E10 - Synchronisation to Compass via Direct Connection

Modified on Wed, 14 Jan at 11:50 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preamble
Type of sync
Which data is sent to the other system?
Which data can be received from the other system into Tes timetable file?
Steps to synchronise data
Frequently Asked Questions

Preamble

Timetabling data that exists in E10 timetable files are usually sent on to one or more other non-Tes systems, such as student learning management systems, reporting systems, administration systems, and many more. The Tes integration team works with other systems to make sure that the data required to be sent is in the correct format.

This document can be referenced for:

new school file set up
synchronisation processes
synchronisation troubleshooting

While Tes takes all care to ensure any mention to the other system is correct and up to date, it is the user's responsibility to check with the other system prior to an initial sync. If the user becomes aware of any changes to the other system, we would very much appreciate this feedback.

Click here to watch our joint Tes-Compass integration webinar

Type of sync

This sync is performed by a 'LISS' sync, which is a sync that sends and receives data at the push of a button with no need to upload into the other system.

Which data is sent to the other system?

This table lists many of the data and features found in Tes timetable and and whether they are understood by the other system.

Note that Tes builds many excellent features to help users build high quality timetables, and while these features can be sent onto the other system through the synchronisation process, not all systems have built the capability on their end to receive/display these features.

Tes timetable feature	Notes on feature	Is this feature received by the other system?	Other notes
Bell times	Bell times as per Grid structures	No	Bell times are managed in Compass independently as 'Period Structures', you must configure this prior to syncing. See multi-grid for important details.
Campuses	Campuses and their associated rooms	No	Any campus association to teachers, students or rooms must be configured in Compass as well as in the timetable.
Classes	Classes as per Class data screens	Yes	Classes must contain both students and a teacher to display, must have unique class code (course code + classID) and must not have different subject names if they share a course code.
Class lists		Yes	Students are referenced by their timetable student code.
Composite classes (linked classes)	One teacher teaching more than one class at the same time	Yes	Both classes show separately on teacher timetables.
Duty roster		Yes	As duties commonly run in non-teaching periods you must also add these periods to your period structures in Compass for them to appear correctly.
Faculty data		Yes
Grid structure codes		Yes	Period codes in the timetable grid structure must not exceed 3 characters for Compass
Multi-file	Two (or more) timetable files	Yes	Timetable files can be synced to a particular Compass period structure with the correct import identifier referenced in the sync URL. For detailed information on this, please consult Compass support.
Multi-grid	Multiple grids with different bell times	Yes	Mutli-grid schools must configure multiple period structures with an import identifier matching their respective campus code in the timetable file.
On-call roster		Yes	Compass may interpret them as regular classes and so you will need to configure them to not generate a roll.
Priority classes	The priority class that shows on student's timetables where they have class clashes	No
Room data	Room Code, Name, Size, Campus, Comment	No	Compass is the source of truth for room data. Rooms can be downloaded from Compass to ensure they match.
Rotation classes	Classes from particular rotations	No	Compass will receive all exportable classes in the timetable, however the timetable data for those classes can be sent per rotation. The rotation for syncing will default to the current rotation set in the file under Settings > File, but you can override this when doing an advanced sync.
RTO roster		No
Student data	Student Code, Name, Preferred name, Year level, Letter group, House, Gender, StatewideID, Email, Phone	No	Compass is the source of truth for student data. Students can be downloaded from Compass to ensure they match.
Study roster	Study classes, staffing and rooming roster	Yes
Sub-classes		Yes
Teacher data	Teacher Code, Name, Preferred name, Faculty, Gender, Email, Phone	Yes	Compass is the source of truth for teacher data. Teachers can be downloaded from Compass to ensure they match. By default Timetable will reference the admin ID of the teacher when syncing to Compass, if this is blank the teacher code is used instead. You can change this default in the sync settings.
Teacher days off (Unavailables)		No
Timetable data		Yes
Two (or more) rooms at once		No
Two (or more) teachers at once		Yes	Multiple teachers on the same class at the same time are disabled in Compass by default, but can be enabled if you contact their support team.
Year levels (non-numeric)	Year levels such as SPT, LSUP, ROLL, Yr9+10 etc	Yes	Non-numeric year levels will come under the 'Cross Year' level in Compass. Classes created in Umbrealla, or Composite Year Levels, eg Yr9+10, are not synced as they do not usually contain classes. They are used for student year level movement, class list management or data export purposes.

Yes - The data is sent from our end and is being received and processed by 3rd party system.

No - The data is not supported by 3rd party systems and is not sent from Tes.

