1 This files describes API changes in core libraries and APIs,
2 information provided here is intended especially for developers.
6 * A new token-based version of pluginfile.php has been added which can be used for out-of-session file serving by
7 setting the `$includetoken` parameter to true on the `moodle_url::make_pluginfile_url()`, and
8 `moodle_url::make_file_url()` functions.
9 * The following picture functions have been updated to support use of the new token-based file serving:
11 - get_group_picture_url
12 * The `user_picture` class has a new public `$includetoken` property which can be set to make use of the new token-based
14 * Custom AJAX handlers for the form autocomplete fields can now optionally return string in their processResults()
15 callback. If a string is returned, it is displayed instead of the list of suggested items. This can be used, for
16 example, to inform the user that there are too many items matching the current search criteria.
17 * The form element 'htmleditor' has been deprecated. Please use the 'editor' element instead.
18 * The print_textarea() function has been deprecated. Please use $OUTPUT->print_textarea() instead.
19 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
20 - external_function_info()
21 - core_renderer::update_module_button()
25 - events_is_registered()
27 - events_pending_count()
28 - events_process_queued_handler()
29 - events_queue_handler()
30 - events_trigger_legacy()
31 - events_update_definition()
33 - course_get_cm_rename_action()
36 - clam_message_admins()
37 - get_clam_error_code()
46 - get_logs_usercourse()
49 - prevent_form_autofill_password()
50 - prefixed_tablenode_transformations()
53 * Following api's have been removed in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
54 - get_features_with_tags()
55 - get_components_steps_definitions()
56 - get_config_file_contents()
57 - merge_behat_config()
59 - profile_guided_allocate()
62 - get_behat_tests_path()
63 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
64 - I set the field "<field_string>" to multiline
65 - I follow "<link_string>"" in the open menu
66 * The following behat steps have been deprecated, please do not use these step definitions any more:
67 - behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
68 - theme/boost/tests/behat/behat_theme_boost_behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
69 Use one of the following steps instead:
70 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in current page administration
71 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in site administration
72 - I navigate to course participants
73 - I navigate to "TAB1 > TAB2" in the course gradebook
74 If some items are not available without Navigation block at all, one can use combination of:
75 - I add the "Navigation" block if not present
76 - I click on "LINK" "link" in the "Navigation" "block"
77 * The core\session\util class has been removed. This contained one function only used by the memcached class which has
78 been moved there instead (connection_string_to_memcache_servers).
79 * Removed the lib/password_compat/lib/password.php file.
80 * The eventslib.php file has been deleted and its functions have been moved to deprecatedlib.php. The affected functions are:
85 - events_get_handlers()
86 * coursecat::get() now has optional $user parameter.
87 * coursecat::is_uservisible() now has optional $user parameter.
88 * Removed the lib/form/submitlink.php element which was deprecated in 3.2.
89 * The user_selector classes do not support custom list of extra identity fields any more. They obey the configured user
90 policy and respect the privacy setting made by site administrators. The list of user identifiers should never be
91 hard-coded. Instead, the setting $CFG->showuseridentity should be always respected, which has always been the default
92 behaviour (MDL-59847).
93 * The function message_send() in messagelib.php will now only take the object \core\message\message as a parameter.
94 * The method message_sent::create_from_ids() parameter courseid is now required. A debugging
95 message was previously displayed, and the SITEID was used, when not provided.
96 * The method \core\message\manager::send_message() now only takes the object \core\message\message as the first parameter.
97 * Following functions have been deprecated, please use get_roles_used_in_context.
98 - get_roles_on_exact_context()
99 - get_roles_with_assignment_on_context()
100 * New functions to support the merging of user draft areas from the interface; see MDL-45170 for details:
101 - file_copy_file_to_file_area()
102 - file_merge_draft_areas()
103 - file_replace_file_area_in_text()
104 - extract_draft_file_urls_from_text()
105 * Class coursecat is now alias to autoloaded class core_course_category, course_in_list is an alias to
106 core_course_list_element, class coursecat_sortable_records is deprecated without replacement.
107 * \core_user_external::create_users() and \core_user_external::update_users() can now accept more user profile fields so user
108 creation/update via web service can now be very similar to the edit profile page's functionality. The new fields that have been
123 * New function mark_user_dirty() must be called after changing data that gets cached in user sessions. Examples:
124 - Assigning roles to users.
125 - Unassigning roles from users.
126 - Enrolling users into courses.
127 - Unenrolling users from courses.
128 * New optional parameter $context for the groups_get_members_join() function and ability to filter users that are not members of
129 any group. Besides, groups_get_members_ids_sql, get_enrolled_sql and get_enrolled_users now accepts -1 (USERSWITHOUTGROUP) for
131 * Added $CFG->conversionattemptlimit setting to config.php allowing a maximum number of retries before giving up conversion
132 of a given document by the assignfeedback_editpdf\task\convert_submissions task. Default value: 3.
133 * The following events have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
134 - message_contact_blocked
135 - message_contact_unblocked
136 The reason for this is because you can now block/unblock users without them necessarily being a contact. These events
137 have been replaced with message_user_blocked and message_user_unblocked respectively.
138 * The event message_deleted has been changed, it no longer records the value of the 'useridto' due to
139 the introduction of group messaging. Please, if you have any observers or are triggering this event
140 in your code you will have to make some changes!
