Edval for IT Managers

July 2018

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Introduction From 2018 onwards, the only desktop software module that Edval will support is the flagship Edval.exe module. Other modules will have moved to the web.

Edval.exe does: Cyclical timetable construction, maintenance and publishing; managing individual student timetabling-related information.

Edval.exe reads and writes the. etz file. It is a single-user program: only a single user may use Edval on a particular .etz file at any one time. More than one user may use Edval at different times if the data is stored in a network location. Attempts to access more than one concurrent session of Edval will result in an error reported to the user, and an opportunity to view read only data for the second user.

Edval can be used for class-list management, but because of the single-user-at-a-time limitation, we recommend schools do class-list management using EdvalStaff or the web-based equivalent rather than Edval.exe.

How do we install Edval? There is no installation program for Edval.exe. Installation simply consists of making this .exe program available to the users, either on their desktops or on the school file-server.

For first-time use, or if the auto-update feature isn’t working, you can download Edval.exe via your browser by clicking the relevant link:

Edval:

If you click this link then you’ll be asked for a username and password. These are:

User Name: Humpty Password: 2norilsk

Often the Timetable users will have local copies of Edval.exe, because it is common for them to want to work off-line on the data.

How do we update Edval? Edval.exe has an auto-update feature, which can be triggered manually or automatically. Typically, users, not IT managers, manage this update process. See: “Help > Find updates”.

The .etz file Edval stores all data relating to the cyclical timetable in a single file, with the extension .etz. These files can be saved in any location, e.g. on the Timetabler’s desktop PC or on the school file-server. Edval recommends naming the file: ‘ 2017.etz’.

https://web.edval.education/update/exes/Edval.exe

https://web.edval.com.au/update/exes/Edval.exe

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A single timetable file can store data for multiple semesters; however, if the timetable undergoes extensive change from one semester to the next, the Timetabler might be using a different file each semester. It is common for the Timetabler to work with multiple files representing either multiple experimental versions of the timetable, or different semesters. However, there must only be one published version of the timetable (MASTER copy). Any copies of the MASTER file should be given a meaningful name not to be confused with the live master file. If you have a primary school attached to your school, and they also use Edval, but with different bell-times, then this may be stored in a different .etz file, or use the ‘multi-campus’ feature to manage both in the one file.

How do users invoke Edval.exe? Users of Edval.exe will simply open the appropriate .etz file, by:

(a) double-clicking on the .etz file (Note: the first time you do this you may need to set up the fileassociation), or

(b) dragging the .etz file’s icon onto the Edval.exe icon, or(c) Running Edval.exe and selecting ‘File > Open’.

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What folder permissions should we set up? You should check the folder permissions on the folders where the data files are stored. Let’s suppose for example that the files are stored in:

H:\Staff\Timetable\MyHighSchool.etz

Only the Edval users should have READ/WRITE access to H:\Staff\Timetable. Other teachers should have READ-ONLY access.

All staff will obviously also need EXECUTE permission on any folder used to store the Edval.exe file. It is not important whether staff have LIST FOLDER CONTENTS permissions on any of these folders, or not, as long as they can see the ‘EdvalStaff.exe’ icon.

How can we control access to the Edval data? Folder permissions is the best way to control access to the Edval data.

Edval does not have a concept of user accounts.

Edval.exe does have a ‘password-protect’ feature on .etz files. This will prevent unauthorised users from modifying an .etz file via Edval, and furthermore since the data in an .etz file is encrypted, this effectively means users cannot modify the data. But obviously this file-level password does not offer protection against unauthorised users deleting the files. So this password protect feature is not recommended.

Edval for the Apple Macintosh Operating System The core Edval technologies have been written for the Windows OS, and have not been ported to the Apple Macintosh system. This does not stop Mac users from any browser based Edval module such as Edval WebChoice or EdvalPTN Online. To use standard Edval software on a Macintosh, there are several options:

1. WineBottler Apple OS http://winebottler.kronenberg.org (Recommended)2. www.virtualbox.org (Recommended)3. Apple Boot Camp4. Fusion5. Parallels Desktop6. Remote Desktop

Please click here for further information on running Edval in MAC

https://help.edval.com.au/portal/helpcenter/articles/edval-for-the-apple-macintosh-ios-operating-systems-ipad-iphone

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FAQ’s

Is it possible for the .etz files to get corrupted? Every time the .etz file or .dayorgz files are saved, Edval will:

1. Output the data into a file with a .etz.new suffix (or .dayorgz.new)2. If that was successful, it will archive the .etz file and rename the .etz.new .etz.

That means that you will never have ‘half a database’: the update is atomic. If a network outage occurs while a user is using the program, they will get the last good saved version.

Additionally, the fact that the database is written out in full on each save means that the data is always in a consistent state, i.e. conforming to basic data integrity constraints. Data corruption can be introduced if a user or a program other than Edval modifies the .etz file, however this would be considered ‘malicious misuse’ and Edval does not have protection against malicious misuse.

Are there any possible causes of data loss we should be worried about? Edval automatically creates a set of backup versions of each .etz file, in a folder called ‘Autobak’. These versions cycle automatically. It is generally possible to find old versions of the data hours, days or weeks old. To have catastrophic data loss would require that all these files disappear. The most common reason a user would go back to these files is because a large set of changes have been made which they wish to undo.

Can Edval damage other systems? The Edval software only writes to the data-files as indicated above. Edval software writes small amounts of data into the Windows registry of each user. It writes into two locations:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Edval and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\TFC

How can I export data out of Edval? There are many ways to export timetable and classlist data out of the .etz file. One way is using the LISS protocol: www.liss.org.au . There is also a wide range of flat file exports (.csv or .txt) – see “File > Sync with system”.

http://www.liss.org.au/