moving from snapshot to snapshot

Moving From

Snapshot to Snapshot

Nick McClure

Operating Systems Programmer III

University of Kentucky

ABOUT ME

Nick McClure

Operating Systems Programmer III

University of Kentucky

nickjm@uky.edu

@sysnickm

WHAT WE ARE GOING

TO LEARN TODAY

How to Configure Snapshot Flat File

Options Available with Snapshot Flat File

How to augment Snapshot Flat File with IMS

LIS for minor updates

OUR CHALLENGE

• Enrollments took up to 48 hours to get into

the system

• Students missing valuable class time at the

beginning of term

• Service Desk bombarded with calls about

missing info

• SAP data can be difficult to get quickly

OUR SOLUTION

• Leverage SAP HANA in memory BI for more

frequent data pulls

• Build a scheduling engine allowing support

team to schedule ad-hoc operations

• Hook in to the SAP booking application for

event driven enrollments

SNAPSHOT FLAT FILE

• Based on simple HTTP calls

• Most things have an HTTP stack

• Flat file contained on the post data

• Basic authentication parameters stored in

the headers

• No need for advanced API calls to push data

• Use the same file format as existing

snapshot command line implementations

SNAPSHOT COMMAND

LINE

• Used a properties file for configuration

• Different command line options for file type

• Student and Staff enrollments were different

commands

• Errors logged to a flat file

• Very fast operation, direct DB access

SNAPSHOT FRAMEWORK

• Configured via System Admin Tab

• Indirect access to the DB via API

• Allows for configuration of actions to be taken

based on the data

• Each line inspected and verified

• More granular control

• Variable logging options

• Can be placed in test or inactive mode

OUR PROCESS

We have two methods for data to be loaded

• Snapshot Flat File

• Users

• Courses

• Instructor Assignmets

• Student Enrollments

• IMS LIS

• Student Enrollments

DATA SOURCE

Data for the flat files are extracted from the

following locations

• Active Directory

• Users

• SAP Hana

• Courses

• Student Enrollments

• Instructor Assignments

EVENT DRIVEN PROCESS

• Student booking application trigger creates

asynchronous call to stored procedure

• Procedure housed within our middleware

application

• Asynchronous ensures that network or other

issues won’t affect either application

• Stored procedure logs event

• Scheduled job picks up enrollment events

every 60 seconds

WHY BOTH

• Event Driven process only for student

enrollments at this time

• Event driven process does not catch out of

band actions

• Waitlist

• Advisor/Registrar overrides

• Snapshot acts as a reconciliation job

• Most data only changes once per day

• Ad-hoc jobs can be run to update data

DEMO

1. Create an SIS Flat File integration

2. Import Users

3. Import Courses

4. Import Enrollments

DEMO TAKEAWAYS

• Different Endpoints based on operation type

• Store – update data, don’t touch data not in the

file

• Refresh – complete data refresh, the file is the

current view of the data

• Refreshlegacy – DSK aware refresh

PITFALLS

• Change in DSK processing caused issues

with system admin overrides

• New options with SP12+

• New features sacrifice speed

• Large data sets can take 2-3 times as long to

load

OUR RESULTS

• Student add/drop recorded in Blackboard

within one minute

• Dramatic decrease in Service Desk calls

• Fewer tickets

• Happy Students

• Happy Faculty

REMEMBER

• Always test any changes to data imports

thoroughly

• Don’t make changes during a busy term

• Snapshot command line won’t be getting

any new features

THANK YOU!

Nick McClure

Operating Systems

Programmer III

University of Kentucky

nickjm@uky.edu

@sysnickm

If you would like to provide feedback for this

session please email:

BbWorldFeedback@blackboard.com

The title of this session is: Migrating from

Snapshot to Snapshot