141 * The gradebook now supports the ability to accept files as feedback. This can be achieved by adding
142 'feedbackfiles' to the $grades parameter passed to grade_update().
144 $grades['feedbackfiles'] = [
146 'component' => 'mod_xyz',
147 'filearea' => 'mod_xyz_feedback',
150 These files will be then copied to the gradebook file area.
151 * Allow users to choose who can message them for privacy reasons, with a 'growing circle of contactability':
152 - Added $CFG->messagingallusers, for enabling messaging to all site users. Default value: 0.
153 When $CFG->messagingallusers = false users can choose being contacted by only contacts or contacts and users sharing a course with them.
154 In that case, the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_COURSEMEMBER (users sharing a course).
155 When $CFG->messagingallusers = true users have a new option for the privacy messaging preferences: "Anyone on the site". In that case,
156 the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_SITE (all site users).
157 - Added $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled setting to config.php to force enabling $CFG->messagingallusers during the upgrading process.
159 When $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled is set to true, $CFG->messagingallusers will be also set to true to enable messaging site users.
160 However, when it is empty, $CFG->messagingallusers will be disabled during the upgrading process, so the users will only be able to
161 message contacts and users sharing a course with them.
162 * There has been interface and functional changes to admin_apply_default_settings() (/lib/adminlib.php). The function now takes two
163 additional optional parameters, $admindefaultsettings and $settingsoutput. It also has a return value $settingsoutput.
164 The function now does not need to be called twice to ensure all default settings are set. Instead the function calls itself recursively
165 until all settings have been set. The additional parameters are used recursively and shouldn't be need to be explicitly passed in when calling
166 the function from other parts of Moodle.
167 The return value: $settingsoutput is an array of setting names and the values that were set by the function.
168 * Webservices no longer update the lastaccess time for a user in a course. Call core_course_view_course() manually if needed.
169 * 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.
173 * There is a new privacy API that every subsystem and plugin has to implement so that the site can become GDPR
174 compliant. Plugins use this API to report what information they store or process regarding users, and provide ability
175 to export and delete personal data. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Privacy_API for guidelines on how to implement the
176 privacy API in your plugin.
177 * The cron runner now sets up a fresh PAGE and OUTPUT between each task.
178 * The core_renderer methods notify_problem(), notify_success(), notify_message() and notify_redirect() that were
179 deprecated in Moodle 3.1 have been removed. Use \core\notification::add(), or \core\output\notification as required.
180 * The maximum supported precision (the total number of digits) for XMLDB_TYPE_NUMBER ("number") fields raised from 20 to
181 38 digits. Additionally, the whole number part (precision minus scale) must not be longer than the maximum length of
182 integer fields (20 digits). Note that PHP floats commonly support precision of roughly 15 digits only (MDL-32113).
183 * Event triggering and event handlers:
184 - The following events, deprecated since moodle 2.6, have been finally removed: groups_members_removed,
185 groups_groupings_groups_removed, groups_groups_deleted, groups_groupings_deleted.
186 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
188 * XMLDB now validates the PATH attribute on every install.xml file. Both the XMLDB editor and installation will fail
189 when a problem is detected with it. Please ensure your plugins contain correct directory relative paths.
190 * Add recaptchalib_v2.php for support of reCAPTCHA v2.
191 * Plugins can define class 'PLUGINNAME\privacy\local\sitepolicy\handler' if they implement an alternative mechanisms for
192 site policies managements and agreements. Administrators can define which component is to be used for handling site
193 policies and agreements. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Site_policy_handler
194 * Scripts can define a constant NO_SITEPOLICY_CHECK and set it to true before requiring the main config.php file. It
195 will make the require_login() skipping the test for the user's policyagreed status. This is useful for plugins that
196 act as a site policy handler.
197 * There is a new is_fulltext_search_supported() DML function. The default implementation returns false. This function
198 is used by 'Simple search' global search engine to determine if the database full-text search capabilities can be used.
199 * The following have been removed from the list of core subsystems:
202 Following this change, \core_register_renderer and \core_publish_renderer have been removed and their methods have been
203 moved to \core_admin_renderer and \core_course_renderer respectively.
207 * oauth2_client::request method has an extra parameter to specify the accept header for the response (MDL-60733)
208 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
209 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-57432 for more info:
210 - upgrade_mimetypes()
211 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders_draft()
212 - upgrade_minmaxgrade()
213 - upgrade_course_tags()
215 * Added new moodleform element 'filetypes' and new admin setting widget 'admin_setting_filetypes'. These new widgets
216 allow users to define a list of file types; either by typing them manually or selecting them from a list. The widgets
217 directly support the syntax used to feed the 'accepted_types' option of the filemanager and filepicker elements. File
218 types can be specified as extensions (.jpg or just jpg), mime types (text/plain) or groups (image).
219 * Removed accesslib private functions: load_course_context(), load_role_access_by_context(), dedupe_user_access() (MDL-49398).
220 * Internal "accessdata" structure format has changed to improve ability to perform role definition caching (MDL-49398).
221 * Role definitions are no longer cached in user session (MDL-49398).
222 * External function core_group_external::get_activity_allowed_groups now returns an additional field: canaccessallgroups.
