Our goal is to provide our customers with data access in a performant, complete, and understandable way. This means we need to periodically have major version releases for Brightspace Data Sets (BDS). In addition to making some major changes, we also made some minor changes, such as introducing new columns.
In the upcoming major BDS version 10, the following Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) have been affected:
GRADES
Grade Results BDS
- Removal of the following columns: IsExempt
IsExempt was removed to reduce redundancy because this information is already available in the Activity Exemption Log BDS.
Grade Objects Log BDS
- Replaced and End of Life (refer to FAQ #3 below)
This BDS is being replaced by Grade Results Log BDS, which is more comprehensive. The Grade Results Log BDS will contain the current user grades. For historical logs it is advised to keep a backup of the Grade Objects Log. In order to provide a seamless transition for all our customers, both Grade Objects Log BDS and Grade Results Log BDS will be available during the adoption period.
Grade Results Log BDS
- Added new dataset that replaces Grade Objects Log BDS.
Comparison between the two data sets:
Column | Grade Objects Log (End of Life) | Grade Results Log (New) |
|---|
GradeObjectId (int, non-nullable, FK) | No change |
OrgUnitID (int, non-nullable) | Not included | New |
UserID (int, non-nullable, FK) | No change |
PointsNumerator (decimal, can be null,) | No change |
PointsDenominator (decimal, can be null) | No change |
WeightedNumerator (decimal, can be null) | No change |
WeightedDenominator (decimal, can be null) | No change |
IsReleased (bit, can be null) | Not included | New |
IsDropped (bit, non-nullable) | Not included | New |
Modified (datetime2, non-nullable) | Column name changed to LastModified |
ModifiedBy (int, can be null) | Column name changed to LastModifiedBy |
Comments (nvarchar(1000), can be null) | Not included | New |
PrivateComments (nvarchar(1000), can be null) | Not included | New |
GradeText (nvarchar(50), can be null) | Not included | New |
GradeReleasedDate (datetime2, can be null) | Not included | New |
Version (bigint, can be null) | Not included | New |
GradeSymbolString (nvarchar(50), can be null) | Included | Not included |
LogId (bigint, non-nullable, PK) | Included | Not included |
Name (nvarchar(50), can be null) | Included | Not included |
| | |
OUTCOMES
Outcomes Scale Definition BDS
- Removal of the following column: RegistryId.
The RegistryId is no longer needed because the Learner Outcome Achievements are associated directly via the Org ID instead of indirectly through a Registry ID.
QUIZZES & SURVEYS
Quiz Question Answers BDS
- Replaced and End of Life (refer to FAQ #3 below)
Survey Question Answers BDS
- Replaced and End of Life (refer to FAQ #3 below)
Quiz Question Answers BDS and Survey Question Answers BDS are being replaced by Question Answers BDS, which is more comprehensive and eliminates the risk of duplicated data. ObjectId and SurveyObjectId are no longer required to determine a unique record and have therefore been removed. Additionally, IsCorrect is removed as this can be determined by the Weight column which can also represent partially correct answers.
For historical logs it is advised to keep a backup of the Quiz Question Answers BDS and Survey Question Answers BDS.
Question Answers BDS
- Added a new dataset that replaces Quiz Question Answers BDS and Survey Question Answers BDS.
The Question Answers BDS returns possible answers for a given question used either in Quizzes or Surveys. This includes questions in sections or question pools.
The Question Answers BDS will include details for deleted questions, which was not available within Quiz Questions Answers BDS or Survey Question Answers BDS. As a result, users should expect to see a difference in the size of the Question Answers BDS compared to either Quiz Question Answers BDS or Survey Question Answers BDS.
