Bound Groups in LYNX

LYNX allows you to create bound groups of sections (as well as exams, if your SIS allows you to import exams) resulting in event bindings in 25Live, designated with "BG" in the event name. The events in bound groups behave identically to classes that are cross-listed or combined in your SIS, with the following effects:

  • All occurrences in bound meeting patterns have the same location assignment
  • Bound meeting patterns do not generate location conflicts with each other
  • Unassigning a location from one event will also unassign it from everywhere it is bound
Warning: "Smart Binding" May Prevent Classes From Being Bound in 25Live

If the meeting patterns in a bound group do not meet at the same time or have different location assignments, LYNX may not create bindings in 25Live. See Smart Binding in LYNX for more information.

Typically, bound groups are created in LYNX to supplement cross-listed classes in the SIS. They should only be used when you want to force two sections (or exams) to have the same location assignment and cannot be cross-listed. For example, there may be two instructors whose classes meet together but should not be cross-listed because of the implications this would have for department bookkeeping.

Defining Bound Groups

Follow the instructions on the Managing Data Binding article to navigate to the data binding page for bound groups. Click Add New Group to begin.

When you add or edit a group on this page you'll see the screen below. Fill out all fields to create a new group:

Image: Bound Group details screen, 

  • Set ID: The unique database ID of the group. Only appears after the group has been saved. Used for troubleshooting purposes.
  • Name: The keyword-searchable name of the group. Some users choose to give them numeric names like "001", others have more descriptive names like "Morning Math sections".
  • Term Code: Automatically defaults to the term code(s) selected in the search on the main page. When selecting meeting patterns to add to the group, you are limited to ones in these term codes.
  • Bound Meetings Section Identifier: Begin typing course record numbers here to select meeting patterns for the group. Even if you are binding two sections that only have a single meeting pattern apiece, LYNX requires you to select the meeting patterns themselves rather than the section names. Click "Add New Value" to open spots for additional meeting patterns beyond the first two.

    Note: Primary Reservation

    The first meeting pattern selected in the group will be the primary reservation in 25Live, used to determine organization preferences for the Schedule25 Optimizer.

  • Active: If set to "no", the group will not have any effect on bindings in 25Live, as if it didn't exist.

After you add a new group or make changes to an existing one, nothing will change in 25Live until a new import is triggered. This could happen automatically when those sections are updated in the SIS or manually by importing an extract set.

You can also trigger an update immediately for the sections in a single group by clicking the "import" link next to its name.

Removing Bindings

If you no longer want your events to be bound in 25Live, you must delete the bound group from the list by clicking the link next to the name.

Once the group is deleted in LYNX, the events will still be bound in 25Live until another import is triggered. The easiest way to do this is to check the box below on the screen when confirming the group deletion. If you do, the events in 25Live will be updated with the most recent data from the SIS–without the bindings.

Image: Confirmation of deleting bound groups. 

Uploading a List

Defining groups one by one using this screen can be time-consuming. If you want to create many groups at once, you can click Upload Groups and import a CSV file. You must use the format found in this template: LYNX Bound Group CSV File Template.csv Please ensure that the file is UTF-8 encoded (not UTF-8 BOM).

"GROUP_NAME","TERM","SEC_ID","DOW","START_TIME","END_TIME","START_DATE"
"A1","202020","15445","MWF","0900","1005","2024-01-08"
"A1","202020","15447","MWF","0900","1005","2024-01-08"
...

For each section meeting pattern in the bound section group, the template must include:

  • GROUP_NAME: the name of the bound section group
  • TERM: the term code
  • SEC_ID: the section ID or CRN
  • DOW: the days of the week the meeting pattern meets
  • START_TIME, END_TIME: the start time and end time of the meeting pattern
  • START_DATE: the start date of the meeting pattern

The correct abbreviations to use for days of the week are:

  • M = Monday
  • T = Tuesday
  • W = Wednesday
  • R = Thursday
  • F = Friday
  • S = Saturday
  • U = Sunday

The correct format for times is HHHH or 24-hour time (e.g. 0900, 1330).

The correct format for dates is YYYY-MM-DD.

Warning: Automatic Date Formatting

Be careful when editing or saving CSV files using spreadsheet editors like Excel because they can inadvertently change the date or time format. (e.g. from 2025-01-08 to 1/8/2025). You may want to use a text editor like Notepad++ to work with CSV files.

Video Demonstration

See our 05/19/2022 webinar (login required) at the 32:48 mark to see all binding types, a demonstration of adding new bound groups, and dealing with multiple meeting patterns.