223 It indicates whether the user will be able to access all the activity groups.
224 * file_get_draft_area_info does not sum the root folder anymore when calculating the foldercount.
225 * The moodleform element classes can now optionally provide a public function validateSubmitValue(). This method can be
226 used to perform implicit validation of submitted values - without the need to explicitly add the validation rules to
227 every form. The method should accept a single parameter with the submitted value. It should return a string with the
228 eventual validation error, or an empty value if the validation passes.
229 * New user_picture attribute $includefullname to determine whether to include the user's full name with the user's picture.
230 * Enrol plugins which provide enrolment actions can now declare the following "data-action" attributes in their implementation of
231 enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() whenever applicable:
232 * "editenrolment" - For editing a user'e enrolment details. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_EDIT.
233 * "unenrol" - For unenrolling a student. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_UNENROL.
234 These attributes enable enrol actions to be rendered via modals. If not added, clicking on the enrolment action buttons will still
235 redirect the user to the appropriate enrolment action page. Though optional, it is recommended to add these attributes for a
236 better user experience when performing enrol actions.
237 * The enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() implementations for core enrol plugins have been removed and moved to
238 the parent method itself. New enrol plugins don't have to implement get_user_enrolment_actions(), but just need to
239 make sure that they override:
240 - enrol_plugin::allow_manage(), and/or
241 - enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol_user() or enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol()
242 Existing enrol plugins that override enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() don't have to do anything, but can
243 also opt to remove their own implementation of the method if they basically have the same logic as the parent method.
244 * New optional parameter $enrolid for the following functions:
245 - get_enrolled_join()
247 - get_enrolled_with_capabilities_join()
248 Setting this parameter to a non-zero value will add a condition to the query such that only users that were enrolled
249 with this enrolment method will be returned.
250 * New optional parameter 'closeSuggestionsOnSelect' for the enhance() function for form-autocomplete. Setting this to true will
251 close the suggestions popup immediately after an option has been selected. If not specified, it defaults to true for single-select
252 elements and false for multiple-select elements.
253 * user_can_view_profile() now also checks the moodle/user:viewalldetails capability.
254 * The core/modal_confirm dialogue has been deprecated. Please use the core/modal_save_cancel dialogue instead. Please ensure you
255 update to use the ModalEvents.save and ModalEvents.cancel events instead of their yes/no counterparts.
256 * Instead of checking the 'moodle/course:viewparticipants' and 'moodle/site:viewparticipants' capabilities use the
257 new functions course_can_view_participants() and course_require_view_participants().
258 * $stored_file->add_to_curl_request() now adds the filename to the curl request.
259 * The option for Login HTTPS (authentication-only SSL) has been removed
260 * $CFG->loginhttps is now deprecated, do not use it.
261 * $PAGE->https_required and $PAGE->verify_https_required() are now deprecated. They are no longer used and will throw a coding_exception.
262 * $CFG->httpswwwroot is now deprecated and will always result in the same value as wwwroot.
263 * Added function core_role_set_view_allowed() to check if a user should be able to see a given role.
264 This should be checked whenever displaying a list of roles to a user, however, core_role_set_assign_allowed may need to override it
266 * Deprecated allow_override, allow_assign and allow_switch and replaced with core_role_set_*_allowed to avoid function names conflicting.
270 * ldap_get_entries_moodle() now always returns lower-cased attribute names in the returned entries.
271 It was suppposed to do so before, but it actually didn't.
275 * Behat compatibility changes are now being documented at
276 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Acceptance_testing/Compatibility_changes
277 * PHPUnit's bootstrap has been changed to use HTTPS wwwroot (https://www.example.com/moodle) from previous HTTP version. Any
278 existing test expecting the old HTTP URLs will need to be switched to the new HTTPS value (reference: MDL-54901).
279 * The information returned by the idp list has changed. This is usually only rendered by the login page and login block.
280 The icon attribute is removed and an iconurl attribute has been added.
281 * Support added for a new type of external file: FILE_CONTROLLED_LINK. This is an external file that Moodle can control
282 the permissions. Moodle makes files read-only but can grant temporary write access.
283 When accessing a URL, the info from file_browser::get_file_info will be checked to determine if the user has write access,
284 if they do - the remote file will have access controls set to allow editing.
285 * The method moodleform::after_definition() has been added and can now be used to add some logic
286 to be performed after the form's definition was set. This is useful for intermediate subclasses.
287 * Moodle has support for font-awesome icons. Plugins should use the xxx_get_fontawesome_icon_map callback
288 to map their custom icons to one from font-awesome.
289 * $OUTPUT->pix_url() has been deprecated because it is was used mostly to manually generate image tags for icons.
290 We now distinguish between icons and "small images". The difference is that an icon does not have to be rendered as an image tag
291 with a source. It is OK to still have "small images" - if this desired use $OUTPUT->image_icon() and $OUTPUT->image_url(). For
292 other uses - use $OUTPUT->pix_icon() or the pix helper in mustache templates {{#pix}}...{{/pix}}
293 For other valid use cases use $OUTPUT->image_url().
294 * Activity icons have been split from standard icons. Use $OUTPUT->image_icon instead of $OUTPUT->pix_icon for these
295 type of icons (the coloured main icon for each activity).
