Setting Up and Using Activity Templates

This chapter provides an overview of activity templates and discusses how to:

• Define activity templates.

• Create a quick activity using a template.

• Create multiple activities using a template.

Understanding Activity Templates

This section discusses:

• Purpose of activity templates.

• Methods of creating activities.

• Activity template setup and use.

Purpose of Activity Templates

Activity templates enable you to enter catalog information into the Enterprise Learning Management system using a single component.

Using activity templates you can:

• Rapidly create a new catalog item or activity, or update an activity for an existing catalog item.

  For example, an instructor can use a template to quickly create an activity, so that a group of IT employees can enroll in training. The instructor can define the course attributes manually, or load the content and course information into the template from an external file.

• Create multiple catalog items and activities in one processing instance.

  For example, a training administrator can use a template to create a large number of activities by populating a specific template format with course content from one or more external files. This is particularly useful when the administrator needs to load catalog content from a third party provider into Enterprise Learning Management, or the administrator of an external content server needs to push hundreds of content files from the server into the PeopleSoft system.

Methods of Creating Activities

Enterprise Learning Management provides two ways to create activities:

• Manually define categories, catalog items, delivery methods, and activities using the following separate components:

  • Maintain Categories (LM_CATG_LA_CMP)

  • Maintain Items (LM_CI_LA_CMP)

  • Delivery Method Type (LM_DMTHD_TYPE)

  • Maintain Delivery Methods (LM_DMTHDS_LA_GBL)

  • Maintain Activities (LM_ACT)

• Manually define activity templates and use them to create activities through a single component.

  There are two processes for defining activities based on activity templates:

  • Quick Create Activities

    This process enables you to define single catalog items and activities.

    The Quick Create Activities process uses templates to create data-entry pages that bring together a subset of group boxes and fields from the Maintain Items (LM_CI_LA_CMP), Maintain Delivery Methods (LM_DMTHDS_LA_GBL) and Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) components that are needed to define catalog items, delivery methods, and activities. When you set up a template, you identify the group boxes and fields that are relevant to the type of activity you are defining, and the resulting data-entry page prompts you to enter values only for the selected fields. You can enter these values into the page manually, or import them from an external file, without having to access multiple components to define an activity.

  • Automated Catalog Import

    This process enables you to import multiple catalog items from external files in one processing instance.

    In this process you use templates to select and format the catalog item data that you want to import into the system. Just as in the Quick Create Activities process, the activity template brings together a subset of group boxes and their associated fields from the Maintain Items (LM_CI_LA_CMP), Maintain Delivery Methods (LM_DMTHDS_LA_GBL), and Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) components that are needed to define catalog items. This process uses templates to filter and structure the data contained in the external files so that only the required information makes it into the database; it also uses templates to create data-entry pages that you can use to view and modify the imported data.

Note. In both of these processes, the data-entry page generated from the template provides a way to access fields on the Maintain Items, Maintain Delivery Methods, and Maintain Activities components without having to navigate to numerous different pages. You can, however, access these components to view or modify activity and catalog data that you enter into the system using either the Quick Create Activities process or the Automated Catalog Import process.

Creating a Template By Selecting Group Boxes and Fields

This diagram illustrates how you create template-based pages by selecting group boxes and fields from different activity definition components to produce a single point of data entry:

Selecting Group Boxes and Fields to Create a Template-Based Page

Activity Template Setup and Use

To set up an activity template:

1. On the Template Setup page:

   • Define the template name.

   • Define the name of the data-entry page to generate from the template.

   • Select the group boxes from the Maintain Items (LM_CI_LA_CMP), Maintain Delivery Methods (LM_DMTHDS_LA_GBL), and Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) components to include on the data-entry page. You can rename these group boxes based on the naming conventions used by your organization.

2. For each group box selected in step 1, use the Template Framework – Section Details page to define the rules for the fields contained in that group box.

   You have the ability to:

   • Make fields available for data entry.

     If you make a field available for data entry, you can instruct the system to display a starting value in that field, leave the field blank, or display the default value entered in component that is the source of the group box. You can then override the displayed value.

   • Make fields display-only.

     If you make a field display-only, you can instruct the system to display a specific value in that field, leave the field blank, or display the default value entered in component that is the source of the group box.

     Note. If you make a field display-only that is required and for which there is no default value, you will not be able to save the new activity when using the template on the Quick Create Activities or Catalog Import components. Consider this carefully when using the display-only option.

   • Hide fields so that they do not appear on the template-based data-entry page.

     Note. If you hide a field that is required and for which there is no default value, you will not be able to save the new activity when using the template on the Quick Create Activities or Catalog Import components. Consider this carefully when using the hide option.

   • Define required fields.

3. Use the Template Framework – Template Security page to define security for the data-entry page.

4. Preview the data-entry page based on the template and make any necessary corrections.

   To do this, click the Preview Page button on the Template Setup page.

To create a single activity using a template-based page (Quick Create Activity Process) :

1. Access the Quick Create Activities page and select one of the following options:

   • Import Catalog Data

     This option enables you to upload a file containing the course content data, and them import the data into the template-based page.

     If you select this option, you must:

     a) Select and upload the file containing the course data.

     b) Identify the file format of the file(s) containing the catalog content.

     Valid file types are AICC, PeopleSoft XML Format, and SCORM 1.2.

   • Manually Quick Create

     If you select this option, you can enter all of the data needed to create the activity into the template–based page manually, or pull data for existing catalog items, delivery methods, and activities into this page, and then modify this information for the course you are updating.

