Re: [Cando-devel] Clarification Needed.

Hi Ike,

Indeed there have been many changes in the last few weeks.  The trunk
of the subversion repository was actually broken last friday when you
checked out CanDo onto your production server.  We now have a release
branch however, which should only get more stable as we find and fix
bugs.  I would suggest doing a fresh checkout of the release branch
onto your server.  The url for the release branch is:

http://svn.schooltool.org/cando/branches/cando-2006.x.x/

Hopefully we will have a .deb available sometime soon.  As far as
import scripts are concerned, I have written one such import script
for Virginia state competencies.  The source is available on
launchpad.  The url is:

https://launchpad.net/people/paulcarduner/+branch/cando/versoimport

I'm not sure how much that will help you.  In order to write proper
import scripts, it is necessary to have a fairly good understanding of
the API.  The best place to start learning about the API is by looking
in the README.txt files in each of the subdirectories under
SchoolTool/src/schooltool and src/cando.  Feel free to document what
you discover along the way.  We could always use support documentation
to make this easier for others in the future.

- Paul

On 8/12/06, practical it <pra...@gm...> wrote:
> Ok the 1st issue is that 2 weeks ago I assume before the sprint started I
> did a svn co of Cando 2006 on my dev server and it worked ok.
>
> Last friday I did a svn co of Cando 2006 on my production server and it
> would not start.
>
> It was complaning about "No skillsetadd module or something to that effect".
> I currently don't have access to the production server via the ssh due to
> issues with windows admins and firewalls that I'd rather not get into it but
> I should have that fixed by next week.
>
> Anyway there are only few differences I can see:
>
> 1. The sprint has been going on and new code was added but no one has
> actually done a check out to test if things are working?
>     Could you guys follow the instructions you gave me from the SVN CO
> procedure on the cando page do a fresh install and see if the current
>     cvs version is fully operational?
>
> 2. My architecture changed and its causing problems?
>
> My Dev server = Xeon 2.0GHZ  Running
> Linux dev-cando 2.6.15-26-386 #1 PREEMPT Thu Aug 3 02:52:00 UTC 2006 i686
> GNU/Linux
>
> My Production= Xeon Dual Core 64-bit 3.0GHZ Running
>
> Linux-amd64-generic
>
> I don't have reliable access via ssh to the production server right now
> cause the in house IT staff are having firewall problems and it keeps
> locking me out and dropping my connection.
>
>
> I know you guys must be busy and adding all kinds of neat new features and
> fixing critical things. But if you could just try an svn co of the current
> source and let me know if its working that would be great.
>
> [With regards to the import options I would just like to be able to import
> students with all the details filled in, basically I just want to be able to
> programatically enter in and of the data need for courses, compentencies.
>
> Paul I had read in your irc logs that you had already done this. So I
> thought maybe you could give me a look at a working script then I can modify
> it to my needs.
> I tried following the directions on how to do it on the page and it messed
> up my Persons section. After trying to do a student import it showed the
> student had been added in groups, but I could no longer pull up the Persons
> section at all with out it throwing exceptions.
> It worked fine when I did imports via the interface through the cvs import
> tool , but that only lets you enter 1 or 2 fields i.e. it seems it works
> just enough just to get the student full name in the system.
>
> P.S . I didn't see your response for some time , so sorry for my late reply.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ike
>
>
>
> On 7/26/06, Paul Carduner < pau...@gm...> wrote:
> > > > 1. Do you have to have school-tool to run cando? Or is Cando a
> > > > modified version of school tool?
> > > > [Right now I'm working on the assumption that I follow the install
> > > > instructions for school-tool , then I follow the install instructions
> > > > for Cando and install Cando as a plugin to school tool?
> > > > [Should I be just following the Cando install instructions? And not
> > > > doing an install of school tool seperately?]
> > > CanDo2006 runs as a module of SchoolTool.  Load SchoolTool, and you will
> > > have CanDo.
> > > CanDo2005 also distributed with SchoolTool, though was less integrated
> > > as a module.
> >
> > This isn't quite correct.  CanDo2005 is essentially a modified version
> > of schooltool 0.11.  When you install CanDo2005 you get the modified
> > schooltool as well.  CanDo2006 is an extension package for
> > schooltool2006.  If you are brave, you can get the latest code for
> > CanDo2006 from our svn trunk.  See instructions for that on
> >
> http://www.schooltool.org/products/cando/documentation/how-to/checking-out-from-the-cando-repository.
> > The Makefile gets the latest version of schooltool2006.
> > Alternatively, you can install schooltool2006, then download the cando
> > from the svn repository and just copy src files into the right
> > schooltool src directory.  There aren't any instructions on doing that
> > though.
> >
> >
> > > I will have to refer the next two questions to CanDo lead programmer
> > > Paul Carduner, who I have cc'd on this e-mail.
> > > Good luck with SchoolTool/CanDo.  --David Welsh
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 2.Can you provide me with links or methods on how to do complex csv
> > > > imports both for the purpose of entering students.
> > > > [When I say complex I mean is there a way I can import a student + his
> > > > first/last name + ID + his courses + groups + compencies needed +
> > > > competencies completed ..i.e. the whole shebang.
> > > > [If this is not possible can you provide me with some docs or links to
> > > > what is possible because this is a critical issue to us as we need to
> > > > deal with 3 years of student data previously + continue to add to this
> > > > data and we need to be able to dump or script large amounts of details
> > > > student data into the app.]
> >
> > At the moment there is no support for mass import of any kind unless
> > you write your own custom import scripts.  You may have looked at
> >
> http://www.schooltool.org/documentation/setting-up-a-development-server/entering-your-data-with-python-scripts/
> > for information on doing that.  To do this effectively though requires
> > a fairly good understanding of the schooltool and cando API.  I would
> > like to talk to you further about what your needs are for importing.
> > What software were you previously using to store the data?  How are
> > your csv files organized?  How would you like it to work?
> >
> > > > The second question came from the fact that I follow the import data
> > > > suggestion on the schooltool.org <http://schooltool.org> web site and
> > > > before I even got to the csv example it corrupted my db and ruined my
> > > > persons section so I had to restore the db from a back up. Luckily
> > > > this was a test server and not the production one.
> >
> > Which page were you looking at specifically?
> >
> > > > I don't get why there isn't more isolations between the csv import and
> > > > the menu structure. Like if something is errornous in the import of
> > > > csv data isn't there  way to reject bad syntax and not create the new
> > > > objects instead of them being created and borking the app?
> >
> > I'm not sure what you mean by "menu structures" in your first
> > sentance.  In any case, the csv import functionality is certainly in
> > need of updating.  I'd also like to see csv export functionality.
> > Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be a high priority right now.  I
> > think everyone is waiting for the right open data sharing standards to
> > mature before spending the resources needed to develop full
> > import/export functionality.  However, I believe that quick and dirty
> > solutions are fine for the short term so long as we keep them out of
> > the main source code and promise to rewrite them the right way when
> > the time comes.  That said, I'd very much like to hear about your
> > specific needs regarding import/export.
> >
> > We are having a CanDo sprint this weekend so if you provide us with
> > detailed information by say... tomorrow, then we *might* have a
> > solution for you by monday.
> >
> > - Paul Carduner
> >
>
>