Chapter 5: The ARTS Dictionary, Degree Maps and Other Tables
Last Revision: 02/23/06
Chapter Summary
This chapter will explain how to maintain the ARTS Dictionary tables (Criteria, Actions, and Grades), as well as Degree Maps and how to set and maintain ARTS configurations.
The ARTS Dictionary
The ARTS Dictionary is comprised of the Grade Table, Criteria Table, and the Actions or Consequences Table. These important tables are used by ARTS to define the grades, requirement criteria, and consequences within a given requirement. NOTE: The Grade Table, Criteria Table, and Actions Table you edit or use for ARTS forms is determined by which ARTS configuration you are using. ARTS configurations are explained later in this chapter.
The Grade Table is comprised of a list of all grades available from SAKU that ARTS processes. It is used to make up grade groups that consist of certain grades determined by the school. These grade groups are used by the degree requirements to determine if a course"s grade meets a particular requirement"s grade criteria. A sample grade table is shown in Fig. 5.1.
Creating & Editing the Grade Table
To access the Grade Table, do the following:
- Access the ARTS menu, and select "Setup". Click on "Dictionary", then "Grade Table". You should see the Grade Table Editor start (see Fig. 5.1). If the Grade Table does not exist for your ARTS configuration, it will create one.
- Select the appropriate row and press "Enter" to begin editing the grades. If you are adding new grades, enter your LOWEST grade, grade points (using 0.00 format), and whether or not the grade is to be used in the GPA calculations, hitting "Enter" after each entry. You can also enter the letters corresponding to the appropriate grade groups in which the grade will reside, if you have grade groups set up. You don't have to type the letters in any particular order, the editor will re-order the letters appropriately. Each grade group has a representative letter that is displayed in the Grade Groups section. Checking the appropriate grade group checkboxes a-z works the same way as typing the grade group letters in the grade groups blank.
- Your cursor should now be over in the Rank field. This field is used by ARTS to rank repeated courses by grade, so that the course with the higher-ranking grade will be chosen for printing over the courses with lower-ranking grades. The field uses a number up to two digits long, and the smaller the number, the higher the ranking. Enter a number if you wish to rank grades, and press "Enter" afterwards.
Figure 5.1--Sample Grade Table.
- To make additional entries, you can press "Insert" or "End" to add a blank row, and press "Enter" to key in the grade information. Grades should be in descending order for future readability. You can also use the "Ins Row" and "Append" buttons to add rows.
- Enter your grade, grade points, Y/N for USE GPA, and rank, hitting "Enter" after each entry. Repeat the previous steps for all grades until you are finished entering grades.
- After all grades are entered, you need to set up the Grade Groups. Press "Tab" to go to the Grade Groups section of the screen, or select it with the mouse. The Grade Groups section should appear white, and you can use the up and down arrow keys to navigate this area (see Fig. 3.25). Select the desired letter, starting with "a", and press "Enter" to name a Grade Group. You are limited to eight characters. Press "Enter" afterward. Repeat the process to name all of the grade groups you will be using. NOTE: You can't have more than 26 grade groups.
- When you have named all of your Grade Groups, press "Tab" or use the mouse to return to the grades side of the screen. The Grade Groups section should appear gray, and the grades section should now appear white.
- If you haven't already done so, you will now need to enter a series of letters under the Groups header that corresponds to the Grade Groups that your grade belongs to. Select the grade you wish to edit, and press "Enter" four times to get to the Groups field within the desired grade.
- Type the appropriate letters that correspond to your existing grade groups. You don't have to type the letters in any particular order, the editor will re-order the letters appropriately. You can also use the checkboxes below the grades section to select the appropriate grade groups for each grade.
Fig. 5.2--Creating Grade Groups.
- Repeat this process for all grades in the table.
- When you are done editing your grades, press "F10" or click on "Save/Exit" to save and exit. If you do not wish to save, you can simply close the window or press "Esc" and click on "OK" to exit the editor.
The Criteria Table
Criteria (also called "definitions") are words that stand for definable characteristics of the transcript data. For example, the word "RESIDENT" might refer to a course taken at this institution only. In the criteria table, the actual field value(s) within a course that determine(s) this characteristic would be defined.
Creating and Editing the Criteria Table
If you plan to use a different Criteria Table filename than CRITERIA, you need to change your ARTS configuration and set up your configuration to use that Criteria Table filename instead of the default CRITERIA. To do this, see later in this chapter on changing your ARTS configuration. To create and edit the Criteria Table, follow these steps:
Editing the Criteria Table
- Access the ARTS menu, and select "Setup", "Dictionary", then "Criteria Table".
