CMIS Automated Import Overview
New and existing schools that have a CMIS Management Information System are now able to use the automated import facility to upload their pupil and staff data, however there are a number of requirements you need to be aware of prior to proceeding to use the automated import process:
- The import is available to schools using CMIS Facility ePortal Version 13.3 and
onwards. - As part of this import process any leading zeros on the admission numbers are
stripped upon import for both new and existing schools. If existing schools have pupil
Id’s presently uploaded to include leading zeros they will need to contact the ParentPay Support Team for assistance. - The initial upload may fail due to ‘bad data’ within CMIS, such as text in a mobile
number field. The data will need to be amended within CMIS and the ePortal
restarted. A successful import can then be processed the following day. - This import will include pupil MIS email and mobile contacts for use within the
ParentPay Communication area should a school want to use this data. - The import will take the child’s ‘preferred’ forename and surname from CMIS. If
‘Preferred’ is unavailable within CMIS, the ‘Legal’ forename and surname will be used.
If an existing upload has been actioned using ‘Legal’ name details, the import would
display the amended details. - The import will take the Year and Registration group as listed in CMIS. If these details
differ from those added during a manual import, the data would display the amended
details, for example Year One, may be amended to Year 1.
Universal Infant Free School Meal Pupils need to be in year groups R, 1 and 2. If the
year groups are listed differently within CMIS, ParentPay will not class these pupils as
UIFSM. - It is always recommended that pupil data is imported first. If staff data is being
imported, it is important to ensure that the staff Id’s are unique and differ to the pupil
Id’s to avoid any Id clashes on the system. - The staff import will not be suitable for existing schools that have previously imported
staff unless a data matching exercise is performed. - FSM end dates are currently substituted with 01/01/2100. The data will need to be
refreshed regularly in order to avoid balance adjustments. - If any changes are made in ePortal, ePortal will need to be restarted and the import
conducted the following day. - The automated import process does not currently support pre-admissions
- The automated import process does not currently contain dietary information.
School actions that MUST be completed before setup
1) Schools will need to provide ParentPay with the URL for their exposed ePortal web service. This will end in the letters ‘wsdl’ and will look similar to this: https://eportal.schoolname.sch.uk/API/services/WebService?wsdl
2) Schools will need to add the ParentPay IP address details to CMIS API security configuration file. You can locate this file using the following pathway: \Facility\ePortal\conf\Catalina\localhost\
Note: Integration has been developed for versions of Facility 13.3 onwards.
3) Schools will need stop and restart ePortal for any changes to apply ParentPay staff will be able to view that the above actions have been carried out successfully, and ensure that you are ready to proceed with the automated upload process. If you are uncertain of any of the above actions please contact a member of the ParentPay Support Team who will be able to advise you.
How to import your Pupil or Staff data
If you are a new school, using the automated import facility for the first time, you must ensure you import your pupil data first.
Go to ‘People’ and select the ‘Uploads’ tab Choose the ‘pupil’ or ‘staff ‘radial button and press ‘Import’
You will be able to view the import history by clicking the Upload history navigation from the left of the screen.
Please note: For new schools pupil and staff accounts can be uploaded directly from CMIS. However for existing schools, in order for the upload to be successful, the Staff Id must match the Id within CMIS. A member of the ParentPay Technical Team will need to match the Id’s if they are different.
Troubleshooting
In the scenario where a specific pupil or staff member is affected by a fatal error causing the import to fail, the interface will display an explanation. This will include the name or identifier where available (ie. admission number/UPN for pupil, MIS Id for a staff member).
Common fatal errors that are most likely to impact a CMIS upload
Non-critical errors that may impact a CMIS upload
If no data has been amended since the last import was successfully completed, the import will fail, this is normal and the following message will be displayed:
‘Duplicate data detected. The data has not been modified since it was last imported’.