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What's New in v5.0.0

Owned by Ian Christopher (Deactivated)
Last updated: Nov 09, 2020 by Vinaya Mayya
3 min read

This section provides an overview of the new features in v5.0.0 of the Ed-Fi ODS / API for Tech Suite 3. A comprehensive list of all changes is in the Release Notes section. 

The changes include:

Detail about each change follows.

Improvements & Enhancements

This section briefly describes the new features and enhancements built into the ODS / API v5.0.0 and provides links to additional documentation.

Data Model Changes

ODS / API v5.0.0 implements Ed-Fi Data Standard v3.2.0-c. Noteworthy additions to the data model in v3.2.0-c include the Survey domain and Person model. There are no breaking API or JSON model changes accompanying this release. However, platform hosts should be aware that there are some breaking database changes. Refer to How To: View API and Database changes in the latest ODS / API Release to see the full set of API and database changes in this implementation. 

The data model changes introduced in Data Standard v3.2.0-c can also be reviewed in the context of API specification updates:

This release also implements Ed-Fi RFC 22 - Assessment Outcomes API, which is the same as previous Ed-Fi ODS / API v3.x releases. This means there are no new Assessment API changes accompanying this release.

MetaEd IDE v2.3.0

Implementing extensions in ODS / API v5.0.0 requires implementers to update to MetaEd IDE v2.3.0.

Teacher Preparation Data Model

The Ed-Fi ODS / API v5.0.0 implements TPDM v0.8 as an optional domain extension. Teacher preparation providers can use this extension to base program improvements on how their graduates perform in the classroom rather than on general or anecdotal evidence. See Teacher Prep Data Model v0.8 Documentation for more details.  Note that TPDM expands the fields required to implement credentials. With TPDM enabled, credential additionally requires a certification title and the use of the person model. More details on person model can be found at /wiki/spaces/TPDMDEV/pages/23038581. This extension is deployed by default. For instructions on how to disable the extension see the article How To: Remove Sample, TPDM, and Homograph Extensions. 

Additional Support for PostgreSQL-Backed ODS / API

The previous ODS / API v3.4 release brought ODS / API PostgreSQL support to parity with Ed-Fi ODS / API cloud offering with the following scope of features:

  • Core API
  • Swagger UI
  • Enrollment Composite
  • Change Query

This release brings a few more significant additions:

  • Sandboxing 
  • TPDM domain Extension
  • Full code generation support

See Getting Started - Installation Steps for details on setting up a PostgreSQL-backed ODS / API. 

Authorization Enhancements  

ODS / API v5.0.0 brings several enhancements to API authorization. Significant changes include:

  • API clients can be associated with different education organization types. In previous versions, it was required for client system developers to use different key/secret pairs to load data related to different ed-org types. This can now can be accomplished with one key/secret pair.
  • API clients can be associated with multiple namespace prefixes. The namespace prefix assigned to a solution provider is used to authorize access to create, update, and delete descriptors, as well as to create, read, update, and delete Assessment-related data, Learning Standards, Learning Objectives, and Education Content. In previous versions, vendors had less flexibility in working with learning standard namespaces and managed descriptor namespaces due to lack of authorization support for multiple namespace prefixes. See Descriptor Guidance for information on how to access data by associating key/secret pairs with appropriate namespace prefixes.
  • API Clients can use an OAuth token introspection endpoint to view security configuration information for the token. The endpoint aligns with the IETF RFC 7662 specification. See the Authorization documentation for details.

Bulk Load Client Enhancements and Removal of Server-Side Bulk Load

With the ODS / API v3.3 release, the Alliance announced deprecation of server-side bulk loading of XML files. This release fully removes the server-side bulk load. Implementers who need to bulk load XML data can use the Bulk Load Client Utility which has been enhanced with modifications to use the Dependency Endpoint instead of the less-reliable InterchangeOrderMetadata. The latest utility also contains performance improvements, detailed error logging, XML validation configurations, and more. 

Apache License

In April 2020, the Ed-Fi Alliance announced a move to the Apache License, Version 2.0 to lower the barrier to entry for edtech vendors, universities, school districts, and states, and to encourage continued community contribution to the technology. This release delivers on that promise and moves the source code to https://github.com/Ed-Fi-Alliance-OSS/ under the Apache license. The Ed-Fi License is no longer required to access ODS / API source code. 

Semantic Versioning 

In May 2020, Ed-Fi announced adapting semantic versioning for Data Standard and ODS / API. This release is identified as ODS/API for Suite 3 v5.0.0. Binary Releases for this release reflect this change by adding the Ed-Fi Suite number to the package name, along with the semantic version number for the release.