296 * YUI module moodle-core-formautosubmit has been removed, use jquery .change() instead (see lib/templates/url_select.mustache for
298 * $mform->init_javascript_enhancement() is deprecated and no longer does anything. Existing uses of smartselect enhancement
299 should be switched to the searchableselector form element or other solutions.
300 * Return value of the validate_email() is now proper boolean as documented. Previously the function could return 1, 0 or false.
301 * The mcore YUI rollup which included various YUI modules such as moodle-core-notification is no longer included on every
302 page. Missing YUI depdencies may be exposed by this change (e.g. missing a requirement on moodle-core-notification when
303 using M.core.dialogue).
304 * Various legacy javascript functions have been removed:
305 * M.util.focus_login_form and M.util.focus_login_error no longer do anything. Please use jquery instead. See
306 lib/templates/login.mustache for an example.
307 * Some outdated global JS functions have been removed and should be replaced with calls to jquery
308 or alternative approaches:
309 checkall, checknone, select_all_in_element_with_id, select_all_in, deselect_all_in, confirm_if, findParentNode,
310 filterByParent, stripHTML
311 * M.util.init_toggle_class_on_click has been removed.
312 * The following functions have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
313 - file_storage::try_content_recovery - See MDL-46375 for more information
314 - file_storage::content_exists - See MDL-46375 for more information
315 - file_storage::deleted_file_cleanup - See MDL-46375 for more information
316 - file_storage::get_converted_document
317 - file_storage::is_format_supported_by_unoconv
318 - file_storage::can_convert_documents
319 - file_storage::send_test_pdf
320 - file_storage::test_unoconv_path
321 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
322 - I click on "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" in the "<row_text_string>" table row
323 - I go to notifications page
324 - I add "<filename_string>" file from recent files to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
325 - I upload "<filepath_string>" file to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
326 - I create "<foldername_string>" folder in "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
327 - I open "<foldername_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
328 - I unzip "<filename_string>" file from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
329 - I zip "<filename_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
330 - I delete "<file_or_folder_name_string>" from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
331 - I send "<message_contents_string>" message to "<username_string>"
332 - I add "<user_username_string>" user to "<cohort_idnumber_string>" cohort
333 - I add "<username_string>" user to "<group_name_string>" group
334 - I fill in "<field_string>" with "<value_string>"
335 - I select "<option_string>" from "<select_string>"
336 - I select "<radio_button_string>" radio button
337 - I check "<option_string>"
338 - I uncheck "<option_string>"
339 - the "<field_string>" field should match "<value_string>" value
340 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should be checked
341 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should not be checked
342 - I fill the moodle form with:
343 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should exists
344 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should not exists
345 - the following "<element_string>" exists:
346 * get_user_capability_course() now has an additional parameter 'limit'. This can be used to return a set number of records with
347 the submitted capability. The parameter 'fieldsexceptid' will now accept context fields which can be used for preloading.
348 * The caching option 'immutable' has been added to send_stored_file() and send_file().
349 * New adhoc task refresh_mod_calendar_events_task that updates existing calendar events of modules.
350 * New 'priority' column for the event table to determine which event to show in case of events with user and group overrides.
351 * Webservices core_course_search_courses and core_course_get_courses_by_field will always return the sortorder field.
352 * core_course_external::get_activities_overview has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
353 * Changed the pix mustache template helper to accept context variables for the key, component and alt text.
354 * New auth_plugin_base helper methods:
355 - get_identity_providers() - Retrieves available auth identity providers.
356 - prepare_identity_providers_for_output() - Prepares auth identity provider data for output (e.g. to templates, WS, etc.).
360 * Custom roles with access to any part of site administration that do not use the manager archetype will need
361 moodle/site:configview capability added.
362 * Admin setting "Show My courses expanded on Dashboard" has been removed.
363 * Some backwards and forwards compatibility has been added for different bootstrap versions.
364 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
365 with bootstrap classes to keep working in the new theme. See MDL-56004 for the list of supported classes.
366 * MForms element 'submitlink' has been deprecated.
367 * Searchable selector form element is now a wrapper for autocomplete. A "No selection" option is automatically
368 added to the options list for best backwards compatibility - if you were manually adding a "no selection" option you will need
370 * Node.js versions >=4 are now required to run grunt.
371 * JQuery has been updated to 3.1.0. JQuery migrate plugins are no longer shipped - please read
372 https://jquery.com/upgrade-guide/3.0/ and update your javascript.
373 * New option 'blanktarget' added to format_text. This option adds target="_blank" to links
374 * A new webservice structure `external_files` has been created which provides a standardised view of files in Moodle and
375 should be used for all file return descriptions.
376 Files matching this format can be retrieved via the new `external_util::get_area_files` method.
377 See MDL-54951 for further information.
378 * The parameter $usepost of the following functions has been deprecated and is not used any more:
379 - get_max_upload_file_size()
380 - get_user_max_upload_file_size()
381 * The following classes have been removed and should not be used any more:
382 - boxclient - See MDL-49599 for more information.
383 * The following functions have been removed and should not be used any more:
384 - file_modify_html_header() - See MDL-29738 for more information.
385 * core_grades_external::get_grades has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
386 External function gradereport_user_external::get_grade_items can be used for retrieving the course grades information.