2. Access the template-based page and review or update the activity data.

3. Access the Rebuild Indexes page and rebuild the search collection.

To create multiple catalog items and activities in one processing instance (Catalog Import Process):

1. Access the Catalog Import page and enter the following information:

   • File format of the file(s) containing the catalog content.

     Recognized formats are AICC, PeopleSoft XML Format, and SCORM 1.2.

   • Name of the template that you are using to load data into the system.

   • Location of the file(s) containing the catalog content.

     Note. You can load a single file or multiple files.

2. Run the Catalog Import process.

   To do this, click the Load button on the Catalog Import page.

3. Access the Rebuild Indexes page and rebuild the search collection.

Prerequisites

Before performing the first import of activities from an external source, run the Datamapping Sync Application Engine process (HRS_DM_SYNC) to synchronize the data mapping tables.

If you have updated the data mapping, run the process again to make sure that the tables are synchronized before importing activities.

See Synchronizing Data Mapping Tables.

Defining Activity Templates

To define activity templates, use the Activity Templates (LM_TMPL_SETUP) component.

This section discusses how to:

• Define basic information for activity templates.

• Set up section details.

• Define security for activity templates.

Pages Used to Define Activity Templates

Defining Basic Information for Activity Templates

Access the Template Setup page.

Template Name	Specify a name for the template.
Status	Select Active or Inactive.

Template Page

Use the fields in the Template Page group box to select the group boxes and their associated fields from the Maintain Items (LM_CI_LA_CMP), Maintain Delivery Methods (LM_DMTHDS_LA_GBL), and Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) components that you want to consolidate into a single data-entry page for defining activities. The sections in the Template Section column are the group boxes containing the fields. You determine which fields to include from each group box (section) by clicking the Details link and defining the field behavior.

Setting Up Section Details

Access the Template Framework - Section Details page.

For each group box (section) selected on the Template Setup page, set up field level details on the Template Framework - Section Details page.

Defining Security for Activity Templates

Access the Template Security page.

Learning Environment	Specify the learning environments that will have access to this template to create activities.
Use For Editing	This field controls whether the template can be used for updating an existing catalog item, delivery method, or activity, or can only be used to create new catalog items, delivery methods, or activities. If you select the Use For Editing check box, then the template is available both for updating and creating new catalog structure components.

Creating a Quick Activity Using a Template

This section provides an overview of the Quick Create Activities process, and discusses how to:

• Define a quick activity using a template.

• Review course data on the template-based data-entry page.

Understanding Quick Activities

After defining a template, you can use it to rapidly create activities. You can use existing catalog items, delivery methods, or activities as the basis for defining a new activity, or you can define all new information using the template.

Page Used to Define a Quick Activity Using a Template

Defining a Quick Activity Using a Template (Quick Create Activity Process)

Access the Quick Create Activities page.

Quick Create Options

Valid values are:

• Import Catalog Data

  Select this option to import activity and catalog data into the system from an external file.

  If you select Import Catalog Data, you must specify the type of file containing the data and the template you want to use to filter and format the data contained in the file.

• Manually Quick Create

  Select this option to manually create activities.

  If you select Manually Quick Create, indicate whether you will be creating a new catalog item, delivery method, and activity, or using an existing item, method, or activity as the basis for defining an activity. If you use existing data, specify the existing item, method, or activity definition, and the system will populate the data-entry page with this definition when you click Continue.

Note. If you select Use Existing, you can modify or update the existing definitions for the selected catalog item, delivery method, and activity on the Content Template - <Template Name> page.

Import Catalog Data

This group box appears only when the Quick Create Option is Import Catalog Data.

Manually Quick Create

This group box appears only when the Quick Create Option is Manually Quick Create.

Select one of the following options for the catalog item, delivery method, or activity you are creating:

• Create New

  When you select Create New, the system populates the fields on the data-entry page for the catalog item, delivery method, or activity with the default or custom values specified on the Template Framework - Section Details page. If there are no defaults or custom values defined for a field, and the field is editable, you must enter the value manually.

• Use Existing

  When you select Use Existing, the system populates the fields on the data-entry page for the catalog item, delivery method, or activity with the existing values in the Maintain Items (LM_CI_LA_CMP), Maintain Delivery Methods (LM_DMTHDS_LA_GBL), and Maintain Activities (LM_ACT) components. If the values defined at the component level conflict with default or custom values specified on the Template Framework - Section Details page, the component values override the template values.

Reviewing Course Data on the Template-Based Page

Access the Content Template - <Template Name> page.

The group boxes and fields on this page vary depending on the template definition.

Review and modify the required and optional data on this page.

Creating Multiple Activities Using a Template (Catalog Import Process)

This section provides an overview of creating multiple activities, and discusses how to create multiple activities using a template.

Understanding Creating Multiple Activities

After defining a template, you can use it to load multiple activities into Enterprise Learning Management from an external file or group of files. The system automatically maps the data contained in the files to the fields defined in the template, and uses the template to select and format this data so that it can be imported into the database.

Page Used to Create Multiple Activities Using a Template

Creating Multiple Activities Using a Template

Access the Catalog Import page.

Basic Information

File Information

Reviewing Course Data on the Template-Based Page

Access the Content Template - <Template Name> page.

The group boxes and fields on this page vary depending on the template definition.

Review and modify the required and optional data on this page.