Integration with the Blackboard Learn Content System includes modifying the availability of the Content Provider to the LMS, browsing for items within the Blackboard Learn Content System, and the request of content material. Browsing/Serving/Posting is accomplished via the Integrated Learning System Gateway plugin which must be available for proper handling.

Content System Event Notification

• ContentSystemProvider
  • Can be optionally implemented.
  • Pertinent for management for Content System resources. The only method currently employed controls notification of the availability of the Content System.
  • When it is disabled within Blackboard Learn a notification can then be consumed by the LMS to control viewing of browsing/navigation components that it contains.
  • Validate that the Content System is supported:
    • You can call /webapps/blackboard/execute/getLicense?cmd=isContentSystemLicensed to determine whether Content System is licensed in Blackboard Learn
    • Whenever Content System is enabled or disabled, ContentSystemProvider.updateContentSystemAvailability will be called.

Content System File Browsing

• Accessing file picker:
  • Direct user's browser to /webapps/bb-integration-gateway-bb_bb60/cs-file-browser?glcId=<integrationglcId> from inside a frameset.
  • One of the parent frames must define the function (CSAddCallBack), which will be used as a Javascript callback.

• Parent frameset design
  • Window name is required to be filePickerFrame.
  • CSAddCallBack javascript function is required for appropriately transmitting the information back to the client LMS for persistence.

    function CSAddCallBack(results)
    {
      for ( i =0; i < results. length ; i \+\+ )
      {
         retVals = results\[i\];
         alert(retVals.id \+"\n" + retVals.name \+"\n" + retVals.type );
      }
    }
    

    retVals.id: Unique key to identify the content.
    retVals.name: Actual name of the content item.
    retVals.type: Represents File or Folder as types of content available.

  • Include window domain name setting to allow for cross-scripting security restraints.

Content System File Rendering

• Only supports read-only access to Content System. The LMS can load files from Content System but cannot save files to there.
• Render a Content System file:
  • To load the file body, send HTTP GET (or multipart POST) to /webapps/bb-integration-gateway-bb_bb60/cs-file.  Use the following parameters:
    • timestamp - time used to generate mac.
    • mac - authorization code (see Learning Environment Connector Developer Guide - Runtime Sync#MAC Generation Algorithm)
      • Fields to include in MAC are timestamp, id, integrationId
    • id - Content System file ID (as provided by the javascript callback method)
    • integrationId - glcId of integration
  • Security model
    • No permission checks are performed by this request, since the file is being retrieved by the server rather than by the user's browser.  It is expected that the LMS will perform its own authorization checks before loading the content.