Unsure - The data is being sent from Tes timetable file but we are unsure if it is being processed and supported by 3rd party system.

Which data can be received from the other system into Tes timetable file?

Tes timetable data	Can this data be drawn down into Tes timetable?	Other notes
Room data	Yes	Matched against code and conflicts are managed in import match screen.
Teacher data	Yes	Matched against code and conflicts are managed in import match screen.
Student data	Yes	Matched against code and conflicts are managed in import match screen. You can set that Timetable should ignore year level and statewide IDs downloaded from Compass.

Click here to learn more about how downloads are managed in Timetable

Steps to synchronise data

Step 1: Complete Compass setup

Make sure that your Compass environment has everything setup ready to accept timetable data. You should check that the below areas have been configured as per Compass documentation. You will find them by clicking the gear icon in the top right of Compass to open the Tools menu and selecting Administration Tools in the System section.

Configure Schedules
1. Time Periods
2. Academic Years
3. Terms
4. Important School Dates
5. Period Structures
Subject Manager
Year Level Management

1.1 Confirm that your codes match in both systems

Usually with synchronisation, Tes is the source of truth for class data, class lists, timetables, whereas Compass would be the source of truth for student codes (ID’s) and teacher (staff) codes (ID’s). Student and teacher codes are usually generated in other systems, often linked to the state education department. These codes must match for data to transfer correctly.
It is possible to enter a temporary student or teacher code into Tes for the purpose of generating a timetable, but to have a student or teacher’s timetable appear correctly in Compass, the codes must be identical.

Period codes in Timetable's grid structure ( File > Setup > Grid Structure ) must exactly match the codes of the period structure in Compass.
Period codes must not exceed 3 characters.
Bell times must be set up in Compass, their system does not accept bell time data from Timetable.

Step 2: Configure the timetable file

2.1. Create a Compass sync configuration

Open the relevant timetable file, and go to File > Synchronise > Configure > Sync tab

Select the + button and choose 'Compass' from the drop down menu.

2.2. Enter connection information

Continuing from the configure screen, Select the Connection tab.

URL	Compass will provide the URL, however you will need to adjust the academic year at the end to the correct year for you. This is matching against the import identifier in Compass for each academic year. Headstart periods will use a different import ID such as 20XXHS. If you receive an error stating that the 'LISS service version does not match', then you will need to change the number in the URL following '/LISS/' from '1' to '3' or vice versa.
Username	Compass/LDAP username
API Key	To find your API key in Compass, Go to Tools > Login and Security > My API Key.
Proxy	Only use this under option under guidance of your schools network administrator.

Once you've entered the credentials you can select 'Test connection' to make sure they're correct before moving on.

For further assistance with Compass credentials, please consult their documentation and contact their support team if required.

2.3. Configure sync settings

Continue to the 'Other' tab.

Sync timetable & class lists every time you save	This will send enrolment data to Compass every time the file is saved manually or automatically.
Ignore student year levels that Compass sends	This will prevent students being moved between year levels when performing a sync that downloads students. It is important to have this ticked if you are preparing a head start program, as the timetable file will have students in their next year level, but perhaps not in Compass yet. With this setting unticked, student year levels in Compass will override those in the timetable file when students are downloaded. You may prefer to have this option ticked then until you actively need to update students.
Append / Don't Append /Actively strip out year level from class names	Choose whether to add the year level of the class to the class name or not when sending to Compass. If class names include the year level, choosing to strip them out will remove that component of the class name if it was entered manually. We only advice you use this third option if there is another system you sync to that requires the year level in the subject name. Otherwise you should just rename the subject in the timetable file.
Accept Statewide IDs that are sent to Timetable (recommended)	If unticked then the timetable will ignore statewide IDs when downloading students from Compass.
Which years?	This button will bring up a window with checkboxes for each year level. If the year level has a tick, then classes from those years will be included when syncing. If no year levels are selected, no classes will be sent. It's important to note that meetings is a special year level in the timetable that contains duties, studies and on-calls as well as meetings.
Rotation start dates	Enter the start date of each rotation in the file, the holiday start date will be the day following your final day in the academic year. If your school runs a head start or early commencement program in term 4, click here for more information and refer to any guidance from Compass on the topic as well. The dates entered here must line up with your Compass term dates exactly. This is crucial to avoid issues down the line with class start and end dates.

2.4. Set the academic year

In addition to setting the academic year in the Compass sync URL it must also be correct in the timetable file. You can change this by navigating to Setup > School Info and editing the 'Academic Year' field, press enter afterwards and save the file.

