asc2mb

aSc to ManageBac

Getting started

Requires Python 3.6 or above. For Windows, install Python via the Microsoft Store. For Mac, install Python at python.org. Installing Python also installs a package manager (called pip) that can install the command asc2mb into your command line environment.

After installing Python, open the terminal or command line or PowerShell, and peform the following:

pip install asc2mb

If for some reason the pip command doesn't work, you can manually install it by following the relevant instructions for your system.

Upgrade

Should you need to update to the latest version, you can do:

pip install --upgrade asc2mb

Use

After pip install worked, it is now installed on your path, and the command asc2mb should be available:

asc2mb ~/path/to/xml.xml ~/path/to/save/timetable.csv ~/path/to/save/classes.csv

It takes only a second to run. It reports how many records it processed.

Algorithm

This script uses input from more than one international school to generate the expected output. The key to success is using aSc Divisions to match the uniq_ids found in ManageBac classes.

Help

For built-in help, and list of options and their functionality:

asc2mb --help

Miscellaneous

The command takes three required arguments, and there are additional options as well. The three required arguments tell the program where the xml file is located, and where to save the two csv files.

The options depend on your school's needs. For example, the class id is how ManageBac knows which class you are referring to, so that program helps you derive the class ID based on information contains in the xml file. It's up to you to ensure there are classes that have those IDs in ManageBac, but the program does produce a csv so that they can be uploaded in bulk.

By default, class id uses the pattern {class_.short}_{division.name}, which means "the short name of the class" plus an underscore, plus the name of the division." At the time of publication, having a different pattern is only possible by contacting the author (or, if you're a keen developer, add a pull request).

If you run the program without any options, it'll prompt you to enter them.