1. SIF 3.x Concepts & Terms, xPress & RicOne API
Joerg Huber

2. Overview Concepts of SIF 3.x, xPress & RicOne REST, XML, JSON
Direct and Brokered Zones
Immediate and Delayed Responses
Event Processing (Single Source of Truth)
Bulk Create, Update & Delete Operations
Where does SIF xPress fit in?
What about RicOne?
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

3. REST, XML, JSON SIF 3.1 uses JSON is part since SIF 3.1 release.
REST as transport and
XML & JSON representation of Data Model (infrastructure and data dictionary)
JSON is part since SIF 3.1 release.
Mapping between XML and JSON required
JSON has ambiguities (i.e. Array or not Array)
JSON is less bound by standards which causes some issues: i.e. Encryption of payload, validation etc.
Java framework already supports JSON (Goessner notation).
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

4. Direct Zone NEW Concept in SIF 3.x
Peer-To-Peer connection not involving middleware.
Can be used from web-applications to retrieve and persist data directly from/to a given application.
Can be used by mobile applications (most likely using REST) to connect directly to an application.
Sub-Set of SIF 3.x Interfaces need to be implemented
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

5. Direct Zone cont. Direct Zone (Simple) Environment Provider Object
ACLs, URIs
(Infrastructure)
Service Consumer
Object
Providers
(Services)
Data
(SIF NA 3.3)
xStudent, xSchooll
etc.
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

6. Brokered Zone
What was known as a ZONE involving a ZIS in SIF Classic (SIF 2.x).
The Brokered Zone securely connects N clients to a dynamically changing list of M Data Entity, Service Paths and/or Functional Services through a centrally secure, separate and discrete Message Broker.
Broker may implement automated translation between XML & JSON (SIF 3.1 specifies mapping)
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

7. Brokered Zone cont. Brokered Zone Middleware Object Provider Services
ACLs, URIs
(Infrastructure)
ACLs, URIs
(Infrastructure)
Environment Provider
Zone Registry
Object Provider Services
Service
Consumer
Provider Registry
Data
(SIF NA 3.3)
Data
(SIF NA 3.3
Connectors
(Request, Event, Provision, Subscribe etc)
xStudent, xSchool
etc.
Queue Manager
Note:
Not all registries are shown
Middleware
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

8. Immediate & Delayed Response
Delayed Response is what is known in SIF 2.x as asynchronous response.
This concept remains in SIF 3.x
Immediate Response (synchronous) is where the requestor of the data keeps the connection open until a response is available.
Immediate Response is largely a NEW concept in SIF 3.x
Direct Zone: Commonly used
Brokered Zone: Less common when it comes to requesting data through a query
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

9. Service Types Infrastructure Services Environment Provider Queues
Alerts
Namespace Registry etc.
Data Entity/Object Service is a service for a given SIF Object (i.e. StudentPersonal, SchoolInfo) => CRUD
Create
Read (Query)
Update
Delete
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

10. Service Types cont. Relationship Services: ServicePath
…/xSchools/{refId}/xStudents
Composite Object Services
Object made of parts of other object
Considered standard Object Service.
Functional Services
Execute Style (Jobs):
i.e. End-of-Year Rollover.
Student Locator
Report Style: Provide a ‘View’ of multiple Entities in one Object.
Not yet supported by any Framework
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

11. SIF 3.x infrastructure enables bulk operations!
Creation of multiple objects in one request
Update of multiple objects in one request
Deletion of multiple objects in one request
=> Improves performance
=> Scales better
‘Requestor’ of bulk operation always knows success status of each object in the request.
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

12. SIF xPress Infrastructure Concepts
Reducing the number of HTTP Headers and provide them as URL Query Parameter or default them if not provided:
Media Type (XML vs JSON) part of URL (…/xStudents.json).
Access Token vs Authorization Header.
Paging Info about query results.
etc.
Concepts
Direct Only
Immediate Only
No Events
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

13. SIF xPress cont. Data Model Consumers are very simple to implement!
SIF xPress is largely about the structure of the Data Model (JSON friendly!):
No XML Attributes.
Main Element followed with a List of Related Elements (Name followed by List of Other Names).
“Composite Object”: Has all commonly used information in one object rather than spread across multiple Objects (Current Enrolment is part of Student Object).
Consumers are very simple to implement!
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

14. RicOne API
Uses SIF xPress to implement Use Cases and offer an API to these Use Cases.
Roster
Future: Assessment, Attendance etc.
Further reduces the use of some xPress Concepts (for now):
Read Only
Uses Outh for authentication
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

15. SIF 3.x, SIF xPress, RicOne API
Entity Model
Brokered
Direct
Delayed
Immediate
SIF xPress
Data Model
Events
CRUD
Queues
Functional
Services
Subset of
RicOne
OAuth
Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18

16. Questions Any Questions? Training Course SIF3: SIF 3.x Concepts
November 18