1 This files describes API changes in core libraries and APIs,
2 information provided here is intended especially for developers.
5 * To better detect wrong floats (like, for example, unformatted, using local-dependent separators ones) a number of
6 gradebook functions now have stricter float type checking. All them will require now the "float" being passed to be
7 a correct float value (numeric or string). Usually, that's achieved by using unformat_float() or
8 PARAM_LOCALISEDFLOAT for all the user-entered grades before any processing on them. Functions affected are:
9 - grade_format_gradevalue(), $value param (keeping it as optional/nullable).
10 - grade_format_gradevalue_real(), $value param (keeping it as optional/nullable).
11 - grade_format_gradevalue_percentage(), $value param (keeping it as optional/nullable).
12 - grade_format_gradevalue_letter(), $value param (keeping it as optional/nullable).
13 - grade_floats_different(), $f1 and $f2 params (keeping them as optional/nullable).
14 - grade_floats_equal(), $f1 and $f2 params (keeping them as optional/nullable).
15 * The method action_menu->set_alignment() has been deprecated, please use action_menu->set_menu_left if you need a dropdown
16 to align to the left of the dropdown button.
17 * The $OUTPUT->should_display_main_logo() function has been deprecated and should no longer be used.
18 * New method flexible_table::set_columnsattributes() has been introduced to add column attributes applied in every cell.
19 * New method flexible_table::get_row_cells_html() has been introduced, extracted from flexible_table::get_row_html
20 so it can be overriden individually.
21 * Since Boxnet has been remove from core then boxnet_client() class has been removed from core too.
22 * New navigation classes to mimic the new navigation project. The existing navigation callbacks are still available and
23 will be called. The following behaviour will be the new standard for nodes added via callbacks:
24 - Module nodes added will be appended to the end and will appear within the hamburger option.
25 - Course nodes added will also be appended and appear within the 'More' option/page.
26 * The core/event events have been renamed and now fire native events, in addition to the legacy YUI and jQuery events.
27 The following events have been renamed:
28 - The BLOCK_CONTENT_UPDATED event has been replaced with a new native event in the `core_block/events` AMD module
29 eventTypes.blockContentUpdated.
30 - The EDITOR_CONTENT_RESTORED event has been replaced with a new native event in the `core_editor/events` AMD module
31 eventTypes.editorContentRestored.
32 - The FILTER_CONTENT_UPDATED event has been replaced with a new native event in the `core_filters/events` AMD module
33 eventTypes.filterContentUpdated.
34 - The FORM_FIELD_VALIDATION event has been replaced with a new native event in the `core_form/events` AMD module
35 eventTypes.formFieldValidationFailed.
36 - The FORM_SUBMIT_AJAX event has been replaced with a new native event in the `core_form/events` AMD module
37 eventTypes.formSubmittedByJavascript.
38 * The block template now includues a block-instanceid data attribute.
39 * The core/event::getLegacyEvents() function has been deprecated and should no longer be used.
40 * Typo3 has now been removed. Use native mbstring or iconv functions.
41 * A new index has been added on mdl_user_preferences.name. This upgrade step might take some time on big sites.
42 * The completion_info function display_help_icon() which returned the 'Your progress' help icon has been deprecated and
43 should no longer be used.
44 * The completion_info function print_help_icon() which has been deprecated since Moodle 2.0 should no longer be used.
45 * @babel/polyfill has been removed in favour of corejs@3
46 * A new parameter $isbulkupdate has been added to the following functions:
47 - grade_category::update()
48 - grade_category::insert()
49 - grade_grade::update()
50 - grade_grade::insert()
51 - grade_grade::notify_changed()
52 - grade_item::insert()
53 - grade_item::update()
54 - grade_item::update_final_grade()
55 - grade_item::update_raw_grade()
56 - grade_object::update()
57 - grade_object::insert()
58 - grade_outcome::update()
59 - grade_outcome::insert()
60 - grade_scale::update()
61 - grade_scale::insert()
63 - completion_info::inform_grade_changed()
64 - completion_info::update_state()
65 - completion_info::internal_set_data()
66 All functions except completion_info::internal_set_data() are only passing this parameter from very beginning of
67 workflow (like grade report page where bulk grade update is possible) so this parameter is used in
68 completion_info::internal_set_data() to decide if we need to mark completions instantly without waiting for cron.
69 * Following methods now return an int instead of bool:
70 - completion_completion::_save()
71 - completion_completion::mark_enrolled()
72 - completion_completion::mark_inprogress()
73 - completion_completion::mark_complete()
74 which is needed to store id of completion record on successful update which is later beeing used by
75 completion_info::internal_set_data() to reaggregate completions that have been marked for instant course completion.
76 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used anymore:
78 * The YUI moodle-core-formchangechecker module has been deprecated and replaced with a new AMD module
79 core_form/changechecker.
80 * New method \core_user::awaiting_action() has been introduced to check if the user is fully ready to use the site or
81 whether there is an action (such as filling the missing profile field, changing password or agreeing to the site
83 * The signature of the get_name() function for grade_category and grade_item has been extended. The new parameter allows
84 callers to get the name without escaped characters.
85 * The inplace_editable element constructor now accepts an optional pix_icon parameter to use as it's editing icon when
86 rendered. The default icon for "select" types has also changed to a dropdown caret ("t/expanded").
87 * The inplace_editable Javascript module now emits native events, removing the jQuery dependency from calling code
88 that wants to listen for the events. Backwards compatibility with existing code using jQuery is preserved.
89 * The function message_send() in messagelib.php now returns false if there is an error sending the message to the
90 message processor (MDL-70046).
91 * Following methods are now deprecated in questionlib and moved to the new qbank_previewquestion plugin:
92 - question_preview_url() is moved to qbank_previewquestion\helper::question_preview_url()
93 - question_preview_popup_params() is moved to \qbank_previewquestion\helper::question_preview_popup_params()
94 Calling these functions in the question will point to the plugin.
95 The deprecated codes are removed from the questionlib for those two methods.
96 * The following functions are deprecated in questionlib.php and moved to the new location.
97 These are marked for final deprecation on 4.4:
98 - question_remove_stale_questions_from_category() =>
99 qbank_managecategories\helper::question_remove_stale_questions_from_category()
100 - flatten_category_tree() => qbank_managecategories\helper::flatten_category_tree()
101 - add_indented_names() => qbank_managecategories\helper::add_indented_names()
102 - question_category_select_menu() => qbank_managecategories\helper::question_category_select_menu()
103 - get_categories_for_contexts() => qbank_managecategories\helper::get_categories_for_contexts()
104 - question_category_options() => qbank_managecategories\helper::question_category_options()
105 - question_add_context_in_key() => qbank_managecategories\helper::question_add_context_in_key()
106 - question_fix_top_names() => qbank_managecategories\helper::question_fix_top_names()
107 * Following methods are now deprecated in questionlib and moved to the new qbank_previewquestion plugin:
108 - question_preview_url() is moved to qbank_previewquestion\helper::question_preview_url()
109 - question_preview_popup_params() is moved to \qbank_previewquestion\helper::question_preview_popup_params()
110 Calling these functions in the question will point to the plugin, but the deprecation message will be activated in MDL-72004.
111 The deprecated codes are removed from the questionlib for those two methods.
112 * Function question_hash() from questionlib.php is deprecated without replacement.
113 * Some of the new and old methods in the questionlib.php now using type hinting. Please make a note of this while making changes
114 or implementing any question bank related feature in a plugin. These are the list of methods:
117 - get_question_version()
118 - get_question_bank_entry()
119 - core_question_find_next_unused_idnumber()
120 - question_module_uses_questions()
121 - question_page_type_list()
122 - core_question_question_preview_pluginfile()
123 - question_rewrite_question_preview_urls()
124 - question_rewrite_question_urls()
125 - question_get_all_capabilities()
126 - question_get_question_capabilities()
127 - question_require_capability_on()
128 - question_has_capability_on()
129 - question_default_export_filename()
130 - get_import_export_formats()
131 - question_categorylist_parents()
132 - question_categorylist()
133 - question_make_default_categories()
134 - question_get_top_categories_for_contexts()
135 - sort_categories_by_tree()
136 - print_question_icon()
137 - question_sort_tags()
139 - question_preload_questions()
140 - question_move_category_to_context()
141 - move_question_set_references()
142 - question_move_questions_to_category()
143 - idnumber_exist_in_question_category()
144 - question_move_question_tags_to_new_context()
145 - question_delete_activity()
146 - question_delete_course_category()
147 - question_delete_course()
148 - question_delete_context()
149 - question_delete_question()
150 - delete_question_bank_entry()
151 - question_category_in_use()
152 - question_category_delete_safe()
153 - question_context_has_any_questions()
155 - question_save_qtype_order()
156 - question_reorder_qtypes()
157 * The postgres driver now wraps calls to pg_field_type() and caches them in databasemeta to save an invisible internal
158 DB call on every request.
159 * The default type of 'core/toast' messages has been changed to 'information' (callers can still explicitely set the type)
160 * As the message_jabber notification plugin has been moved to the plugins database, the XMPPHP library (aka Jabber) has been
161 completely removed from Moodle core too.
162 * The SWF media player has been completely removed (The Flash Player was deprecated in 2017 and officially discontinued
163 on 31 December 2020).
164 * The display_size function has been improved to add new optional parameters (decimal places,
165 fixed units), to always include a non-breaking space between the number and unit, and to use
166 consistent rounding (always 1 decimal place by default).
167 * The persistent method get() now returns the correct type for each property defined in the persistent class.
168 * The persistent method from_record() now only attempts to load record properties defined in the persistent class.
169 * New persistent set_many() helper for setting multiple properties in single method call.
170 * Require pass grade criteria is now part of core.
171 Refer to upgrade.php to see transitioning from similar plugin criteria to core
172 Refer to completion/upgrade.txt for additional information.
173 * The method enable_plugin() has been added to the core_plugininfo\base class and it has been implemented by all the plugininfo
174 classes extending it. When possible, the enable_plugin() method will store these changes into the config_log table, to let admins
175 check when and who has enabled/disabled plugins.
176 * New tables are included as a part of https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Question_bank_improvements_for_Moodle_4.0
177 - question_bank_entries -> Each question bank entry. This table has one row for each question that appears in the question bank.
178 - question_versions -> Versions of the question. Store the data that defines how a particular version of the question works.
179 - question_references -> Records where a specific question is used.
180 - question_set_references -> Records where groups of questions are used (e.g.: Random questions).
181 Also, some tables have been updated or removed:
182 - question (fields migrated to the new tables)
183 - quiz_slot (fields removed)
184 - quiz_slot_tags (table removed)
185 During the upgrade, data from the question table will be copied to the new tables. After this process,
186 the data copied will be removed from question table quiz_slot and finally the the quiz_slot_tags table will be removed.
187 * Final deprecation: The following functions along with associated tests have been removed:
188 - core_grades_external::get_grades
189 - core_grades_external::get_grade_item
190 - report_insights_context_insights
191 * \core\session\manager::init_empty_session() has a new optional parameter $newsid to indicate whether this is a new user session
192 * New html_table attribute "$responsive" which defaults to true. When set to true, tables created via html_writer::table() will be enclosed
193 in a .table-responsive div container which will allow the table to be scrolled horizontally with ease, especially when the table is rendered in smaller viewports.
194 Set to false to prevent the table from being enclosed in the responsive container.
195 * Two new helper functions have been added to lib/datalib.php, for safely preparing SQL ORDER BY statements where user
196 interactions define sort parameters (see the respective docblocks for full details and examples):
197 -get_safe_orderby() - where a single sort parameter is required.
198 -get_safe_orderby_multiple() - where multiple sort parameters are required.
199 * Added the cleanstr mustache template helper to clean strings after loading them from language packs.
200 * The following behat functions have been modified to work with the new navigation
202 - the_add_block_selector_should_contain_block
203 - the_add_block_selector_should_contain_block
204 - go_to_the_current_course_activity_completion_report
205 - i_navigate_to_course_participants
206 - i_go_to_advanced_grading_page
207 - i_navigate_to_in_the_course_gradebook
208 - should_exist_in_current_page_administration
209 - should_not_exist_in_current_page_administration
210 - go_to_main_course_page
211 - select_on_administration_page
212 - find_header_administration_menu
213 - select_from_administration_menu
215 - i_add_a_question_filling_the_form_with
216 * The following behat step has been deprecated
217 - i_select_from_flat_navigation_drawer
218 * The type for the "message" field in the external_warnings() structure has been changed from PARAM_TEXT to PARAM_RAW
219 * A new parameter $displayoptions has been added to the core_renderer::confirm() to allow better customization for confirming page
220 such as the title and strings for continue and cancel buttons.
221 * The method get_enabled_plugin($pluginname) has been added to the core_plugininfo\base class. It has a default implementation for
222 all the plugininfo classes and it can be overwritten when required (like it has been done with filter). This method returns the
223 current value for a pluginname depending on its status (enabled, disabled, other...).
224 * Unit Test coverage defaults have been updated to include some sensible defaults.
225 The default values now include:
233 This default applies both when there is no supplied coverage.php file, and is used to supplement any existing coverage configuration file if one is found.
234 * New method get_unaddable_by_theme_block_types() has been added to block_manager class. It uses the 'unaddableblocks' theme setting
235 value to get the list of blocks that won't be displayed for a theme.
236 * Loggedin / Loggedoff component settings on notification preferences have been merged to a single enabled switch:
237 MESSAGE_DEFAULT_LOGGEDIN and MESSAGE_DEFAULT_LOGGEDOFF are now deprecated, so plugins should be updated if db/messages.php is present and replace
238 MESSAGE_DEFAULT_LOGGEDIN + MESSAGE_DEFAULT_LOGGEDOFF to MESSAGE_DEFAULT_ENABLED. Backward compatibility will take any of both settings as enabled.
239 MESSAGE_DEFAULT_PERMITTED also deprecated.
240 core_message_get_user_notification_preferences and core_message_get_user_message_preferences Webservice are now returning enabled boolean on
241 components > notifications > processors. loggedin and loggedoff are deprecated but present for backward compatibility.
242 * A new parameter $strength of type int is added to method search_for_active_node. This parameter would help us to search for the active nodes based on the
243 $strength passed to it.
244 * A new method get_page() has been added to the settings_navigation class. This method can be used to obtain the
245 moodle_page object associated to the settings navigation.
