Pupil cards

Pupil cards to print, with the name, the class, the school, the logo of the group if it has one, and the code the gate scanner reads: a barcode, a QR or both.

What it is for

Here you print the card each pupil carries and passes at the gate of the group, so their attendance is recorded from its code.

Who uses it

The page opens for whoever holds “View pupil cards”; it is for reading, nothing on it changes anything. In the built-in roles: Owner, Manager, Team member, Principal. They are granted to any role under Settings → Roles and permissions.

Step by step

1. Pick the school, the stage, the grade and the class (each list inside the one before it), or leave them to list all your pupils; the page shows one printed sheet of cards at a time, by the size chosen.
2. Check the card in the preview at the top as it will print: the name, the class, the school and the code. The logo of the group shows on the card when there is one.
3. Tick the cards you want (all are ticked to start, with “Select all” and “Clear selection”), then press “Print”. With none ticked nothing is printed.
4. In the print dialog choose actual size (100%), not “fit to page”, or the card will not be 85.6 × 54 mm. For a card printer pick the printer, paper size = the card, scale 100%, margins none.
5. If a pupil's card is lost or copied, press the button beside their name under “Reprint” at the foot of the cards and confirm: a new private code is made for their card, so the server refuses the old one and records nothing for it within about five seconds (a gate tablet that has not refreshed its list may still show it green for up to ten minutes, but records nothing for it); then print the new card from this page. Printing a card on its own never cancels the old one.
6. If a tablet is lost or a school's cards were copied, press “Reprint all shown” at the top of the page and confirm: a new private code is made for the card of every pupil shown on the page, so the server refuses the old ones. Each page needs its own press; then print the new cards.
7. Whoever may manage the settings over the whole group has a “Card settings” button: the code printed, its source, the card size and “Copies per pupil” (1 to 10, the default is 1): a pupil's identical cards print one after another, the preview shows one card, the tick is the pupil's and covers all their copies, and the page still lists the same number of pupils so the sheets grow by the copies. The often-absent, lateness, group-message and calendar-order settings are on the “Attendance settings” page.

How it works

The group has four settings that apply to all its cards. The code printed: a barcode (Code 128), a QR code, or both, carrying the same value. The code's source: the card's private code (the default), or the National ID / Iqama number. And the number of copies per pupil (1 by default, up to 10). The card size list being: credit-card size, 85.6 × 54 mm, ten to an A4 sheet with cut marks (the default); one card per page for a card printer, where the page is the card; small (24 to a sheet); medium (12); and large (8). The private code is a random number for each pupil, not their pupil number; the barcode or QR carries it and the gate matches it: it is never printed as text and is in no list, file or log, so a printed or guessed pupil number, or another card's barcode, is not enough to record a pupil's arrival. The pupil's number is printed under the code as text for the office to read (and no number is printed under it when the source is the national ID). Every card printed before this change carries the pupil's number, not the private code, so the gate refuses it with “Old card: print it again” and all of them must be printed again. “Reprint” makes a new code for one pupil, so the server refuses their old card within seconds (a lost or copied card; a gate tablet that has not refreshed its list may still show it green for up to ten minutes, but records nothing for it); printing alone cancels nothing. A pupil's card never carries a mobile number. It carries the identity number only if the group chose the national ID as the code's source, and printing those needs the key “A pupil's national ID (card code, search)”, given by the owner of the group; every time the page of cards that carry the ID number is shown it is recorded by the number of pupils, never their names or numbers. The list holds the live pupils of the schools within your access only.

On the page

• The school, stage, grade and class.
• The code's type and source and the card size in use, and what to set in the print dialog.
• One card as it will print.
• Prints the ticked cards of this page.
• A card for each pupil: the name, the class and the code, and a tick to pick it.

Questions

Why doesn't a pupil appear?

Because they are deleted or not live, or not in your schools.

What happens to a card printed before this change?

It carries the pupil's number, not the private code, so the gate refuses it with “Old card: print it again” and records no arrival. Print all your cards again from this page. If a card is lost or copied after that, press “Reprint” beside the pupil's name and confirm: the server refuses their old card within seconds (a gate tablet that has not refreshed its list may still show it green for up to ten minutes, but records nothing for it), and you print the new one.

Will I find a pupil's identity number on the card?

No, unless the group chose the national ID as the code's source; then no number is printed under the code, and whoever scans the code can read it.

What does an ID card do at the gate offline?

The gate tablet never holds identity numbers in the clear, so it asks the server first about each ID card. If the connection is down, it keeps only a copy of the number sealed with the server's public key, which only the server can read, and the screen says “Card saved: checked when online”; the server opens it and records the arrival when the connection is back the same school day, and what the server has not read before the day ends stays as “An old scan, not recorded” for staff to see. A card with the private code works offline. But a value with six or more digits that is not a bare number, or a tablet that has not yet received the server's key, is not accepted offline.

I have cards printed by another system with the ID number. Will they work?

Yes: choose the national ID as the source, and the gate reads a barcode or QR that carries the digits alone, with no reprinting.

Why do I see no cards and am asked for a key?

Because the group chose the national ID as the code's source, and printing it needs the key “A pupil's national ID (card code, search)”; ask the owner of the group for it.