SchoolBus is a program that converts your school's ATS student roster list to an LDIF file, which can be easily imported into Workgroup Manager on OS X Server. This will allow you to easily add every student in your school to your OS X Server so that they can log in to their own personal workspace on each machine that is bound to the server. SchoolBus will allow you to automatically create accounts for all of your students at once instead of manually typing their names into Workgroup Manager.
Requirements:
In order to use SchoolBus you must have the following:
1. A computer running Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) or later to run SchoolBus.
2. A server computer running Mac OS X Server 10.3 (Panther) or later to import your LDIF file.
3. Your ATS list in .TXT or .DAT format (they're the same).
FAQ:
Q: What is ATS?
A: According to this page on the DOE web site, ATS stands for "Automate The Schools." All I know about it is that your school secretary uses it to maintain lists of students.
Q: Where do I get the ATS list for my school?
A: Ask your school secretary to email it to you. If your secretary is unable to give it to you then email me and I'll try to help.
Q: I only have a paper copy of the ATS list. Will that work?
A: Not unless you want to make way too much work for yourself. You're better off typing in the names manually into Workgroup Manager than trying to scan a paper list.
Q: What is Workgroup Manager?
A: Workgroup Manager is the program that allows you to control user accounts and settings in an OS X Server environment.
Q: Will this work with Macintosh Manager?
A: In theory it should, since Mac Manager depends on Workgroup Manager for user accounts. However I haven't tested it and I don't recommend using Mac Manager (or OS 9) anymore.
Q: What is OS X Server?
A: OS X Server is a server operating system from Apple. It runs on PowerMacs (towers) and Xserves (rack mount servers).
Q: Will this work in a lab without a server?
A: No. You must have an OS X Server to use this tool.
Q: Does this work with Mac OS X 10.2?
A: SchoolBus will only run on Macs with Mac OS X 10.3 or later, but the LDIF file that it exports can be imported onto a server running Mac OS X 10.2 or later.
Q: Will 10.2 ever be supported?
A: Probably not. 10.2 was released in September 2002. 10.3 was released in October 2003. 10.4 was released in April 2005. It's about time to get off 10.2 clients.
Q: Will this work with Windows?If I had a nickel for every time I heard that question...
A: Yes and No. This program is only designed to be used with OS X Server and the list must be imported on a Mac (either directly on the server itself or on another Mac that has Workgroup Manager installed and pointing to the server). This program cannot import lists into a Windows server, however Windows clients can connect to the Mac server for login and home directory services.
Q: What if the program is broken?
A: Let me know, and be descriptive as possible so I can try to fix it. This program is still very new and probably buggy. If you find problems, please let me know.
Q: Why did you make this program?
A: To make things easier for teachers.
Q: Will this work in schools outside of New York City?
A: Probably not. I don't know if ATS is a proprietary application to the DOE or not. If other schools use ATS then it may be possible.
Q: Why do I need this program?
A: You don't need this program. You are still able to manually create accounts for students in Workgroup manager, but this makes the initial setup process much easier.
Q: Why would I want to put the grade number in front of each name if it changes every year?
A: Good point. I am considering adding the ability to use the year of graduation instead, but that would take a bit more intelligence in the program to figure that out, and may require more information from the user. Let me knwow if you're interested in this feature. Feature added in v 0.2.
Q: Why are the names backwards?
A: If you look at the ATS list you'll see that is how names are listed. I have considered trying to reverse this however there is no way to do this reliably on any name that has more words than just a first and last name. The same goes for adding commas since there isn't a way to reliably to separate first and last names if there are three words or more. Again, let me know if you are interested in this feature.
Q: What if I don't want to import the entire list?
A: Currently SchoolBus will only import the entire list. If you want to modify this you can open up the list in TextEdit before you import it and delete the lines that you don't want (make sure you delete entire lines as SchoolBus will get confused if the text doesn't line up properly). I am considering adding the ability to only allow certain grades but this again will add more complexity, so let me know if you're interested.
Q: What if I want more options?
A: There is an application called Passenger from the company MacinMind Software. Passenger is a much more advanced utility which allows you to import all sorts of lists and set advanced preferences. It doesn't understand ATS lists natively so in order to use it you need to massage the list in Excel first. If you're a power user then you may prefer it.
Q: Why is the program called SchoolBus? My students don't even take a bus to school.
A: I got the idea from the Passenger program (see above). I know that many New York City school children don't take buses but I couldn't think of a better name. If I had went with NYCBus I would have most certainly gotten in trouble with the MTA.
Q: How did you make this?
A: This is not a typical Mac application. I did not write this program using a regular programming language such as Objective-C in Cocoa. I instead wrote this program as a PHP script and used Pashua and CocoaDialog to create graphical windows and buttons. Both Pashua and CocoaDialog are very limited in what they can display which is why the graphical interface is very limited.
Q: Is this program open source? Can you share the source code?
A: I don't really have a choice. Because of the nature of the program (PHP, Pashua and CocoaDialog) all of the code's source is easily viewable within the application bundle in Contents/MacOS/SchoolBus.
Version History:
2006-01-29 - 0.3 Fixed problems with Pre-K and Kindergarten students, fixed spacing issue.
2005-11-08 - 0.2 Added ability to put the graduating year in front of long names and short names.
2005-06-05 - 0.1 Initial pre-release
This application is provided as-is and without warranty. This application is intended for educational use only. This application is provided without a warranty of any kind. I cannot and will not take responsibility any damage this software may cause, however unlikely that may be.
This program is provided to you by me, Dan Semaya. Neither my employer nor the New York City Department of Education take any responsibility for this program.
