Setup

SETUP

The library was first coded in Python 3.7. It has worked seamlessly with 3.8,3.9,3.10 up to 3.11 and the plan is to continue supporting it and incorporating new features, fixes and enhancements.

The first step is to get the right credentials for the API that you will be using. Depending on the API, the process may be a bit different. We offer a summary, but please check docs.blackboard.com for the full picture.

For Blackboard Learn

1. Register a new application in the Blackboard developer portal (developer.blackboard.com), grab key, secret and application id.

2. Configure the application in your Learn instance. You will need the application id and a user with the right permissions. DO NOT USE AN ADMIN USER!

3. Fill the configuration template (config.json). You may want to rename to "learn_config.json" to keep track of the changes.

Virtual environment setup

Once you have the right credentials in place and your application is registered you need to set up your environment:

Create a python3 virtual environment. A virtual environment will provide you with a separate and clean instalation of Python just for the project you are working on, this is really helpful to avoid issues with libraries and dependencies across projects. You can create a virtual environment in Python 3 with venv:

Create a virtual environment by navigating to the desired folder for your application and using the command:

Python3 -m venv path/to/env

You can activate this virtual environment by using the command:

source env/bin/activate

You may need to update you pip install as the virtualenv usually is set to default:

pip3 install --upgrade pip

Install the Bb_rest_helper package from PYPI (using PIP). It is recomended that you always install the latest version available.

pip3 install Bb-rest-helper  

Once you are done working on your project, you can just deactivate the virtual environment by using:

deactivate