SKYLib•NET™ fast-tracks your Blackbaud SKY integration development

News

Version 3.6.4 (latest, 2023-12-07) updates the School API. Please refer to the release notes for more information.

Overview

SKYLib•NET is a .NET code library which you add to your own application as a reference to handle all of your SKY API connectivity to The Raiser's Edge NXT, The Financial Edge NXT, Education Management, Altru, Blackbaud CRM and any other SKY API-enabled Blackbaud products including the School and Payments APIs.

So in your own application, you just provide your SKY API credentials and then go right ahead and make any call to any SKY API endpoint.

With SKYLib, you can have your integration up and running in minutes rather than weeks. And SKYLib•NET includes a full software development kit (SDK) with source code for both Visual Basic and C# example projects which you can explore, change and adapt.

SKYLib will always have the most up-to-date API endpoint functionality because it's updated whenever Blackbaud updates the SKY API. And SKYLib updates are free for current subscribers.

SKYLib supports all SKY-enabled APIs – that's currently 36 APIs and literally hundreds of endpoints!

SKYLib•NET is available as an annual subscription. Subscriptions are USD1,200/year plus an initial fee of USD600 (or equivalent in several local currencies). Subscription entitles you to:

• All updates for your subscription term. And don't forget that we implement SKY API updates as often as weekly!
• Use of versions released during your subscription are yours forever – they won't stop working when your subscription expires.
• Standard technical support.
• Access to code samples and knowledge-base.
• Buy SKYLib licenses for one or more applications, with discounts for volume licensing.

How To Use SKYLib•NET

To use the SKYLib code library, all you need to do is create a .NET project (targetting .NET 4.5.2 or later) in Visual Studio – or whatever IDE you prefer – and add SKYLib.NET.dll as a reference. In your own code, you provide SKYLib with your SKY API credentials and then start making SKY API calls. That's all there is to it. And SKYLib will automatically take care of oAuth2 authorization in full compliance with Blackbaud's recommendations without you having to do a thing.

Initially, though, you might want to have a look at an existing, working application which uses SKYLib. So we've created a software development kit which includes a demonstration Visual Studio solution – SKYLib.NET Demo – which has nearly 100 pre-configured API GET calls for The Raiser's Edge NXT, The Financial Edge NXT and the School APIs which are available in two Windows projects, one coded in C#, the other in Visual Basic.

We've also provided some example POST, PATCH and DELETE code – again, in both C# and Visual Basic – which will get you started creating and modifying Constituents, Actions, Projects, etc.

To use the demonstration solution:

• Extract the SKYLib.zip file to your Visual Studio Project folder. (You will probably need to 'Unblock' the zip file if it's been embargoed by Windows.)
• Open the SKYLib.NET Demo solution in Visual Studio version 2019 or later. A solution upgrade may be required for later editions of Visual Studio.
• Start debug for either the SKYLib.NET Demo C Sharp or SKYLib.NET Demo Visual Basic project, depending on your code base preference.
• Enter your SKY API credentials.
• Select a Blackbaud product and an API Call (and enter an associated Call value if required).
• Click 'Go!'
• The first time you make a SKY API call, you will be prompted to authorize access. Thereafter your API tokens for each Blackbaud SKY product will be managed by SKYLib in accordance with Blackbaud's SKY API credential policy.
• The API call will be made and the resulting data displayed in its raw format in the lower results pane*.

* Raw JSON responses are provided in the demonstration projects for simplicity; in real-world applications, SKYLib•NET provides you with conformant .NET object models and methods such as Constituent.Api.CreateAction(), Gift.Model.GiftRead and AccountsPayable.Api.ListVendors() with full IntelliSense and XML documentation support. Refer below for some sample code.

From there you can either modify the demo code or adapt it for use in your own project, saving you many hours of development time.

Get the SKYLib•NET library and software development kit now

You can get the SKYLib•NET code library and Visual Studio development kit right now and be integrating your application with any Blackbaud SKY API-enabled product today.

• Download the SKYLib•NET code library and development kit.
• Read through our SKYLib•NET FAQ for answers to your questions.
• Review the SKYLib•NET release notes.
• Contact us.

SKYLib•NET has no trial period; it works in rate-limited mode (1 API call/s) until you're ready to buy a SKYLib license and enter "Turbo Territory" – up to 10 call/s.