Knowledge Base

 

Issue:

 

Formatting Delimited Text Files for Import into Renaissance Place

 

Resolution:

 

If you have student information stored in another database or spreadsheet, these programs typically will allow you to create a text file of the information. You can use a delimited .TXT or .CSV file to import your student, personnel, and/or class information into your Renaissance Place software using the Renaissance Data Translator (RDT) on the application server. RDT version 4.1 and above is also capable of importing a Microsoft Excel (.XLS or .XLSX) file into Renaissance Place. In addition, the functionality to add or update user information and class enrollments by importing a flat file (.TXT, .CSV, .XLS and .XLSX) containing general student, class and/or personnel information directly through the Renaissance Place import feature has been added to Renaissance Place Real Time version 4.2 on July 6^th, 2010.

 

Basic Rules for Importing Files

 

1)     A separate file is required for each school. You cannot import a file with all students into the entire district. You will need to split the file up into individual school files.

 

2)     Creating a header in the first row of the file is recommended. Use the Specification tables below to create a valid header. Headers are case-insensitive. If your file does not contain a header or it is invalid, a Map Source Columns to Import Specification window will appear in the Renaissance Data Translator Wizard allowing you to select the header names from drop down menus. If you are using the Renaissance Place Real Time import feature to import your file and valid headers are not included, you will also be able to select the correct header names from drop down menus on the Column Validation screen.

 

3)     A header must have at least one character or space.

 

4)     Only the data recognized by the Renaissance Data Translator program or the Renaissance Place Real Time import feature will be imported. See Specification tables below for list of valid imported data.

 

5)     Each data row must contain the same number of delimiters (commas or tabs) as the header row.

 

6)     The header delimiter must match the data delimiter. If the header row is tab-delimited, then the data rows must also be tab-delimited.

 

7)     Extraneous columns in the file that cannot be imported into Renaissance Place still must have a corresponding header. For example, a column with the students’ addresses. You can either use an “X” or “Misc” for that column in the header. If the Map Source Columns to Import Specification window appears in the Renaissance Data Translator Wizard, you can alternatively select “Ignore” in the drop down menu for that particular column. The Column Validation screen in the Renaissance Place Real Time import feature will also allow you to ignore columns that include data that cannot be imported into Renaissance Place.

 

8)     Names must be separated into first, middle and last. Each must be in its own column.

 

9)     Student grades are not required when importing students into the database. However, grades are required in order to test students in some Renaissance Place applications, and are helpful in other Renaissance Place applications.

 

10) Only documented codes can be used to indicate gender, ethnicity, grades, student characteristics, personnel position, or subjects. Unrecognized data defaults to “Unknown” or the equivalent.

 

11) If your file does not include usernames, they will be created for you during the import. Personnel user names created will be the first initial and the last name. Student user names will be the first initial and first four letters of the last name. If there are duplicates, a number will follow the user name created, until a unique user name is found.

 

12) If your file does not contain passwords, they will also be created during import. Personnel will use their user name as their password the first time that they log in. They will be forced to change the password when they log in for the first time. Students will all be given a default password of “abc”.

 

13) Remove any end-of-file markers that may have been added after the last data row.

 

14) If you are importing a Microsoft Excel file into Renaissance Place, information should not be included within multiple worksheets of the file. The Renaissance Data Translator version 4.1 will only import data contained in the first worksheet and this worksheet must be named Sheet1. Renaming the worksheet will result in the error message “Cannot process the object “SELECT * FROM [sheet1$]”.” during import. The Renaissance Place Real Time import feature will also only import data from a single worksheet. The import feature will select the worksheet that comes first alphabetically by name to import the information from.

 

15) If you exported a .CSV file from your Student Information System (SIS) or some other type of program, be sure to view the file in a simple text-editing program such as Notepad prior to importing it. Extra characters such as quotes may exist in the file that do not appear when viewing the file in Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet programs. For example, if quotes exist in the file, they will be imported with your data and quotes will appear around personnel and student names and the names of courses and classes in Renaissance Place. When using the flat file import feature in Renaissance Place Real Time, you will be able to see any extra characters that will be brought into Renaissance Place in the row and column validation screens of the flat file import wizard. You should remove extra characters from your file prior to import.

 

Specification Tables for SIS Text Files and Example

 

Click HERE to view a PDF including specification tables for SIS text files for Renaissance Place versions 3.2 and lower and an example of a SIS text file.

 

Click HERE to view a PDF including specification tables for SIS text files for Renaissance Place version 4.0 and an example of a SIS text file.

 

Click HERE to view a PDF including specification tables for SIS text files for Renaissance Place version 4.1 and an example of a SIS text file.

 

Click HERE to view a PDF including specification tables for SIS text files for Renaissance Place Real Time and an example of a SIS text file.

 

Templates for Importing Information – Renaissance Place version 4.1 and lower

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing staff information only.

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing student information only.

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing student information, classes, and enrollments.

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing staff and student information, classes, and student enrollments/teacher assignments.

 

Note: Column headers are color-coded indicating the following about each category of data:

 

Red = Required

Yellow = Recommended

Gray = Optional

 

Templates for Importing Information – Renaissance Place Real Time

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing staff information only.

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing student information only.

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing student information, classes, and enrollments.

 

Click HERE to view a Microsoft Excel template for importing staff and student information, classes, and student enrollments/teacher assignments.

 

Notes: Column headers are color-coded indicating the following about each category of data:

 

Red = Required

Yellow = Recommended

Gray = Optional

 

There are 25 valid categories of data available for import but at this time, your import file cannot contain more than 23 columns of data. Importing a file with more than 23 columns will result in the error message “Not a valid CSV file”. Columns will need to be removed from the file prior to proceeding with the import process.

 

Importing the SIS Text File

 

Renaissance Place hosted users:

 

If your Renaissance Place website is hosted with Renaissance Learning, you can use the Renaissance Place Real Time import feature to import a flat file (.TXT, .CSV, .XLS and .XLSX) containing general student, class and/or personnel information into your hosted site or if you prefer, we can do the import for you. Please refer to the Renaissance Place software manual or the help files for more information about importing a flat file. If you would like us to import your file, you will need to attach the file into an e-mail and send it to datasupport@renlearn.com. In the subject line of the e-mail, include “RDT – Hosted” along with your school name and customer number. Please make sure to include a valid header in the text file that you send in. This will ensure that data is properly imported into your hosted site. If you have difficulties creating or attaching the text file or if you need more information about the import process, please contact Technical Support at support@renlearn.com.

 

Renaissance Place users that have their own server:

 

Renaissance Data Translator instructions for non-hosted customers are located directly on the Renaissance Place application server as a PDF file. (Startà(All) ProgramsàRenaissance LearningàRenaissance Data Translator Instructions) They can also be found directly on the Renaissance Place Suite Release CD-ROM inside of the Manuals folder.