If your file was used in the previous academic year for a head start program, then you should check that your current rotation is correct as well. This is found under Settings > File.

Step 3: Syncing E10 timetable to Compass

In E10 timetable, go to File > Synchronise > Sync now. There are two sync options: basic and advanced.

Basic

The basic sync will always perform the same tasks listed above for the dates selected.

The 'Check course codes' button will check through the state of class codes and subject names to make sure they're compliant with Compass' requirements ahead of syncing. Refer to the note for classes in the 'what data is sent' table at the top of this document for more information.

If you trigger a sync from Configure > Connections by checking the box next to Compass and clicking 'Sync all selected', a basic sync will be performed for all selected systems.

Advanced

The advanced sync screen allows you to control which tasks are carried out. You can use the advanced sync to avoid downloading students or instead update teacher and room data from Compass as needed.

For both sync methods the date will default to being from the current date, to a date 2 weeks ahead. Whenever you move tabs or screens the date will reset so be careful to confirm it is correct before clicking the 'Go!' button to sync. It's recommended to sync for the whole term in preparation for the first day. You can then supplementally sync when changes arise or sync from that date until the end of the term. If you experience any issues syncing and need to lodge a support ticket to progress, please sync again with 'create support log file checked and make sure to attach those files to your ticket.

For more information on how to lodge an effective support ticket click here

Check the import jobs in Compass

After a successful sync, the progress of the import can be viewed via the Compass Import Jobs page found under the Tools menu (gear icon in the top right) > Administration Tools > Import Jobs.

Clicking on the magnifying glass will show you a log of the added, removed, updated or skipped data from an import. This can be a useful tool to track down why a particular class may not appear as you're expecting. Furthermore you can click the green button to the right of that which will download a support log of the import data as Compass has interpreted it. This is a useful thing to attach to support tickets to allow us to investigate deeper and resolve issues faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the 'currently relevant academic year' in Compass?

The currently relevant academic year is the academic year which has been configured in Compass as the current information Compass should be displaying in the portal. This includes information such as the current classes assigned to teaching staff, the current enrolments for students and the current financial year.

Navigate to the Tools menu (cog icon) > Administration Tools > Configure Schedules , then click on the 'Academic Years' link in the left-hand column to see a list of the academic years recorded in Compass.

If the academic year is the currently relevant academic year in Compass, the 'Is Relevant' column will show 'Yes', indicating that the checkbox has been ticked when the academic year was originally configured. This information can be changed or updated at any time; please refer to the Compass Knowledge Base for further information.

2. Why does the ‘Connection failed’ message appear in E10 timetable after I ‘Test Connection’?

Check the username and API key is the user's correct details.

3. What are the error messages showing in Import Jobs?

Sometimes errors occur where there is mismatching data. This could be due to:

Period codes in E10 grid structure do not match the Period codes in Compass.
Teacher or student codes may not match. Note that Casual teachers are not u

Double click to see what the error is, address the issue, and sync again.

While Tes support staff can assist with Tes related issues, Tes support staff cannot access the Compass database, so the user must contact Compass support staff for Compass related errors.

4. Which Teacher codes sync to Compass?

As mentioned previously, codes must match for data to transfer successfully. The Teacher data screen contains more than one column for teacher codes, and therefore there are options as to which code is used for syncing purposes. The two codes that can be used for syncing purposes are the Code field or the AdminID field. Users should check which codes are to be used for syncing purposes.
In this screenshot, numerical AdminIDs are required for syncing purposes, as these are the codes used in Compass and other systems. However, in this example, the numerical AdminIDs are not useful to the timetabler for identifying staff when working in the E10 timetable file. Therefore, the timetabler is able to enter useful, identifying codes into the Code field, and then the numerical codes into the AdminID field that are required for syncing purposes.

By default, the Code is the matching code used for syncing.

If an AdminID exists in the file, this overrides the Code column for syncing purposes. There is a setting in the Compass sync screen (File > Synchronise > Configure > Sync tab (Select Compass) Configure > Other tab) to exclude using the Admin IDs for syncing purposes. When this option is ticked, the Code will be used for syncing purposes.

5. Why is the Duty timetable not showing in Compass?

If the duty timetable has been set up in E10 timetable file but is not showing in Compass, check that there is a period code for the duty slot (as named in E10 timetable File > Set up > Grid Structure ) entered and matching in Compass ( Tools menu (cog icon) > Administration Tools > Configure Schedules > Periods ). If not, add these into Compass and sync again.

