1 This files describes API changes for code that uses the question API.
5 If you have customised the display of the question bank (using $CFG->questionbankcolumns)
6 then be aware that the default configuration has changed, and you may wish to make
7 equivalent changes in your customised version. The old column question_name_column
8 has been replaced by question_name_idnumber_tags_column. The old question_name_column
9 still exists, so it is safe to continue using it.
11 There is a new question bank column edit_menu_column which displays all actions
12 in a drop-down menu, instead of as separate icons. This is now used by default.
13 Specifically, it gathers all other columns which implement the new interface
14 menuable_action. If you have made a custom subclasses of action_column_base,
15 you probably want to implement the new interface. If your column is a simple action,
16 the easiest way to do this will be to subclass menu_action_column_base. If your action
17 is more complex, and does not follow the simple pattern that menu_action_column_base
18 uses, then you will need to implement menuable_action yourself. The commit for
19 MDL-66816 updates all the core action columns. Looking at that change should make
20 it clearly the changes you need to make to your columns.
25 The code for the is_valid_number function that was duplicated in the
26 qtype_numerical and qtype_multianswer plugins in the qtype_numerical_edit_form
27 and qtype_multianswer_edit_form classes has been moved to a static function
28 in the qtype_numerical class of the qtype_numerical plugin.
30 The exportprocess function of the qformat_default class doesn't output a blank line
31 if the result of the writequestion function is null. This permit to qformat plugins
32 to ignore some questions without the need to overwrite this function.
34 * The question_preview_cron() has been deleted. Please use \core\task\question_cron_task::execute().
35 * The question_usage_statistics_cron() has been deleted. Please use \core\task\question_cron_task::execute().
36 * The method question_bank::cron() has been deleted, please use question related scheduled tasks.
40 1) The question format exportprocess function now adds a
41 $checkcapabilities boolean to allow questions to be exported in
42 certain circumstances.
46 1) The following renderers have been deprecated in favour of the renderable
47 core_question\output\qbank_chooser and associated render_* method.
55 1) The argument $requirecourseid was removed from question_edit_setup() and
56 is no longer respected. The behaviour was found to be buggy and now throws
57 debugging notices if passed.
61 1) Some functions in questionlib.php which were deprecated in the past have now
65 * question_list_instances
67 * question_category_isused
68 * save_question_options
69 * question_get_real_state
72 * question_rewrite_questiontext_preview_urls
73 * question_send_questiontext_file
74 * question_pluginfile no longer falls back to using the old
75 {$previewcomponent}_questiontext_preview_pluginfile callback if the new
76 {$previewcomponent}_question_preview_pluginfile callback is missing.
81 1) This is just a warning that some methods of the question_engine_data_mapper
82 class have changed. All these methods are ones that you should not have been
83 calling directly from your code, so this should not cause any problems.
84 The changed methods are:
85 * insert_question_attempt
87 * update_question_attempt_step
92 1) Changes to class question_bank_view:
94 Filters, including $recurse and $showhidden, are now implemented as
95 pluggable \core_question\bank\search\condition classes.
97 Therefore $recurse and $showhidden are no longer passed to the following functions:
98 protected function display_options [deprecated, use display_options_form()]
99 protected function build_query_sql [deprecated, use build_query()]
101 protected function display_category_form() is deprecated. Use \core_question\bank\search\category_condition
103 protected function display_category_form_checkbox deprecated use html_writer::checkbox and separate JavaScript
105 To add filters, local plugins can now implement the function local_[pluginname]_get_question_bank_search_conditions,
107 2) To make columns available to question_bank_view, plugins can extend core_question\bank\column_base.
108 Users may choose to display additional columns by setting $CFG->questionbankcolumns to a comma-delimited list of columns.
110 3) The subsort separator has changed from _ to - in order to distinuguish subsorts vs frankenstyle component separators.
112 4) Because of the move to autoloading, $knowncolumntypes and known_field_types() are no longer used.
114 5) question_bank_column_base and it's derived classes have been namespaced to core_question\bank\column_base.
119 1) Modules using the question bank MUST now declare their use of it with the xxx_supports()
120 flag FEATURE_USES_QUESTIONS. question_module_uses_questions() should be used to determine
121 if a module uses questions.
123 2) It is sometimes necessary to display bits of question content without having
124 and attempt (question_usage) in progress. Two examples of this are the option
125 in the question bank to display the questiontext, and in the quiz statistics
126 report, where it displays the question text above the report.
128 Previously, this display was done using a special method that only worked for
129 the question text, but which would not work for other parts of the question.
130 That old mechanism has been deprecated, and there is a new method that you
133 To display the question, replace calls to question_rewrite_questiontext_preview_urls
134 with calls to question_rewrite_question_preview_urls. Because the new function
135 is more flexibile, you have to pass more arguments.
137 To perform the necessary permission checks when the file is downloaded, you need
138 to implement the callback [component name]_question_preview_pluginfile.
139 (Previously you implemented [component name]_questiontext_preview_pluginfile.)
140 quiz_statistics_question_preview_pluginfile is an example of what to do.
142 question_send_questiontext_file has been deprecated. It is no longer necessary.
144 To ensure you are no longer using or defining any deprecated functions,
145 search for the regular expression:
146 question_rewrite_questiontext_preview_urls|_questiontext_preview_pluginfile|question_send_questiontext_file
148 3) The argument list for core_question_renderer::mark_summary has changed.
149 Please update your calls. (The most likely scenario for this is if you have
150 overridden core_question_renderer::info in your own renderer.) You need to
152 - $this->mark_summary($qa, $options);
153 + $this->mark_summary($qa, $behaviouroutput, $options);