Comparison between the data sets:
Column | Quiz Question Answers BDS (EOL) | Survey Question Answers BDS (EOL) | Question Answers BDS (NEW) |
|---|
AnswerId (bigint, non-nullable, PK) | No change |
QuestionId (bigint, non-nullable, PK, FK) | No change |
QuestionVersionId (bigint, non-nullable, PK, FK) | No change |
SortOrder (int, non-nullable) | No change |
IsCorrect (bit, can be null) | Included | No | No |
Weight (decimal, non-nullable) | Changed from nullable to not nullable |
Answer (nvarchar(1000), can be null) | No change |
Comment (nvarchar(1000), can be null) | No change |
Description (nvarchar(256), can be null) | No change |
ObjectId (bigint, non-nullable, PK) | Included | N/A | No |
SurveyObjectId (bigint, non-nullable, PK) | N/A | Included | No |
Quiz Question Answer Options BDS
- Replaced and End of Life (refer to FAQ #3 below)
Quiz Question Answer Options BDS is being replaced by Question Answer Options BDS, which is more comprehensive and removes duplicated data. QuizObjectId is no longer required to determine a unique record and has therefore been removed.
For historical logs, it is advised to keep a backup of the Quiz Question Answer Options BDS.
Question Answer Options BDS
- Added a new dataset that replaces Quiz Question Answer Options BDS.
The Question Answer Options BDS returns possible options for a given question answer. Only includes answer options for these question types: Short Answer, Fill in the Blanks, and Multi-Short Answer. Rows in the data set are filtered out if they are associated with deleted quiz attempts.
The Question Answer Options BDS will include details for deleted questions, which was not available within Quiz Questions Answers Options BDS. As a result, users should expect to see a difference in size of the Question Answers Options BDS compared to Quiz Question Answers Options BDS.
Comparison between the data sets:
Column | Quiz Question Answer Options (EOL) | Question Answer Options (New) |
|---|
AnswerId (bigint, non-nullable, PK, FK) | No change |
AnswerText (nvarchar(1000), can be null) | No change |
Weight (decimal, non-nullable) | No change |
QuestionId (bigint, non-nullable, PK, FK) | No change |
QuestionVersionId (bigint, non-nullable, PK, FK) | No change |
QuizObjectId (bigint, non-nullable, PK, FK) | Included | No |
AnswerOptionId (bigint, non-nullable, PK) | No change |
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How do we enable BDS Major version 10 in Data Hub?
- Ensure the Can See/Edit Config Variable Values and Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permissions are both granted to administrators at the org level.
- Navigate to Config Variable Browser.
- Under Tools, click to select BrightspaceDatasets, and then click Version.
- Ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 10.0 or higher.
2. When will the new BDS Major Version Datasets be available?
New and changed Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) appear after the first full data set runs after the major version release.
3. What is the BDS replacement and End of Life timeline?
Available on both BDS Major Version 9 and Version 10 starting in 20.25.04 (April 2025):
- Grade Objects Log BDS
- Grade Results Log BDS
- Question Answer Options BDS
- Question Answers BDS
- Quiz Question Answer Options BDS
- Quiz Question Answers BDS
- Survey Question Answers BDS
Not available on either BDS Major Version 9 or Version 10 starting in 20.25.07 (July 2025):
- Grade Objects Log BDS
- Quiz Question Answers BDS
- Survey Question Answers BDS
- Quiz Question Answer Options BDS
Continues to be available on BDS Version 10.3 starting in 20.25.07 (July 2025) and beyond:
- Grade Results Log BDS
- Question Answer Options BDS
- Question Answers BDS
4. How do we manage BDS Major Version changes?
Please review this article for more details on different major version release scenarios:
https://community.d2l.com/brightspace/kb/articles/1533-brightspace-data-sets-change-management-policy
Revision History:
31-October-2024 Blog first published.
24-January-2025 Removed changes to Users BDS. We've decided to pull back the major version changes for the Users BDS based on feedback from customers.
10-February-2025 Added Question Answers BDS as a replacement to Quiz Question Answers BDS and Survey Question Answers BDS. Added Question Answer Options BDS as a replacement for Quiz Question Answer Options BDS.