- If the Criteria Table does not exist for your ARTS configuration, it will create one. You should now be at the Criteria Table (Fig. 3.26). The Criteria Table consists of six columns of data that are described below:
- Name. This is the name of the criterion. The maximum length of this field is eight characters. There are certain names that are standard with, and always looked for by ARTS. They are STANDARD, PSEUDO, REPEAT, and TERMGPA. These names are described along with others in the Appendix of this manual under Criteria Dictionary.
- Domain. This determines what type of field on the transcript will be used to match this definition. Among the usable domains are COURSE, TERM, DEGREE, and CRITERIA.
- Field. This is the specific field on the transcript that contains the data used to match this definition. All usable fields are listed in the Appendix under Criteria Dictionary.
- Compare. This is how the value in the student"s transcript is to be compared with the value that is defined in the Criteria Table. The comparison sends back a "True" when the following occurs:
= Transcript field is equal to definition value
# Transcript field is not equal to definition value
< Transcript field is less than definition value
> Transcript field is greater than definition value
{ Transcript field is less than or equal to definition value
} Transcript field is greater than or equal to definition value
C Transcript field contains the definition value
E Transcript field does not contain (excludes) the definition value
- Value. This field contains the actual value that will be related to the transcript value using the relational operators above. The maximum number of characters allowed in this field is eight. Once you enter the value, ARTS will automatically calculate the required length of the field and place periods (".") to cover the rest. If you want to eliminate any remaining spaces from the value, type periods after the value and ARTS will not pad it with spaces to the default width.
- Comment. This is the field you use to enter comments about a particular criterion.
- If you wish to add a Criterion in a particular spot, move the arrow to the fields immediately below it and press "Insert". You can also click on the "Ins Row" button. Enter its Name, Domain, Field, and other information, pressing "Enter" after each entry.
- If you wish to add a Criterion at the bottom of the list, press "End" or click on the "Append" button. This will take you to the bottom of the list, and open a new space for the new Criterion.
- If you wish to delete a Criterion, press "Delete", or click on the "Delete" button.
- When you are done editing your Criteria, Click on "Save and Exit" or press "F10" to save and exit. If you do not wish to save, you can press "Esc" or click on "Cancel" to exit the editor.
Figure 5.3--Sample Criteria Table.
Actions refer to changes to requirements and courses that are brought about by events during requirements processing. One event might be a requirement exceeding an hours limit. Another event might be a pseudo ("NOTE") course appearing on the transcript. These and other events can trigger Actions such as the skipping of a term in processing, or the increasing of total hours required.
Creating and Editing the Actions Table
If you plan to use a different Actions Table filename than ACTIONS, you need to change your ARTS configuration and set up your configuration to use that Actions Table filename instead of the default ACTIONS. To do this, see later in this chapter on changing your ARTS configuration. To create and edit the Actions Table, do the following:
Figure 5.4--Sample Actions Table.
- Access the ARTS menu, and select ARTS. Select "Setup", "Dictionary", then "Actions/Consequences Table". If an Actions table does not exist for your ARTS configuration, a new one will be created. This will produce the Actions Table Editor (Fig. 5.4).
- The Actions Table has seven columns that contain the following fields:
- Name. This field contains the name of the Action or Consequence. The maximum number of characters in this field is eight. If a pseudo-course, or "NOTE" course is the cause of the action, the course needs to be entered "NOTE####", where "####" is the note number.
action, or "act". This field contains the action that will be taken. Possible codes are as follows:
Code
Letter | action performed | Valid Objects (defined below)
|
| A | Add | C
|
| C | Cancel | C, T
|
| H | Adjust Hours | C, R, M, A, L
|
| M | Mark | C, T, R
|
| P | Print(explan. note) | C, T, R
|
| S | Set | C, R, L, H |
NOTE: Do not confuse this action field with the Action defined in the Actions Table. They are called the same name, but the action field is a part of the Action that is being defined. To avoid confusion, the Action being defined will have a capitol "A", and the action field within the Actions Table will have a lower-case "a".
-
Object, or "obj". This is the object to take action upon. Possible object codes are as follows:
|
Code | Object |
|
C | Course |
|
R | Requirement |
|
T | Term |
|
L | Low Hour boundary (Action is S) or Hour Limit (Action is H) |
|
H | High Hour boundary |
|
M | Minimum Hours |
|
A | Actual Hours |
- Requirement. This is the Requirement, if any, to act upon. Requirement names have an eight-character maximum for length.