6. Why is Term 2 (or 3 or 4) starting on the wrong cycle day?

Check the Compass Teaching Days page for the cycle day setting ( Tools menu (cog icon) > Administration Tools > Configure Schedules > Teaching Days) . Click on the drop down next to each term and select the correct cycle start day.

7. Why are classes not showing in Compass?

Classes may be missing for a number of reasons:
- A class has no teacher: a teacher must have been assigned to the class to show in Compass.
- A class has no room: a room must have been assigned to the class to show in Compass.
- Each class must have a class identifier e.g., 7ENG.1 or 7ENG_1 or 7ENG1 is acceptable. 7ENG. or 7ENG_ is not acceptable, as there is a full stop or underscore to separate the end of the Course code and the class identifier, but then there is no class identifier.
- Classes are not excluded from the export:: Classes > Class Data > View > Exportable. Ensure the field does not contain N for 'Not exportable'.
- Two teachers at once: Compass must turn on a feature at the Compass end to enable this feature. Contact Compass via support@compass.education

Classes cannot have the same code as an existing subject in the same academic year. Class codes must be unique so Compass does not recognise the classes as one class.

8. Why are classes with multiple teachers only showing on one teacher's timetable in Compass?

If classes have been set up to include 'Different teachers at once' or component classes, contact Compass to request they switch on a school-wide setting for ‘multiple teachers’.

The same goes with Meetings classes if there are multiple teachers in meetings class.

While Tes support has some understanding of Compass settings, users must refer to Compass documentation for detailed Compass configuration.

9. Two rooms at once do not show holding any classes in Compass

Compass must turn on a feature (Multiple rooms per Instance/Class) at the Compass end to enable this feature. Contact Compass via support@compass.education

The only repercussion with a school enabling the 'Multiple Rooms per Instance/Class' would be that the staff will not be able to have the 'Room Swap' feature enabled within their portal as they will not be able to swap rooms between each other as there may be more than one room assigned.

10. Why does the Compass Import Jobs page not show the standard classes/duties/subjects/etc?

In the event that the Compass Import Jobs page does not show a certain import appearing after you have performed a sync, this could be due to an issue on the Compass server with the import erroring out and not finishing. You will need to contact Compass to request they check if the job is still running on the back-end of the server and to end it on their end so a fresh import can go through.

11. Is there a way to indicate 'Lead teacher' in a split class scenario?

The 'Lead teacher' is ordered by 'period allocation'. The teacher with the most periods in E10 timetable is sent as the 'Default teacher' to Compass where he/she is considered as the Main/Lead teacher. If the period allocation is equal then it is the 'Preferred' teacher who takes the lead and if both teachers are 'Preferred' then it is <Undefined> and becomes a chance thing and any one of them can be the lead teacher in Compass. Unfortunately, there is no way to influence this in Compass from our end.

12. Does Tes-Compass support multigrid structure?

Yes, Multigrid structure is supported with Compass, School will need to contact Compass first to make sure the feature is turned on for school.

13. Does Tes-Compass support 'Move and Replace' or 'Move'?

No, while we are sending the data to Compass - they do not currently support this function.

14. Why does the error message "Classes cannot have the same code as an existing subject in the same academic year" appear?

The error is appearing due to the 'course' codes and 'class' codes matching in the timetable file, Compass does not like it as they process the data in a certain way as they disregard class separators.

For example with Class 6E.C and 6EC.L3, Compass sees the course code of '6EC' from '6EC.L3' and adds it to the 'Subjects' import job - it then tries to add the class '6EC' from '6E.C' into 'Standard Classes' import job and can't as it sees that there is already a subject called '6EC' in the 'Subjects' import job .

You will need to change the codes so that it is unique to keep Compass happy. Eg. '6EC.L3' into '6ECO.L3' or '6E.C' into'6E.C1'.

15. What is the process of changing an existing class code in E10 timetable file as well as in Compass.

Once the class code is changed in E10 timetable please ensure that the same change also made in Compass before syncing to Compass.

In order to do that in Compass portal, click on the top right settings administration Tools->subject manager->subject screen.

Edit the desired subject in the 'Subject' screen as well as in the 'classes' screen.

Note: If the class code is changed in the 'subject' screen but not in the 'Classes' screen the change would NOT be appearing from E10 timetable file so both screens must be changed.

16. Why does the error message "No valid Teaching Days for the specified import bounds. Please ensure your school has been correctly configured and Teaching Days exist for the import period" appear?

