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Where to Start Development
Added by George Kroner, last edited by George Kroner on 18 Dec 2007 10:55 AM
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Vista and CE versions - where to start development

I am developing a Blackboard PowerLink for the first time, what version of Blackboard Learning System - Vista Edition should I start with?

We encourage CE and Vista clients to run the latest GA-released versions of our products. Your development efforts should focus on the product and version that you run in production or plan to be running in production at the time development is complete.

Will my Vista 3 PowerLink continue to work with Vista 4 and CE 6?

To be certain that your Vista 3 PowerLink will work on Vista 4 and CE 6, we recommend you thoroughly test it. Most of the Vista 3 PowerLinks tested against Vista 4 and CE 6 continued to work without any changes. However, Vista 3 PowerLinks that use version specific libraries (i.e. the AuthModule data utility) will need to be recompiled with the Vista 4 version of the library. A small number of Vista 3 PowerLinks have required code changes to work in Vista 4 and CE 6.

Even if your Vista 3 PowerLink runs fine on Vista 4 or CE 6 , most PowerLink installation documentation will require updating to capture the new user interface in Vista 4 and CE 6.

What are some of the best ways to ensure compatibility between Vista 3 and Vista 4?

If having a single PowerLink distribution for both Vista 3 and Vista 4/CE 6 is important to you, we recommend that you don't use version specific libraries such as the AuthModule data utility. To ensure compatibility, we recommend that you only use documented SDK methods for your PowerLinks development. Integrations that use undocumented methods or direct Vista calls will typically require a more involved effort to make them work in Vista 4/CE 6.

What is the different between Vista 4 and CE 6?

From an SDK point of view, Vista 4 and CE 6 are the same product. The features available in each product are controlled by a license key. Thus PowerLinks that are tested against Vista 4 will also work in CE 6, unless they leverage functionality that would only exist to Vista 4 clients (e.g.:institution-related functionality).

What are some of the new SDK features in Vista 4 and CE 6?*

The most significant improvement in the SDK for Vista 4 and CE6 is the ability to call web services directly from an authentication module (inbound or outbound).

This article originally authored by Scott Stanley on the WebCT DevNet

Comments  (Hide)

Is this just old content being ported across to EduGarage or are you actually recommending that "new PowerLink development should be started with Vista 3"? What proportion of the Vista customer base is still on Vista 3? Personally I think you should be recommending Vista 4 AP2 as a starting point as this is where you are encouraging your customer base to be; certainly writing for anything before Vista 4 AP1 SP1 would not appear sensible to me. I am not sure if writing for Vista 3 would allow support for CE6 either - does anyone know?

Posted by Stephen Vickers at 31 Oct 2007 04:00 PM

Hi Stephen,

Yes, this content has been directly migrated over from the old DevNet server. Over the next couple of months, I will be revisiting all of this content to keep it up to date. I agree with your assessment of this content and appreciate your feedback. Based on your feedback in the discussion forums, all developers now have access to modify and add to the content in the tutorials section as they see fit.

Thanks,
-George

George Kroner, Solutions Engineer - Blackboard Developers Network

Posted by George Kroner at 31 Oct 2007 05:55 PM
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