387 * New option 'escape' added to format_string. When true (default), escapes HTML entities from the string
388 * The following functions have been deprecated and are not used any more:
389 - get_records_csv() Please use csv_import_reader::load_csv_content() instead.
390 - put_records_csv() Please use download_as_dataformat (lib/dataformatlib.php) instead.
391 - zip_files() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
392 - unzip_file() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
393 - print_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
394 - print_log_csv() - See MDL-43681 for more information
395 - print_log_ods() - See MDL-43681 for more information
396 - print_log_xls() - See MDL-43681 for more information
397 - print_mnet_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
398 - build_logs_array() - See MDL-43681 for more information
399 - get_logs() - See MDL-43681 for more information
400 - get_logs_usercourse() - See MDL-43681 for more information
401 - get_logs_userday() - See MDL-43681 for more information
402 - prevent_form_autofill_password() Please do not use anymore.
403 * The password_compat library was removed as it is no longer required.
404 * Phpunit has been upgraded to 5.4.x and following has been deprecated and is not used any more:
405 - setExpectedException(), use @expectedException or $this->expectException() and $this->expectExceptionMessage()
406 - getMock(), use createMock() or getMockBuilder()->getMock()
407 - UnitTestCase class is removed.
408 * The following methods have been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
409 - course_modinfo::build_section_cache()
410 - cm_info::get_deprecated_group_members_only()
411 - cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_group()
412 * The following methods in cm_info::standardmethods have also been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
413 - cm_info::get_after_edit_icons()
414 - cm_info::get_after_link()
415 - cm_info::get_content()
416 - cm_info::get_custom_data()
417 - cm_info::get_extra_classes()
418 - cm_info::get_on_click()
420 - cm_info::obtain_dynamic_data()
421 Calling them through the magic method __call() will throw a coding exception.
422 * The alfresco library has been removed from core. It was an old version of
423 the library which was not compatible with newer versions of Alfresco.
424 * Added down arrow: $OUTPUT->darrow.
425 * All file_packer implementations now accept an additional parameter to allow a simple boolean return value instead of
426 an array of individual file statuses.
427 * "I set the field "field_string" to multiline:" now end with colon (:), as PyStrings is supposed to end with ":"
428 * New functions to support deprecation of events have been added to the base event. See MDL-46214 for further details.
429 * A new function `get_name_with_info` has been added to the base event. This function adds information about event
430 deprecations and should be used where this information is relevant.
431 * Following api's have been deprecated in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
432 - get_features_with_tags
433 - get_components_steps_definitions
434 - get_config_file_contents
437 - profile_guided_allocate
440 - get_behat_tests_path
441 * behat_util::start_test_mode() accepts 3 options now:
442 - 1. Theme sute with all features: If behat should initialise theme suite with all core features.
443 - 2. Parallel runs: How many parallel runs will be running.
444 - 3. Run: Which process behat should be initialise for.
445 * behat_context_helper::set_session() has been deprecated, please use behat_context_helper::set_environment() instead.
446 * data-fieldtype="type" attribute has been added to form field default template.
447 * form elements extending MoodleQuickForm_group must call $this->createFormElement() instead of
448 @MoodleQuickForm::createElement() in order to be compatible with PHP 7.1
449 * Relative paths in $CFG->alternateloginurl will be resolved to absolute path within moodle site. Previously they
450 were resolved to absolute path within the server. That means:
451 - $CFG->wwwroot: http://example.com/moodle
452 - $CFG->alternateloginurl : /my/super/login.php
453 - Login url will be: http://example.com/moodle/my/super/login.php (moodle root based)
454 * Database (DML) layer:
455 - new sql_equal() method available for places where case sensitive/insensitive varchar comparisons are required.
456 * PostgreSQL connections now use advanced options to reduce connection overhead. These options are not compatible
457 with some connection poolers. The dbhandlesoptions parameter has been added to allow the database to configure the
458 required defaults. The parameters that are required in the database are;
459 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET client_encoding = UTF8;
460 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET standard_conforming_strings = on;
461 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET search_path = 'moodle,public'; -- Optional, if you wish to use a custom schema.
462 You can set these options against the database or the moodle user who connects.
463 * Some form elements have been refined to better support right-to-left languages. In RTL,
464 most fields should not have their direction flipped, a URL, a path to a file, a number, ...
465 are always displayed LTR. Input fields and text areas now will best guess whether they
466 should be forced to be displayed in LTR based on the PARAM type associated with it. You
467 can call $mform->setForceLtr($elementName, true/false) on some form fields to manually
469 * Action menus do_not_enhance() is deprecated, use a list of action_icon instead.
470 * The user_not_fully_set_up() function has a new $strict parameter (defaulting to true) in order to decide when
471 custom fields (and other checks) should be evaluated to determine if the user has been completely setup.
472 * profile_field_base class has new methods: get_field_config_for_external() and get_field_properties().
473 This two new methods should be implemented by profile field plugins to make them compatible with Web Services.
474 * The minifier library used by core_minify has been switched to https://github.com/matthiasmullie/minify - there are minor differences
476 * context_header additional buttons can now have a class attribute provided in the link attributes.
477 * The return signature for the antivirus::scan_file() function has changed.
478 The calling function will now handle removal of infected files from Moodle based on the new integer return value.
479 * The first parameter $eventdata of both message_send() and \core\message\manager::send_message() should
480 be \core\message\message. Use of stdClass is deprecated.