246 * A new interface, `core\output\named_templatable` has been created to allow renderable classes to define a
247 `get_template_name(\renderer_base): string` function which will inform the default render() function with a template
249 * The parameter $modinfo of the get_data method in completion_info class has been deprecated and is not used anymore.
252 * A new option dontforcesvgdownload has been added to the $options parameter of the send_file() function.
253 Note: This option overrides the forced download of directly accessed SVGs, so should only be used where the calling method is
254 rendering SVGs directly for content created using XSS risk flagged capabilities (such as creating a SCORM activity).
255 This is also not necessary where SVGs are already being safely loaded into <img> tags by Moodle (eg within forum posts).
258 * For security reasons, filelib has been updated so all requests now use emulated redirects.
259 For this reason, manually disabling emulateredirects will no longer have any effect (and will generate a debugging message).
262 * PHPUnit has been upgraded to 9.5 (see MDL-71036 for details).
263 That comes with a few changes:
264 - Breaking: All the changes that were deprecated with PHPUnit 8.5
265 are now removed (see the 3.10 section below).
266 - Breaking: assertContains() now performs stricter comparison (like assertSame()
267 does). New assertContainsEquals() has been created to provide the old
269 - Deprecation: A number of file-related assertions have been deprecated, will
270 be removed with PHPUnit 10. Alternatives for all them have been created:
271 - assertNotIsReadable() -> assertIsNotReadable()
272 - assertNotIsWritable() -> assertIsNotWritable()
273 - assertDirectoryNotExists() -> assertDirectoryDoesNotExist()
274 - assertDirectoryNotIsReadable()-> assertDirectoryIsNotReadable()
275 - assertDirectoryNotIsWritable()-> assertDirectoryIsNotWritable()
276 - assertFileNotExists() -> assertFileDoesNotExist()
277 - assertFileNotIsReadable() -> assertFileIsNotReadable()
278 - assertFileNotIsWritable() -> assertFileIsNotWritable()
279 - Deprecation: Regexp-related assertions have been deprecated, will be
280 removed with PHPUnit 10. Alternatives for all them have been created:
281 - assertRegExp() -> assertMatchesRegularExpression()
282 - assertNotRegExp() -> assertDoesNotMatchRegularExpression()
283 - Deprecation: The expectException() for Notice, Warning, Deprecation and
284 Error is deprecated, will be removed with PHPUnit 10. New expectations
285 have been created to better define the expectation:
286 - expectDeprecation() for E_DEPRECATED and E_USER_DEPRECATED.
287 - expectNotice() for E_NOTICE, E_USER_NOTICE, and E_STRICT.
288 - expectWarning() for E_WARNING and E_USER_WARNING.
289 - expectError() for everything else.
290 - Deprecation: The Mock->at() matcher has been deprecated and will be
291 removed with PHPUnit 10. Switch to better, more deterministic and clearer
292 matchers is recommended (->once(), ->exactly(), ->never()...).
293 - Deprecation: The Mock->setMethods() method has been *silently* deprecated
294 and will be removed in the future. Change uses to the new Mock->onlyMethods()
295 alternative. Also, it doesn't accept "null" anymore, new default must
297 - Mostly internal: With the raise to PHP 7.3 as lower version supported,
298 various internal bits perform now stricter type checking in params and
299 return values. If your tests have own-created comparators, assertions...
300 they may need to be adjusted.
301 - Mostly internal: The phpunit.xml schema has changed, basically removing
302 the old <filter> section and replacing it with a new, less confusing
303 <coverage> section. Also the elements within them have been changed:
304 - <whitelist> has been replaced by <include>.
305 - <exclude> is not a child of <whitelist> anymore, but of <coverage>.
306 Note that this only will affect if you've custom phpunit.xml files
307 instead of using the automatically generated ones by Moodle.
308 - Deprecation: Related to the previous point, the $whitelistxxx properties
309 used by the coverage.php files have been deprecated (will continue
310 working until Moodle 4.3) to follow the same pattern:
311 - whitelistfolders -> includelistfolders
312 - whitelistfiles -> includelistfiles
313 - Internal: Custom autoloaders are deprecated and will be removed with
314 PHPUnit 10. Hence we have removed our one already.
315 Note that it was not useful since PHPUnit 8.5, where the ability
316 to run tests by class name was removed.
317 - Warning: Because of some new restrictions about how test files and
318 test classes must be named (that Moodle haven't followed ever) it's not
319 possible to run individual test files any more. Use any of the alternative
320 execution methods (filter, suite, config) to specify which tests
321 you want to run. This will be hopefully fixed in MDL-71049
322 once it has been agreed which the best way to proceed is.
323 * The horde library has been updated to version 5.2.23.
324 * New optional parameter $extracontent for print_collapsible_region_start(). This allows developers to add interactive HTML elements
325 (e.g. a help icon) after the collapsible region's toggle link.
326 * Final deprecation i_dock_block() in behat_deprecated.php
327 * Final deprecation of get_courses_page. Function has been removed and core_course_category::get_courses() should be
329 * New encryption API in \core\encryption allows secure encryption and decryption of data. By
330 default the key is stored in moodledata but admins can configure a different, more secure
331 location in config.php if required. To get the best possible security for this feature, we
332 recommend enabling the Sodium PHP extension.
333 The OpenSSL alternative for this API, used when Sodium is not available, is considered deprecated
334 at all effects, and will be removed in Moodle 4.2. See MDL-71421 for more information.
335 * Behat timeout constants behat_base::TIMEOUT, EXTENDED_TIMEOUT, and REDUCED_TIMEOUT, which were deprecated in 3.7, have been removed.
336 * \core_table\local\filter\filterset::JOINTYPE_DEFAULT is being changed from 1 (ANY) to 2 (ALL). Filterset implementations
337 can override the default filterset join type by overriding \core_table\local\filter\filterset::get_join_type() instead.
338 * HTMLPurifier has been upgraded to the latest version - 4.13.0
339 * Markdown lib has been upgraded to the latest version - 1.9.0
340 * The minify lib has been upgraded to 1.3.63 and pathconvertor to 1.1.3
341 * A new optional parameter `$sort` has been added to all `$context->get_capabilities()` methods to be able to define order of
342 returned capability array.
343 * Spout has been upgraded to the latest version - 3.1.0
344 * emoji-data has been upgraded to 6.0.0.
345 * The final deprecation of /message/defaultoutputs.php file and admin_page_defaultmessageoutputs.
346 All their settings moved to admin/message.php (see MDL-64495). Please use admin_page_managemessageoutputs class instead.
347 * Behat now supports date selection from the date form element. Examples:
348 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##15 March 2021##"
349 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##first day of January last year##"
350 * Behat now supports date and time selection from the datetime form element. Examples:
351 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##15 March 2021 08:15##"
352 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##first day of January last year noon##"
353 * New DML driver method `$DB->sql_group_concat` for performing group concatenation of a field within a SQL query
354 * Added new class, AMD modules and WS that allow displaying forms in modal popups or load and submit in AJAX requests.
355 See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Modal_and_AJAX_forms for more details.
356 * New base class for defining an activity's custom completion requirements: \core_completion\activity_custom_completion.
357 Activity module plugins that define custom completion conditions should implement a mod_[modname]\completion\custom_completion
358 subclass and the following methods:
359 - get_state(): Provides the completion state for a given custom completion rule.
360 - get_defined_custom_rules(): Returns an array of the activity module's custom completion rules.
361 e.g. ['completionsubmit']
362 - get_custom_rule_descriptions(): Returns an associative array with values containing the user-facing textual description
363 of the custom completion rules (which serve as the keys to these values).
364 e.g. ['completionsubmit' => 'Must submit']
365 - get_sort_order(): Returns an array listing the order the activity module's completion rules should be displayed to the user,
366 including both custom completion and relevant core completion rules
367 e.g. ['completionview', 'completionsubmit', 'completionusegrade']
368 * Admin setting admin_setting_configmulticheckbox now supports lazy-loading the options list by
369 supplying a callback function instead of an array of options.
370 * A new core API class \core_user\fields provides ways to get lists of user fields, and SQL related to
371 those fields. This replaces existing functions get_extra_user_fields(), get_extra_user_fields_sql(),
372 get_user_field_name(), get_all_user_name_fields(), and user_picture::fields(), which have all been
374 * Allow plugins to augment the curl security helper via callback. The plugin's function has to be defined as
375 plugintype_pluginname_curl_security_helper in pluginname/lib.php file and the function should return a plugin's security
377 * The behat transformation 'string time to timestamp' no longer supports datetime format. If provided, the format must
378 be strftime compatible. Example:
379 - I should see "##tomorrow noon##%A, %d %B %Y, %I:%M %p##"
380 * External functions implementation classes should use 'execute' as the method name, in which case the
381 'methodname' property should not be specified in db/services.php file.
382 * The core_grades_create_gradecategory webservice has been deprecated in favour of core_grades_create_gradecategories, which is
383 functionally identical but allows for parallel gradecategory creations by supplying a data array to the webservice.
384 * The signature of the get_context_name() function in the abstract class context and all extending classes (such as context_course)
385 has been extended. The new parameter allows the to get the name without escaped characters.
386 * The signature of the question_category_options() has been extended. The new parameter allows the to get the categories name
387 in the returned array without escaped characters.
388 * The \core\hub\site_registration_form::add_select_with_email() method has been deprecated in favour of
389 \core\hub\site_registration_form::add_checkbox_with_email().
392 * PHPUnit has been upgraded to 8.5. That comes with a few changes:
393 - Breaking change: All the "template methods" (setUp(), tearDown()...) now require to return void. This implies
394 that the minimum version of PHP able to run tests will be PHP 7.1
395 - A good number of assertions have been deprecated with this version
396 and will be removed in a future one. In core all cases have been removed
397 (so it's deprecation-warnings free). It's recommended to perform the
398 switch to their new counterparts ASAP:
399 - assertInternalType() has been deprecated. Use the assertIsXXX() methods instead.
400 - assertArraySubset() has been deprecated. Use looping + assertArrayHasKey() or similar.
401 - @expectedExceptionXXX annotations have been deprecated. Use the expectExceptionXXX()
402 methods instead (and put them exactly before the line that is expected to throw the exception).
403 - assertAttributeXXX() have been deprecated. If testing public attributes use normal assertions. If
404 testing non-public attributes... you're doing something wrong :-)
405 - assertContains() to find substrings on strings has been deprecated. Use assertStringContainsString() instead.
406 (note that there are "IgnoringCase()" variants to perform case-insensitive matching.
407 - assertEquals() extra params have been deprecated and new assertions for them created:
408 - delta => use assertEqualsWithDelta()
409 - canonicalize => use assertEqualsCanonicalizing()
410 - ignoreCase => use assertEqualsIgnoringCase()
411 - maxDepth => removed without replacement.
412 - The custom printer that was used to show how to rerun a failure has been removed, it was old and "hacky"
413 solution, for more information about how to run tests, see the docs, there are plenty of options.
414 - phpunit/dbunit is not available any more and it has been replaced by a lightweight phpunit_dataset class, able to
415 load XML/CSV and PHP arrays, send the to database and return rows to calling code (in tests). That implies the
416 follwoing changes in the advanced_testcase class:
417 - createFlatXMLDataSet() has been removed. No uses in core, uses can switch to createXMLDataSet() (read below).
418 - createXMLDataSet() has been deprecated. Use dataset_from_files() instead.
419 - createCsvDataSet() has been deprecated. Use dataset_from_files() instead.
420 - createArrayDataSet() has been deprecated. This method was using the phpunit_ArrayDataSet class
421 that has been also removed from core. Use dataset_from_array() instead.
422 - loadDataSet() has been deprecated. Use phpunit_dataset->to_database() instead.
423 - All the previous uses of phpunit/dbunit methods like Dataset:getRows(), Dataset::getRowCount()
424 must be replaced by the new phpunit_dataset->get_rows() method.
425 * Retains the source course id when a course is copied from another course on the same site.
426 * Added function setScrollable in core/modal. This function can be used to set the modal's body to be scrollable or not
427 when the modal's height exceeds the browser's height. This is also supported in core/modal_factory through the
428 'scrollable' config parameter which can be set to either true or false. If not explicitly defined, the default value
429 of 'scrollable' is true.
430 * The `$CFG->behat_retart_browser_after` configuration setting has been removed.
431 The browser session is now restarted between all tests.
432 * add_to_log() has been through final deprecation, please rewrite your code to the new events API.
433 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used anymore:
435 - calendar_get_all_allowed_types
436 - groups_get_all_groups_for_courses
441 - events_get_handlers
442 - get_roles_on_exact_context
443 - get_roles_with_assignment_on_context
444 - message_add_contact
445 - message_remove_contact
446 - message_unblock_contact
447 - message_block_contact
448 - message_get_contact
449 * The following renamed classes have been completely removed:
450 - course_in_list (now: core_course_list_element)
451 - coursecat (now: core_course_category)
452 * The form element 'htmleditor', which was deprecated in 3.6, has been removed.
453 * The `core_output_load_fontawesome_icon_map` web service has been deprecated and replaced by
454 `core_output_load_fontawesome_icon_system_map` which takes the name of the theme to generate the icon system map for.
455 * A new parameter `$rolenamedisplay` has been added to `get_viewable_roles()` and `get_switchable_roles` to define how role names
457 * The class coursecat_sortable_records has been removed.
458 * Admin setting admin_setting_configselect now supports lazy-loading the options list by supplying
459 a callback function instead of an array of options.
460 * Admin setting admin_setting_configselect now supports validating the selection by supplying a
462 * The task system has new functions adhoc_task_starting() and scheduled_task_starting() which must
463 be called before executing a task, and a new function \core\task\manager::get_running_tasks()
464 returns information about currently-running tasks.
465 * New library function rename_to_unused_name() to rename a file within its current location.
466 * Constant \core_h5p\file_storage::EDITOR_FILEAREA has been deprecated
467 because it's not required any more.
468 * The ZipStream-PHP library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/zipstream.
469 * The php-enum library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/php-enum.
470 * The http-message library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/http-message.
471 * Methods `filetypes_util::is_whitelisted()` and `filetypes_util::get_not_whitelisted()` have been deprecated and
472 renamed to `is_listed()` and `get_not_listed()` respectively.
473 * Method `mustache_helper_collection::strip_blacklisted_helpers()` has been deprecated and renamed to
474 `strip_disallowed_helpers()`.
475 * A new admin externalpage type `\core_admin\local\externalpage\accesscallback` for use in plugin settings is available that allows
476 a callback to be provided to determine whether page can be accessed.
