report].  If the derived CREGFINAL data table needs to be updated, VALPAC.Net will do that as the first step.  If the derived data table is up to date, VALPAC.Net will not regenerate it.

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When the report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

Create reports../..PROF summary report (Staff collection)

 

              This function generates a report giving counts of values which appear in the data for a limited range of "base elements" relating to staff member/personnel category records in the PROF table. The counts are also expressed as percentages of the total. 

 

              The report also gives counts and percentages for a number of "derived elements" (e.g. age in years, which is derived from date of birth).  The generation of the derived elements will be undertaken automatically by VALPAC.Net.  The derived data elements are saved by VALPAC.Net in a table named PROFFINAL.  This table is regenerated automatically every time the PROF summary report is generated.

 

              If the "[  ] Include prior year comparison?" checkbox is checked, the application will attempt to find a PROFFINAL table in the database for the prior year.  If there is such a database and it contains a PROFFINAL table, that table will be used in the comparison.  However, you should note that that table for the prior year may be out of date, so you may need to regenerate it by loading the database for the prior year then regenerating the PROFFINAL table.

 

              The data tabulated can be a count of all staff member / personnel category records, or a “headcount” comprising an unduplicated count of staff members.

 

              The function can be used to generate the report for a filtered subset of records in the PROF table.  Examples of subsets include:  only permanent staff;  only full-time staff;  only South African citizens.  The subset can be defined in terms of one of these dimensions, singly or in combination:

 

·                     Personnel category

·                     Permanent/temporary status

·                     Full-time/part-time status

·                     Appointment status

·                     Citizen-resident status

·                     Race

·                     Gender

 

To select a filtered subset of data, click on the drop-down black triangles, then select a subset option from those that are listed.  It is possible for you to select a subset that is the product of a combination of more than one dimension.  For example you could include in the summary report headcount data for just permanent staff working full-time, who are South African Citizens.  In other words, the subset specifications operate as AND conditions.

 

              If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the staff collection for 2000 because there will be no database for staff in 1999.

 

              To generate the summary report:

 

·                     Select any or all of the elements for which data are to be generated.  Make sure to select at least one element.

 

·                     Select the basis for counting:  “All” staff member/personnel category records or a “headcount” of staff members.

 

·                     If required, set one or more of the subset options.

 

·                     If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998.  Nor is it relevant to the Staff collection for 2000, because there will be no database for staff in 1999.

 

·                     Hit [Make report].  VALPAC.Net regenerates the derived table PROFFINAL automatically as the first step during the generation process.

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When the report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

Create reports../..SFTE summary report (Staff collection)

 

              While the PROF summary report generates counts of staff member/personnel category records, the SFTE summary report does thing differently.  It reports sums of FTE values which relate to records in the databases’ SFTE table.  For each SFTE record for which data are included in the report, the function accumulates sums of values reported for Element 043 (Staff FTE value).

 

              This function generates a report giving sums of values which appear in the data for a limited range of "base elements" relating to records which are in the DSFTE table.

 

              The report also gives sums and percentages for a number of " elements" (e.g. age in years, which is derived from date of birth).  The generation of the derived elements will be undertaken automatically by VALPAC.Net.  The derived elements are saved in a table named SFTEFINAL.  This table is regenerated automatically every time the SFTE summary report is generated.

 

              If the "[  ] Include prior year comparison?" checkbox is checked, the application will attempt to find a SFTEFINAL table in the database for the prior year.  If there is such a database and it contains a SFTEFINAL table, that table will be used in the comparison.  However, you should note that that table for the prior year may be out of date, so you may need to regenerate it by loading the database for the prior year then regenerating the SFTEFINAL table.

 

              The function can be used to generate the report for a filtered subset of records in the SFTE table.  Examples of subsets include:  only permanent staff;  only full-time staff;  only South African citizens.  The subset can be defined in terms of one of these dimensions, singly or in combination:

 

·                     Personnel category

·                     Staff programme

·                     Permanent/temporary status

·                     Full-time/part-time status

·                     Appointment status

·                     Citizen-resident status

·                     Race

·                     Gender

 

To select a filtered subset of data, click on the drop-down black triangles, then select a subset option from those that are listed.  It is possible for you to select a subset that is the product of a combination of more than one dimension.  For example you could include in the summary report headcount data for just permanent staff working full-time, who are South African Citizens.  In other words, the subset specifications operate as AND conditions.

