October 2006

EMS DATABASE LINKS AT
WARRINGTON & NORTH SOMERSET

A link between EnsembleXP.Net and the EMS pupil database is now up and running at both Warrington and North Somerset Music Services.

When a user enters a new pupil into EnsembleXP.Net, they can click a search button to find matching pupil names in the EMS database. The results are listed, and the user selects a pupil. The pupil’s record card is automatically populated with information such as their address details, UPID, ethnicity, and date of birth.

The setup for this link involves the installation of a view (supplied by Paritor) to the EMS database. This view is a definition of the information that EnsembleXP.Net needs, with a secure account giving the system access to the EMS (Oracle) database.

‘The view does not update the database’ said a Capita representative ‘and will only be used to read a few rows at a time, so it does not represent a risk to the integrity of the database, or to other applications which use the database.’

An EMS link been in use at Staffordshire Performing Arts for two years: ‘Importing records into Ensemble using the External Pupil Database Look-Up is invaluable to our service’ says Jon Kitching, Senior Support Officer. ‘It enables us to enter hundreds of new pupil records each year accurately and efficiently. Alternatively, this information would have to be entered manually from handwritten forms and registers, leading to inevitable inaccuracies, errors and delays.'