This error appears because of missing Teaching Days in the Compass portal. To resolve this please login to Compass and navigate to Administration Tools > Configure Schedules > Period Structures > Manage calendar. You will then be able to mark the Teaching Days for your active Period Structure. If you require further assistance with this, please contact Compass support.

17. Why does the warning message "Class code: , GUID: could not be imported as the session's time (date* time* - date* time) is outside of the import's date bounds (date 12:00:00 AM - date* 12:00:00 AM). Please adjust the date bounds and import again."

Compass is somehow treating the 'To' date as ending at 12:00am of the same date.

Resolves when the 'To' date range is incremented by a day on the 'Advanced sync' page in Daily --> Synchronise.

For example - If an exam is required to be seen for a day on Compass and not the whole session(start and end day of the exam), current day's date (From) and next day's date (To) needs to be added. If Exam is required to be viewed for the whole session, then the next day's date after the 'final day of exam' needs to be added to the 'To' date range. Care should also be taken to make sure the 'Rotation start dates' match between Timetable file, Timetable Daily and Compass for a successful resolution. As it is the 'rotations match' is a 'must' requirement for other issues too!

18. How to send specific classes to Compass only?

There are two ways this can be achieved depending on how the school would want it.

You can create a new year level and move those classes to that particular year. After the new year level is created in setup->year levels then go to classes->class data-> u se the View menu (top-right) to tick the 'Year (for moving)' option. The year column will now appear next to the "Class ID" column, so in the original year level you can type in the new one in the 'Year' column.

When you go to that year level and you will now see that those classes have been moved.

Once the classes are moved to the new year then go to file->configure Compass->Other and click on 'Which years.'

Once you are in 'Which year,' tick the year levels you would like to include in your Compass sync, in particular the new year level just created. Please note that you will need to leave unticked any year levels you would like to be excluded.

If you instead wanted specific classes to be excluded from all syncs then you would use the "Exportable" column in Class data. If the exportable column is not already visible, use the View menu in the top right to tick the 'exportable' option. As per the screenshot below, you will need to enter an 'n' to mark classes and non-exportable. Blank cells will be considered as having a 'y' in place by default and so will be exportable.

Compass permissions: Ensure the timetabler and Daily Organiser have the admin level access in Compass. This is important so that they can check the imports logs to view any import errors ( Administration Tools > Import Jobs ). Clicking in displayed error columns on the right will give more information about the import error.

What does the error message (Requesting LISS services version does match the version set to this school) means?

If the school is receiving this error message meaning that they have the incorrect (Import identifier) in the Compass URL in E10 timetable file and the import identifier can be located in Compass portal in Tools-> Administration tools->Campus Details->edit->campus identifier.

19. Exams appearing in Compass but with no teachers even though in Daily teachers are covering that class? A Warning message shows up in compass saying 'Exams without Teachers Detected'

There are a few things that need to be checked for teachers to be assigned to the exam supervision:

Exams import has been activated/turned on in Compass
Exams in the 'Events' tab have the 'Publish Date' set to to today's date or earlier
Covers have been published for the days of the exams via the 'Publish Covers' button in the 'Covers' tab
An Advanced sync was performed with 'Publish Daily Timetable' ticked with the range of the exam block to Compass

Once all these conditions are fulfilled, the teachers will be assigned in the sync.

20. I used the Split classes function in the Covers section in Daily but students/teachers are not appearing on Compass when I sync.

Compass currently only supports the 'Cancellation' and 'Exam' event types. All others, such as the 'Supervision' events created from the 'Split classes' function is not supported by Compass and does not display/work.

21. Meetings are appearing in Compass requiring a roll to be marked.

In 'Setup > School Info', there is a field called 'Wild card string identifying Roll Classes' that has *RC* by default marking any classes with 'RC' as roll classes. You will need to either ensure the meetings code does not contain anything that field is targeting or changing what is in that field. Instead of using asterisks which looks for everything, you can use question marks so that it focuses on 1 character instead. Eg. *RC? would target '09RCA' and not '09RCMeeting'.

22. Classes are not syncing and receiving the error 'Class has instances that have already run that would be archived resulting in data loss for roll markings.'

This message appears when the rotation start dates for the classes do not match with what is in Compass. This can happen if the first sync of the year had the incorrect rotation start dates setup via the Compass sync configuration 'File > Synchronise > Configure > Other' section and then corrected later in the year.

To resolve the error messages, you will need to either change the rotation start dates in the timetable file back to the original dates so that it matches with what Compass has;

Or manually change the start/end dates for the classes in Compass directly to match with the rotation start dates in the timetable file.