Agent

Definition: An Agent is software that works as a liaison between the ZIS (Zone Integration Server) and the application. It takes data stored in its own application’s format and translates it for the ZIS.

What This Means: An agent is a piece of software that translates SIF requests to and from the proprietary format of an application and the SIF Specification. When a new student registers in a district Student Information System (SIS), it is the SIF agent for that SIS that recognizes that event, reads the proprietary database to build a “New Student” SIF object and sends the object to the Zone Integration Server (ZIS). The agent also subscribes to SIF events from the ZIS. When the state gives a new student a state ID, for example, the ZIS will publish a “Change Student” event to the SIS agent. The SIS agent reads the SIF object and stores the appropriate information in the SIS’s database.

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