481 * The message_sent event now expects other[courseid] to be always set, exception otherwise. For BC with contrib code,
482 message_sent::create_from_ids() will show a debugging notice if the \core\message\message being sent is missing
483 the courseid property, defaulting to SITEID automatically. In Moodle 3.6 (MDL-55449) courseid will be fully mandatory
484 for all messages sent.
485 * The send_confirmation_email() function has a new optional parameter $confirmationurl to provide a different confirmation URL.
486 * Introduced a new hook for plugin developers:
487 - <component>_course_module_background_deletion_recommended()
488 This hook should be used in conjunction with the existing '<component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod)'. It must
489 return a boolean and is called by core to check whether a plugin's implementation of
490 <component>_pre_course_module_deleted($mod) will take a long time. A plugin should therefore only implement this
491 function if it also implements <component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod).
492 An example in current use is recyclebin, which performs what can be a lengthy backup process in
493 tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete. The recyclebin, if enabled, now returns true in its implementation of
494 tool_recyclebin_course_module_background_deletion_recommended(), to indicate to core that the deletion (and
495 execution of tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete) should be handled with an adhoc task, meaning it will not
500 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'limittoenrolled' to filter the results
501 only to courses the user is enrolled in, and are visible to them.
502 * External functions that are not calling external_api::validate_context are buggy and will now generate
503 exceptions. Previously they were only generating warnings in the webserver error log.
504 See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/External_functions_API#Security
505 * The moodle/blog:associatecourse and moodle/blog:associatemodule capabilities has been removed.
506 * The following functions has been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
507 - profile_display_badges()
508 - useredit_shared_definition_preferences()
509 - calendar_normalize_tz()
510 - get_user_timezone_offset()
511 - get_timezone_offset()
512 - get_list_of_timezones()
513 - calculate_user_dst_table()
514 - dst_changes_for_year()
515 - get_timezone_record()
516 - test_get_list_of_timezones()
517 - test_get_timezone_offset()
518 - test_get_user_timezone_offset()
519 * The google api library has been updated to version 1.1.7. There was some important changes
520 on the SSL handling. Now the SSL version will be determined by the underlying library.
521 For more information see https://github.com/google/google-api-php-client/pull/644
522 * The get_role_users() function will now add the $sort fields that are not part
523 of the requested fields to the query result and will throw a debugging message
524 with the added fields when that happens.
525 * The core_user::fill_properties_cache() static method has been introduced to be a reference
526 and allow standard user fields data validation. Right now only type validation is supported
527 checking it against the parameter (PARAM_*) type of the target user field. MDL-52781 is
528 going to add support to null/not null and choices validation, replacing the existing code to
529 validate the user fields in different places in a common way.
530 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses now returns results when the search string
531 is less than 2 chars long.
532 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'requiredcapabilities' to filter the results
533 by the capabilities of the current user.
534 * New mform element 'course' handles thousands of courses with good performance and usability.
535 * The redirect() function will now redirect immediately if output has not
536 already started. Messages will be displayed on the subsequent page using
537 session notifications. The type of message output can be configured using the
538 fourth parameter to redirect().
539 * The specification of extra classes in the $OUTPUT->notification()
540 function, and \core\output\notification renderable have been deprecated
541 and will be removed in a future version.
542 Notifications should use the levels found in \core\output\notification.
543 * The constants for NOTIFY_PROBLEM, NOTIFY_REDIRECT, and NOTIFY_MESSAGE in
544 \core\output\notification have been deprecated in favour of NOTIFY_ERROR,
545 NOTIFY_WARNING, and NOTIFY_INFO respectively.
546 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
547 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-51580 for more info:
548 - upgrade_mysql_fix_unsigned_and_lob_columns()
549 - upgrade_course_completion_remove_duplicates()
550 - upgrade_save_orphaned_questions()
551 - upgrade_rename_old_backup_files_using_shortname()
552 - upgrade_mssql_nvarcharmax()
553 - upgrade_mssql_varbinarymax()
554 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders()
555 - upgrade_course_modules_sequences()
556 - upgrade_grade_item_fix_sortorder()
557 - upgrade_availability_item()
558 * A new parameter $ajaxformdata was added to the constructor for moodleform. When building a
559 moodleform in a webservice or ajax script (for example using the new fragments API) we
560 cannot allow the moodleform to parse it's own data from _GET and _POST - we must pass it as
562 * Plugins can extend the navigation for user by declaring the following callback:
563 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_user(navigation_node $parentnode, stdClass $user,
564 context_user $context, stdClass $course,
565 context_course $coursecontext)
566 * The function notify() now throws a debugging message - see MDL-50269.
567 * Ajax calls going through lib/ajax/* now validate the return values before sending
568 the response. If the validation does not pass an exception is raised. This behaviour
569 is consistent with web services.