 

              If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the staff collection for 2000 because there will be no database for staff in 1999.

 

              To generate the summary report:

 

·                     Select any or all of the elements for which data are to be generated.  Make sure to select at least one element.

 

·                     If required, set one or more of the subset options.

 

·                     If you want to include a tabulation and analysis of data for the prior year as well as for the current year, check the “[  ] Include prior year comparison?” checkbox.  For this to have any effect, there needs to be a VALPAC.Net database for the prior year for the institution and submission number being processed.  This means that users would need to have already imported data into a VALPAC.Net database for the institution/submission/prior year.  If VALPAC.Net cannot find such a database, it will proceed and only tabulate data for the current year.  This comparison with data for the prior year is not relevant to the student collection for 1999 because there will be no database for students in 1998.  Nor is it relevant to the Staff collection for 2000, because there will be no database for staff in 1999.

 

·                     Hit [Make report].  VALPAC.Net regenerates the derived table SFTEFINAL automatically as the first step during the generation process.

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When the report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              The reports are saved automatically as tables in the database.  The saved reports can be viewed and printed later using the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

Create reports../..Credit report (Student collection)

 

              This function enables the user to generate reports that contain data which are equivalent to the data which was provided in the old SAPSE tables 2.9, 2.10, 2.11, 2.19, 2.20 and 2.21.  The function generates a report giving sums of credit values relating to course registrations which data are reported in the CREG table.  The report also applies weights to the sums.

 

              There are three sets of options which can be set to determine the content of the report which will be generated:

 

·                     Type of credit:  the user can select Funded credit, Completed funded credit or Subsidy credit.

 

·                     Mode:  the user can select Contact mode, or Other-than-contact mode (distance or mixed mode).  For submissions prior to Submission 2 for the Collection Year 2000, mode is determined through Element 024 (Attendance mode).  This applies the student’s attendance mode to all course registrations for the student.  For later submissions, mode is determined through Element 064 (Attendance mode for course).  This takes into account the mode for each of the separate courses undertaken by the student.

 

·                     Experiential learning:  the user can select to include both experiential and non-experiential learning, to exclude experiential learning, or to include only experiential learning.

 

              In generating the credit reports VALPAC.Net needs to use derived elements that are in the derived data table named CREGFINAL.  This table will be present for the current year’s data if the user has already created any CREG summary report or any Credit report.  However if the CREGFINAL table does not exist or is not up to date, then the user will be informed of this;  in this event, the user will need to exit from this form and then generate the CREGFINAL table through the CREG summary report, then return to this form.

 

              The generation of the report may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When the report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              Credit reports are saved automatically as Excel-compatible worksheets which are not part of the VALPAC.Net database.

 

Only the last version of any report is saved, overwriting the previous version.  The names assigned to reports by VALPAC.Net give an obvious indication of the contents.  The last generated version of the report can be viewed and/or printed later through the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

              The Excel-compatible reports may be viewed outside VALPAC.Net using Excel.  If you do that MAKE SURE TO EXIT FROM VAPAC.Net FIRST.

 

(a) If the Funded credit option is selected:

 

              If the Funded credit option is selected the report can generate data equivalent to that in the old SAPSE tables, as follows:

 

Mode option selected for the report

SAPSE table equivalent

Contact mode

SAPSE table 2.9 minus 2.19

Distance mode and mixed mode

SAPSE table 2.19

 

              The values reported are summed values for Element 036 (Course credit value), but limited to cases in the CREG table that meet a number of criteria.  The way in which the values reported are derived can be seen in the definition for derived Element 512 (Aggregated credit value all funded courses).  The derivation of this element involves the application of a complex set of rules for inclusion and exclusion of credit.   It should be noted that for 1999 data, VALPAC.Net does not exclude any courses on the basis of the value reported for E018 (Funding status).  The values for Element 036 (Course credit value) are looked up in the CRED table using the values for Element 001 (Qualification code) concatenated with Element 030 (Course code) as the link.

