Getting started with SIS
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The SIS (Student Information Systems) API is a classic API oriented around bulk or event-driven data loading from a SIS or ERP program like Anthology Student, Banner or Colleague. Most aspects of SIS are documented on our main help site, but some developer documentation is provided here.
SIS Types
The "prime" data type is "Snapshot Flat File", which is a bulk-loading oriented delimited text file. This is the 'native' format of Blackboard and has the widest support for the LMS's many data types.
We also support three industry-standard formats:
These are usually used in an event-driven workflow.
Security
SIS activity occurs at a high level of privilege. It can create, remove, or delete anything. A user that gains access to an SIS username and password could send arbitrary data files that cause arbitrary changes.
SIS data files also contain potentially sensitive data and access to them should be strictly controlled. (Note: Support may require the feed file for problem investigation.)
One particular case is setting passwords by SIS. They can be supplied in cleartext, but this is not recommended and they should be provided in hashed form.