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If you are comfortable writing computer software, you can of course use the tools that best suit you. Otherwise, create your XML files using your operating system's built-in text editor. On Windows, the text editor is called Notepad, and on OS X, it is called TextEdit.


Note

Note: These applications can work with file formats other than plain text. Be sure to save your files in plain text format.


Warning

Important: Do not use XML Notepad to edit your XML files. It adds a BOM (Byte Order Mark) to the file and will cause the download job to abnormally terminate and an error message may display indicating that the XML file contains a BOM.

If you run your download and get the BOM error, you can take one of the following actions to remove it:

  • Copy and paste your XML content into a plain text editor or some other suitable tool to remove the extra characters (the BOM), such at Notepad. You can save the file as ANSI to remove the BOM.
  • Switch to an XML editor that allows you to save the content and remove the BOM, such as one of the following:
  • XML Copy Editor

To remove the BOM, click on options from the Tools menu and de-select "Save UTF byte order mark". Save your file.

  • Notepad ++

To remove the BOM, select "Encode in UTF-8 without BOM" from the Encoding menu. Save your file.

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Note

Note: Refer to the following information for supported parameter key configuration in the ccctransfer.properties file prior to changing your keystore password in the next steps:


KeyDescriptionRequired?Default Value
javax.net.ssl.keyStore

Specifies the Java Keystore that contains the certificate to validate your college to the CCC Transfer Server

Yes

FTT_HOME/conf/client.jks

javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword

Specifies the password for the keystore that javax.net.ssl.keyStore indicates.

Yes

password



3.  Change your college keystore password using the steps in this section. When you first receive the Download Client from the CCCTech Center, a certificate is created for your college that controls which MIS code(s) you can access for downloads. The default password for this initial certificate is “password.” The CCCTech Center recommends that you change this password using the following steps.

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Note

Note: Your format file must always be stored in the formats directory of the Download Client files in order for it to be processed.


Running a Download Job

After installing the Download client and configuring your job and format XML files, use the following steps to run a job to download your college's student applications (in order to import them into your college's SIS).

  1. Open a command prompt (Start Menu -> type command for Windows) or open your Terminal window (Mac/ *nix).
  2. At the command, navigate to the directory where your job and format definitions XML files are located and located and then type the following command:

    • For Windows: 
      download.bat jobs\StandardJob.xml

    • For Mac/*nix: .
      /download.sh jobs/StandardJob.xml

    Image Added

  3. Press your enter key and the download file will run.
  4. You can navigate to the downloaded file and open it in a text editor to see the downloaded data (remember that you set the directory for the download file to be saved to in the job XML file's file element directory attribute, in step 9, above). The data for all student applications that have not previously been downloaded appears in a single row, per student as in the image below.
  5. Follow the data import steps for your college's SIS to import the download file data. It is highly recommended you perform this for a test SIS database to ensure the downloaded data imports into your SIS correctly.
Info
Tip: You can set up a chron job to automate your application data downloads to occur on a regular basis.


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Job File Configuration Details

The job file contains information about what student applications to download and what directories to use for the output file. A job file is created for each download job. When a job is set up in the college's scheduler, the job file name is passed as a parameter to the job.

The Job File

The job file controls the high-level aspects of the download, such as the server from which to retrieve the data. It also allows you to specify multiple downloads that may retrieve different datasets or present the data in different formats.

The Format Definitions File

The format definitions file allows you to select the specific fields you want to retrieve from the student applications and control the format of the data that the Download client delivers to you.

Sample Job file


Attribute NameDescriptionFunction
url Specify the server URL for

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the system from which you want

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to download (see list below).


This allows you to create different jobs to download different jobs to download from different environments. Choose the URL for the environment you want to download, from the table below.


misCode

Specify the MIS code(s) for

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the college.

The college can only download applications for which they are authorized.


Sample 1 – Standard download job for all three Contra Costa Colleges

Panel
titleSample 1

<job url="https://admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransfer" misCode="311,312,313"
xmlns="http://xmlns.cccnext.org/xfer">

<file directory="c:/temp" formatId="ccMainV1" prefix="contracosta" suffix=".txt" />
<file directory="c:/temp" formatId="ccInstV1" prefix="contracosta" suffix=".txt" /> </job>

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Warning

The college can only download applications for which they are authorized.

Filter Elements

Any given job has the basic constraint that only applications for the specified MIS codes can be retrieved. An optional filter is allowed to further restrict which student application data gets downloaded for a given job. With no filter specified, only data for "new" student applications for that MIS code are retrieved. An application is considered new if it has not previously been downloaded by the Download client.

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Environments for the URL Attribute

App Type/Environment

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 URL
Standard

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App PILOThttps://pilot.admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransfer
Standard

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PRODUCTIONhttps://admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransfer
BOG

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PILOThttps://pilot.admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransferbog
BOG

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PRODUCTIONhttps://admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransferbog
International

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PILOThttps://pilot.admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransferintl
International

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PRODUCTIONhttps://admin.openccc.net:8443/ccctransferintl

<file> element

The file element specifies the directory to create the download file, how the file name is formatted and which format definition to use.

Note

Note: For Datatel colleges who have two definitions (one for main and one for Institutions attended), specifying the same prefix and suffix will put the output into a single file. If you want the output in two files, use a different prefix name parameter. The example above outputs to one file.

<file directory="/somedir/downloads" prefix="main" suffix=".txt" formatId="fixedMain1" />

Attribute NameDescriptionConditions
directory

The directory the download file will be created in.

The directory must exist.

prefix

The prefix of the download file.


suffix

The suffix of the download file. 

i.e. .txt or .csv
formatId

The format id to use.

The format id must exist in a formatdefinitions.xml file, specified by the id attribute.


Note

Note: A format definition file can contain more than one id attribute as in the sample below. However, format id's are intended to be unique. If you have the same id in more than one format definition file, the job will use the first one found in the formats folder. Also, more than one job file can point to the same format file (e.g. – you can set up job files for beta and production that point to the same format file.)


os

Defines the type of

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carriage return or line feed character.

os="windows" (Uses CR/LF) os="unix" (Uses LF) If os is omitted, it uses "windows" as the default.


Full File Name

Besides the prefix and suffix, the date and time are also included in the file name. Based on this example: <file directory="/ somedir / downloads" prefix="main" suffix=".txt" formatId="fixedMain1" /If the transfer job ran on feb 6 2014, the file name would be / somedir / downloads / main-140206-081228.txt where "140206" represents the date and "081228" represents the run time of the job.


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Format Definitions File Configuration Details

The format definitions file is an XML file used to define student application data download format:

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  • Standard application data fields
  • CC Promise Grant data fields
  • International application data fields
  • Supplemental Questions answers


Note

Note: You must always include the ccc_id field in your format definitions XML file for download jobs and include it as the data your store in your SIS. The California Community College Chancellor's office requires that each unique student ID be included in your MIS reporting data.

Sample format definition file

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