Tweet
Tweet

Slide 1

Slide 1 text

The  SIS  Framework: It’s  Not  a  Big  Truck,   It’s  a  Series  of  Tubes! Kenny  Barnt  &  Jerry  Todd Central  Michigan  University

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

Forward  Looking  Statement Statements  regarding  our  product  development  initiatives,  including   new  products  and  future  product  upgrades,  updates  or   enhancements  represent  our  current  intentions,  but  may  be   modified,  delayed  or  abandoned  without  prior  notice  and  there  is  no   assurance  that  such  offering,  upgrades,  updates  or  functionality  will   be  become  available  unless  and  until  they  have  been  made  generally   available  to  the  internet  at  large.

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

Obligatory  Institution  Profile • Self  Hosted  on  Windows • October  2014  CU1  (as  of  July  3) • SAP  SLCM  SIS • Fall  2014-­‐Spring  2015  Usage – 28,435  Students  (97%) – 2,478  Instructors  (95%) – 7,450  Courses  (79%)

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

The  Old  Days: Legacy  Snapshot

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

The  Blackboard  Snapshot  Controller • Bb-­‐supplied  Snapshot   Controller – Configure  snapshot  mode  for  each   data  file – Send  e-­‐mails  to  Bb  admin  with   errors – Set  how  long  to  keep  archived  feed   files – Cost  a  few  $k/year

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

Legacy  Snapshot  Pitfalls • Ran  in  Full  Snapshot  mode – If  a  record  no  longer  appeared  in  a   file,  it  was  disabled  in  Learn • Problems – Partial  files  from  SIS – Dependent  on  single  app  server – Controller  delayed  upgrades

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

Legacy  Course  Purge • Create  feed  files  for  each  group   of  courses  to  purge • Run  script  to  call  the  command   line  tools,  pointed  at  feed  file • Done  during  winter  break – Learn  completely  offline  for  the   duration – Significant  monitoring   requirements • Lots  of  performance  issues   identified  &  fixed

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

Configuring  &   Communicating   with SIS  Integrations

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

Considerations • Integration  Type • Data  Sources • Hierarchy  (Community) • Per-­‐Object-­‐Type  Options

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

Communicating  with  SIS  Integrations  via  PowerShell • Working  on  PS  Module   (available  at  http://j.mp/sis-­‐ps) • Pure  PowerShell  (no  cURL) • Send  Flat  Files  and  Status   Check  currently  implemented • Send  XML  Files  coming  soon

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

The  Big  Truck

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

Migrating  to  SIS • Initial  Goal:  Replicate  legacy   snapshot  functionality • Middleware  generates  feed   files  from  SAP  Data • Snapshot  controller  uploads   feed  files  to  Bb  &  reports   results

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

The  Middleware • SAP  sends  complete  lists • Middleware… – Looks  for  changes – Generates  feed  files – Starts  Snapshot  Controller

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

The  Snapshot  Controller • Processes  Feed  Files  in  order – Users – Courses – Enrollments  (Student  and   Instructor) – Uploads,  then  checks  status • Reports  number  of  records   processed  &  errors

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

A  Series  of  Tubes

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

What  Else  Can  We  Do? • Combined  Course  Shells • Overrides/Replenishments • Real  Time  Enrollments • Automated  Purge

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

Course  Combine  Tool • Pre-­‐Dates  SIS  Framework  Move • More  Flexible  than  SMT • Works  through  middleware

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

Overrides  and  Replenishments • Overrides – Make  Bb  &  SAP  not agree – Works  with  middleware • Replenishments – Re-­‐sends  enrollments

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

Real  Time  Enrollments • Before:  up  to  6  hour  wait • Now:  immediate • Works  with  in-­‐house  developed   registration  tools

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

Automated  Purge • Courses  are  purged  one  at  a   time • Purge  DB – List  of  courses  to  purge – Result  of  purges  attempted • Purge  Controller – Runs  at  off-­‐peak  times – Uses  XML  Feed  files

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

Pitfalls  & Lessons  Learned

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

The  50  Hour  Window • Records  might  need  to  be  sent   more  than  once • Enrollments  coming  before   user  or  course • Trial-­‐and-­‐error  led  to  50  hour   timeframe

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

Implicit  Drops • Enrollments  in  multiple   sections  of  a  course • Registration  tool  sent  only   explicit  changes • Modified  to  send  diff

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

Managing  Multiple  Tools • Enrollment  changes  could   happen  in  multiple  tools • Only  one  tool  was  sending   changes  to  Bb • Data  became  inconsistent • Fixed  by  updating  all  tools  to   send  to  Bb

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

Feed  File  Doesn’t  Exist • Feed  Files  uploaded  close   together  fail  with  “File  Doesn’t   Exist”  error • Issue  with  default  SMB  client   configuration • Resolvable  with  Registry   Change • http://bit.ly/smb2sis • Don’t  change   FileInfoCacheLifetime!

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

SIS  PowerShell  Module http://j.mp/sis-­‐ps