 

              In addition to the summed value, the report automatically produces a weighted version of the report.  The weights applied are determined by the course level as indicated by Element 034 (Course level code).  The weights applicable to each course level can be seen in the CrseLevel lookup table which can be accessed through View/edit tables../..System lookup tables menu.

 

              The function has an option for generating the report where experiential training is either included or excluded and also for generating this report with data to the 2nd order cesm.

 

(b) If the Completed funded credit option is selected:

 

              If the Completed funded credit option is selected the report can generate data equivalent to that in the old SAPSE tables, as follows:

 

Mode option selected for the report

SAPSE table equivalent

Contact mode

SAPSE table 2.11 minus 2.21

Distance mode and mixed mode

SAPSE table 2.21

 

              The values reported are summed values for either Element 036 (Course credit value) or Element 050 (Completed research course credit value), but limited to cases in the CREG table that meet a number of criteria.  The way in which the values reported are derived can be seen in the definition for derived Element 513 (Aggregated credit value for completed funded courses).  The derivation of this element involves the application of a complex set of rules for inclusion and exclusion of credit.   It should be noted that for 1999 data, VALPAC.Net does not exclude any courses on the basis of the value reported for E018 (Funding status).  The values for Element 036 (Course credit value) or Element 050 (Completed research course credit value) are looked up in the CRED table using the values for Element 001 (Qualification code) concatenated with Element 030 (Course code) as the link.

 

              In addition to the summed value, the report automatically produces a weighted version of the report.  The weights applied are determined by the course level as indicated by Element 034 (Course level code).  The weights applicable to each course level can be seen in the CrseLevel lookup table which can be accessed through View/edit tables../..System lookup tables menu.

 

              The function has an option for generating the report where experiential training is either included or excluded and also for generating this report with data to the 2nd order CESM.

 

(c) If the Subsidy credit option is selected:

 

              If the Subsidy credit option is selected the report can generate data equivalent to that in the old SAPSE tables, as follows:

 

Mode option selected for the report

SAPSE table equivalent

Calculation method

Contact mode

SAPSE table 2.10 minus 2.20

1/2 of the weighted values in the Funded credit report for Contact mode, plus

 

1/2 of weighted values the Completed funded credit report for Contact mode

Distance mode and mixed mode

SAPSE table 2.20

1/3 of the weighted values in the Funded credit report for Distance or mixed mode, plus

 

1/3 of the weighted values in the Completed funded credit report for Distance or mixed mode

 

              The function has an option for generating the report where experiential training is either included or excluded. 

 

·                     Gender, Race, Entrance category and Nationality options:   These options can be used to specify sub-sets of students for whom the report will be generated.

 

Create reports  /  Other reports  /  SAPSE report 2.7 (Student collection)

 

              This function enables the user to generate a report that contain data which are similar to the data which was provided in the old SAPSE table 2.7.

             

Create reports../..Other reports  /  SAPSE report 2.12/2.13 (Student collection)

 

              This function enables the user to generate reports that contain data which are similar to the data which was provided in the old SAPSE tables 2.12 and 2.13.  This  generates a report giving sums of headcount values relating to major areas of study which data are reported in the STUD table.

 

              There are options which can be set to determine the content of the report which will be generated:

 

·                     Type of report required:  If the "All students" option is selected, a report similar to 2.12 is generated.  If the "Students fulfilling requirements" option is selected, a report similar to 2.13 is generated.

 

·                     Method of counting students – Fractional CESMs:   If the Table 2.12/2.13 1st order option is selected then the report generates a table with only data to the 1st order CESM.  If the Table 2.12/2.13 2nd order option is selected then the report generates a table with the data to the 2nd order CESM.  If the "Fractional CESMs" option is selected as the method of counting students, the approach used in generating the SAPSE tables will be used.  In that approach, the grand total equals the unduplicated number of all students (if the All students option is set), or all of the students who have fulfilled the requirements of a qualification (if the Students fulfilling requirements is set).  If a student is undertaking a qualification for which more than one 2nd order CESM code is reported through elements 026, 027, 028 or 029, a fraction of the student is tabulated for each of the 2nd order CESM codes. 

