You can have BB actually give you infomation about a user, course and content item using a nifty little tag (atXat).
These tags will work anywhere EXCEPT in the "external link" boxes! So you can slap these into a content item, menu item, etc. They will even render on a page (see the 'result' column).
| System ITEM |
RESULT |
@X@ command @X@ |
| Content Title |
test link |
content.title |
| Content ID |
_97537_1 |
content.pk_string |
| Content URL |
/courses/1/productsupport/content/_97537_1/ |
content.url |
| Course ID |
productsupport |
course.course_id |
Course Batch_UID
(matches reg_id, useful for matching registrar info, I promise this is unique!) |
productsupport |
course.batch_uid |
| Crumb ID |
blackboard test (productsupport) |
course.crumb_id |
| Course Name |
blackboard test |
course.course_name |
Course Service Label
(Course or Organization) |
Course |
course.service_level_label |
| Course URL |
/courses/1/productsupport/ |
course.url |
Course Role
(P=instructor, S=student) |
P |
course.role |
| User internal ID |
_3332_1 |
user.pk_string |
| User Batch_UID |
twitchewADMIN |
user.batch_uid |
| User Role |
Z |
user.role |
| User Institution Role |
STAFF |
user.institution_role |
Users Session ID*
used to verify userid by Passer |
31b849c119dc82d1095cb3768dd80771 |
session.session_id |
| Site ID |
bb-test.grinnell.edu |
system.site_id |
* = a cookie also matches this code.
Note that standard url naming rules for items apply i,e. no @, #, $, %, or &, use spaces at your own peril, they will break netscape browsers!
suggestion is to build a url with variables separated by 'pipes' or other delimiter.
http://bbtest.grinnell.edu/webapps/blackboard/launch_external.jsp?target=http://db.grinnell.edu/classlists/variablesdemo.asp?var1=twitchewadmin|test link|31b849c119dc82d1095cb3768dd80771|productsupport|STAFF|P
At Grinnell to make this somewhat easier I developed 'Passer', a generic ASP utility that verifies login status, membership in the course/org and then does a server side redirect to the URL of choice using the "t" parameter. If you want to see how the parameters are being passed use the "m=t" for testing mode.
Use the following url as your base for your own:
http://bbtest.grinnell.edu/webapps/blackboard/launch_external.jsp?target=http://pioneerweb.grinnell.edu/scripts-docs/ql/ps.asp?v=u=&X&USER.ID&X&|t=target.url.edu/database/scriptofsorts.php|s=&X&SESSION.SESSION_id&X&
Next, plunk on any of the variables listed in the table above, separating parameters with the "pipe" character, if you want to include other parameters just add 'em on.
Here is an example of use with every single BB parameter and displays the results in testing mode.
http://bbtest.grinnell.edu/webapps/blackboard/launch_external.jsp?target=http://pioneerweb.grinnell.edu/scripts-docs/ql/ps.asp?v=u=twitchewadmin|t=target.url.edu/database/scriptofsorts.php|i=test link|ii=_97537_1|s=31b849c119dc82d1095cb3768dd80771|c=productsupport|ci=productsupport|n=blackboard test|l=/courses/1/productsupport/|r=P|ur=Z|ui=STAFF|m=t
Another example in non-test mode to show the title of this piece of content on a page.
http://bbtest.grinnell.edu/webapps/blackboard/launch_external.jsp?target=http://pioneerweb.grinnell.edu/scripts-docs/ql/ps.asp?v=u=twitchewadmin|t=db.grinnell.edu/classlists/variablesdemo2.asp|s=31b849c119dc82d1095cb3768dd80771|i=test link
If you wish to verify that content came from passer you can add a d=t parameter and passer can add a date as well as use the header 'SERVER_NAME' this should be db.grinnell.edu.