API & Integration
API and integration guide

SSO Format
Forma.lms accepts SSO from a third-party site for the already registered users 

 Settings 

 The SSO functionality has to be enabled in the general settings. You have to define a secret key that will have to be shared between forma.lms and the third-party portal or website implementing SSO. We suggest you to use a long and complex secret key (at least 32 characters, including capitalized and not capitalized letter, numbers, symbols). You can generate a complex key with one of the many automatic token generators available on the web. 

 You can define the validity of the generated token. Default is 60 seconds. The link generated with the token is valid for the time set starting from when it has been generated. 

 SSO Link 

 The link for SSO is as follows: 

 forma.lms version 1.xx 

 http://.../appLms/index.php?login_user=<username>&time=<str_tempo>&token=<str_token> 

 forma.lms version 2.xx 

 http://.../index.php?r=adm/homepage/sso&login_user=<username>&time=<str_tempo>&token=<str_token> 

 Link parameters 

 This is the meaning of the parameters you can find in the link 

 <username> = this is the user name as registered in the LMS.

<str_tempo> = token generation date and time, in the timestamp format NNNNNNNNNN

(number of seconds since 1970)

<str_token> = encrypted string, with the following algorithm:

md5( <username> + ‘,’ + <str_tempo> + ‘,’ + <shared key> ) 

 The generated token’s validity can be set under the LMS’s settings. By default, it’s 60 seconds. 

 Examples 

 Example 1 

 Shared key: parolachiavecondivisasso 

 Username (login): gverdi 

 Date and time of generation: 2017-11-20 09:13:42 

 URL parameters: 

 

 Generated Token: d16ea692e74fdd9cbbbd2fb1001c33e1 

 time: 1511165622 

 login_user: gverdi 

 

 URL to be used 

 forma 1.x: 

 http://your.domain.com/appLms/index.php?login_user=gverdi&time=1511165622&token=d16ea692e74fdd9cbbbd2fb1001c33e1  

 forma 2.x http://your.domain.com/testing/index.php?r=adm/homepage/sso&login_user=gverdi&time=1511165622&token= d16ea692e74fdd9cbbbd2fb1001c33e1 

 Example 2 

 Shared key: ssosharedkeysample 

 Username (login): johndoe 

 Date and time of generation: 2017-11-20 09:21:31 

 URL parameters: 

 

 Generated Token: 48e430a787ba544894a092ea2480a244 

 time: 1511166091 

 login_user: johndoe 

 

 URL to be used 

 forma 1.x: 

 http://your.domain.com/appLms/index.php?login_user=johndoe&time=1511166091&token=48e430a787ba544894a092ea2480a244 

 forma 2.x: 

 http://your.domain.com/index.php?r=adm/homepage/sso&login_user=johndoe&time=1511166091&token=48e430a787ba544894a092ea2480a244

Forma Integration & Automation solutions
This article provides an overview of the main native solutions to integrate Forma LMS with external applications through different authentication and data exchange solutions 

 API 

 The “Application Programming Interface” is a set of procedures that programmers can use to interoperate with the application by adding/editing/deleting data from another application (i.e., to update user accounts information from an external HR software). 

  Forma LMS is provided with an extensive set of API that will help developers interact con almost any part of the application. 

 Full Forma API Guide 

 SSO 

 This solution allow users logged to another system to seamlessly log in to Forma, without entering their password. SSO requires that a user with the same username is already present in Forma: the list of users must manually be preloaded in Forma, or synchronized via API or I/O task 

 The SSO can be activated and configured under 

 Main > Configuration > Settings > API & SSO 

 Learn More 

 LDAP Authentication 

 LDAP is a protocol allowing integration with Windows Active Directory services. 

 Forma LMS provides native support for LDAP authentication. LDAP user synchronization is not natively supported. 

 Check the  Forma User Reference Guide for details 

 I/O Task 

 this feature allows the creation in Forma of scheduled data import/export operations in text/csv files. The exported files and the files to be imported are saved in the Forma filesystem. This feature is located in administration under: 

 Admin > Settings > System Configuration > I/O Tasks 

 Full Forma Connectors Guide 

 Report Scheduler 

 any report can be scheduled and sent in file format to some user email accounts. With some customization, the report file could be generated and stored on filesystem to be accessed by external applications. Tasks need to be launched via server chron/job.