- Course. This is the Course, if any, to act upon, e.g. ENGL0101.
- Value. This is the value to use when performing the specified action.
- Message. This field contains the message that is printed as an explanatory note each time ARTS performs the Action. If the first character of this message is a blank, then this field is treated as a comment and will not print.
- If you wish to add an Action, press "Insert" or "End". You can also click on "Add". This will open a space for the new Action. If you wish to delete an Action, press "Del", or click on the "Delete" button.
- Enter its Name, Action, Object, and other information, pressing "Enter" after each entry.
- When you are done editing your Actions, press "F10" to save and exit. You can also click on "Save/Exit". If you do not wish to save, you can press "Esc" and click "OK" to exit the editor, or click on "Cancel".
Possible Action-Object Examples:
-
H R: This action adds hours onto a specific requirement that is indicated in the "Requirement" field.
- M C: This action puts a mark on a course that satisfies this particular requirement. The character used to mark the course is specified in the "Value" field.
- S R: This action is used to force a student into a particular degree. The catalog is actually specified in the "Requirement" field and the degree is specified in the "Course" field.
- A C: This action is used to add a course to a required course list for a requirement. This is often used satisfy a requirement with a course that is not ordinarily in the course list of that requirement.
The Actions Table and EFS
The Actions Table can also include "NOTE" entries. These entries are used in conjunction with EFS to cause events to happen during ARTS processing. See the Chapter 8 on EFS notes later in this manual.
Printing the Dictionary
To print the ARTS dictionary, follow these steps:
- Be sure that you have the correct ARTS configuration selected. More information about ARTS configurations is available later in this chapter.
- Access the ARTS menu, and select "Setup", "Dictionary", then "Print Dictionary".
- The program will run, then the complete printed dictionary will appear in Wordpad. You can view or print it from Wordpad.
Degree Maps are used to determine which degree requirements and FIB forms are used depending upon the major, minor, or area code(s) of the student. Degree Maps can also specify multiple requirements and FIB forms depending upon the student"s initial term or number of hours the student has completed. The Degree Map selections can be overridden at ARTS form printing time (see Chapter 2).
Creating & Editing Degree Maps
The Degree Map has a complete list of degree codes on the left that it relates to degree requirements and FIB forms on the right (see fig. 5.7 for a sample Degree Map).
In order to create and/or edit a new Degree Map, do the following:
- Access the ARTS menu. Select "Library", then "Edit/Print Degree Map" (see fig. 5.5).
- Type or select the name of the Degree Map you wish to edit or create (see fig. 5.6).
- If the name you typed in is for a new Degree Map, a prompt will appear asking you if you wish to create a new Degree Map. Click "OK" if you do.
- You should now see a screen with thirteen columns (see fig. 5.7 for a sample Degree Map).
- Use your mouse or up and down arrow keys to navigate to the item you wish to edit.
- Press "Enter" to begin entering data in the fields, which are described below. Press "Enter" after making each entry.
Fig. 5.5--Degree Map Editor Navigation.
Fig. 5.6--Degree Map Open Dialog.
The following fields are shown in Fig. 5.7:
- Degree Type(Tp). This field contains what type of degree you want ARTS to recognize here. The three possibilities are:
- D for degree (the first form pulled for the student)
- M for major (the second form pulled for the student)
- N for minor (the third form pulled for the student)
- A for area (the fourth form pulled for the student)
- School (Sch). This field contains the code for the school in which the degree is offered. The maximum number of characters available is three. The wildcard character "*" can be used to match any school. If the student"s four-character school code contains this character, it will consider it a match.
- Plan. This field contains the name of the plan that is obtained from SAKU. The preceding Degree Type field determines whether this is considered to be a degree, major, minor, or area. The wildcard character "*" can be used to match any degree of the specified type. Figure 3.43 illustrates many different degrees with different degree types. Note that you can also use "*BA" or "*BS" to look for plans that have "-BA" or "-BS" at the end of their names.
- Term Type. This field contains the type of term range that is in the two columns to the right. Possible codes are:
- I for initial term of enrollment
- D for term that the degree was declared (this is considered to be the "Requirement Term")
- S for initial term in current school
- M for term that the major was declared (this is considered to be the "Requirement Term")
- X for ignore terms
Figure 5.7--Sample Degree Map.
