FAQ FAQ11:  Student data not showing in CMS

Created:  8/23/04
Last Updated:  12/2/04

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Applies to the following:

QUESTION:
Our students have been making progress in the program, but I can't see any student data in the Classroom Management System (CMS). What's wrong?

My students are making progress in the student program, but this progress doesn't show the next time the students log on to the program. What's happening?

SYMPTOMS:

• Student data is not showing in the CMS.
• Student progress is not being recorded.

ANSWER:

1. The user permissions may not be correct on the folder which stores the student data. To determine if this is the cause, do the following.
   1. Log on to the workstation as an administrative user.
   2. Log on to the student program and work through a topic/module/lesson.
   3. Leave the program.
   4. Log on to the CMS.
   5. If the data appears, the student user does not have enough permissions to access the student data. Contact your systems administrator to request that all students be given read and write access to the student data folder. Teachers need read, write, create, and delete permissions to this folder. The name of the folder is "xindex", where "x" is the program's abbreviation. A list of the abbreviations for each software title is given below.
      • A1R - Larson's Algebra 1 with Review
      • LEM - Larson's Elementary Math
      • EAA - Larson's Excel @ Algebra
      • LIM - Larson's Intermediate Math
      • MAT - Larson's Matemáticas Saltarinas
      • MSM - Larson's Middle School Math
      • LMS - Larson's Prealgebra and Larson's Algebra 1
      Use the links below to find out how to set and change user permissions.
      
      Windows® Server Operating Systems
      
      Macintosh® Server Operating Systems
      
      Novell® Server Operating Systems
      
      Please note that Larson Learning Inc. is in no way affiliated with any of these sites and cannot guarantee the accuracy of the content contained therein.
2. The use of added security software can cause a problem, even if permissions to particular files and folders appear to be correct. To determine if the security software is an issue, disable it, and repeat steps b - e of step 1.
3. Check the CMS preference file on each workstation on which the CMS is installed to make sure that it is pointing to the correct "xindex" folder on your server, where "x" is the program's abbreviation. (See the list in step 1 for the appropriate abbreviation.)
   1. Find the path that the CMS is using to find the student data. Locate and open the "filename.ini" or "filename Preferences" file located on the local hard drive, where "filename" is a file name. The path to the student data is located after "gStatPath=" or "gIndexFilePath="
      • Windows® users -
        1. Double-click the "My Computer" icon on the desktop.
        2. Navigate to the CMS folder. If the default location was used during installation, the CMS folder will be at the following location: "C:\Program Files\Larson's x CMS", where "C" is the local hard drive and "x" is the program name.
        3. Navigate to the "prefs" folder.
        4. Open the "filename.ini" file, where "filename" is the name of the file.
      • Macintosh® users -
        1. On the desktop, double-click the icon of the drive partition to which the program was installed.
        2. Navigate to the CMS folder.
        3. Open the "filename Preferences" file, where "filename" is the name of the file.
   2. Find the path that the student program is using to find the student data. Locate and open the "filename.ini" or "filename Preferences" file located on the local hard drive. The path to the student data is located after "gStatPath=" or "gIndexFilePath="
      • Windows® users -
        1. Double-click the "My Computer" icon on the desktop.
        2. Navigate to the program folder. If the default location was used during installation, the program folder will be at the following location: "C:\Program Files\Larson's x", where "C" is the local hard drive and "x" is the program name.
        3. Navigate to the "prefs" folder.
        4. Open the "filename.ini" file, where "filename" is the name of the file.
      • Macintosh® users -
        1. On the desktop, double-click the icon of the drive partition to which the program was installed.
        2. Navigate to the CMS folder.
        3. Open the "filename Preferences" file, where "filename" is the name of the file.
   3. If the paths to the student data are not the same, do the following.
      1. Make a copy of the CMS preference file.
      2. Copy the path to the student data from the student program preference file into the CMS preference file.
      3. Save the CMS preference file.
      4. Log on to the CMS. If the student program reflects the correct student progress, then changing the path to the student data files in the CMS preference file will resolve the problem.
   4. If the path to the student data is the same, then the progress as reflected in the student program is incorrect as well. Follow the student data path that was located in step a to find the student data folder on the server.
      • Windows® users -
        1. Double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop.
        2. Locate the drive letter that was indicated in the student data path.
        3. Open each of the folders listed in the order in which they appear in the student data path.
      • Macintosh® users -
        1. On the desktop, double-click the icon of the sharepoint to which the program was installed.
        2. Open each of the folders listed in the order in which they appear in the student data path.
   5. Open the student data folder.
   6. Check the last modification date of each of the files. If the modification dates on the files match the date of the last student activity in the program, this is probably the current student data folder. If the dates on the files do not match the date of the last student activity in the program, move the outdated student data folder to a safe location. Then, do one of the following.
      1. Search the server for another student data folder.
         1. If found, check the modification dates.
         2. If the dates appear to be correct, move the folder to the place indicated in the ".ini" or "Preferences" file.
         3. Log on to the CMS and see if the correct data appears. Moving this folder may cause the error message to appear on some teacher or student workstations. If this happens, open the ".ini" or "Preference" file on those workstations and edit the "gStatPath=" or "gIndexFilePath=" to point to the new location.
      2. If there is a back-up of the student data folder, make a copy and put it in the appropriate location on the server, as indicated by the student data path in the ".ini" or "Preferences" file.
      3. Remove the CMS from the workstation and reinstall it. Be sure to point to the correct "xindex" folder during the install.

Rename the old data folder so that it will not be confused with the new student data folder.

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