SIMS Attendance Errors

This article will teach you...

How to correct errors shown in the SIMS Attendance feature

Please review the below errors and action the steps accordingly. Processing the steps for the incorrect error could lead to further issues. If you are unsure of the error please contact the support team via school-support@parentpay.com

Error - "The connection to SIMS has failed"

This error means that the authentication settings in ParentPay are incorrect.

This could apply to any of the following -

SIMS Username

SIMS Password

Server name

Database name

 

In order to correct the error the school need to go to Attendance, Meals & Events [1] > Import [2] > Authentication settings [3] and enter the SIMS authentication details [4] correctly. 

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Error - "Could not find a connection to the school" or "The SIMS client is no longer connected"

This error indicates the ParentPay SIMS Upload Client may have lost connection.

To check the connection please follow the steps below -

1. Log on to your SIMS server
2. Confirm that the SIMS application loads normally
· If successful, move to step 3
· If unsuccessful, please escalate this issue with Capita support as this is something they will need to investigate. ParentPay use the same connectivity provided by Capita to allow the SIMS Attendance Service to function.
3. Locate and run the 'ParentPay SIMS Upload Client'
· This can normally be found as a desktop icon RIGHT CLICK AND RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR (this needs to ran as administrator so the credentials can be written to the registry)
· It must be run using an account that has internet access. Without this, the service will fail as it needs to connect to ParentPay.

4. There is a default configuration available. Select it and click delete
5. Enter the following details
· School identifier field - this should be your Organisation details in the format school-X-[your DfE or SEED number]  

X = 1 for England; 2 for N Ireland; 3 for Scotland; 4 for Wales

DfE/SEED number is normally composed of a local authority number and an establishment number (e.g. 3241234)

· Your ParentPay Username - This is normally the same as your ParentPay manager login username though you may have set up a manager account specifically for this task

· Your ParentPay Password

· This is normally the same as your ParentPay manager login password though you may have set up a manager account specifically for this task

6. Select **_Add**

7. Select Save

8. Locate the servers 'Services' panel and find the 'ParentPay SIMS Upload Service'
9. Stop and then re-start the service
10. Test the import again

 

If the import still fails please log onto the SIMS server and open the Event Viewer
Go to Application and Services
Select PPSIMSCLIENT right click SAVE AS (save to desktop)
Please reply to your ticket to send to ParentPay support for further investigation.

Error - Report 'ParentPayUploadAttendance' not found.

This error indicates that the attendance report has not been imported into SIMS. This can be done manually as below.
1. Open SIMS and log in
2. Navigate to Reports
3. Select Run Report
4. Select Focus > Student and check to see if the ParentPayAttendanceUpload report is listed.
If it is, try running it and confirm that it produces the appropriate records If the report fails to run successfully or is missing, please install the latest report definition 

To do this:
Locate the ParentPayAttendanceUpload report at the bottom of this page. Save the file to a location that you can access from your SIMS application Open SIMS and log in using your administrative account Navigate to Reports > Select Import Report choosing the ParentPay2020.repdef file from the saved location

This should resolve your issue however, if there are still problems please contact the support team.

Error - School have to restart the service often - create a task.
  1. Open Task scheduler and click create task

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2. Name the task, description and select security options.

  • Run whether user is logged on or not
  • Run with the highest privileges
  • Configure for: select your operating system

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3. Select the Triggers tab and Click New.. 

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4. Configure the trigger to the following specifications. (These can be amended to fit the schools needs)

  • Begin task on Schedule
  • Select daily radial button and give the trigger a start date and time
  • Under advanced settings, select Repeat task every hour – For duration indefinitely
  • Tick stop task if it runs longer than 30 minutes
  • Press ok

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5. Now we need to create a batch file to stop and start the service.

  • Locate the SIMS Attendance service and right click on it.
  • Select properties and open the general tab.
  • Copy the service name

6. Open notepad and place the commands to stop and start the service, then save this as a .bat file

To see the service name go to Services > locate the ParentPayAttendanceUpload client and right click > select Properties. 

net stop "simsattendanceuploadclient"

net start "simsattendanceuploadclient" 

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7.  Select the Actions tab

Select New.. 

Action = Start Program

Program/Script = the batch file

Select Ok 

8. You can now run the task

Error - No specific Error - Green Arrow - Attendance stuck.

1. Log in to the SIMS SERVER (this must be the school's SIMS SERVER)

2. Log in to SIMS.net

3. Navigate to Reports Run report Focus Student

4. Locate the PARENTPAY ATTENDANCE UPLOAD report.

5. Remove this report and install the report found at the bottom of this guidance. (If there is no report to remove, simply install the attached report) Important: There should only be 1 copy of the report, duplicate reports will cause an error.

6. Attempt to import your attendance registers again via the ParentPay site.

If there is still a problem after completing the above tasks:

1. Please log into the SIMS server

2. Open the Event Viewer

3. Go to Application and Services

4. Select PPSIMSCLIENT and export the report (right click , select SAVE AS and save to desktop)

5. Contact the support team and attach a copy of the log

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