570 * Several changes in Moodle core, standard plugins and third party libraries to
571 ensure compatibility with PHP7. All plugins are recommended to perform testing
572 against PHP7 as well. Refer to https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_and_PHP7 for more
573 information. The following changes may affect you:
574 * Class moodleform, moodleform_mod and some module classes have been changed to use
575 __construct() for the constructor. Calling parent constructors by the class
576 name will display debugging message. Incorrect: parent::moodleform(),
577 correct: parent::__construct()
578 * All form elements have also changed the constructor syntax. No changes are
579 needed for using form elements, however if plugin defines new form element it
580 needs to use correct syntax. For example, incorrect: parent::HTML_QuickForm_input(),
581 HTML_QuickForm_input::HTML_QuickForm_input(), $this->HTML_QuickForm_input().
582 Correct: HTML_QuickForm_input::__construct() or parent::__construct().
583 * profile_field_base::profile_field_base() is deprecated, use parent::__construct()
584 in custom profile fields constructors. Similar deprecations in exsiting
585 profile_field_* classes.
586 * user_filter_type::user_filter_type() is deprecated, use parent::__construct() in
587 custom user filters. Similar deprecations in existing user_filter_* classes.
588 * table_default_export_format_parent::table_default_export_format_parent() is
589 deprecated, use parent::__construct() in extending classes.
590 * groups_delete_group_members() $showfeedback parameter has been removed and is no longer
591 respected. Users of this function should output their own feedback if required.
592 * Number of changes to Tags API, see tag/upgrade.txt for more details
593 * The previous events API handlers are being deprecated in favour of events 2 API, debugging messages are being displayed if
594 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
595 Note than you will need to bump the plugin version so moodle is aware that you removed the plugin's event handlers.
596 * mforms validation functions are not available in the global JS namespace anymore, event listeners
597 are assigned to fields and buttons through a self-contained JS function.
598 * Added $CFG->urlrewriteclass option to config.php allowing clean / semantic urls to
599 be implemented in a plugin, eg local_cleanurls.
600 * $CFG->pathtoclam global setting has been moved to clamav antivirus plugin setting of the same name.
601 * clam_message_admins() and get_clam_error_code() have been deprecated, its functionality
602 is now a part of \antivirus_clamav\scanner class methods.
603 * \repository::antivir_scan_file() has been deprecated, \core\antivirus\manager::scan_file() that
604 applies antivirus plugins is replacing its functionality.
605 * Added core_text::str_max_bytes() which safely truncates multi-byte strings to a maximum number of bytes.
606 * Zend Framework has been removed completely.
607 * Any plugin can report when a scale is being used with the callback function [pluginname]_scale_used_anywhere(int $scaleid).
608 * Changes in file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls: Passing a new option reverse = true in the $options var will make the function to convert
609 actual URLs in $text to encoded URLs in the @@PLUGINFILE@@ form.
610 * behat_util::is_server_running() is removed, please use behat_util::check_server_status() instead.
611 * Behat\Mink\Selector\SelectorsHandler::xpathLiteral() method is deprecated use behat_context_helper::escape instead
612 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.',
613 * table_sql download process is using the new data formats plugin which you can't use if you are buffering any output
614 * flexible_table::get_download_menu(), considered private, has been deleted. Use
615 $OUTPUT->download_dataformat_selector() instead.
616 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.
617 * Add new file_is_executable(), to consistently check for executables even in Windows (PHP bug #41062).
618 * Introduced new hooks for plugin developers.
619 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete($category)
620 - <component>_pre_course_delete($course)
621 - <component>_pre_course_module_delete($cm)
622 - <component>_pre_block_delete($instance)
623 - <component>_pre_user_delete($user)
624 These hooks allow developers to use the item in question before it is deleted by core. For example, if your plugin is
625 a module (plugins located in the mod folder) called 'xxx' and you wish to interact with the user object before it is
626 deleted then the function to create would be mod_xxx_pre_user_delete($user) in mod/xxx/lib.php.
627 * pear::Net::GeoIP has been removed.
631 * Minify updated to 2.2.1
632 * htmlpurifier upgraded to 4.7.0
633 * Less.php upgraded to 1.7.0.9
634 * The horde library has been updated to version 5.2.7.
635 * Google libraries (lib/google) updated to 1.1.5
636 * Html2Text library has been updated to the latest version of the library.
637 * External functions x_is_allowed_from_ajax() methods have been deprecated. Define 'ajax' => true in db/services.php instead.
638 * External functions can be called without a session if they define 'loginrequired' => true in db/services.php.
639 * All plugins are required to declare their frankenstyle component name via
640 the $plugin->component property in their version.php file. See
641 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/version.php for details (MDL-48494).
642 * PHPUnit is upgraded to 4.7. Some tests using deprecated assertions etc may need changes to work correctly.
643 * Users of the text editor API to manually create a text editor should call set_text before calling use_editor.
644 * Javascript - SimpleYUI and the Y instance used for modules have been merged. Y is now always the same instance of Y.
645 * get_referer() has been deprecated, please use the get_local_referer function instead.
646 * \core\progress\null is renamed to \core\progress\none for improved PHP7 compatibility as null is a reserved word (see MDL-50453).
647 * \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
648 server exceptions in $CFG->proxybypass. See MDL-39353 for details.
649 * Group and groupings idnumbers can now be passed to and/or are returned from the following web services functions:
650 ** core_group_external::create_groups
651 ** core_group_external::get_groups
652 ** core_group_external::get_course_groups
653 ** core_group_external::create_groupings
654 ** core_group_external::update_groupings
655 ** core_group_external::get_groupings
656 ** core_group_external::get_course_groupings
657 ** core_group_external::get_course_user_groups
658 * Following functions are removed from core. See MDL-50049 for details.
