Edval for IT Managers
Introduction
Edval offers a variety of products which include desktop based software and cloud online products.
System requirements - Please see our Knowledge Base for information on Minimum System Requirements and Edval server addresses.Desktop Products
Edval Timetable Application
Edval.exe application is the executable application for running the timetable database ".etz file". It is used for cyclical timetable construction, maintenance and publishing as well as managing individual student timetabling-related information.
Terminology:
Edval.exe: The Edval application
.etz file: The file type database created by using the Edval.exe application
Key
points:
- The Edval.exe
application reads and writes the .etz file.
- A single
user only may work in a particular .etz file at any one time.
- Attempts to
access the same Edval .etz file at the same time will result in an onscreen
message that the file is already open, and the opportunity to open a read only version of the file for the second user.
Edval.exe
can be used for class-list management, but because of the single user-at-a-time
limitation, we recommend schools perform
class-list management tasks using the alternate program ‘Edval Staff.exe’.
Setting up Edval Application
There
is no installation program for Edval.exe. Installation simply consists of
making the .exe program available to the
relevant users, usually on the school
fileserver.
For
first-time use (or later if the auto-update feature is not working and a fresh
version is needed), you can download Edval.exe via your browser by navigating to this URL:
Often timetable users will have local copies of
Edval.exe because it is common for them to want to work offline on the data.
In this case, it is important that all versions of the software are kept up to
date with the latest versions.
Updating Edval Application
Edval.exe
has an auto-update feature, which can be triggered manually or automatically. Typically,
users, not IT managers, manage this update process.
Further information can be found here on our Knowledge Base.
Further information can be found here on our Knowledge Base.
The .etz file
Edval stores all data relating to the cyclical timetable in a single file, with the extension .etz. These files can be saved in any location, e.g. on the Timetabler’s desktop PC or on the school file-server.
Edval recommends naming the file: ‘<School name> <Academic Year>.etz’.
Eg. Edval High School 2022.etz
A
single timetable file can store data for multiple semesters; however, if the
timetable undergoes extensive change
from one semester to the next, the Timetabler might create different files for
each semester.
It is common for the Timetabler to work with multiple files representing either multiple experimental versions of the timetable, or different semesters. However, there is one master version of the timetable at each point in time. Any copies of the master version should be given a meaningful name not to be confused with the live master file.
If
you have a primary school attached to your school, and they also use Edval for
their timetabling, but with different bell-times, then this may be stored in a
different .etz file, or use the ‘multi-grid’ feature to manage all year levels in
the one .etz file.
Invoking Edval.exe
Users of Edval.exe will open the appropriate .etz file, by:
- double-clicking on the .etz file (recommended)
(Note: the first time you do this you may need to set up the file association to open with Edval.exe) - dragging the .etz file’s icon onto the Edval.exe
icon
- double
clicking on Edval.exe icon and
selecting ‘File >
Open’ (not recommended)
Edval Staff Application
Edval Staff application is used for class list management, While timetablers can also do class list management in Edval timetable .etz file this application allows multiple users to use and perform class list management simultaneously. For more information on how to setup Edval Staff application please click here.
Folder Permission Set Up
The
folder permissions of the locations where the Edval.exe application and the
.etz files should be checked for desired preferences.
For example, files are stored in:
H:\Staff\Timetable\MyHighSchool
20XX.etz
If
only the Edval users should be able to edit the timetable data, they should have READ/WRITE access to
these files stored in H:\Staff\Timetable. Other staff can have READ-ONLY access.
All
staff will obviously also need EXECUTE permission
on any folder used to store the Edval.exe file. It is not important
whether staff have LIST FOLDER CONTENTS permissions on any of these
folders, or not, if they can see the ‘EdvalStaff.exe’ icon.
Folder permissions are the best way to control
access to the Edval data. Edval does not
have a concept of user accounts.
Edval.exe
does have a ‘password-protect’ feature on .etz files. This will prevent
unauthorised users from modifying
an .etz file via Edval, and furthermore since the data in an .etz file is
encrypted, this effectively means
users cannot modify the data. But
obviously this file-level password does not offer protection against unauthorised users deleting the files. So, this password protect feature is not recommended. Setting up the password in Edval 10 is explained here.
Cloud Online Products
Please read our documentation on cloud modules here.
FAQ
Is it possible for the .etz file to get corrupted?
Every time the .etz file is saved, Edval will:
1. Output the data into a file with a .etz.new suffix
2. If that was successful, it will archive the .etz file and rename the .etz.new to .etz.
That
means that you will never have ‘half a database’: the update should be automatic. If a network outage occurs while a user is using the program,
they will get the “lastgood” saved version.
Additionally, the fact that the database is
written out in full on each save means that the data is always in a consistent state, i.e., conforming
to basic data integrity constraints. Data corruption can be introduced if a user or a
program other than Edval modifies the .etz file, however this would be considered ‘malicious misuse’ and Edval does not have protection against malicious misuse.
Are there any possible causes of data loss we should be worried about in desktop timetable product?
Edval
automatically creates a set of backup versions of each .etz file, in a folder
called ‘Autobaks’. These versions
cycle automatically. It is generally possible to find old versions of the data
hours, days or weeks old. To have catastrophic data loss would require that all these files
disappear.
The most common reason a user would go back
to these files is because a large set of changes
have been made which they wish to undo.
Is the online cloud modules backed up regularly by Edval?
Yes, Edval online school datasets are backed up regularly every night. Please contact Edval cloud support team for more information on edval-cloud.support@tes.com
Where is the school data stored online?
Edval stores schools' online data in one of Amazon's web service data centre located in Sydney - Australia.
Can Edval Timetable damage other systems?
The Edval software only writes
to the data-files as indicated
above.
Edval software
writes small amounts
of data into the Windows registry
of each user.
It writes
into two locations:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Edval
and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\TFC
How can I export data out of Edval?
There
are many ways to export timetable and class list data out of the .etz file. One way is using the LISS protocol: www.liss.org.au . In
addition, there are a wide range of flat file exports (.csv or .txt) –
see “File > Export data” and customised system exports – see “File > Synchronise”. Also, any screen can be exported to Excel.
See
the Knowledge Base for detailed information on the available exports.
Does Edval online products support SAML single sign on functionality?
Yes we do support single sign on, more can be read here.
Does the cloud products run or utilize any systems that are vulnerable to Log4shell/Log4j (CVE-2021-44228) vulnerability? If yes, is there a patch for mitigating this vulnerability in place and need no updating?
All of our Java Cloud products were updated with framework releases that fix the Log4shell/Log4j vulnerability, we are keeping them updated regularly against other reported vulnerabilities.
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