NEWSLETTER | Issue 34 2
Global Community News
SIF Infrastructure Specification 3.2( global) by John Lovell, Technology Director
SIF Infrastructure( Global) 3.2 continues to focus on getting data as easily as possible. Featured in this release is the introduction of: general support for Query by Example and Changes Since. Query by Example allows for finding resources that match a sample object. Changes Since allows for the retrieval of just the objects that have been added, changed, or deleted since the last time the consuming agent requested all the data in the collection. In order to initialize this process cleanly and allow it to run with maximum efficiency the HEAD HTTP action is leveraged for the first time. Also in this release is an overhaul of Functional Services, empowering data exchanges needing a beginning, middle, and end.
Our hope is that we can: empower the programmers to better understand what is being asked of them, give the integrator tools to more readily deliver working solutions, and give the end user the best possible start to communicate requirements.
Explore this exciting release starting here.
Certification News by John Lovell, Technology Director
It is amazing how easy it is to get a wrong idea. Two people can read the same thing and understand it very differently. A team of people can work on separate pieces of a larger whole, discovering only when they try to put everything together that they are either missing a key piece or have multiples of the same thing. Now take into account an integration must work with different products from different teams and the possibilities that misunderstandings can prevent interoperability is not just real but common. However the Access 4 Learning( A4L) Community has a way to help!
Access 4 Learning offers its members testing tools for their software products and upon successful completion the opportunity to certify that product, sharing the information about what data it shares and roles it plays in production. Allowing integrators to pick the right building blocks with confidence. Shortly, we expect important developments to grow this resource.
We have been asked by a few members with xPress Roster Providers to offer certification for their products. While the requests they service seem simple, every Provider must support more than one-way of conveying important information. The A4L Community is working to meet this request.
Look for more about xPress Roster Provider certification soon.
Investing in our Community by Penny Murray, Community Director
At the last North American Annual Meeting, in February 2016, there were many discussions held about community tools, specifically around the current tools we use, what tools our members use, and how we could improve our community engagement moving into 2017 and beyond …
I am delighted to report that after many hours in conversation with Community members and AMS software providers, much online research, demo’ s attended, and investigating integration solutions, A4L Staff have purchased a new set of tools to enhance the Community... and we are really excited about them!
The new tools will provide a much greater engagement platform for members to benefit from others experiences and make connections with each other directly, as well as providing new forum discussion areas. The new tool will sit in parallel to our existing technical channels( GitHub, spec gen tools etc), providing a better virtual networking experience for all our Members.
Look for further updates late Jan / early Feb as we get closer to our‘ go live’ date at the end of February 2017!