SIS Framework Overview

Student Information System (SIS) integration helps administrators integrate course, user, and enrollment data with Blackboard. Data may come from various sources and in varying formats. SIS integration provides an easy way to upgrade to Blackboard from another Learning Management System (LMS), such as CE or Vista by supporting the same data feed format generated by those systems for exchanging data. SIS integration also allows system updates to be delegated to other Blackboard administrators, allowing flexibility to be built into the system.

The SIS Integration Framework is a Building Block-extensible framework that provides common functionality to all integrations while facilitating integration creation, configuration, and management within the Blackboard Administrator Panel user interface. The principle is based on a separation of functionality. The SIS Framework provides the UI-based create, configure, and operation/maintenance capabilities as well as the Integration Types (based on Building Blocks) to provide the logic specific to each SIS integration type. This enables the SIS Framework to support a mix-and-match approach to integration while also enabling multiple instances of an integration type. This provides a great deal of flexibility in building out SIS integration solutions as it provides the ability to address integration needs from the simplest to the most complex.

An additional capability available to all integration types is on-the-fly data mapping. This enables custom mapping of incoming data objects to Blackboard data objects. This mapping ability allows you to apply javascript based custom scripts to incoming data. In the case of the Snapshot Flat File integration type, you can apply custom header mappings to match existing data formats to Blackboard formats. You may read more about Custom Mapping as it pertains to each integration type in the examples section for each integration type.

There are key advantages to using Student Information System (SIS) integrations to pass data to Blackboard to automatically populate and update your system. The first is that managing course and user data can be delegated to one or more administrators who do not need command line access to Blackboard servers. Another advantage is that data can be transferred quickly and efficiently from your Information System to Blackboard.

It is critical to involve all stakeholders in the integration planning process. Leveraging input from your SIS and Registrar as well as Blackboard admin teams will ensure a successful integration.

A successful integration requires knowledge of SIS configuration options, the selection of the Blackboard Integration type that meets your requirements, and an understanding of the data requirements for the integration type. In the cases of the Snapshot and Enterprise 1.1 integration types an understanding of server side scripting to facilitate data transfer to the integration endpoints is also necessary.

Learn more about planning SIS Integrations.SIS Integration Planning

A services engagement with Blackboard Consulting can help plan, scale, and upgrade your integrations. Blackboard Consulting offers a comprehensive Integration program that fits your needs.

Beyond configuration options and integration data types (covered in separate integration type-specific sections) the SIS Integration Framework operates on four key concepts:

In brief, each integration type and configured instance thereof receives data properly formatted per the requirements for the integration(1) for transfer into Blackboard via a set of integration specific services(2) utilizing a unique identifier per configured integration instance that controls ownership of the data(3) for processing by the Blackboard SIS Framework(4).

Each of these present important concepts in understanding how the SIS Integration Framework functions, how to best determine your integration configuration, and how to best build out your integration infrastructure in support of the SIS Integration Framework.

Data transfer

Each data integration type supports transfer of data via HTTP-based service endpoints that are specific in format and method to the integration type. In all cases, it is considered best practice to pass data over an HTTPS connection.

Details about each integration type's data transfer model and Blackboard endpoints are in the topics specific to that integration type.

All integration types can receive data over the wire by directing data to the integration URL. This is useful in the context of Enterprise 1.1 and Snapshot types, as they are now capable of wire data transfer and file-based data posting.

The Blackboard SIS Framework supports five integration types in a default installation comprised of Standards and Blackboard designed integration types. Additional custom types may be developed and added via the Building Block Manager. This capability of extending the supported types with additional types greatly extends the value of the SIS Framework in the enterprise, while also enabling us to update the Building Block based out-of-the-box integration types off-cycle if necessary.

Each Blackboard provided integration type has Blackboard object support and Information System requirements specific to the integration type. The following is a high-level description of the integration types, the objects they support, and the Information System requirements for supporting the integration.

Note the integration types support Blackboard objects as specified by the integration type - there is not 100% overlap in object support across all integration types - this is one key consideration for selecting your integration type. Another key consideration is the ability of the Information System to support the integration type and data format. To learn more about an integration type, the data format, and means of data transport see the individual integration type sections.

As Blackboard advances in support of integrating the Information system we'll be focused on LIS 2.0 and Snapshot Flat File integration types - these should be considered as priority targets for integration. The remaining three integration types are provided in support of clients who have existing integrations utilizing these integrations who are interested in utilizing the SIS Framework. Note the integration types, Enterprise 1.1, Enterprise 1.1 Vista, and Snapshot XML will not see further development in support of new Blackboard objects.

Blackboard Support Services provides support for the Blackboard-delivered Integration types. If you have questions or encounter issues with your configuration or integration processes, you can contact support by filing a support ticket with Anthology Support.

You configure Blackboard to receive data for each of the integration types using the Blackboard Administrator SIS Integration configuration pages. To set up an integration, once you have determined which type is best suited to your business goals and Information capabilities, from the main SIS Configuration page you complete nine steps:

To learn more, see the configuration topics for each integration type.

Logging for all integration types is available via the Logging UI for the SIS Integration framework. From the UI you have access to logs containing status of the configured integrations at the object and supported logging levels to keep you informed of the integration operations.

The logging page allows for sorting of log messages based on type and integration.

In addition to UI access, logs are also written to disk for archiving and long-term analysis and triage.

You can also use REST Web Services to access logs and errors encountered during data processing.

To access the logs, append /learn/api/v1/logs/sis/{dataSetUid} to your Blackboard domain. The system provides a reference code, dataSetUid, for each time a feed file is processed. This parameter is required to return results. The error and success message are logged to table DATA_INTGR_LOG.

Additional parameters are available to segment the data:

The process to troubleshoot record errors in Web Services has not changed from the process to troubleshoot error logs found in the UI. If you encounter a “not found” error message, it’s possible that the dataSetUid does not exist in the system or the feed file is still being processed.