 

            For example, if the student is undertaking a qualification for which the values reported for elements 026 and 027 are 0401 and 0701, then the value of 0.5 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 04, and the value of 0.5 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 07.  If the student is undertaking a qualification for which the values reported for elements 026, 027 and 028 are 0401, 0402 and 0701, then the value of 0.333 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 0401, and the value of 0.333 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM of 0402 and the value of 0.333 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 07.

 

            If the Table 2.12 is selected and there is more than one qualification for a student, the fractions accumulated will be for the qualification where Element 589 (Headcount Indicator) in STUDFINAL is marked “Head”.  If the Table 2.13 is selected and there is more than one qualification marked “F” for Element 025 (Qualification Requirement Status) for a student, the fractional CESMs for both qualifications will be counted in this table.

 

·                     Method of counting students – Total CESMs:   This option is no longer available.  If the "Total CESMs" option is selected as the method of counting students, the approach used in generating the SAPSE tables is quite different.  In this approach, the values reported represent the unduplicated number of students within each 2nd-order CESM category.  The grand total will in most cases add to more than the total number of unduplicated students because many students are coded as undertaking qualifications for which more than one 2nd-order CESM category is reported via elements 026, 027, 028 and 029.

 

            For example, if the student is undertaking a qualification for which the values reported for elements 026 and 027 are 0401 and 0701, then the value of 1.0 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 04, and the value of 1.0 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 07 (thus contributing 2.0 to the grand total).

 

            If a particular 2nd-order CESM code is reported for more than one of the elements 026, 027, 028 or 029, it is only accounted for once.  For example, if the student is undertaking a qualification for which the values reported for elements 026, 027 and 028 are 0401, 0402 and 0701, then the value of 1.0 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 04, and the value of 1.0 would be attributed to the 2nd order CESM code of 07 (thus contributing 2.0 to the grand total).

 

            If there is more than one qualification for a student and a particular 2nd-order CESM code is reported more than once in the student's qualifications, the value of 1.0 is only accounted for once for that code.  For example, if the student is undertaking one qualification for which the values reported for elements 026, 027 and 028 are 0401, 0402 and 0701, and the values reported for elements 026 and 027 for another qualification are 0403 and 0801, then the value of 1.0 would be counted for each of the 2nd order CESM codes of 04, 07 and 08 (thus contributing 3.0 to the grand total).

 

            Because of the way of counting, the grand total has little meaning.  However totals for each row are meaningful as they indicate the number of unduplicated students who are undertaking one or more qualifications that have the 2nd-order CESM code indicated by the row's label.

 

·                     Gender, Race, Entrance category and Contact/Distance options:   These options can be used to specify sub-sets of students for whom the report will be generated.

 

Create reports  /  Other reports  /  SAPSE report 2.18 (Student collection)

 

              This function enables the user to generate a report that contain data which are similar to the data which was provided in the old SAPSE table 2.18.

 

 

 

              In generating the reports VALPAC.Net needs to use derived elements that are in the derived data table named STUDFINAL.  This table will be present for the current year’s data if the user has already created any STUD summary report.  However if the STUDFINAL table does not exist or is not up to date, that is data has been re-imported or a change has been made in the view/edit database option, or outside the application, then the user will need to exit from the form and then generate the STUDFINAL table through the STUD summary report, then return to the form.

 

              The generation of the reports may be stopped by hitting [Stop making report].

 

              When a report has been generated it will be shown on the screen. 

 

              SAPSE reports are automatically saved as Excel-compatible worksheets which are not part of the VALPAC.Net database.  Only the last version of any report is saved automatically, overwriting the previous version.  The names automatically assigned to reports by VALPAC.Net give an obvious indication of the contents.  The last generated version of the report which was saved automatically can be viewed and/or printed later through the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

              Additionally, any report may also be saved using a name specified by the user after he/she hits the [Save as …. sheet] button.  Such sheets cannot be viewed through the Reports../..view or print a report function.

