This article is designed for advanced technical users only and is relevant to districts using SIF communication for data exchange.
This article is part of an ordered SIF Configuration process and applies to both methods of configuration (Horizontal and Vertical).
Before beginning, please consider this setup step in relation to the ordered setup steps of the SIF Configuration process:
This article contains basic information and instructions for configuring communication between a Campus and SIF application. The basic process of configuring SIF communication follows these steps:
Only an advanced technical user should attempt to set up SIF communication.
Agents
Registering SIF Agent
Before data can be exchanged, the SIF agent must send a registration message to the SIF zone. This process is triggered through the buttons on the Agent Emulation Control panel of the SIF agent.
In some instances of Horizontal Reporting, this step will not be necessary. When a SIF agent is set up in the external SIF application it can register with the Campus application using the Campus SIF Zone URL, and a registered and configured agent will appear on the Agents tool. If this scenario applies, continue to Request Data Sync, or return to the SIF Configuration page.
Agents Editor
- On the SIF agent, verify the Registered field is set to “Yes.”
- Verify the SIF zone is displayed in the Zone Name field.
This step only applies to SIF agents with a Subscribe Mode value of "Push."
If using Push mode and no value appears in the Outgoing Host Override field, enter the externally accessible IP address of the SIF application. When registering a SIF agent operating in Push mode, the URL is sent to the external zone. It will be a generated value based on the URL currently used to browse the site.
- Click the Register button on the Agent Emulation Control panel. A SIF_Register message will be sent to the SIF application, allowing it to identify the SIF agent acting on behalf of the Campus application. A new window should open.
Verify the new window displays an XML response from the SIF application. This is the SIF_Ackmessage acknowledging a successful connection.
If registering for SIF 2.0r1, the response message will contain a SIF_AgentACL, or data access rights for data objects that the Campus agent has been pre-approved to publish / the objects the SIF agent expects to receive. This is a SIF 2.0r1 feature, so previous SIF versions will not contain this data.
- Click the Save button of the Campus action bar to save the newly registered agent.
Data Provide and Subscribe
This section applies to Vertical Reporting scenarios only.
- Select the agent and re-open it.
- For SIF versions 2.0r1 and later: Click the Provision (2.0r1) button. This sends a SIF_Provision message to the external SIF zone to let it know which objects the Campus agent will be publishing (and any to which the Campus agent should subscribe/receive updates from the SIF application)
OR,
For SIF versions prior to 2.0r1: first click the Provide button, then the Subscribe button. - Click Save.
From this point forward, data exchange is possible.
To continue SIF setup, proceed to Request Data Sync, or return to the SIF Configuration page.
