Getting Started with Transcripts

Overview

The transcript module is a very capable and highly customizable engine. The transcript module integrates tightly with all of the other modules in Genesis.

Transcripts can be display a large variety of student data such as attendance, test, grades and GPA records.

Each school in the district has its own transcript configuration. A school can optionally use another school's transcript configuration.

Transcript Form

A transcript form is a PDF file that contains an empty transcript. When a user requests a transcript for a user, Genesis loads the blank PDF form and fills it in with the student's transcript data.

The transcript form is stored as 2 separate PDF files.

The first PDF is called the courses page, and the other PDF is called the activities page.

Using the default Transcript Form

A transcript form must first be setup in order to view transcripts. Navigate to the Transcript>Setup screen. Click the "Modify" button to the right of the template.

Click on the Create button at the bottom of the screen to copy in the Generic Transcript Form to the current school.

At this point, you should now be able to view a student's transcript from the Student Data>Modify Student>Transcript screen.

Using another School's Transcript Form

The "Transcript School" feature allows one school's students to use another school's transcript form. This feature is useful for districts that have "virtual schools" setup for groups of students (such as inactive or incarcerated students).

To use this feature, navigate to the Setup>Schools>Modify School screen; and set the transcript school drop down to the school's transcript that you want to use.

Transcript Form Fields

A form field is a piece of data that is drawn onto the Transcript Form when the Transcript is rendered for a student.

To see all of the fields on a transcript, navigate to the Transcript>Setup>Fields screen.

This screen will show you all of the fields that are to be rendered for the current school.

If the current school is using the Transcript School option; this screen will more than likely be blank; you will need to modify the fields on the original school's transcript.

A transcript form field is comprised of 13 parameters.

They are:

Field

The field (also known as a macro) describes the data that is to be printed. The Transcript Field Reference section contains a list of all of the available fields that can be printed. Examples of fields are SCHOOL_NAME and STUDENT_NAME.

Copy

If you wish to display a field on a transcript more than once, you will need to make another copy. If STUDENT_NAME were to appear twice on the form, you would make two entries with the field parameter set to STUDENT_NAME and the copy parameters set to 1 and 2. Normally fields only appear once on a form.

Font

Select from one of the 3 built in fonts (Helvetica, Times-Roman and Courier) or a custom True Type Font. To load custom True Type Fonts onto your Genesis Server, navigate to the Core>Fonts screen.

Size

The desired size of the font represented in points. The most common sizes are 9, 11 and 14.

X and Y

The desired location to render the field relative to the bottom left corner of the page in points. (0, 0 is the bottom left)

W (Width)

The width of the field in points. If the value to be printed cannot fit in this width, the value will be truncated to fit.

Align (Alignment)

How to align the text within the width of the field. The values are Left, Right and Center.

Seq (Sequence)

A number used to set the order in which the field is displayed in the list of fields on the Transcript>Setup>Fields screen.

Option

Some fields (macros) have options that are associated with them. Refer to the field (macro) reference to see what values may be required here.

Sample

Sample text that is displayed when you are looking at a sample output of the Transcript.

ForGpa

This column is used for the "Selectable GPA Feature" feature described on the Transcript Field Reference section.

Part

Determines if the field is printed on the Courses or the Activities page of the transcript.