477 * New setting $CFG->localrequestdir overrides which defaults to sys_get_temp_dir()
478 * Function redirect() now emits a line of backtrace into the X-Redirect-By header when debugging is on
479 * New DML function $DB->delete_records_subquery() to delete records based on a subquery in a way
480 that will work across databases.
481 * Add support for email DKIM signatures via $CFG->emaildkimselector
484 * Following function has been deprecated, please use \core\task\manager::run_from_cli().
485 - cron_run_single_task()
486 * Following class has been deprecated, please use \core\task\manager.
487 - \tool_task\run_from_cli
488 * Following CLI scripts has been deprecated:
489 - admin/tool/task/cli/schedule_task.php please use admin/cli/scheduled_task.php
490 - admin/tool/task/cli/adhoc_task.php please use admin/cli/adhoc_task.php
491 * Old Safe Exam Browser quiz access rule (quizaccess_safebrowser) replaced by new Safe Exam Browser access rule (quizaccess_seb).
492 Experimental setting enablesafebrowserintegration was deleted.
493 * New CFPropertyList library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/plist.
494 * behat_data_generators::the_following_exist() has been removed, please use
495 behat_data_generators::the_following_entities_exist() instead. See MDL-67691 for more info.
496 * admin/tool/task/cli/adhoc_task.php now observers the concurrency limits.
497 If you want to get the previous (unlimited) behavior, use the --ignorelimits switch).
498 * Removed the following deprecated functions:
500 - question_is_only_toplevel_category_in_context
501 * format_float() now accepts a special value (-1) as the $decimalpoints parameter
502 which means auto-detecting number of decimal points.
503 * plagiarism_save_form_elements() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_coursemodule_edit_post_actions() instead.
504 * plagiarism_get_form_elements_module() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_coursemodule_standard_elements() instead.
505 * Changed default sessiontimeout to 8 hours to cover most normal working days
506 * Plugins can now explicitly declare supported and incompatible Moodle versions in version.php
507 - $plugin->supported = [37,39];
508 supported takes an array of ascending numbers, that correspond to a range of branch numbers of supported versions, inclusive.
509 Moodle versions that are outside of this range will produce a message notifying at install time, but will allow for installation.
510 - $plugin->incompatible = 36;
511 incompatible takes a single int corresponding to the first incompatible branch. Any Moodle versions including and
512 above this will be prevented from installing the plugin, and a message will be given when attempting installation.
513 * Added the <component>_bulk_user_actions() callback which returns a list of custom action_links objects
514 * Add 'required' admin flag for mod forms allows elements to be toggled between being required or not in admin settings.
515 - In mod settings, along with lock, advanced flags, the required flag can now be set with $setting->set_required_flag_options().
516 The name of the admin setting must be exactly the same as the mod_form element.
517 - Currently supported by:
520 * Added a native MySQL / MariaDB lock implementation
521 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) don't need to implement get_columns() anymore.
522 They have to implement fetch_columns instead.
523 * Added function cleanup_after_drop to the database_manager class to take care of all the cleanups that need to be done after a table is dropped.
524 * The 'xxxx_check_password_policy' callback now only fires if $CFG->passwordpolicy is true
525 * grade_item::update_final_grade() can now take an optional parameter to set the grade->timemodified. If not present the current time will carry on being used.
526 * lib/outputrequirementslib::get_jsrev now is public, it can be called from other classes.
527 * H5P libraries have been moved from /lib/h5p to h5p/h5plib as an h5plib plugintype.
528 * mdn-polyfills has been renamed to polyfills. The reason there is no polyfill from the MDN is
529 because there is no example polyfills on the MDN for this functionality.
530 * AJAX pages can be called without requiring a session lock if they set READ_ONLY_SESSION to true, eg.
531 define('READ_ONLY_SESSION', true); Note - this also requires $CFG->enable_read_only_sessions to be set to true.
532 * External functions can be called without requiring a session lock if they define 'readonlysession' => true in
533 db/services.php. Note - this also requires $CFG->enable_read_only_sessions to be set to true.
534 * database_manager::check_database_schema() now checks for missing and extra indexes.
535 * Implement a more direct xsendfile_file() method for an alternative_file_system_class
536 * A new `dynamic` table interface has been defined, which allows any `flexible_table` to be converted into a table which
537 is updatable via ajax calls. See MDL-68495 and `\core_table\dynamic` for further information.
538 * The core/notification module has been updated to use AMD modals for its confirmation and alert dialogues.
539 The confirmation dialogue no longer has a configurable "No" button as per similar changes in MDL-59759.
540 This set of confirmation modals was unintentionally missed from that deprecation process.
541 * The download_as_dataformat() method has been deprecated. Please use \core\dataformat::download_data() instead
542 * The following functions have been updated to support passing in an array of group IDs (but still support passing in a single ID):
543 * groups_get_members_join()
544 * groups_get_members_ids_sql()
545 * Additional parameters were added to core_get_user_dates:
546 - type: specifies the calendar type. Optional, defaults to Gregorian.
547 - fixday: Whether to remove leading zero for day. Optional, defaults to 1.
548 - fixhour: Whether to remove leading zero for hour. Optional, defaults to 1.
549 * Legacy cron has been deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 4.1. This includes the functions:
550 - cron_execute_plugin_type()
551 - cron_bc_hack_plugin_functions()
552 Please, use the Task API instead: https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Task_API
553 * Introduce new hooks for plugin developers:
554 - <component>_can_course_category_delete($category)
555 - <component>_can_course_category_delete_move($category, $newcategory)
556 These hooks allow plugin developers greater control over category deletion. Plugin can return false in those
557 functions if category deletion or deletion with content move to the new parent category is not permitted.
558 Both $category and $newcategory params are instances of core_course_category class.
559 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete_move($category, $newcategory)
560 This hook is expanding functionality of existing <component>_pre_course_category_delete hook and allow plugin developers
561 to execute code prior to category deletion when its content is moved to another category.
562 Both $category and $newcategory params are instances of core_course_category class.
563 - <component>_get_course_category_contents($category)
564 This hook allow plugin developers to add information that is displayed on category deletion form. Function should
565 return string, which will be added to the list of category contents shown on the form. $category param is an instance
566 of core_course_category class.
567 * Data generator create_user in both unittests and behat now validates user fields and triggers user_created event
570 * Add CLI option to notify all cron tasks to stop: admin/cli/cron.php --stop
571 * The rotate_image function has been added to the stored_file class (MDL-63349)
572 * The yui checknet module is removed. Call \core\session\manager::keepalive instead.
573 * The generate_uuid() function has been deprecated. Please use \core\uuid::generate() instead.
574 * Remove lib/pear/auth/RADIUS.php (MDL-65746)
575 * Core components are now defined in /lib/components.json instead of coded into /lib/classes/component.php
576 * Subplugins should now be defined using /db/subplugins.json instead of /db/subplugins.php
577 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used anymore:
582 * verify_https_required()
583 * Remove duplicate font-awesome SCSS, Please see /theme/boost/scss/fontawesome for usage (MDL-65936)
584 * Remove lib/pear/Crypt/CHAP.php (MDL-65747)
585 * New output component available: \core\output\checkbox_toggleall
586 - This allows developers to easily output groups of checkboxes that can be toggled by master controls in the form of a checkbox or
587 a button. Action elements which perform actions on the selected checkboxes can also be enabled/disabled depending on whether
588 at least a single checkbox item is selected or not.
589 * Final deprecation (removal) of the core/modal_confirm dialogue.
590 * Upgrade scssphp to v1.0.2, This involves renaming classes from Leafo => ScssPhp as the repo has changed.
591 * Implement supports_xsendfile() method and allow support for xsendfile in alternative_file_system_class
592 independently of local files (MDL-66304).
593 * The methods get_local_path_from_storedfile and get_remote_path_from_storedfile in lib/filestore/file_system.php
594 are now public. If you are overriding these then you will need to change your methods to public in your class.
595 * It is now possible to use sub-directories for AMD modules.
596 The standard rules for Level 2 namespaces also apply to AMD modules.
597 The sub-directory used must be either an valid component, or placed inside a 'local' directory to ensure that it does not conflict with other components.
599 The following are all valid module names and locations in your plugin:
600 mod_forum/view: mod/forum/amd/src/view.js
601 mod_forum/local/views/post: mod/forum/amd/src/local/views/post
602 mod_forum/form/checkbox-toggle: mod/forum/amd/src/form/checkbox-toggle.js
604 The following are all invalid module names and locations in your plugin:
605 mod_forum/views/post: mod/forum/amd/src/views/post
606 * The 'xxxx_check_password_policy' method now has an extra parameter: $user. It contains the user object to perform password
607 validation against and defaults to null (so, no user needed) if not provided.
608 * It is now possible to use sub-directories when creating mustache templates.
609 The standard rules for Level 2 namespaces also apply to templates.
610 The sub-directory used must be either an valid component, or placed inside a 'local' directory to ensure that it does not conflict with other components.
612 The following are all valid template names and locations in your plugin:
613 mod_forum/forum_post: mod/forum/templates/forum_post.mustache
614 mod_forum/local/post/user: mod/forum/templates/local/post/user.mustache
615 mod_forum/form/checkbox_toggle: mod/forum/templates/form/checkbox_toggle.mustache
617 The following are _invalid_ template names and locations:
618 mod_forum/post/user: mod/forum/templates/local/post/user.mustache
619 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
620 - I go to "<gradepath_string>" in the course gradebook
621 * A new admin setting widget 'core_admin\local\settings\filesize' is added.
622 * Core capabilities 'moodle/community:add' and 'moodle/community:download' have been removed from core as part of Moodle.net sunsetting.
623 * As part of Moodle.net sunsetting process the following hub api functions have been deprecated:
628 - download_course_backup
629 - upload_course_backup
630 * A new setting 'Cache templates' was added (see MDL-66367). This setting determines if templates are cached or not.
631 This setting can be set via the UI or by defining $CFG->cachetemplates in your config.php file. It is a boolean
632 and should be set to either false or true. Developers will probably want to set this to false.
633 * The core_enrol_edit_user_enrolment webservice has been deprecated. Please use core_enrol_submit_user_enrolment_form instead.
634 * \single_button constructor has a new attributes param to add attributes to the button HTML tag.
635 * Improved url matching behaviour for profiled urls and excluded urls
636 * Attempting to use xsendfile via the 3rd param of readstring_accel() is now ignored.
637 * New H5P libraries have been added to Moodle core in /lib/h5p.
638 * New H5P core subsystem have been added.
639 * Introduced new callback for plugin developers '<component>_get_path_from_pluginfile($filearea, $args)': This will return
640 the itemid and filepath for the filearea and path defined in $args. It has been added in order to get the correct itemid and
641 filepath because some components, such as mod_page or mod_resource, add the revision to the URL where the itemid should be placed
642 (to prevent caching problems), but then they don't store it in database.
643 * New utility function \core_form\util::form_download_complete should be called if your code sends
644 a file with Content-Disposition: Attachment in response to a Moodle form submit button (to ensure
645 that disabled submit buttons get re-enabled in that case). It is automatically called by the
646 filelib.php send_xx functions.
647 * If you have a form which sends a file in response to a Moodle form submit button, but you cannot
648 call the above function because the file is sent by a third party library, then you should add
649 the attribute data-double-submit-protection="off" to your form.
653 * Nodes in the navigation api can have labels for each group. See set/get_collectionlabel().
654 * The method core_user::is_real_user() now returns false for userid = 0 parameter
655 * 'mform1' dependencies (in themes, js...) will stop working because a randomly generated string has been added to the id
656 attribute on forms to avoid collisions in forms loaded in AJAX requests.
657 * A new method to allow queueing or rescheduling of an existing scheduled task was added. This allows an existing task
658 to be updated or queued as required. This new functionality can be found in \core\task\manager::reschedule_or_queue_adhoc_task.
659 * Icons are displayed for screen readers unless they have empty alt text (aria-hidden). Do not provide an icon with alt text immediately beside an element with exactly the same text.
660 * admin_settingpage has a new function hide_if(), modeled after the same functionality in the forms library. This allows admin settings to be dynamically hidden based on the values of other settings.
661 * The \core_rating provider's get_sql_join function now accepts an optional $innerjoin parameter.
662 It is recommended that privacy providers using this function call rewrite any long query into a number of separate
663 calls to add_from_sql for improved performance, and that the new argument is used.
664 This will allow queries to remain backwards-compatible with older versions of Moodle but will have significantly better performance in version supporting the innerjoin parameter.
665 * /message/defaultoutputs.php file and admin_page_defaultmessageoutputs class have been deprecated
666 and all their settings moved to admin/message.php (see MDL-64495). Please use admin_page_managemessageoutputs class instead.
667 * A new parameter $lang has been added to mustache_template_source_loader->load_with_dependencies() method
668 so it is possible for Mustache to request string in a specific language.
669 * Behat timeout constants behat_base::TIMEOUT, EXTENDED_TIMEOUT, and REDUCED_TIMEOUT have been
670 deprecated. Please instead use the functions behat_base::get_timeout(), get_extended_timeout(),
671 and get_reduced_timeout(). These allow for timeouts to be increased by a setting in config.php.
672 * The $draftitemid parameter of file_save_draft_area_files() function now supports the constant IGNORE_FILE_MERGE:
673 When the parameter is set to that constant, the function won't process file merging, keeping the original state of the file area.
674 Notice also than when $text is set, pluginfile rewrite won't be processed so the text will not be modified.
675 * Introduced new callback for plugin developers '<component>_pre_processor_message_send($procname, $proceventdata)':
676 This will allow any plugin to manipulate messages or notifications before they are sent by a processor (email, mobile...)
677 * New capability 'moodle/category:viewcourselist' in category context that controls whether user is able to browse list of courses
678 in this category. To work with list of courses use API methods in core_course_category and also 'course' form element.
679 * It is possible to pass additional conditions to get_courses_search();
680 core_course_category::search_courses() now allows to search only among courses with completion enabled.
681 * Add support for a new xxx_after_require_login callback
682 * A new conversation type has been created for self-conversations. During the upgrading process:
683 - Firstly, the existing self-conversations will be starred and migrated to the new type, removing the duplicated members in the
684 message_conversation_members table.
685 - Secondly, the legacy self conversations will be migrated from the legacy 'message_read' table. They will be created using the
686 new conversation type and will be favourited.
687 - Finally, the self-conversations for all remaining users without them will be created and starred.
