[Building Sakai] BLTI tool configuration help

[Brian Jones]

Hi,

We're utilizing blti for a few virtual tool integrations. Originally we
copied the blti project into our msub so we could modify IMSBLTIPortlet.xml
for these integrations.

However, we've now realized that we should be able to accomplish this
without forking the blti project, by way of configuring the tools via the
'External Tools' admin interface. Unfortunately I'm having problems setting
it up properly, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right
direction.

In our IMSBLTIPortlet.xml, we have a few virtual tools with settings like
this:

	<tool id="sakai.some.new.tool" title="Awesome new tool"
description="This tool provides awesome-ness.">

		<configuration name="sakai:portlet-pre-render" value="true"
/>

		<category name="course" />
		<category name="project" />

		<configuration name="functions.require" />

		<configuration name="imsti.launch" />
		<configuration name="imsti.xml" />
		<configuration name="imsti.secret" />
		<configuration name="imsti.key" />
		<configuration name="imsti.pagetitle" />
		<configuration name="imsti.tooltitle" />
		<configuration name="imsti.frameheight" />
		<configuration name="imsti.debug" />

		<configuration name="final.launch" value="true"/>
		<configuration name="final.xml" value="true"/>
		<configuration name="final.secret" value="true"/>
		<configuration name="final.key" value="true"/>
		<configuration name="final.pagetitle" value="false"/>
		<configuration name="final.tooltitle" value="false"/>
		<configuration name="final.newpage" value="false"/>
		<configuration name="final.frameheight" value="false"/>
		<configuration name="final.debug" value="true"/>

		<!-- Tool specific settings -->
		<configuration name="imsti.releasename" value="on" />
		<configuration name="imsti.releaseemail" value="on" />

		<configuration name="final.releasename" value="true" />
		<configuration name="final.releaseemail" value="true" />
	</tool>

And in our sakai.properties we have the launch, key and secret like this:

	sakai.some.new.tool.launch=https://some.awesome.url
	sakai.some.new.tool.key=awesomeKey
	sakai.some.new.tool.secret=awesomeSecret

We want these tool(s) to be available to all course and project sites. So,
in the 'External Tools', I:

	- click on 'Install New Tool'
	- leave the Site Id blank (it tells you teo leave it blank to "make
tool available in all sites")
	- provide the tool title and description
	- set it to enabled and visible
	- provide the launch, key and secret from sakai.properties
	- check off 'Send user names to External tool' and 'Send email to
External tool'
	- select 'Never launch in popup'
	- select 'Never launch in debug mode'

In the 'Custom Parameters' section, I've tried leaving it empty, and also
provided all the 'final.*' settings from IMSBLTIPortlet.xml.

After I did all that, I figured it should just appear as a tool for sites,
right? Not so... Then I see the 'Tool Configuration' button, and decide to
try that out. So, I:

	- 'Create Tool Configuration'
	- select the tool I just created
	- give it a name and again leave the site ID blank (I don't want it
tied to a particular site, I want it available in all sites)

But it's still not listed as a tool for my sites. What am I missing? I've
read the documentation, but nothing immediately stands out to me. We're
running the 2.0.1 tag of BLTI.

I do realize that we can just put a copy of IMSBLTIPortlet.xml in
${sakai_home}/portlets/sakai-blti-portlet/ but we would rather be
configuring these tools via the GUI (on the fly) rather than having a file
configuration which requires a server restart to pick up changes.

Any help or advice is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Brian Jones
Applications Development
Information Technology Services
Support Services Building, Room 4326
Western University
(519) 661-2111 x86969
bjones86 at uwo.ca