Ed-Fi Data Standard and related technologies can be extended to add new entities and elements. The set of standard extensions are codified in the Ed-Fi Extension Framework, documented herein.
Framework Reference Implementation
An implementation of the Ed-Fi Extension Framework is provided via the MetaEd IDE. The Ed-Fi Community has relied heavily on this reference implementation and downstream technology implementations (e.g. the API implementation in the Ed-Fi ODS/API, etc.) to define patterns that have proven stable and are believed to be widely implementable.
The Alliance and the Ed-Fi community welcome other Extension Framework implementations to contribute their tools and knowledge to this effort.
Extension Framework Categories
The Ed-Fi Extension Framework defines two categories of extension:
- Supported Extensions. Extensions to the Ed-Fi data model are only allowed if specifically enumerated in the Extension Framework.
- Extensions in this category generally have implementation and documentation support in Ed-Fi technology such as the Ed-Fi ODS / API.
- Supported extensions are documented here.
- Unsupported Extensions. Extensions not in the Extension Framework are not allowed. The documentation attempts to enumerate the most common of those. The Extension Framework evolves over time, so there are some community input mechanisms in place to help the community explore new models that may be candidates for support.
- Extension options under investigation. In some cases, the documentation on unsupported extensions may link to Ed-Fi Tracker tickets discussing extension options and designs are candidates for support under the Extensions Framework. These tickets should not be interpreted to indicate that a feature is on the roadmap or "coming soon." We do invite interested parties to provide feedback on these tickets as to the utility of these features.
- Common unsupported extension scenarios are described here.