1 This files describes API changes in /mod/* - activity modules,
2 information provided here is intended especially for developers.
6 * Backup directory now can be outside of temp directory. Use make_backup_temp_directory($name) instead of
7 make_temp_directory('/backup/'.$name)
8 * Modules that provide their own interactive content and call cm_info::set_content() from [MODULENAME]_cm_info_view()
9 callback should format all user input and call set_content() with parameter $isformatted=true . Otherwise
10 scripts will be cleaned on the course page in case of $CFG->forceclean=1. See example in mod_folder.
14 * Navigation between activities via a previous and next link was added to Boost, Clean and Bootstrapbase. This
15 was made possible by a new function core_renderer->activity_navigation(). However, there was an issue when linking
16 to the mod_resource and mod_url view.php pages where it would automatically download the file, or redirect to
17 the URL. It was noticed that this was not the case when editing the module and clicking 'Save and display' which would
18 take you to the pages without downloading the file or redirecting to a link. The reason this worked was because of the
19 hard-coded check 'if (strpos(get_local_referer(false), 'modedit.php') === false) {' in the view.php files. This check
20 has been removed in favour of an optional_param('forceview'). If you are using the above hard-coded check in your
21 plugin it is recommended to remove it and use the optional param as it will prevent the navigation from working as
26 * External functions that were returning file information now return the following additional file fields:
27 - mimetype (the file mime type)
28 - isexternalfile (if is a file reference to a external repository)
29 - repositorytype (the repository name in case is a external file)
30 Those fields are VALUE_OPTIONAL for backwards compatibility.
31 * The block_course_overview has been removed and the related core module *_print_overview functions have been deprecated.
32 * The block_myoverview has replaced block_course_overview to provide better information to students. To support this,
33 actions can now be attached to calendar events. Documentation for the following new API callbacks introduced in
34 MDL-55611 can be found at https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Calendar_API. The 3 new callbacks are:
35 - mod_<modname>_core_calendar_is_event_visible
36 - mod_<modname>_core_calendar_provide_event_action
37 - mod_<modname>_core_calendar_event_action_show_items_acount
38 * Changes to the moodleform_mod class and its usage (MDL-58138):
39 - the get_data() method has been overriden. The implementation calls parent::get_data() and a new data_postprocessing() method
40 - new data_postprocessing() method added. Mods can override this in their mod_form subclass to modify the submit data. Previously
41 mods could only modify submitted data by overriding get_data() in the mod_form subclass. data_postprocessing() is now the way to
43 - completion: \core_completion\manager calls the overriden mod_x_mod_form->data_postprocessing() to allow mods to modify their
44 completion data before saving the bulk completion form. If you've overriden get_data() to modify submit data for completion in
45 the past, you should now override the data_postprocessing() method in your mod_form and move your code there, so bulk completion
46 editing will be properly supported for your plugin.
49 * Callback delete_course is deprecated and should be replaced with observer for event \core\event\course_content_deleted
50 * update_module_button() and core_renderer::update_module_button() have been deprecated and should not be used anymore.
51 Activity modules should not add the edit module button, the link is already available in the Administration block.
52 Themes can choose to display the link in the buttons row consistently for all module types.
53 * New callback check_updates_since available. Check if the module has any update that affects the current user since the given time.
54 Please refer to mod/assign/lib.php, mod/forum/lib.php or mod/quiz/lib.php for sample code.
58 * Old /mod/MODULENAME/pix/icon.gif and enrol/paypal/pix/icon.gif GIF icons have been removed. Please use pix_icon
60 * Callback get_types() is deprecated, instead activity modules can define callback get_shortcuts().
61 See source code for get_module_metadata().
65 * Dropped support for the $module in mod/xxx/version.php files (deprecated
66 since 2.7). All activity modules must use the $plugin syntax now. See
67 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/version.php for details (MDL-43896).
68 * Modules using rating component must implement a callback mod_x_rating_can_see_item_ratings(). Refer
69 to mod_forum_rating_can_see_item_ratings() for example.
73 * Added Grade to pass field to mod_form for activities that support grading.
74 * The method moodleform_mod::add_intro_editor() used in mod_form.php form
75 definitions has been deprecated. Replace it with the new
76 moodleform_mod::standard_intro_elements() method that takes the new site
77 configuration requiremodintro into account (MDL-49101).
81 * Constant FEATURE_GROUPMEMBERSONLY is deprecated. Modules should remove this
82 constant from their module_supports() API function.
83 * $CFG->enablegroupmembersonly no longer exists.
87 * modgrade form element has been redesigned and allows setting the maximum grade point higher than 100.
88 * The usage of $module in mod/xxx/version.php files is now deprecated. Please use
89 $plugin instead. The support for the legacy notation will be dropped in Moodle 2.10.
