Sharing Flat Files with Abl

This article provides a general guide to securely transfer scheduling information from your Student Information System (SIS) to Abl. We outline how to upload specific files from a local computer through an FTP client or Google Drive. We do not discuss how this process might be automated on the school’s side.

Setting Up an FTP Client

If your school does not have an FTP client in place, it will need to install one that supports SFTP. There are a number of free clients available such as FileZilla or WinSCP (Windows only). After you have downloaded and installed the client program, use the credentials above and your provided username and password to connect.

Connecting and Transferring Data to Abl's SFTP Site

Host: sftp.ablschools.com
Port: 22

Use the information above to connect. You may receive warnings around “Unknown host key” which can be ignored.

Once you have connected, you will see any previously transferred files in the remote site under your account name. Browse your computer (the local site) until you find all of the export files you would like to upload. A description of the specific files to send is listed [here]. Files should be in Comma Separated (CSV) format unless you have been directed otherwise.

Drag or upload the files from your computer to the username folder on the remote site. Any automatic scheduling will need to be set up on the district's end.

What Happens After The Files Are Sent?

You will need to set up notifications on the district's end if you wish to determine that the files have been sent successfully. The notifications can indicate when files are uploaded or downloaded in the folders you have access to.

Once the data is QA’d by Abl and uploaded into the web application, Abl will provide a status report of the data changes in its application, such as changes to student or staff information.

When Will I See Updated Information in Abl?

Currently, a QA process is necessary before data is reflected in Abl. The time this takes will vary from customer to customer and we recommend discussing this with your Implementation Manager.

How Do I Check Differences Between Old and New Files Transferred?

We will check for differences between new and previously transferred files on our end and prefer that you always send complete exports of the tables; you should not filter for just the records that have been changed or added, for instance. After a new transfer has been received, we will determine which records have been added, removed or changed based on our understanding of the data. Once the new data is in Abl you can confirm the changes are reflected accurately.