Help: Recent changes to iTunes U have begun to cause serious problems

Question

Previously, our method for course creation was handled completely via Web Services. Immediately after course creation in a section, we would pull the site tree for that section, parse the XML to make sure the course was actually created, and then get the Course Handle.
With the April 9th update to iTunes, the ShowTree method has also changed. This was not mentioned as something that was changed; however, I assure you it has. When we pull only the xml for a single section, just as before, Course Handles are now no longer included in the response from iTunes U.
Bear in mind, we received no notice that an update was even going to occur, resulting in a catastrophic failure of service. We received a notice after the fact on the 9th, and that notice did not mention the responses for show tree changing at all.
Can anyone tell me what, exactly, they changed? Even the things they changed that were not mentioned in the notice?
-- David

Answer 1

Here is a bit of extra information, again: Real Problem, our workaround, and some requests.
First, Real Problem:
Requesting a ShowTree using a Web Services document via POST, you can specify a Handle and a KeyGroup. The handle we used was a Section handle. The KeyGroup we used was "most". This is to ensure we reduce overhead on our system (and on iTunes U), and also let us use our own unique Course Identifiers that correspond to our CMS unique identifiers.
Something on iTunes U has changed such that using a Section, and the KeyGroup "most" no longer includes the Course Identifier tag. This is the tag that we used to do a lookup (via parsing the XML response from the ShowTree) and get the Course Handle, while simultaneously verifying the course was successfully created.
Now, our workaround: (keep in mind, this may not work for you, and has a dependency as well)
Workaround:
Dependency: This assumes that the course is actually created, and that iTunes U will continue to send back the Course Handle upon successful Course creation. What do I mean by this? I would rather prefer not to wake up one day only to get an email saying: "Overnight, we decided to remove this functionality. Please do enjoy." If that functionality is removed, the only other choice is to request the entire site tree, KeyGroup set to "most," and a whole lot of processing of a very, very large XML document, only to look up a single number.
Requests:
One, do include both the Course Identifier as well as the Course Handle in a ShowTree, based on a Handle, and include them in both the "most" and the "minimal" KeyGroups. There is no reason a simple lookup on a single course should require any more XML parsing than is absolutely necessary.
Two, do not remove the response xml that contains the Course Handle upon successful Course creation. If this is removed, the ONLY other way to do this lookup would be to download the entire site tree and parse, trying to match a single key to a single value.
Third, when large and intrusive updates are made to iTunes U, as this one was, please do inform the community well in advance, and be sure to document everything that was changed, not just what is considered by a few to be "new features."
-- David