 

              Excel-compatible reports may be viewed outside VALPAC.Net using Excel.  If you do that MAKE SURE TO EXIT FROM VAPAC.NET FIRST.

 

 

12.          VIEW/PRINT REPORT MENU ITEMS

 

              The options available though this menu enables the user to select any of the reports which have already been generated and to be viewed and if required, printed.  Immediately after a validation report, distribution report or summary report was generated, it is saved automatically as a table in the database.  Credit reports are saved as Excel-compatible worksheets which are not part of the VALPAC.Net database.

 

              Only the last version of any report is saved, overwriting the previous version.  The names assigned to reports by VALPAC.Net give an obvious indication of the contents. 

 

              The functions available under this menu tree are:

 

View/print report../..Validation report

 

View/print report../..Distribution report

 

View/print report../..Summary report

 

View/print report../..Credit report

 

View/print report../..SAPSE report

 

View/print report../..Staff report

 

View/print report../..Space report

 

 

13.          USER ACCESS MENU ITEMS (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

User access../..Login

 

              This enables users to login as any of the users that the institution administrator has established in VALPAC.Net, providing that they know the user's password. 

 

User access../..Change password

 

              This enables the user who is logged in to change his/her password, providing that he/she knows the old password.

 

User access../..Add/edit/delete users

 

              This function enables a person who has the User ID of “ADMIN” to perform the following functions:

 

·                     Add new users

·                     Delete users

·                     Change passwords

·                     Change Permissions

             

              When VALPAC.Net is distributed to institutions, there is already one ADMIN user ID.  The password for that user is “1234” (without quotes). After installation of VALPAC.Net has been completed the Administrator must:

 

(a)      Login using the User ID of ADMIN and a password of 1234.

 

(b)      Through the User access../..Add/edit/delete users function, change the password for the ADMIN user to suit him/herself.

 

(c)      Add any new users who are to use the VALPAC.Net application.  In adding users, permission rights need to be specified by checking the relevant checkboxes. 

 

              The Permissions (i.e. rights) assigned to a user determine which of VALPAC.Net’s menu options can be accessed by the user.  The permissions and the options they enable are as follows:

 

PERMISSION LABEL

FUNCTIONALITY ENABLED

EDITUSERS

User access../..Add/edit/delete users

IMPORT

File../..Import flat ASCII data

EXPORT

File../.. Export table as flat ASCII file

VIEWDATA

View/edit tables../..Database tables – user is allowed to view data but not to add, delete or edit the data

EDITDATA

View/edit tables../..Database tables – user is allowed to view data and to add, delete or edit the data

 

              Users may be assigned any combination of the permissions (e.g. IMPORT, VIEWDATA).

 

              If required, a newly-created user may be assigned the same Permissions as the ADMIN user;  in effect, this would mean that the ADMIN user or the newly created user would have identical Permissions.  This may be unsafe, and it is suggested that only one user (ADMIN) be allowed to have the “Edit users” Permission.

 

             

14.          DEFAULTS MENU

 

              This function enables users to select the Collection (Student, Staff or Space), Submission number, Year, and Institution code.

 

              Changing any of the Defaults settings means that VALPAC.Net will be configured to handle data for a different database.  For instance, if the institution code is 333 and the year is 2000 and the collection is Students and the submission is 1, then changing the submission number from 1 to 2 switches VALPAC.Net settings so that the application changes its active database from a  database with this name:

 

                            2000STUD333S1.ACCDB

 

              to a database with this name:

 

                            2000STUD333S2.ACCDB

 

              If VALPAC.Net does not find a database with the relevant name, when the user attempts to import data into it or to edit data in it VALPAC.Net will inform the user, and will give the user the opportunity for the new database to be created.

 

              Databases for more than one institution can coexist within the VALPAC.Net application, and users can switch between these institutions without having to exit VALPAC.Net or to rename databases.

 

 

15.          HELP MENU ITEMS (Student, Staff and Space collections)

 

Help../..Collection documentation

 

              This enables users to access the complete specifications for the collection.

 

Help../..Contacts for assistance

 

              This provides details about contact persons.

 

Help../..Program authors

 

              This provides details about the developers of the VALPAC.Net application.