Creating external elements

Let us consider the following example:

Teacher Gauss teaches at two schools: "Manual School 1" and "Manual School 2". Both schools use Untis MultiUser and they have a common data source directing to the relevant ODBC connection.

To define Gauss as shared resource you have to select the menu item "Modules | MultiUser | External elements" in one of the sets of data.

A dialogue opens in which you can create external elements. These then have to be connected to the corresponding elements in the master data.

Tip: Short name of external elements

The short names of external elements do not necessarily have to match the short names of the master data. However, we recommend that you use the same short name for shared resources in all schools. First, this makes it easier to maintain an overview and , second, Untis auxiliary functions can be used.

If the shared teachers or rooms have already been defined in the master data, you can quickly add them to the list of external elements using the <Create external teachers> or <Create external rooms> buttons.

As you can see in the figure, this function performs two steps. First, a new element with the short name of the selected teacher is created in the window "External elements" and, second, the newly created element is connected to the corresponding element in "Master Data | Teacher" of the active school. This is effected via the "Ext. name" field, where the short name of the external element is added.

In our example, teacher Gauss was defined as an external element in the school Manual School 1. Work is now finished in this school's data. The timetable scheduler of the school Manual School 2 now has to log in and open the window "External elements".

As there is already a data record for teacher Gauss in the window "External elements" in the school "Manual School 1", this record will appear in the school "Manual School 2", too. Now Gauss has to be linked to the corresponding entry in "Master Data | Teachers". This is effected either by making an entry manually in the field "Ext. name" in "Master Data | Teachers" or – in case the short name of the external element is the same as the short name of the teacher – via the <Transfer to master data> button.

If external elements are created (manually) with the short name is not the same as the respective master data short name, the field "Ext. name" needs to be fille in manually, as well.

All entries and input of data to define shared resources have now been completed. The next section describes how Untis will notify you when an external element is used by the other school.