688 Besides, from now, a self-conversation will be created and starred by default to all the new users (even when $CFG->messaging
690 * New optional parameter $throwexception for \get_complete_user_data(). If true, an exception will be thrown when there's no
691 matching record found or when there are multiple records found for the given field value. If false, it will simply return false.
692 Defaults to false when not set.
693 * Exposed submit button to allow custom styling (via customclassoverride variable) which can override btn-primary/btn-secondary classes
694 * `$includetoken` parameter type has been changed. Now supports:
695 boolean: False indicates to not include the token, true indicates to generate a token for the current user ($USER).
696 integer: Indicates to generate a token for the user whose id is the integer value.
697 * The following functions have been updated to support the new usage:
698 - make_pluginfile_url
699 - file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls
700 * New mform element 'float' handles localised floating point numbers.
704 * A new token-based version of pluginfile.php has been added which can be used for out-of-session file serving by
705 setting the `$includetoken` parameter to true on the `moodle_url::make_pluginfile_url()`, and
706 `moodle_url::make_file_url()` functions.
707 * The following picture functions have been updated to support use of the new token-based file serving:
708 - print_group_picture
709 - get_group_picture_url
710 * The `user_picture` class has a new public `$includetoken` property which can be set to make use of the new token-based
712 * Custom AJAX handlers for the form autocomplete fields can now optionally return string in their processResults()
713 callback. If a string is returned, it is displayed instead of the list of suggested items. This can be used, for
714 example, to inform the user that there are too many items matching the current search criteria.
715 * The form element 'htmleditor' has been deprecated. Please use the 'editor' element instead.
716 * The print_textarea() function has been deprecated. Please use $OUTPUT->print_textarea() instead.
717 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
718 - external_function_info()
719 - core_renderer::update_module_button()
723 - events_is_registered()
725 - events_pending_count()
726 - events_process_queued_handler()
727 - events_queue_handler()
728 - events_trigger_legacy()
729 - events_update_definition()
731 - course_get_cm_rename_action()
732 - course_scale_used()
734 - clam_message_admins()
735 - get_clam_error_code()
744 - get_logs_usercourse()
747 - prevent_form_autofill_password()
748 - prefixed_tablenode_transformations()
749 - core_media_renderer
751 * Following api's have been removed in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
752 - get_features_with_tags()
753 - get_components_steps_definitions()
754 - get_config_file_contents()
755 - merge_behat_config()
756 - get_behat_profile()
757 - profile_guided_allocate()
760 - get_behat_tests_path()
761 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
762 - I set the field "<field_string>" to multiline
763 - I follow "<link_string>"" in the open menu
764 * The following behat steps have been deprecated, please do not use these step definitions any more:
765 - behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
766 - theme/boost/tests/behat/behat_theme_boost_behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
767 Use one of the following steps instead:
768 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in current page administration
769 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in site administration
770 - I navigate to course participants
771 - I navigate to "TAB1 > TAB2" in the course gradebook
772 If some items are not available without Navigation block at all, one can use combination of:
773 - I add the "Navigation" block if not present
774 - I click on "LINK" "link" in the "Navigation" "block"
775 * The core\session\util class has been removed. This contained one function only used by the memcached class which has
776 been moved there instead (connection_string_to_memcache_servers).
777 * Removed the lib/password_compat/lib/password.php file.
778 * The eventslib.php file has been deleted and its functions have been moved to deprecatedlib.php. The affected functions are:
779 - events_get_cached()
783 - events_get_handlers()
784 * coursecat::get() now has optional $user parameter.
785 * coursecat::is_uservisible() now has optional $user parameter.
786 * Removed the lib/form/submitlink.php element which was deprecated in 3.2.
787 * The user_selector classes do not support custom list of extra identity fields any more. They obey the configured user
788 policy and respect the privacy setting made by site administrators. The list of user identifiers should never be
789 hard-coded. Instead, the setting $CFG->showuseridentity should be always respected, which has always been the default
790 behaviour (MDL-59847).
791 * The function message_send() in messagelib.php will now only take the object \core\message\message as a parameter.
792 * The method message_sent::create_from_ids() parameter courseid is now required. A debugging
793 message was previously displayed, and the SITEID was used, when not provided.
794 * The method \core\message\manager::send_message() now only takes the object \core\message\message as the first parameter.
795 * Following functions have been deprecated, please use get_roles_used_in_context.
796 - get_roles_on_exact_context()
797 - get_roles_with_assignment_on_context()
798 * New functions to support the merging of user draft areas from the interface; see MDL-45170 for details:
799 - file_copy_file_to_file_area()
800 - file_merge_draft_areas()
801 - file_replace_file_area_in_text()
802 - extract_draft_file_urls_from_text()
803 * Class coursecat is now alias to autoloaded class core_course_category, course_in_list is an alias to
804 core_course_list_element, class coursecat_sortable_records is deprecated without replacement.
805 * \core_user_external::create_users() and \core_user_external::update_users() can now accept more user profile fields so user
806 creation/update via web service can now be very similar to the edit profile page's functionality. The new fields that have been
821 * New function mark_user_dirty() must be called after changing data that gets cached in user sessions. Examples:
822 - Assigning roles to users.
823 - Unassigning roles from users.
824 - Enrolling users into courses.
825 - Unenrolling users from courses.
826 * New optional parameter $context for the groups_get_members_join() function and ability to filter users that are not members of
827 any group. Besides, groups_get_members_ids_sql, get_enrolled_sql and get_enrolled_users now accepts -1 (USERSWITHOUTGROUP) for
829 * Added $CFG->conversionattemptlimit setting to config.php allowing a maximum number of retries before giving up conversion
830 of a given document by the assignfeedback_editpdf\task\convert_submissions task. Default value: 3.
831 * The following events have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
832 - message_contact_blocked
833 - message_contact_unblocked
834 The reason for this is because you can now block/unblock users without them necessarily being a contact. These events
835 have been replaced with message_user_blocked and message_user_unblocked respectively.
836 * The event message_deleted has been changed, it no longer records the value of the 'useridto' due to
837 the introduction of group messaging. Please, if you have any observers or are triggering this event
838 in your code you will have to make some changes!
839 * The gradebook now supports the ability to accept files as feedback. This can be achieved by adding
840 'feedbackfiles' to the $grades parameter passed to grade_update().
842 $grades['feedbackfiles'] = [
844 'component' => 'mod_xyz',
845 'filearea' => 'mod_xyz_feedback',
848 These files will be then copied to the gradebook file area.
849 * Allow users to choose who can message them for privacy reasons, with a 'growing circle of contactability':
850 - Added $CFG->messagingallusers, for enabling messaging to all site users. Default value: 0.
851 When $CFG->messagingallusers = false users can choose being contacted by only contacts or contacts and users sharing a course with them.
852 In that case, the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_COURSEMEMBER (users sharing a course).
853 When $CFG->messagingallusers = true users have a new option for the privacy messaging preferences: "Anyone on the site". In that case,
854 the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_SITE (all site users).
855 - Added $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled setting to config.php to force enabling $CFG->messagingallusers during the upgrading process.
857 When $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled is set to true, $CFG->messagingallusers will be also set to true to enable messaging site users.
858 However, when it is empty, $CFG->messagingallusers will be disabled during the upgrading process, so the users will only be able to
859 message contacts and users sharing a course with them.
860 * There has been interface and functional changes to admin_apply_default_settings() (/lib/adminlib.php). The function now takes two
861 additional optional parameters, $admindefaultsettings and $settingsoutput. It also has a return value $settingsoutput.
862 The function now does not need to be called twice to ensure all default settings are set. Instead the function calls itself recursively
863 until all settings have been set. The additional parameters are used recursively and shouldn't be need to be explicitly passed in when calling
864 the function from other parts of Moodle.
865 The return value: $settingsoutput is an array of setting names and the values that were set by the function.
866 * Webservices no longer update the lastaccess time for a user in a course. Call core_course_view_course() manually if needed.
867 * A new field has been added to the context table. Please ensure that any contxt preloading uses get_preload_record_columns_sql or get_preload_record_columns to fetch the list of columns.
871 * There is a new privacy API that every subsystem and plugin has to implement so that the site can become GDPR
872 compliant. Plugins use this API to report what information they store or process regarding users, and provide ability
873 to export and delete personal data. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Privacy_API for guidelines on how to implement the
874 privacy API in your plugin.
875 * The cron runner now sets up a fresh PAGE and OUTPUT between each task.
876 * The core_renderer methods notify_problem(), notify_success(), notify_message() and notify_redirect() that were
877 deprecated in Moodle 3.1 have been removed. Use \core\notification::add(), or \core\output\notification as required.
878 * The maximum supported precision (the total number of digits) for XMLDB_TYPE_NUMBER ("number") fields raised from 20 to
879 38 digits. Additionally, the whole number part (precision minus scale) must not be longer than the maximum length of
880 integer fields (20 digits). Note that PHP floats commonly support precision of roughly 15 digits only (MDL-32113).
881 * Event triggering and event handlers:
882 - The following events, deprecated since moodle 2.6, have been finally removed: groups_members_removed,
883 groups_groupings_groups_removed, groups_groups_deleted, groups_groupings_deleted.
884 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
886 * XMLDB now validates the PATH attribute on every install.xml file. Both the XMLDB editor and installation will fail
887 when a problem is detected with it. Please ensure your plugins contain correct directory relative paths.
888 * Add recaptchalib_v2.php for support of reCAPTCHA v2.
889 * Plugins can define class 'PLUGINNAME\privacy\local\sitepolicy\handler' if they implement an alternative mechanisms for
890 site policies managements and agreements. Administrators can define which component is to be used for handling site
891 policies and agreements. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Site_policy_handler
892 * Scripts can define a constant NO_SITEPOLICY_CHECK and set it to true before requiring the main config.php file. It
893 will make the require_login() skipping the test for the user's policyagreed status. This is useful for plugins that
894 act as a site policy handler.
895 * There is a new is_fulltext_search_supported() DML function. The default implementation returns false. This function
896 is used by 'Simple search' global search engine to determine if the database full-text search capabilities can be used.
897 * The following have been removed from the list of core subsystems:
900 Following this change, \core_register_renderer and \core_publish_renderer have been removed and their methods have been
901 moved to \core_admin_renderer and \core_course_renderer respectively.
905 * oauth2_client::request method has an extra parameter to specify the accept header for the response (MDL-60733)
906 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
907 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-57432 for more info:
908 - upgrade_mimetypes()
909 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders_draft()
910 - upgrade_minmaxgrade()
911 - upgrade_course_tags()
913 * Added new moodleform element 'filetypes' and new admin setting widget 'admin_setting_filetypes'. These new widgets
914 allow users to define a list of file types; either by typing them manually or selecting them from a list. The widgets
915 directly support the syntax used to feed the 'accepted_types' option of the filemanager and filepicker elements. File
916 types can be specified as extensions (.jpg or just jpg), mime types (text/plain) or groups (image).
917 * Removed accesslib private functions: load_course_context(), load_role_access_by_context(), dedupe_user_access() (MDL-49398).
918 * Internal "accessdata" structure format has changed to improve ability to perform role definition caching (MDL-49398).
919 * Role definitions are no longer cached in user session (MDL-49398).
920 * External function core_group_external::get_activity_allowed_groups now returns an additional field: canaccessallgroups.
921 It indicates whether the user will be able to access all the activity groups.
922 * file_get_draft_area_info does not sum the root folder anymore when calculating the foldercount.
923 * The moodleform element classes can now optionally provide a public function validateSubmitValue(). This method can be
924 used to perform implicit validation of submitted values - without the need to explicitly add the validation rules to
925 every form. The method should accept a single parameter with the submitted value. It should return a string with the
926 eventual validation error, or an empty value if the validation passes.
927 * New user_picture attribute $includefullname to determine whether to include the user's full name with the user's picture.
928 * Enrol plugins which provide enrolment actions can now declare the following "data-action" attributes in their implementation of
929 enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() whenever applicable:
930 * "editenrolment" - For editing a user'e enrolment details. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_EDIT.
931 * "unenrol" - For unenrolling a student. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_UNENROL.
932 These attributes enable enrol actions to be rendered via modals. If not added, clicking on the enrolment action buttons will still
933 redirect the user to the appropriate enrolment action page. Though optional, it is recommended to add these attributes for a
934 better user experience when performing enrol actions.
935 * The enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() implementations for core enrol plugins have been removed and moved to
936 the parent method itself. New enrol plugins don't have to implement get_user_enrolment_actions(), but just need to
937 make sure that they override:
938 - enrol_plugin::allow_manage(), and/or
939 - enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol_user() or enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol()
940 Existing enrol plugins that override enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() don't have to do anything, but can
941 also opt to remove their own implementation of the method if they basically have the same logic as the parent method.
942 * New optional parameter $enrolid for the following functions:
943 - get_enrolled_join()
945 - get_enrolled_with_capabilities_join()
946 Setting this parameter to a non-zero value will add a condition to the query such that only users that were enrolled
947 with this enrolment method will be returned.
948 * New optional parameter 'closeSuggestionsOnSelect' for the enhance() function for form-autocomplete. Setting this to true will
949 close the suggestions popup immediately after an option has been selected. If not specified, it defaults to true for single-select
950 elements and false for multiple-select elements.
951 * user_can_view_profile() now also checks the moodle/user:viewalldetails capability.
952 * The core/modal_confirm dialogue has been deprecated. Please use the core/modal_save_cancel dialogue instead. Please ensure you
953 update to use the ModalEvents.save and ModalEvents.cancel events instead of their yes/no counterparts.
954 * Instead of checking the 'moodle/course:viewparticipants' and 'moodle/site:viewparticipants' capabilities use the
955 new functions course_can_view_participants() and course_require_view_participants().
956 * $stored_file->add_to_curl_request() now adds the filename to the curl request.
957 * The option for Login HTTPS (authentication-only SSL) has been removed
958 * $CFG->loginhttps is now deprecated, do not use it.
959 * $PAGE->https_required and $PAGE->verify_https_required() are now deprecated. They are no longer used and will throw a coding_exception.
960 * $CFG->httpswwwroot is now deprecated and will always result in the same value as wwwroot.
961 * Added function core_role_set_view_allowed() to check if a user should be able to see a given role.
962 This should be checked whenever displaying a list of roles to a user, however, core_role_set_assign_allowed may need to override it
964 * Deprecated allow_override, allow_assign and allow_switch and replaced with core_role_set_*_allowed to avoid function names conflicting.
