To track changes in Brightspace Platform releases, Brightspace Data Sets (BDS) have their own version number. When the BDS version number updates, as a part of your monthly Continuous Delivery (CD) software update, changes appear in the data the next time the BDS are generated.
BDS version numbers consist of a major version (the number before the decimal point) and a minor version (the number after the decimal point).
Specific changes to individual BDS are captured in their respective reference tables. Each reference table displays the BDS version number for each change under Version History.
BDS major version updates
When a new major version (such as 5.X) is released, clients normally have a 4-month opt-in window where they can choose to adopt the new major version; when this window is over, clients are automatically updated. However, when the new version is required to resolve a defect, client versions are immediately and automatically updated. For more information about managing BDS updates, refer to Brightspace Data Sets Change Management Policy on Brightspace Community.
Major version updates can impact assets you created in Insights Report Builder and Analytics Builder. For instructions on how to update your affected assets, refer to Updating Insights Report Builder for Brightspace Data Sets Major Versions or Updating Analytics Builder for Brightspace Data Sets Major Versions in Brightspace Community.
BDS minor version updates
Minor version updates (such as 4.7 to 4.8) contain low impact changes that will not break downstream systems or reporting, such as adding a column. Since the September 2017/10.7.5 release, the Continuous Delivery (CD) software update automatically rolls out a new BDS minor version to clients every month. In some releases, there are no changes to the data sets, but the minor version number goes up anyway. This makes it easier for us to plan updates because we know far in advance what the exact BDS version number will be.
Sometimes we refer to a minor version with no documented changes (such as v8.8) in the BDS reference tables under Version History. This simply means we published a correction or clarification to the BDS documentation during the release that corresponds with that minor version number.
If the BDS are in the process of being generated when the version number changes, any data set generated after that change reflects the latest version. As a result, you might have some data that reflects the previous version and some data that reflects the latest version, for a short time.
Version History
Since the April 2024/20.24.4 release, the default BDS major version is 9. For more information about major version 9, refer to Motivations behind the changes in Data Hub Brightspace Data Set (BDS) Major Version 9 on Brightspace Community.
In the August 2025/20.25.08 release, the default BDS major version will change to 10. For more information about major version 10, refer to Motivations behind the changes in Data Hub Brightspace Data Set (BDS) Major Version 10 on Brightspace Community.