Introduction to Centra Web Services CWS

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Introduction to Centra Web Services (CWS)

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• How does Centra integrate with LMS systems like
  Docent or Saba?

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• How does Centra integrate with LMS systems like
  Docent or Saba?

Centra does not integrate with other
systems. They integrate with Centra.
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Examples of third-party LMS integrations with
Centra (These integrations all use Centra API or
CWSAPI SOAP calls.)

• SumTotal (merger of Docent and Click2Learn)
• Saba
• ViewCentral
• Oracle iLearn
• Plateau

Note Centra does not certify a version of Centra
against a particular version of an LMS. The LMS
vendor will certify THEIR product against a
particular version of Centra. We do not state
which version of an LMS will work with a
particular version of Centra.
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LMS integrations actually written by
Centra (These integrations all use the Centra
CWSAPI SOAP calls.)

• Blackboard Adaptor
• Peoplesoft Adaptor
• SAP Adaptor

Note Centra supports the integration between
these products and Centra, but not the 3rd party
application itself. If there are questions about
the actual application, the customer should
contact the application vendor.
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• What is a Web Service?
• An application or block of executable code that
  is hosted on a web server and whose methods are
  exposed through standard XML protocols. --
  OReilly authors Ferrara MacDonald
• Can be accessed by another application over the
  Internet.
• Typically, a web service provides an application
  programming interface (APIs) for existing
  applications.
• CWS provides an API for the Centra Management
  Server (CMS).

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• What is CWS?
• CWS stands for Centra Web Services.
• Provides programmatic access to the Centra
  Management Server (CMS).
• Consists of two separate web services
• CWS
• Administrator

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• Some Key Terms
• Centra Management Server (CMS) The application
  server of the Centra 7 system. Users log in to
  the CMS to access live or recorded events and to
  perform management and administrative functions
  within Centra 7.
• Method A reusable unit of code that performs a
  task in response to a request, such as creating a
  user, creating an event, or enrolling a user.
• Application Programming Interface (API) A set
  of methods that are available to client
  applications for making requests.Every web
  service has an API.
• XML and SOAP Formats for sharing information
  between applications. SOAP, a specialized use of
  XML, is the standard format for communicating
  with web services (see next slide).

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• Integrating External Applications with CMS,
  Through Centra Web Services

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What CMS Tasks Can Be Performed Through CWS?
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Examples of CMS Tasks

• Create, edit, find and remove user accounts.
• Create, edit, find and remove events.
• Enroll or unenroll users in events.
• Assign roles to participants in an event.
• Attend live events.
• Play back recorded events.
• Retrieve attendance summaries.
• Retrieve user evaluations.

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Advantages of CWS

• Web services are becoming a standard Internet
  technology.
• CWS can provide increased ease and simplicity of
  client application development.
• CWS client applications do not need to create
  XML requests or parse XML responses.
• Using proxy classes generated by tools such as
  Visual Studio .NET, CWS client applications do
  not need to create SOAP requests or parse SOAP
  responses.

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CWSAPI toolkit functions

• Test and debugging tool
• Index.htm
• SimpleSoap.aspx
• Development tool
• CWS.asmx
• Administrator.asmx
• Runtime for SOAP calls
• CWS.asmx
• Administrator.asmx

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