968 * ldap_get_entries_moodle() now always returns lower-cased attribute names in the returned entries.
969 It was suppposed to do so before, but it actually didn't.
973 * Behat compatibility changes are now being documented at
974 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Acceptance_testing/Compatibility_changes
975 * PHPUnit's bootstrap has been changed to use HTTPS wwwroot (https://www.example.com/moodle) from previous HTTP version. Any
976 existing test expecting the old HTTP URLs will need to be switched to the new HTTPS value (reference: MDL-54901).
977 * The information returned by the idp list has changed. This is usually only rendered by the login page and login block.
978 The icon attribute is removed and an iconurl attribute has been added.
979 * Support added for a new type of external file: FILE_CONTROLLED_LINK. This is an external file that Moodle can control
980 the permissions. Moodle makes files read-only but can grant temporary write access.
981 When accessing a URL, the info from file_browser::get_file_info will be checked to determine if the user has write access,
982 if they do - the remote file will have access controls set to allow editing.
983 * The method moodleform::after_definition() has been added and can now be used to add some logic
984 to be performed after the form's definition was set. This is useful for intermediate subclasses.
985 * Moodle has support for font-awesome icons. Plugins should use the xxx_get_fontawesome_icon_map callback
986 to map their custom icons to one from font-awesome.
987 * $OUTPUT->pix_url() has been deprecated because it is was used mostly to manually generate image tags for icons.
988 We now distinguish between icons and "small images". The difference is that an icon does not have to be rendered as an image tag
989 with a source. It is OK to still have "small images" - if this desired use $OUTPUT->image_icon() and $OUTPUT->image_url(). For
990 other uses - use $OUTPUT->pix_icon() or the pix helper in mustache templates {{#pix}}...{{/pix}}
991 For other valid use cases use $OUTPUT->image_url().
992 * Activity icons have been split from standard icons. Use $OUTPUT->image_icon instead of $OUTPUT->pix_icon for these
993 type of icons (the coloured main icon for each activity).
994 * YUI module moodle-core-formautosubmit has been removed, use jquery .change() instead (see lib/templates/url_select.mustache for
996 * $mform->init_javascript_enhancement() is deprecated and no longer does anything. Existing uses of smartselect enhancement
997 should be switched to the searchableselector form element or other solutions.
998 * Return value of the validate_email() is now proper boolean as documented. Previously the function could return 1, 0 or false.
999 * The mcore YUI rollup which included various YUI modules such as moodle-core-notification is no longer included on every
1000 page. Missing YUI depdencies may be exposed by this change (e.g. missing a requirement on moodle-core-notification when
1001 using M.core.dialogue).
1002 * Various legacy javascript functions have been removed:
1003 * M.util.focus_login_form and M.util.focus_login_error no longer do anything. Please use jquery instead. See
1004 lib/templates/login.mustache for an example.
1005 * Some outdated global JS functions have been removed and should be replaced with calls to jquery
1006 or alternative approaches:
1007 checkall, checknone, select_all_in_element_with_id, select_all_in, deselect_all_in, confirm_if, findParentNode,
1008 filterByParent, stripHTML
1009 * M.util.init_toggle_class_on_click has been removed.
1010 * The following functions have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
1011 - file_storage::try_content_recovery - See MDL-46375 for more information
1012 - file_storage::content_exists - See MDL-46375 for more information
1013 - file_storage::deleted_file_cleanup - See MDL-46375 for more information
1014 - file_storage::get_converted_document
1015 - file_storage::is_format_supported_by_unoconv
1016 - file_storage::can_convert_documents
1017 - file_storage::send_test_pdf
1018 - file_storage::test_unoconv_path
1019 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
1020 - I click on "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" in the "<row_text_string>" table row
1021 - I go to notifications page
1022 - I add "<filename_string>" file from recent files to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1023 - I upload "<filepath_string>" file to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1024 - I create "<foldername_string>" folder in "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1025 - I open "<foldername_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1026 - I unzip "<filename_string>" file from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1027 - I zip "<filename_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1028 - I delete "<file_or_folder_name_string>" from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
1029 - I send "<message_contents_string>" message to "<username_string>"
1030 - I add "<user_username_string>" user to "<cohort_idnumber_string>" cohort
1031 - I add "<username_string>" user to "<group_name_string>" group
1032 - I fill in "<field_string>" with "<value_string>"
1033 - I select "<option_string>" from "<select_string>"
1034 - I select "<radio_button_string>" radio button
1035 - I check "<option_string>"
1036 - I uncheck "<option_string>"
1037 - the "<field_string>" field should match "<value_string>" value
1038 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should be checked
1039 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should not be checked
1040 - I fill the moodle form with:
1041 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should exists
1042 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should not exists
1043 - the following "<element_string>" exists:
1044 * get_user_capability_course() now has an additional parameter 'limit'. This can be used to return a set number of records with
1045 the submitted capability. The parameter 'fieldsexceptid' will now accept context fields which can be used for preloading.
1046 * The caching option 'immutable' has been added to send_stored_file() and send_file().
1047 * New adhoc task refresh_mod_calendar_events_task that updates existing calendar events of modules.
1048 * New 'priority' column for the event table to determine which event to show in case of events with user and group overrides.
1049 * Webservices core_course_search_courses and core_course_get_courses_by_field will always return the sortorder field.
1050 * core_course_external::get_activities_overview has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
1051 * Changed the pix mustache template helper to accept context variables for the key, component and alt text.
1052 * New auth_plugin_base helper methods:
1053 - get_identity_providers() - Retrieves available auth identity providers.
1054 - prepare_identity_providers_for_output() - Prepares auth identity provider data for output (e.g. to templates, WS, etc.).
1058 * Custom roles with access to any part of site administration that do not use the manager archetype will need
1059 moodle/site:configview capability added.
1060 * Admin setting "Show My courses expanded on Dashboard" has been removed.
1061 * Some backwards and forwards compatibility has been added for different bootstrap versions.
1062 This is to allow the same markup to work in "clean" and "boost" themes alot of the time. It is also to allow user text
1063 with bootstrap classes to keep working in the new theme. See MDL-56004 for the list of supported classes.
1064 * MForms element 'submitlink' has been deprecated.
1065 * Searchable selector form element is now a wrapper for autocomplete. A "No selection" option is automatically
1066 added to the options list for best backwards compatibility - if you were manually adding a "no selection" option you will need
1068 * Node.js versions >=4 are now required to run grunt.
1069 * JQuery has been updated to 3.1.0. JQuery migrate plugins are no longer shipped - please read
1070 https://jquery.com/upgrade-guide/3.0/ and update your javascript.
1071 * New option 'blanktarget' added to format_text. This option adds target="_blank" to links
1072 * A new webservice structure `external_files` has been created which provides a standardised view of files in Moodle and
1073 should be used for all file return descriptions.
1074 Files matching this format can be retrieved via the new `external_util::get_area_files` method.
1075 See MDL-54951 for further information.
1076 * The parameter $usepost of the following functions has been deprecated and is not used any more:
1077 - get_max_upload_file_size()
1078 - get_user_max_upload_file_size()
1079 * The following classes have been removed and should not be used any more:
1080 - boxclient - See MDL-49599 for more information.
1081 * The following functions have been removed and should not be used any more:
1082 - file_modify_html_header() - See MDL-29738 for more information.
1083 * core_grades_external::get_grades has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
1084 External function gradereport_user_external::get_grade_items can be used for retrieving the course grades information.
1085 * New option 'escape' added to format_string. When true (default), escapes HTML entities from the string
1086 * The following functions have been deprecated and are not used any more:
1087 - get_records_csv() Please use csv_import_reader::load_csv_content() instead.
1088 - put_records_csv() Please use download_as_dataformat (lib/dataformatlib.php) instead.
1089 - zip_files() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
1090 - unzip_file() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
1091 - print_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1092 - print_log_csv() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1093 - print_log_ods() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1094 - print_log_xls() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1095 - print_mnet_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1096 - build_logs_array() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1097 - get_logs() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1098 - get_logs_usercourse() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1099 - get_logs_userday() - See MDL-43681 for more information
1100 - prevent_form_autofill_password() Please do not use anymore.
1101 * The password_compat library was removed as it is no longer required.
1102 * Phpunit has been upgraded to 5.4.x and following has been deprecated and is not used any more:
1103 - setExpectedException(), use @expectedException or $this->expectException() and $this->expectExceptionMessage()
1104 - getMock(), use createMock() or getMockBuilder()->getMock()
1105 - UnitTestCase class is removed.
1106 * The following methods have been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
1107 - course_modinfo::build_section_cache()
1108 - cm_info::get_deprecated_group_members_only()
1109 - cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_group()
1110 * The following methods in cm_info::standardmethods have also been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
1111 - cm_info::get_after_edit_icons()
1112 - cm_info::get_after_link()
1113 - cm_info::get_content()
1114 - cm_info::get_custom_data()
1115 - cm_info::get_extra_classes()
1116 - cm_info::get_on_click()
1117 - cm_info::get_url()
1118 - cm_info::obtain_dynamic_data()
1119 Calling them through the magic method __call() will throw a coding exception.
1120 * The alfresco library has been removed from core. It was an old version of
1121 the library which was not compatible with newer versions of Alfresco.
1122 * Added down arrow: $OUTPUT->darrow.
1123 * All file_packer implementations now accept an additional parameter to allow a simple boolean return value instead of
1124 an array of individual file statuses.
1125 * "I set the field "field_string" to multiline:" now end with colon (:), as PyStrings is supposed to end with ":"
1126 * New functions to support deprecation of events have been added to the base event. See MDL-46214 for further details.
1127 * A new function `get_name_with_info` has been added to the base event. This function adds information about event
1128 deprecations and should be used where this information is relevant.
1129 * Following api's have been deprecated in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
1130 - get_features_with_tags
1131 - get_components_steps_definitions
1132 - get_config_file_contents
1133 - merge_behat_config
1135 - profile_guided_allocate
1138 - get_behat_tests_path
1139 * behat_util::start_test_mode() accepts 3 options now:
1140 - 1. Theme sute with all features: If behat should initialise theme suite with all core features.
1141 - 2. Parallel runs: How many parallel runs will be running.
1142 - 3. Run: Which process behat should be initialise for.
1143 * behat_context_helper::set_session() has been deprecated, please use behat_context_helper::set_environment() instead.
1144 * data-fieldtype="type" attribute has been added to form field default template.
1145 * form elements extending MoodleQuickForm_group must call $this->createFormElement() instead of
1146 @MoodleQuickForm::createElement() in order to be compatible with PHP 7.1
1147 * Relative paths in $CFG->alternateloginurl will be resolved to absolute path within moodle site. Previously they
1148 were resolved to absolute path within the server. That means:
1149 - $CFG->wwwroot: http://example.com/moodle
1150 - $CFG->alternateloginurl : /my/super/login.php
1151 - Login url will be: http://example.com/moodle/my/super/login.php (moodle root based)
1152 * Database (DML) layer:
1153 - new sql_equal() method available for places where case sensitive/insensitive varchar comparisons are required.
1154 * PostgreSQL connections now use advanced options to reduce connection overhead. These options are not compatible
1155 with some connection poolers. The dbhandlesoptions parameter has been added to allow the database to configure the
1156 required defaults. The parameters that are required in the database are;
1157 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET client_encoding = UTF8;
1158 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET standard_conforming_strings = on;
1159 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET search_path = 'moodle,public'; -- Optional, if you wish to use a custom schema.
1160 You can set these options against the database or the moodle user who connects.
1161 * Some form elements have been refined to better support right-to-left languages. In RTL,
1162 most fields should not have their direction flipped, a URL, a path to a file, a number, ...
1163 are always displayed LTR. Input fields and text areas now will best guess whether they
1164 should be forced to be displayed in LTR based on the PARAM type associated with it. You
1165 can call $mform->setForceLtr($elementName, true/false) on some form fields to manually
1167 * Action menus do_not_enhance() is deprecated, use a list of action_icon instead.
1168 * The user_not_fully_set_up() function has a new $strict parameter (defaulting to true) in order to decide when
1169 custom fields (and other checks) should be evaluated to determine if the user has been completely setup.
1170 * profile_field_base class has new methods: get_field_config_for_external() and get_field_properties().
1171 This two new methods should be implemented by profile field plugins to make them compatible with Web Services.
1172 * The minifier library used by core_minify has been switched to https://github.com/matthiasmullie/minify - there are minor differences
1174 * context_header additional buttons can now have a class attribute provided in the link attributes.
1175 * The return signature for the antivirus::scan_file() function has changed.
1176 The calling function will now handle removal of infected files from Moodle based on the new integer return value.
1177 * The first parameter $eventdata of both message_send() and \core\message\manager::send_message() should
1178 be \core\message\message. Use of stdClass is deprecated.
1179 * The message_sent event now expects other[courseid] to be always set, exception otherwise. For BC with contrib code,
1180 message_sent::create_from_ids() will show a debugging notice if the \core\message\message being sent is missing
1181 the courseid property, defaulting to SITEID automatically. In Moodle 3.6 (MDL-55449) courseid will be fully mandatory
1182 for all messages sent.
1183 * The send_confirmation_email() function has a new optional parameter $confirmationurl to provide a different confirmation URL.
1184 * Introduced a new hook for plugin developers:
1185 - <component>_course_module_background_deletion_recommended()
1186 This hook should be used in conjunction with the existing '<component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod)'. It must
1187 return a boolean and is called by core to check whether a plugin's implementation of
1188 <component>_pre_course_module_deleted($mod) will take a long time. A plugin should therefore only implement this
1189 function if it also implements <component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod).
1190 An example in current use is recyclebin, which performs what can be a lengthy backup process in
1191 tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete. The recyclebin, if enabled, now returns true in its implementation of
1192 tool_recyclebin_course_module_background_deletion_recommended(), to indicate to core that the deletion (and
1193 execution of tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete) should be handled with an adhoc task, meaning it will not
1198 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'limittoenrolled' to filter the results
1199 only to courses the user is enrolled in, and are visible to them.
1200 * External functions that are not calling external_api::validate_context are buggy and will now generate
1201 exceptions. Previously they were only generating warnings in the webserver error log.
1202 See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/External_functions_API#Security
1203 * The moodle/blog:associatecourse and moodle/blog:associatemodule capabilities has been removed.
