SIMS 7 - Command Reporter (Import)

Importing Reports Programmatically

Pre-Requisites

If we assume that the integrator’s software is installed on a machine then that machine also must have SIMS installed and running on it. If this criteria is not met, then please refer the customer to their SIMS Support Unit who should be able to get SIMS and SIMS Reporting running on the machine independently of the integrator’s software.

Command Report Importer

This is installed with every SIMS 7 installation and is typically found in the c:\Program Files (X86)\SIMS\SIMS .Net folder.

The file <WinDir>\SIMS.INI file should contain an entry SIMSDotNetDirectory which is the source of truth as to the location of SIMS on that machine.

ESS makes sample wrapper code available for contracted integrators which makes the execution of the import a single line of code (plus error handling) e.g:

SIMSReportingEngine.Reports.Load(<.rptdef file name>,<Server>,<Database>,<User>,<Password>)

Alternatively the executable can be called directly in a similar way.

When to Import Report Definitions

Integrators should assume that:

• Reports imported may be deleted by users at any time
• Report import is a relatively fast process – a few seconds
• Report import on a daily basis is probably inconsequential to the school (but it may not be if it were to be run every few seconds).

As such we would recommend that reports are always imported just before they are run.