90 * xxx_get_view_actions() and xxx_get_post_actions() will be ignored by new logging system for
91 participation report. view_action and post_action will be detected by event's crud and edulevel.
92 * The functions xxx_user_outline() and xxx_user_complete() have been removed from the majority of core modules (see MDL-41286),
93 except for those that require unique functionality. These functions are used by the outline report, but now if they no longer
94 exist, the default behaviour is chosen, which supports the legacy and standard log storages introduced in 2.7 (see MDL-41266).
95 It is highly recommended you remove these functions from your module if they are simply performing the default behaviour.
99 * Modules using the question bank MUST now declare their use of it with the xxx_supports()
100 flag FEATURE_USES_QUESTIONS.
101 * xxx_get_types() module callback can now return subtypes that have
102 a custom help text set. Also instead of array it can now return
103 MOD_SUBTYPE_NO_CHILDREN. This is optional and still defaults to prior
104 behavior. See get_module_metadata() in course/lib.php for details.
105 * shift_course_mod_dates() has been modified to accept optional mod instance id. If mod instance id is passed then
106 dates changed will happen only on specific module instance and not on all instances of that module in course.
110 * support for 'mod/*' filters was removed
116 * mod/xxx/adminlib.php may now include 'plugininfo_yoursubplugintype' class definition
117 used by plugin_manager; it is recommended to store extra admin settings classes in this file
119 optional - no changes needed:
121 * mod_lesson_renderer::header() now accepts an additional parameter $extrapagetitle
123 * mod/data/lib.php data_get_all_recordids() now has two new optional variables: $selectdata and $params.
127 required changes in code:
129 * define the capability mod/xxx:addinstance (and the corresponding lang string)
130 (unless your mod is a MOD_ARCHETYPE_SYSTEM).
131 * xxx_pluginfile() is now given the 7th parameter (hopefully the last one) that
132 contains additional options for the file serving. The array should be re-passed
133 to send_stored_file().
135 * most resourcelib_embed_* functions are replaced with core_media_renderer;
136 for an example, see mod/resource/locallib.php, resource_display_embed()
138 optional - no changes needed:
140 * add support for handling course drag and drop types - functions
141 xxx_dndupload_register() and xxx_dndupload_handle($uploadinfo) see:
142 http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Implementing_Course_drag_and_drop_upload_support_in_a_module
146 required changes in code:
147 * fix missing parameter types in optional_param() and required_param()
148 * use new optional_param_array(), required_param_array() or clean_param_array() when dealing with array parameters
149 * core_text::asort() replaced by specialized core_collator::asort()
150 * use new make_temp_directory() and make_cache_directory()
155 required changes in code:
156 * add new support for basic restore from 1.9
161 required changes in code:
162 * use new DML syntax everywhere
163 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DML_functions)
164 * use new DDL syntax in db/upgrade.php
165 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DDL_functions)
166 * replace defaults.php by settings.php and db/install.php
167 * replace STATEMENTS section in db/install.xml with PHP code db/install.php or db/log.php
168 * move post installation code from lib.php into db/install.php
169 * move uninstallation code from lib.php to db/uninstall.php
170 * new mandatory naming of intro and introformat table fields in module tables,
171 the presence of these fields is indicated in xxx_plugin_supports()
172 * completely rewrite file handling
173 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/File_API)
174 * rewrite backup/restore
176 * rewrite trusttext support - new db table columns needed
177 * migrate all module features from mod_edit.php form to lib.php/modulename_supports() function
178 * implement new gradebook support (legacy 1.8.x grading not supported anymore)
179 * migrate custom resource module subtypes into separate modules,
180 necessary only for custom plugins in mod/resource/
181 * use new $PAGE and $OUTPUT instead of old weblib functions
182 * theme changes: move plugin styles into mod/xxx/styles.css and use new css markers for images,
183 move all images into new mod/xxx/pix/ directory and use new outputlib api
184 move module icon to mod/xxx/pix/icon.gif
185 old global $THEME is fully replaced by $OUTPUT
186 create plugin renderers
187 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Theme_changes_in_2.0)
188 * migrate all javascript new coding style using YUI3+YUI2
189 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/JavaScript_usage_guide)
190 * remove '_utf8' from lang pack names, use new {a} syntax
191 * replace helps with new 'xxx_hlp' strings
192 * please note the $plugin->requires in version.php has to be bigger than 2010000000,
193 otherwise the plugin is marked as outdated and upgrade is interrupted
195 optional - no changes needed in older code:
196 * settingstree.php replaced by settings.php - just unset the $settings if you want to make custom part of settings admin tree
197 * support for new mforms editor element and embedded files
200 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Portfolio_API)
201 * course completion tracking support
202 * new navigation features
204 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Comments_2.0)
206 (http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Ratings_2.0)