1204 * The following functions has been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
1205 - profile_display_badges()
1206 - useredit_shared_definition_preferences()
1207 - calendar_normalize_tz()
1208 - get_user_timezone_offset()
1209 - get_timezone_offset()
1210 - get_list_of_timezones()
1211 - calculate_user_dst_table()
1212 - dst_changes_for_year()
1213 - get_timezone_record()
1214 - test_get_list_of_timezones()
1215 - test_get_timezone_offset()
1216 - test_get_user_timezone_offset()
1217 * The google api library has been updated to version 1.1.7. There was some important changes
1218 on the SSL handling. Now the SSL version will be determined by the underlying library.
1219 For more information see https://github.com/google/google-api-php-client/pull/644
1220 * The get_role_users() function will now add the $sort fields that are not part
1221 of the requested fields to the query result and will throw a debugging message
1222 with the added fields when that happens.
1223 * The core_user::fill_properties_cache() static method has been introduced to be a reference
1224 and allow standard user fields data validation. Right now only type validation is supported
1225 checking it against the parameter (PARAM_*) type of the target user field. MDL-52781 is
1226 going to add support to null/not null and choices validation, replacing the existing code to
1227 validate the user fields in different places in a common way.
1228 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses now returns results when the search string
1229 is less than 2 chars long.
1230 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'requiredcapabilities' to filter the results
1231 by the capabilities of the current user.
1232 * New mform element 'course' handles thousands of courses with good performance and usability.
1233 * The redirect() function will now redirect immediately if output has not
1234 already started. Messages will be displayed on the subsequent page using
1235 session notifications. The type of message output can be configured using the
1236 fourth parameter to redirect().
1237 * The specification of extra classes in the $OUTPUT->notification()
1238 function, and \core\output\notification renderable have been deprecated
1239 and will be removed in a future version.
1240 Notifications should use the levels found in \core\output\notification.
1241 * The constants for NOTIFY_PROBLEM, NOTIFY_REDIRECT, and NOTIFY_MESSAGE in
1242 \core\output\notification have been deprecated in favour of NOTIFY_ERROR,
1243 NOTIFY_WARNING, and NOTIFY_INFO respectively.
1244 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
1245 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-51580 for more info:
1246 - upgrade_mysql_fix_unsigned_and_lob_columns()
1247 - upgrade_course_completion_remove_duplicates()
1248 - upgrade_save_orphaned_questions()
1249 - upgrade_rename_old_backup_files_using_shortname()
1250 - upgrade_mssql_nvarcharmax()
1251 - upgrade_mssql_varbinarymax()
1252 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders()
1253 - upgrade_course_modules_sequences()
1254 - upgrade_grade_item_fix_sortorder()
1255 - upgrade_availability_item()
1256 * A new parameter $ajaxformdata was added to the constructor for moodleform. When building a
1257 moodleform in a webservice or ajax script (for example using the new fragments API) we
1258 cannot allow the moodleform to parse it's own data from _GET and _POST - we must pass it as
1260 * Plugins can extend the navigation for user by declaring the following callback:
1261 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_user(navigation_node $parentnode, stdClass $user,
1262 context_user $context, stdClass $course,
1263 context_course $coursecontext)
1264 * The function notify() now throws a debugging message - see MDL-50269.
1265 * Ajax calls going through lib/ajax/* now validate the return values before sending
1266 the response. If the validation does not pass an exception is raised. This behaviour
1267 is consistent with web services.
1268 * Several changes in Moodle core, standard plugins and third party libraries to
1269 ensure compatibility with PHP7. All plugins are recommended to perform testing
1270 against PHP7 as well. Refer to https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_and_PHP7 for more
1271 information. The following changes may affect you:
1272 * Class moodleform, moodleform_mod and some module classes have been changed to use
1273 __construct() for the constructor. Calling parent constructors by the class
1274 name will display debugging message. Incorrect: parent::moodleform(),
1275 correct: parent::__construct()
1276 * All form elements have also changed the constructor syntax. No changes are
1277 needed for using form elements, however if plugin defines new form element it
1278 needs to use correct syntax. For example, incorrect: parent::HTML_QuickForm_input(),
1279 HTML_QuickForm_input::HTML_QuickForm_input(), $this->HTML_QuickForm_input().
1280 Correct: HTML_QuickForm_input::__construct() or parent::__construct().
1281 * profile_field_base::profile_field_base() is deprecated, use parent::__construct()
1282 in custom profile fields constructors. Similar deprecations in exsiting
1283 profile_field_* classes.
1284 * user_filter_type::user_filter_type() is deprecated, use parent::__construct() in
1285 custom user filters. Similar deprecations in existing user_filter_* classes.
1286 * table_default_export_format_parent::table_default_export_format_parent() is
1287 deprecated, use parent::__construct() in extending classes.
1288 * groups_delete_group_members() $showfeedback parameter has been removed and is no longer
1289 respected. Users of this function should output their own feedback if required.
1290 * Number of changes to Tags API, see tag/upgrade.txt for more details
1291 * The previous events API handlers are being deprecated in favour of events 2 API, debugging messages are being displayed if
1292 there are 3rd party plugins using it. Switch to events 2 API please, see https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2#Event_dispatching_and_observers
1293 Note than you will need to bump the plugin version so moodle is aware that you removed the plugin's event handlers.
1294 * mforms validation functions are not available in the global JS namespace anymore, event listeners
1295 are assigned to fields and buttons through a self-contained JS function.
1296 * Added $CFG->urlrewriteclass option to config.php allowing clean / semantic urls to
1297 be implemented in a plugin, eg local_cleanurls.
1298 * $CFG->pathtoclam global setting has been moved to clamav antivirus plugin setting of the same name.
1299 * clam_message_admins() and get_clam_error_code() have been deprecated, its functionality
1300 is now a part of \antivirus_clamav\scanner class methods.
1301 * \repository::antivir_scan_file() has been deprecated, \core\antivirus\manager::scan_file() that
1302 applies antivirus plugins is replacing its functionality.
1303 * Added core_text::str_max_bytes() which safely truncates multi-byte strings to a maximum number of bytes.
1304 * Zend Framework has been removed completely.
1305 * Any plugin can report when a scale is being used with the callback function [pluginname]_scale_used_anywhere(int $scaleid).
1306 * Changes in file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls: Passing a new option reverse = true in the $options var will make the function to convert
1307 actual URLs in $text to encoded URLs in the @@PLUGINFILE@@ form.
1308 * behat_util::is_server_running() is removed, please use behat_util::check_server_status() instead.
1309 * Behat\Mink\Selector\SelectorsHandler::xpathLiteral() method is deprecated use behat_context_helper::escape instead
1310 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.',
1311 * table_sql download process is using the new data formats plugin which you can't use if you are buffering any output
1312 * flexible_table::get_download_menu(), considered private, has been deleted. Use
1313 $OUTPUT->download_dataformat_selector() instead.
1314 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.
1315 * Add new file_is_executable(), to consistently check for executables even in Windows (PHP bug #41062).
1316 * Introduced new hooks for plugin developers.
1317 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete($category)
1318 - <component>_pre_course_delete($course)
1319 - <component>_pre_course_module_delete($cm)
1320 - <component>_pre_block_delete($instance)
1321 - <component>_pre_user_delete($user)
1322 These hooks allow developers to use the item in question before it is deleted by core. For example, if your plugin is
1323 a module (plugins located in the mod folder) called 'xxx' and you wish to interact with the user object before it is
1324 deleted then the function to create would be mod_xxx_pre_user_delete($user) in mod/xxx/lib.php.
1325 * pear::Net::GeoIP has been removed.
1329 * Minify updated to 2.2.1
1330 * htmlpurifier upgraded to 4.7.0
1331 * Less.php upgraded to 1.7.0.9
1332 * The horde library has been updated to version 5.2.7.
1333 * Google libraries (lib/google) updated to 1.1.5
1334 * Html2Text library has been updated to the latest version of the library.
1335 * External functions x_is_allowed_from_ajax() methods have been deprecated. Define 'ajax' => true in db/services.php instead.
1336 * External functions can be called without a session if they define 'loginrequired' => true in db/services.php.
1337 * All plugins are required to declare their frankenstyle component name via
1338 the $plugin->component property in their version.php file. See
1339 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/version.php for details (MDL-48494).
1340 * PHPUnit is upgraded to 4.7. Some tests using deprecated assertions etc may need changes to work correctly.
1341 * Users of the text editor API to manually create a text editor should call set_text before calling use_editor.
1342 * Javascript - SimpleYUI and the Y instance used for modules have been merged. Y is now always the same instance of Y.
1343 * get_referer() has been deprecated, please use the get_local_referer function instead.
1344 * \core\progress\null is renamed to \core\progress\none for improved PHP7 compatibility as null is a reserved word (see MDL-50453).
1345 * \webservice_xmlrpc_client now respects proxy server settings. If your XMLRPC server is available on your local network and not via your proxy server, you may need to add it to the list of proxy
1346 server exceptions in $CFG->proxybypass. See MDL-39353 for details.
1347 * Group and groupings idnumbers can now be passed to and/or are returned from the following web services functions:
1348 ** core_group_external::create_groups
1349 ** core_group_external::get_groups
1350 ** core_group_external::get_course_groups
1351 ** core_group_external::create_groupings
1352 ** core_group_external::update_groupings
1353 ** core_group_external::get_groupings
1354 ** core_group_external::get_course_groupings
1355 ** core_group_external::get_course_user_groups
1356 * Following functions are removed from core. See MDL-50049 for details.
1357 password_compat_not_supported()
1358 session_get_instance()
1365 session_is_loggedinas()
1366 session_get_realuser()
1370 update_login_count()
1373 update_log_display_entry()
1374 get_recent_enrolments()
1375 groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible()
1376 groups_course_module_visible()
1380 editorshortcutshelpbutton()
1383 get_generic_section_name()
1385 add_mod_to_section()
1387 get_course_section()
1388 format_weeks_get_section_dates()
1389 get_print_section_cm_text()
1390 print_section_add_menus()
1391 make_editing_buttons()
1394 print_recent_activity()
1395 delete_course_module()
1396 update_category_button()
1397 make_categories_list()
1398 category_delete_move()
1399 category_delete_full()
1401 course_category_hide()
1402 course_category_show()
1403 get_course_category()
1404 create_course_category()
1405 get_all_subcategories()
1406 get_child_categories()
1408 print_course_search()
1410 print_remote_course()
1412 print_whole_category_list()
1413 print_category_info()
1414 get_course_category_tree()
1417 get_category_courses_array()
1418 get_category_courses_array_recursively()
1419 blog_get_context_url()
1420 get_courses_wmanagers()
1421 convert_tree_to_html()
1422 convert_tabrows_to_tree()
1423 can_use_rotated_text()
1424 get_parent_contexts()
1425 get_parent_contextid()
1426 get_child_contexts()
1429 build_context_path()
1431 preload_course_contexts()
1433 fetch_context_capabilities()
1434 context_instance_preload()
1435 get_contextlevel_name()
1436 print_context_name()
1437 mark_context_dirty()
1440 get_course_context()
1441 get_user_courses_bycap()
1442 get_role_context_caps()
1443 get_courseid_from_context()
1444 context_instance_preload_sql()
1445 get_related_contexts_string()
1446 get_plugin_list_with_file()
1447 check_browser_operating_system()
1448 check_browser_version()
1450 get_device_type_list()
1451 get_selected_theme_for_device_type()
1452 get_device_cfg_var_name()
1453 set_user_device_type()
1454 get_user_device_type()
1455 get_browser_version_classes()
1456 generate_email_supportuser()
1457 badges_get_issued_badge_info()
1458 can_use_html_editor()
1459 enrol_cohort_get_cohorts()
1460 enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort()
1461 cohort_get_visible_list()
1462 enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users()
1463 enrol_cohort_search_cohorts()
1464 * The never unused webdav_locks table was dropped.
1465 * The actionmenu hideMenu() function now expects an EventFacade object to be passed to it,
1466 i.e. a call to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu() should be change to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu(e)
1467 * In the html_editors (tinyMCE, Atto), the manage files button can be hidden by changing the 'enable_filemanagement' option to false.
1468 * external_api::validate_context now is public, it can be called from other classes.
1469 * rss_error() now supports returning of correct HTTP status of error and will return '404 Not Found'
1470 unless other status is specified.
1471 * Plugins can extend the navigation for categories settings by declaring the following callback:
1472 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_category_settings(navigation_node, context_coursecat)
1473 * The clilib.php provides two new functions cli_write() and cli_writeln() that should be used for outputting texts from the command
1474 line interface scripts.
1475 * External function core_course_external::get_course_contents returned parameter "name" has been changed to PARAM_RAW,
1476 this is because the new external_format_string function may return raw data if the global moodlewssettingraw parameter is used.
1477 * Function is_web_crawler() has been deprecated, please use core_useragent::is_web_crawler() instead.
1481 * New methods grade_grade::get_grade_max() and get_grade_min() must be used rather than directly the public properties rawgrademax and rawgrademin.
1482 * New method grade_item::is_aggregate_item() indicates when a grade_item is an aggreggated type grade.
1486 * The default home page for users has been changed to the dashboard (formely my home). See MDL-45774.
1487 * Support for rendering templates from php or javascript has been added. See MDL-49152.
1488 * Support for loading AMD javascript modules has been added. See MDL-49046.
1489 * Webservice core_course_delete_courses now return warning messages on any failures and does not try to rollback the entire deletion.
1490 * \core\event\course_viewed 'other' argument renamed from coursesectionid to coursesectionnumber as it contains the section number.
1491 * New API core_filetypes::add_type (etc.) allows custom filetypes to be added and modified.
1492 * PHPUnit: PHPMailer Sink is now started for all tests and is setup within the phpunit wrapper for advanced tests.
1493 Catching debugging messages when sending mail will no longer work. Use $sink = $this->redirectEmails(); and then check
1494 the message in the sink instead.
1495 * The file pluginlib.php was deprecated since 2.6 and has now been removed, do not include or require it.
1496 * \core_component::fetch_subsystems() now returns a valid path for completion component instead of null.
1497 * Deprecated JS global methods have been removed (show_item, destroy_item, hide_item, addonload, getElementsByTagName, findChildNodes).
1498 * For 3rd party plugin specific environment.xml files, it's now possible to specify version independent checks by using the
1499 <PLUGIN name="component_name"> tag instead of the version dependent <MOODLE version="x.y"> one. If the PLUGIN tag is used any
1500 Moodle specific tags will be ignored.
1501 * html_table: new API for adding captions to tables (new field, $table->caption) and subsequently hiding said captions from sighted users using accesshide (enabled using $table->captionhide).