- Term (Lo and Hi). These two fields contain the range of terms for which the requirements and/or forms can be used for the corresponding degree code. If "X" is placed as the Term Type to the left of these fields, the Term will be ignored. NOTE: If you wish to make your degree map term-sensitive and you want to include students who have not enrolled yet in your degree map, you will need to insert lines in your degree map that have "0000" in the Lo and Hi columns above the regular entries. This is because the SAKU value for initial term is "0000" when the student has not yet enrolled, and ARTS does not understand "0000" terms in the ranges between semesters.
- Hours Type(Tp). This field contains the type of hours range that is in the two columns to the right. Possible codes are:
- R--for the number of resident hours completed at the time of major declaration
- T--for the number of transfer hours completed at the time of major declaration
- A--for the number of total hours completed at time of major declaration
- X--for ignore hours
- Hours (Lo and Hi). These two three-digit fields contain the low and high hours for which the requirements and/or forms can be used for the corresponding degree code. If "X" is placed as the Hours Type to the left of these fields, the Hours will be ignored.
- Requirements(Catalog and File). These two fields contain the Catalog and the Filename (without the .req extension) of the Requirements to be used with this Degree Code. A "*" in the first column of these fields tells ARTS to skip this student.
- Forms(Catalog and File). These two fields contain the Catalog and the Filename (without the .fib extension) of the FIB to be used with this Degree Code.
- If you wish to make an entry on the Degree Map that is at the end of all entries, click on "Append" or press "End". If you wish to make an entry on the Degree Map that is in a certain position, move the cursor to the position immediately below it, and click on "Ins Row" or press "Insert".
- If you wish to delete an entry on the Degree Map, navigate the cursor to the entry and click on the "Delete" button or press "Delete". If you accidentally delete an item that you didn't want to, click on "Cancel" or press "Esc" and then click "OK" to exit without saving and your degree map will not be saved. Access the Degree Map again to continue editing.
- After you have entered all of your Degree Map information, click on "Save and Exit" or press "F10" to save and exit or press "Esc" and click on "OK" to exit without saving.
Printing the Degree Map
If you wish to print out the degree map, click on "Print" to generate a report.
ARTS Processing, EFS, and the Degree Map
ARTS processes the Degree Map by starting at the top and working its way to the bottom. This is important, because if you have multiple ARTS form possibilities for one major code within a degree map, it is advantageous to put the more frequently used requirements closer to the top of the degree map to speed up processing. NOTE: If you wish to make your degree map term-sensitive and you want to include students who have not enrolled yet in your degree map, you will need to insert lines in your degree map that have "0000" in the Lo and Hi columns above the regular entries. This is because the ARTS Extract value for initial term is "0000" when the student has not yet enrolled, and ARTS does not understand "0000" terms in the ranges between semesters. NOTE: It is possible to temporarily override the student"s Major Codes by using EFS. See Chapter 8 for details.
ARTS checks the Configuration for the setting it needs to find the correct Grade Table, Criteria Table, and Actions Table for all ARTS forms you request. To change the Configuration that ARTS uses to do this for individual ARTS functions, do the following:
- Access the ARTS main menu, and select "Setup". Select "Set Configuration". A dropdown list box will appear on the ARTS main screen (see Figure 5.8).
- Drop down the list to select which configuration you need to use.
Figure 5.8--Selecting ARTS Configuration.
Editing the ARTS Configuration Table
ARTS has a table that allows you to change the files that make up the menu and dictionary for each configuration available. To access this table, do the following:
- Access the ARTS main menu. Select "Setup", then "Configure ARTS". This will open up the ARTS Configuration Editor (see Figure 5.9).
- Move your mouse to the field that you wish to change. Click once if you wish to re-type the whole field and three times if you wish to highlight the text in the field and change parts of the text. NOTE: Every table entry on this screen must follow the DOS 8.3 file name format, and they must all have ".TBL" at the end. Case does not matter.
- If you make a mistake, simply click on "Cancel" to exit the screen and bring the screen back up to redo your changes.
Deleting a Configuration
While you are in the ARTS Configuration editor, select which configuration you wish to delete by clicking on it with the mouse. Click on "Delete Row" and the configuration will be deleted. NOTE: If you have deleted the wrong configuration by mistake, simply exit the configuration editor without saving and bring it back up to delete the correct one. If you delete a configuration, this will not delete any existing grade, criteria, or actions tables.
Making a new ARTS Configuration
While you are in the ARTS Configuration editor, click on "Add Row". This will create a blank row. Click on the new configuration"s "Name" column and enter the new configuration"s name. Press "Enter" and enter the rest of the configuration"s tables, pressing "Enter" after each entry. When you are done making changes to the screen and you are sure of the changes, click on the "Save and Exit" button.
Figure 5.9--Sample ARTS Configuration Table.