1502 * The authorization procedure in the mdeploy.php script has been improved. The script
1503 now relies on the main config.php when deploying an available update.
1504 * sql_internal_reader and sql_select_reader interfaces have been deprecated in favour of sql_internal_table_reader
1505 and sql_reader which use iterators to be more memory efficient.
1506 * $CFG->enabletgzbackups setting has been removed as now backups are stored internally using .tar.gz format by default, you can
1507 set $CFG->usezipbackups to store them in zip format. This does not affect the restore process, which continues accepting both.
1508 * Added support for custom string manager implementations via $CFG->customstringmanager
1509 directive in the config.php. See MDL-49361 for details.
1510 * Add new make_request_directory() for creation of per-request files.
1511 * Added generate_image_thumbnail_from_string. This should be used instead of generate_image_thumbnail when the source is a string.
1512 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
1513 * Added generate_image_thumbnail to stored_file class. This should be used when generating thumbnails for stored files.
1514 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
1515 * Removed pear/HTTP/WebDav. See MDL-49534 for details.
1516 * Use standard PHP date time classes and methods - see new core_date class for timezone normalisation methods.
1517 * Moved lib/google/Google/ to lib/google/src/Google. This is to address autoloader issues with Google's provided autoloader
1518 for the library. See MDL-49519 for details.
1519 * The outdated lib/google/Google_Client.php and related files have been completely removed. To use
1520 the new client, read lib/google/readme_moodle.txt, please.
1521 * profile_display_badges() has been deprecated. See MDL-48935 for details.
1522 * Added a new method add_report_nodes() to pagelib.php. If you are looking to add links to the user profile page under the heading "Reports"
1523 then please use this function to ensure that the breadcrumb and navigation block are created properly for all user profile pages.
1524 * process_new_icon() now does not always return a PNG file. When possible, it will try to keep the format of the original file.
1525 Set the new argument $preferpng to true to force PNG. See MDL-46763 and MDL-50041 for details.
1529 * Gradebook grade category option "aggregatesubcats" has been removed completely.
1530 This means that the database column is removed, the admin settings are removed and
1531 the properties from the grade_category object have been removed. If any courses were
1532 found to be using this setting, a warning to check the grades will be shown in the
1533 course grader report after upgrading the site. The same warning will be shown on
1534 courses restored from backup that had this setting enabled (see MDL-47503).
1535 * lib/excelllib.class.php has been updated. The class MoodleExcelWorkbook will now only produce excel 2007 files.
1536 * renderers: We now remove the suffix _renderable when looking for a render method for a renderable.
1537 If you have a renderable class named like "blah_renderable" and have a method on a renderer named "render_blah_renderable"
1538 you will need to change the name of your render method to "render_blah" instead, as renderable at the end is no longer accepted.
1539 * New functions get_course_and_cm_from_cmid($cmorid, $modulename) and
1540 get_course_and_cm_from_instance($instanceorid, $modulename) can be used to
1541 more efficiently load these basic data objects at the start of a script.
1542 * New function cm_info::create($cm) can be used when you need a cm_info
1543 object, but have a $cm which might only be a standard database record.
1544 * $CFG->enablegroupmembersonly no longer exists.
1545 * Scheduled tasks have gained support for syntax to introduce variability when a
1546 task will run across installs. When a when hour or minute are defined as 'R'
1547 they will be installed with a random hour/minute value.
1548 * Several classes grade_edit_tree_column_xxx were removed since grades setup page
1549 has been significantly changed. These classes should not be used outside of
1550 gradebook or developers can copy them into their plugins from 2.7 branch.
1551 * Google APIs Client Library (lib/google/) has been upgraded to 1.0.5-beta and
1552 API has changed dramatically without backward compatibility. Any code accessing
1553 it must be amended. It does not apply to lib/googleapi.php. See MDL-47297
1554 * Added an extra parameter to the function get_formatted_help_string() (default null) which is used to specify
1555 additional string parameters.
1556 * User settings node and course node in navigation now support callbacks from admin tools.
1557 * grade_get_grades() optional parameteres $itemtype, $itemmodule, $iteminstance are now required.
1560 * completion_info->get_incomplete_criteria() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
1561 * grade_category::aggregate_values() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
1562 * groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with
1563 core_availability\info::filter_user_list. Will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
1564 * groups_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with $cm->uservisible.
1565 * cm_info property $cm->groupmembersonly is deprecated and always returns 0.
1566 Use core_availability\info::filter_user_list if trying to determine which
1567 other users can see an activity.
1568 * cm_info method $cm->is_user_access_restricted_by_group() is deprecated and
1569 always returns false. Use $cm->uservisible to determine whether the user can
1570 access the activity.
1571 * Constant FEATURE_GROUPMEMBERSONLY (used in module _supports functions) is
1573 * cohort_get_visible_list() is deprecated. There is a better function cohort_get_available_cohorts()
1574 that respects user capabilities to view cohorts.
1575 * enrol_cohort_get_cohorts() and enrol_cohort_search_cohorts() are deprecated since
1576 functionality is removed. Please use cohort_get_available_cohorts()
1577 * enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users() is deprecated; enrol_manual is now responsible for this action
1578 * enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort() is deprecated; replace with cohort_can_view_cohort()
1580 === 2.6.4 / 2.7.1 ===
1582 * setnew_password_and_mail() and update_internal_user_password() will trigger
1583 \core\event\user_password_updated. Previously they used to generate
1584 \core\event\user_updated event.
1585 * update_internal_user_password() accepts optional boolean $fasthash for fast
1587 * user_update_user() and user_create_user() api's accept optional param
1588 $triggerevent to avoid respective events to be triggred from the api's.
1592 * PHPUnit cannot be installed via PEAR any more, please use composer package manager instead.
1593 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
1596 * Significant changes in Logging API. For upgrading existing events_trigger() and
1597 add_to_log() see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_logging_calls_in_plugins
1598 For accessing logs from plugins see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_log_access_in_reports
1599 * The validation of the following events is now stricter (see MDL-45445):
1600 - \core\event\blog_entry_created
1601 - \core\event\blog_entry_deleted
1602 - \core\event\blog_entry_updated
1603 - \core\event\cohort_member_added
1604 - \core\event\cohort_member_removed
1605 - \core\event\course_category_deleted
1606 - \core\event\course_completed
1607 - \core\event\course_content_deleted
1608 - \core\event\course_created
1609 - \core\event\course_deleted
1610 - \core\event\course_restored
1611 - \core\event\course_section_updated (see MDL-45229)
1612 - \core\event\email_failed
1613 - \core\event\group_member_added
1614 - \core\event\group_member_removed
1615 - \core\event\note_created
1616 - \core\event\note_deleted
1617 - \core\event\note_updated
1618 - \core\event\role_assigned
1619 - \core\event\role_deleted
1620 - \core\event\role_unassigned
1621 - \core\event\user_graded
1622 - \core\event\user_loggedinas
1623 - \core\event\user_profile_viewed
1624 - \core\event\webservice_token_created
1627 * $module uses in mod/xxx/version.php files is now deprecated. Please use $plugin instead. It will be removed in Moodle 2.10.
1628 * Update init methods in all event classes - "level" property was renamed to "edulevel", the level property is now deprecated.
1629 * Abstract class \core\event\course_module_instances_list_viewed is deprecated now, use \core\event\instances_list_viewed instead.
1630 * Abstract class core\event\content_viewed has been deprecated. Please extend base event or other relevant abstract class.
1631 * mod_book\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_book\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1632 * mod_chat\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_chat\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1633 * mod_choice\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_choice\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1634 * mod_feedback\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_feedback\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1635 * mod_page\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_page\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1636 * The constants FRONTPAGECOURSELIST, FRONTPAGETOPICONLY & FRONTPAGECOURSELIMIT have been removed.
1637 * Conditional availability API has moved and changed. The condition_info class is
1638 replaced by \core_availability\info_module, and condition_info_section by
1639 \core_availability\info_section. (Code that uses the old classes will generally
1641 * coursemodule_visible_for_user() has been deprecated but still works - replaced
1642 by a new static function \core_availability\info_module::is_user_visible()
1643 * cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_conditional_access has been deprecated
1644 but still works (it has never done what its name suggests, and is
1646 * cm_info and section_info property showavailability has been deprecated, but
1647 still works (with the caveat that this information is now per-user).
1648 * cm_info and section_info properties availablefrom and availableuntil have been
1649 deprecated and always return zero (underlying data doesn't have these values).
1650 * section_info property groupingid has been deprecated and always returns zero,
1652 * Various cm_info methods have been deprecated in favour of their read-only properties (get_url(), get_content(), get_extra_classes(),
1653 get_on_click(), get_custom_data(), get_after_link, get_after_edit_icons)
1654 * The ajaxenabled function has been deprecated and always returns true. All code should be fully functional in Javascript.
1655 * count_login_failures() has been deprecated, use user_count_login_failures() instead. Refer MDL-42891 for details.
1657 Conditional availability (activities and sections):
1658 * New conditional availability API in /availability, including new availability
1659 condition plugins in /availability/condition. The new API is very similar with
1660 regard to checking availability, but any code that modifies availability settings
1661 for an activity or section is likely to need substantial changes.
1664 * The lightbox attribute for moodle-core-notification-dialogue has been
1665 deprecated and replaced by the modal attribute. This was actually
1666 changed in Moodle 2.2, but has only been marked as deprecated now. It
1667 will be removed in Moodle 2.9.
1668 * When destroying any type of dialogue based on moodle-core-notification, the relevant content is also removed from
1669 the DOM. Previously it was left orphaned.
1672 * The findChildNodes global function has been deprecated. Y.all should
1674 * The callback argument to confirm_action and M.util.show_confirm_dialog has been deprecated. If you need to write a
1675 confirmation which includes a callback, please use moodle-core-notification-confirmation and attach callbacks to the
1678 * New locking api and admin settings to configure the system locking type.
1679 * New "Time spent waiting for the database" performance metric displayed along with the
1680 other MDL_PERF vars; the change affects both the error logs and the vars displayed in
1682 * Changes in the tag API. The component and contextid are now saved when assigning tags to an item. Please see
1683 tag/upgrade.txt for more information.
1687 * Use new methods from core_component class instead of get_core_subsystems(), get_plugin_types(),
1688 get_plugin_list(), get_plugin_list_with_class(), get_plugin_directory(), normalize_component(),
1689 get_component_directory() and get_plugin_list_with_file(). The names of the new methods are
1690 exactly the same, the only differences are that core_component::get_plugin_types() now always returns
1691 full paths and core_component::get_plugin_list() does not accept empty parameter any more.
1692 * Use core_text::* instead of textlib:: and also core_collator::* instead of collatorlib::*.
1693 * Use new function moodleform::mock_submit() to simulate form submission in unit tests (backported).
1694 * New $CFG->localcachedir setting useful for cluster nodes. Admins have to update X-Sendfile aliases if used.
1695 * MS SQL Server drivers are now using NVARCHAR(MAX) instead of NTEXT and VARBINARY(MAX) instead of IMAGE,
1696 this change should be fully transparent and it should help significantly with add-on compatibility.
1697 * The string manager classes were renamed. Note that they should not be modified or used directly,
1698 always use get_string_manager() to get instance of the string manager.
1699 * The ability to use an 'insecure' rc4encrypt/rc4decrypt key has been removed.
1700 * Use $CFG->debugdeveloper instead of debugging('', DEBUG_DEVELOPER).
1701 * Use set_debugging(DEBUG_xxx) when changing debugging level for current request.
1702 * Function moveto_module() does not modify $mod argument and instead now returns the new module visibility value.
1703 * Use behat_selectors::get_allowed_text_selectors() and behat_selectors::get_allowed_selectors() instead of
1704 behat_command::$allowedtextselectors and behat_command::$allowedselectors
1705 * Subplugins are supported in admin tools and local plugins.
1706 * file_packer/zip_packer API has been modified so that key functions support a new file_progress interface
1707 to report progress during long operations. Related to this, zip_archive now supports an estimated_count()
1708 function that returns an approximate number of entries in the zip faster than the count() function.
1709 * Class cm_info no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only and calculated on first request only.
1710 * Class course_modinfo no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only.
1711 * Database fields modinfo and sectioncache in table course are removed. Application cache core/coursemodinfo
1712 is used instead. Course cache is still reset, rebuilt and retrieved using function rebuild_course_cache() and
1713 get_fast_modinfo(). Purging all caches and every core upgrade purges course modinfo cache as well.
1714 If function get_fast_modinfo() is called for multiple courses make sure to include field cacherev in course
1716 * Internal (noreply and support) user support has been added for sending/receiving message.
1717 Use core_user::get_noreply_user() and core_user::get_support_user() to get noreply and support user's respectively.
1718 Real users can be used as noreply/support users by setting $CFG->noreplyuserid and $CFG->supportuserid
1719 * New function readfile_allow_large() in filelib.php for use when very large files may need sending to user.
1720 * Use core_plugin_manager::reset_caches() when changing visibility of plugins.
1721 * Implement new method get_enabled_plugins() method in subplugin info classes.
1722 * Each plugin should include version information in version.php.
1723 * Module and block tables do not contain version column any more, use get_config('xx_yy', 'version') instead.
1724 * $USER->password field is intentionally unset so that session data does not contain password hashes.
1725 * Use core_shutdown_manager::register_function() instead of register_shutdown_function().
1726 * New file packer for .tar.gz files; obtain by calling get_file_packer('application/x-gzip'). Intended initially
1727 for use in backup/restore only, as there are limitations on supported filenames. Also new packer for
1728 backups which supports both compression formats; get_file_packer('application/vnd.moodle.backup').
1729 * New optional parameter to stored_file::get_content_file_handle to open file handle with 'gzopen' instead
1730 of 'fopen' to read gzip-compressed files if required.
1731 * update_internal_user_password() and setnew_password_and_mail() now trigger user_updated event.
1732 * Add thirdpartylibs.xml file to plugins that bundle any 3rd party libraries.
1733 * New class introduced to help auto generate zIndex values for modal dialogues. Class "moodle-has-zindex"
1734 should set on any element which uses a non-default zindex and needs to ensure it doesn't show above a
1736 * $CFG->filelifetime is now used consistently for most file serving operations, the default was lowered
1737 to 6 hours from 24 hours because etags and x-sendfile support should make file serving less expensive.
1738 * Date format locale charset for windows server will come from calendar type and for gregorian it will use
1740 * The library to interact with Box.net (class boxclient) is only compatible with their APIv1 which
1741 reaches its end of life on the 14th of Dec. You should migrate your scripts to make usage of the
1742 new class boxnet_client(). Note that the method names and return values have changed.
1743 * Settings pages are now possible for Calendar type plugins. Calendar type plugins that require a settings page to
1744 work properly will need to set their requires version to a number that is equal to or grater than the 2.6.1 release version.
1745 * The admin/tool/generator tool was overhauled to use testing data generators and the previous interface to create
1746 test data was removed (it was not working correctly anyway). If you were using this tool you will probably need to
1750 Various previously deprecated functions have now been altered to throw DEBUG_DEVELOPER debugging notices
1751 and will be removed in a future release (target: 2.8), a summary follows:
1754 * get_context_instance() -> context_xxxx::instance()
1755 * get_context_instance_by_id() -> context::instance_by_id($id)
1756 * get_system_context() -> context_system::instance()
1757 * context_moved() -> context::update_moved()
1758 * preload_course_contexts() -> context_helper::preload_course()
1759 * context_instance_preload() -> context_helper::preload_from_record()
1760 * context_instance_preload_sql() -> context_helper::get_preload_record_columns_sql()
1761 * get_contextlevel_name() -> context_helper::get_level_name()
1762 * create_contexts() -> context_helper::create_instances()
1763 * cleanup_contexts() -> context_helper::cleanup_instances()
1764 * build_context_path() -> context_helper::build_all_paths()
1765 * print_context_name() -> $context->get_context_name()
1766 * mark_context_dirty() -> $context->mark_dirty()
1767 * delete_context() -> $context->delete_content() or context_helper::delete_instance()
1768 * get_context_url() -> $context->get_url()
1769 * get_course_context() -> $context->get_course_context()
1770 * get_parent_contexts() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids()
1771 * get_parent_contextid() -> $context->get_parent_context()
1772 * get_child_contexts() -> $context->get_child_contexts()
1773 * rebuild_contexts() -> $context->reset_paths()
1774 * get_user_courses_bycap() -> enrol_get_users_courses()
1775 * get_courseid_from_context() -> $context->get_course_context(false)
1776 * get_role_context_caps() -> (no replacement)
1777 * load_temp_role() -> (no replacement)
1778 * remove_temp_roles() -> (no replacement)
1779 * get_related_contexts_string() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids(true)
1780 * get_recent_enrolments() -> (no replacement)
1783 * get_course_participants() -> get_enrolled_users()
1784 * is_course_participant() -> is_enrolled()
1787 * current_theme() -> $PAGE->theme->name
1788 * skip_main_destination() -> $OUTPUT->skip_link_target()
1789 * print_container() -> $OUTPUT->container()
1790 * print_container_start() -> $OUTPUT->container_start()
1791 * print_container_end() -> $OUTPUT->container_end()
1792 * print_continue() -> $OUTPUT->continue_button()
1793 * print_header() -> $PAGE methods
1794 * print_header_simple() -> $PAGE methods
1795 * print_side_block() -> $OUTPUT->block()
1796 * print_arrow() -> $OUTPUT->arrow()
1797 * print_scale_menu_helpbutton() -> $OUTPUT->help_icon_scale($courseid, $scale)
1798 * print_checkbox() -> html_writer::checkbox()
1801 * print_navigation() -> $OUTPUT->navbar()
1802 * build_navigation() -> $PAGE->navbar methods
1803 * navmenu() -> (no replacement)
1804 * settings_navigation::
1805 get_course_modules() -> (no replacement)
1807 Files and repositories:
1808 * stored_file::replace_content_with() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1809 * stored_file::set_filesize() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1810 * stored_file::get_referencelifetime() -> (no replacement)
1811 * repository::sync_external_file() -> see repository::sync_reference()
1812 * repository::get_file_by_reference() -> repository::sync_reference()
1814 get_reference_file_lifetime() -> (no replacement)
1815 * repository::sync_individual_file() -> (no replacement)
1816 * repository::reset_caches() -> (no replacement)
1819 * add_event() -> calendar_event::create()
1820 * update_event() -> calendar_event->update()
1821 * delete_event() -> calendar_event->delete()
1822 * hide_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(false)
1823 * show_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(true)
1826 * filter_text() -> format_text(), format_string()...
1827 * httpsrequired() -> $PAGE->https_required()
1828 * detect_munged_arguments() -> clean_param([...], PARAM_FILE)
1829 * mygroupid() -> groups_get_all_groups()
1830 * js_minify() -> core_minify::js_files()
1831 * css_minify_css() -> core_minify::css_files()
1832 * course_modinfo::build_section_cache() -> (no replacement)
1833 * generate_email_supportuser() -> core_user::get_support_user()
1836 * session_get_instance()->xxx() -> \core\session\manager::xxx()
1837 * session_kill_all() -> \core\session\manager::kill_all_sessions()
1838 * session_touch() -> \core\session\manager::touch_session()
1839 * session_kill() -> \core\session\manager::kill_session()
1840 * session_kill_user() -> \core\session\manager::kill_user_sessions()
1841 * session_gc() -> \core\session\manager::gc()
1842 * session_set_user() -> \core\session\manager::set_user()
1843 * session_is_loggedinas() -> \core\session\manager::is_loggedinas()
1844 * session_get_realuser() -> \core\session\manager::get_realuser()
1845 * session_loginas() -> \core\session\manager::loginas()
1847 User-agent related functions:
1848 * check_browser_operating_system() -> core_useragent::check_browser_operating_system()
1849 * check_browser_version() -> core_useragent::check_browser_version()
1850 * get_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type()
1851 * get_device_type_list() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_list()
1852 * get_selected_theme_for_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_theme()
1853 * get_device_cfg_var_name() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_cfg_var_name()
1854 * set_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::set_user_device_type()
1855 * get_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_user_device_type()
1856 * get_browser_version_classes() -> core_useragent::get_browser_version_classes()
1859 * moodle-core-notification has been deprecated with a recommendation of
1860 using its subclasses instead. This is to allow for reduced page
1861 transport costs. Current subclasses include:
1868 Event triggering and event handlers:
1869 * All existing events and event handlers should be replaced by new
1870 event classes and matching new event observers.
1871 * See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2 for more information.
1872 * The following events will be entirely removed, though they can still
1873 be captured using handlers, but they should not be used any more.
1874 * groups_members_removed -> \core\event\group_member_removed
1875 * groups_groupings_groups_removed -> (no replacement)
1876 * groups_groups_deleted -> \core\event\group_deleted
1877 * groups_groupings_deleted -> \core\event\grouping_deleted
1878 * edit_module_post_actions() does not trigger events any more.
1882 * New get_course() function for use when obtaining the course record from database. Will
1883 reuse existing $COURSE or $SITE globals if possible to improve performance.
1887 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) aren't using anymore the ::columns property
1888 for caching database metadata. MUC (databasemeta) is used instead. Any custom DB driver should
1889 apply for that change.
1890 * The cron output has been changed to include time and memory usage (see cron_trace_time_and_memory()),
1891 so any custom utility relying on the old output may require modification.
1892 * Function get_max_file_sizes now returns an option for (for example) "Course limit (500MB)" or
1893 "Site limit (200MB)" when appropriate with the option set to 0. This function no longer returns
1894 an option for 0 bytes. Existing code that was replacing the 0 option in the return
1895 from this function with a more sensible message, can now use the return from this function directly.
1896 * Functions responsible for output in course/lib.php are deprecated, the code is moved to
1897 appropriate renderers: print_section(), print_section_add_menus(), get_print_section_cm_text(),
1898 make_editing_buttons()
1899 See functions' phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php
1900 * Function get_print_section_cm_text() is deprecated, replaced with methods in cm_info
1901 * zip_packer may create empty zip archives, there is a new option to ignore
1902 problematic files when creating archive
1903 * The function delete_course_module was deprecated and has been replaced with
1904 course_delete_module. The reason for this was because the function delete_course_module
1905 only partially deletes data, so wherever it was called extra code was needed to
1906 perform the whole deletion process. The function course_delete_module now takes care
1907 of the whole process.
1908 * curl::setopt() does not accept constant values any more. As it never worked properly,
1909 we decided to make the type check stricter. Now, the keys of the array pass must be a string
1910 corresponding to the curl constant name.
1911 * Function get_users_listing now return list of users except guest and deleted users. Previously
1912 deleted users were excluded by get_users_listing. As guest user is not expected while browsing users,
1913 and not included in get_user function, it will not be returned by get_users_listing.
1914 * The add_* functions in course/dnduploadlib.php have been deprecated. Plugins should be using the
1915 MODNAME_dndupload_register callback instead.
1916 * The signature of the add() method of classes implementing the parentable_part_of_admin_tree
1917 interface (such as admin_category) has been extended. The new parameter allows the caller
1918 to prepend the new node before an existing sibling in the admin tree.
1919 * condition_info:get_condition_user_fields($formatoptions) now accepts the optional
1920 param $formatoptions, that will determine if the field names are processed by
1921 format_string() with the passed options.
1922 * remove all references to $CFG->gdversion, GD PHP extension is now required
1923 * Formslib will now throw a developer warning if a PARAM_ type hasn't been set for elements which
1924 need it. Please set PARAM_RAW explicitly if you do not want any cleaning.
1925 * Functions responsible for managing and accessing course categories are moved to class coursecat
1926 in lib/coursecatlib.php, functions responsible for rendering courses and categories lists are
1927 moved to course/renderer.php. The following global functions are deprecated: make_categories_list(),
1928 category_delete_move(), category_delete_full(), move_category(), course_category_hide(),
1929 course_category_show(), get_course_category(), create_course_category(), get_all_subcategories(),
1930 get_child_categories(), get_categories(), print_my_moodle(), print_remote_course(),
1931 print_remote_host(), print_whole_category_list(), print_category_info(), get_course_category_tree(),
1932 print_courses(), print_course(), get_category_courses_array(), get_category_courses_array_recursively(),
1933 get_courses_wmanagers()
1934 See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Courses_lists_upgrade_to_2.5
1935 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
1936 * Additional (optional) param $onlyactive has been added to get_enrolled_users, count_enrolled_users
1937 functions to get information for only active (excluding suspended enrolments) users. Included two
1938 helper functions extract_suspended_users, get_suspended_userids to extract suspended user information.
1939 * The core_plugin_manager class now provides two new helper methods for getting information
1940 about known plugins: get_plugins_of_type() and get_subplugins_of_plugin().
1941 * The get_uninstall_url() method of all subclasses of \core\plugininfo\base class is now expected
1942 to always return moodle_url. Subclasses can use the new method is_uninstall_allowed()
1943 to control the availability of the 'Uninstall' link at the Plugins overview page (previously
1944 they would do it by get_uninstall_url() returning null). By default, URL to a new general plugin
1945 uninstall tool is returned. Unless the plugin type needs extra steps that can't be handled by
1946 plugininfo_xxx::uninstall() method or xmldb_xxx_uninstall() function, this default URL should
1947 satisfy all plugin types.
1949 Database (DML) layer:
1950 * $DB->sql_empty() is deprecated, you have to use sql parameters with empty values instead,
1951 please note hardcoding of empty strings in SQL queries breaks execution in Oracle database.
1952 * Indexes must not be defined on the same columns as keys, this is now reported as fatal problem.
1953 Please note that internally we create indexes instead of foreign keys.
1956 * M.util.help_icon has been deprecated. Code should be updated to use moodle-core-popuphelp
1957 instead. To do so, remove any existing JS calls to M.util.help_icon from your PHP and ensure
1958 that your help link is placed in a span which has the class 'helplink'.
1962 * Pagelib: Numerous deprecated functions were removed as classes page_base, page_course
1963 and page_generic_activity.
1964 * use $CFG->googlemapkey3 instead of removed $CFG->googlemapkey and migrate to Google Maps API V3
1965 * Function settings_navigation::add_course_editing_links() is completely removed
1966 * function global_navigation::format_display_course_content() is removed completely (the
1967 functionality is moved to course format class)
1968 * in the function global_navigation::load_generic_course_sections() the argument $courseformat is
1970 * New component and itemid columns in groups_members table - this allows plugin to create protected
1971 group memberships using 'xx_yy_allow_group_member_remove' callback and there is also a new restore
1972 callback 'xx_yy_restore_group_member()'.
1973 * New general role assignment restore plugin callback 'xx_yy_restore_role_assignment()'.
1974 * functions get_generic_section_name(), get_all_sections(), add_mod_to_section(), get_all_mods()
1975 are deprecated. See their phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php on how to replace them
1978 * moodle-enrol-notification has been renamed to moodle-core-notification
1979 * YUI2 code must now use 2in3, see http://yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/yui/yui-yui2.html
1980 * M.util.init_select_autosubmit() and M.util.init_url_select() have been deprecated. Code using this should be updated
1981 to use moodle-core-formautosubmit
1983 Unit testing changes:
1984 * output debugging() is not sent to standard output any more,
1985 use $this->assertDebuggingCalled(), $this->assertDebuggingNotCalled(),
1986 $this->getDebuggingMessages() or $this->assertResetDebugging() instead.
1990 Database layer changes:
1991 * objects are not allowed in paramters of DML functions, use explicit casting to strings if necessary
1994 * DDL and DML methods which were deprecated in 2.0 have now been removed, they will no longer produce
1995 debug messages and will produce fatal errors
1999 * send_stored_file() has changed its interface
2000 * deleted several resourcelib_embed_* functions from resourcelib.php
2004 removed unused libraries:
2005 * odbc, base32, CodeSniffer, overlib, apd profiling, kses, Smarty, PEAR Console, swfobject, cssshover.htc, md5.js
2008 * new admin/tool plugin type
2009 * new context API - old API is still available
2010 * deleted users do not have context any more
2011 * removed global search
2017 * basic suport for restore from 1.9
2018 * new mobile devices API
2025 * new DML API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DML_functions
2026 * new DDL API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DDL_functions
2027 * new file API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/File_API
2028 * new $PAGE and $OUTPUT API
2029 * new navigation API
2030 * new theme API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Theme_changes_in_2.0
2031 * new javascript API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/JavaScript_usage_guide
2033 * new local plugin type
2034 * new translation support - http://lang.moodle.org
2035 * new web service API
2042 * new backup/restore API
2045 * improved plugin support (aka Frankenstyle)
2046 * new registration and hub API
2047 * new course completion API
2048 * new plagiarism API
2050 * new text editor API
2051 * new my moodle and profiles API