659 password_compat_not_supported()
660 session_get_instance()
667 session_is_loggedinas()
668 session_get_realuser()
675 update_log_display_entry()
676 get_recent_enrolments()
677 groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible()
678 groups_course_module_visible()
682 editorshortcutshelpbutton()
685 get_generic_section_name()
690 format_weeks_get_section_dates()
691 get_print_section_cm_text()
692 print_section_add_menus()
693 make_editing_buttons()
696 print_recent_activity()
697 delete_course_module()
698 update_category_button()
699 make_categories_list()
700 category_delete_move()
701 category_delete_full()
703 course_category_hide()
704 course_category_show()
705 get_course_category()
706 create_course_category()
707 get_all_subcategories()
708 get_child_categories()
710 print_course_search()
712 print_remote_course()
714 print_whole_category_list()
715 print_category_info()
716 get_course_category_tree()
719 get_category_courses_array()
720 get_category_courses_array_recursively()
721 blog_get_context_url()
722 get_courses_wmanagers()
723 convert_tree_to_html()
724 convert_tabrows_to_tree()
725 can_use_rotated_text()
726 get_parent_contexts()
727 get_parent_contextid()
733 preload_course_contexts()
735 fetch_context_capabilities()
736 context_instance_preload()
737 get_contextlevel_name()
743 get_user_courses_bycap()
744 get_role_context_caps()
745 get_courseid_from_context()
746 context_instance_preload_sql()
747 get_related_contexts_string()
748 get_plugin_list_with_file()
749 check_browser_operating_system()
750 check_browser_version()
752 get_device_type_list()
753 get_selected_theme_for_device_type()
754 get_device_cfg_var_name()
755 set_user_device_type()
756 get_user_device_type()
757 get_browser_version_classes()
758 generate_email_supportuser()
759 badges_get_issued_badge_info()
760 can_use_html_editor()
761 enrol_cohort_get_cohorts()
762 enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort()
763 cohort_get_visible_list()
764 enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users()
765 enrol_cohort_search_cohorts()
766 * The never unused webdav_locks table was dropped.
767 * The actionmenu hideMenu() function now expects an EventFacade object to be passed to it,
768 i.e. a call to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu() should be change to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu(e)
769 * In the html_editors (tinyMCE, Atto), the manage files button can be hidden by changing the 'enable_filemanagement' option to false.
770 * external_api::validate_context now is public, it can be called from other classes.
771 * rss_error() now supports returning of correct HTTP status of error and will return '404 Not Found'
772 unless other status is specified.
773 * Plugins can extend the navigation for categories settings by declaring the following callback:
774 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_category_settings(navigation_node, context_coursecat)
775 * The clilib.php provides two new functions cli_write() and cli_writeln() that should be used for outputting texts from the command
776 line interface scripts.
777 * External function core_course_external::get_course_contents returned parameter "name" has been changed to PARAM_RAW,
778 this is because the new external_format_string function may return raw data if the global moodlewssettingraw parameter is used.
779 * Function is_web_crawler() has been deprecated, please use core_useragent::is_web_crawler() instead.
783 * New methods grade_grade::get_grade_max() and get_grade_min() must be used rather than directly the public properties rawgrademax and rawgrademin.
784 * New method grade_item::is_aggregate_item() indicates when a grade_item is an aggreggated type grade.
788 * The default home page for users has been changed to the dashboard (formely my home). See MDL-45774.
789 * Support for rendering templates from php or javascript has been added. See MDL-49152.
790 * Support for loading AMD javascript modules has been added. See MDL-49046.
791 * Webservice core_course_delete_courses now return warning messages on any failures and does not try to rollback the entire deletion.
792 * \core\event\course_viewed 'other' argument renamed from coursesectionid to coursesectionnumber as it contains the section number.
793 * New API core_filetypes::add_type (etc.) allows custom filetypes to be added and modified.
794 * PHPUnit: PHPMailer Sink is now started for all tests and is setup within the phpunit wrapper for advanced tests.
795 Catching debugging messages when sending mail will no longer work. Use $sink = $this->redirectEmails(); and then check
796 the message in the sink instead.
797 * The file pluginlib.php was deprecated since 2.6 and has now been removed, do not include or require it.
798 * \core_component::fetch_subsystems() now returns a valid path for completion component instead of null.
799 * Deprecated JS global methods have been removed (show_item, destroy_item, hide_item, addonload, getElementsByTagName, findChildNodes).
800 * For 3rd party plugin specific environment.xml files, it's now possible to specify version independent checks by using the
801 <PLUGIN name="component_name"> tag instead of the version dependent <MOODLE version="x.y"> one. If the PLUGIN tag is used any
802 Moodle specific tags will be ignored.
803 * 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).
804 * The authorization procedure in the mdeploy.php script has been improved. The script
805 now relies on the main config.php when deploying an available update.
806 * sql_internal_reader and sql_select_reader interfaces have been deprecated in favour of sql_internal_table_reader
807 and sql_reader which use iterators to be more memory efficient.
808 * $CFG->enabletgzbackups setting has been removed as now backups are stored internally using .tar.gz format by default, you can
809 set $CFG->usezipbackups to store them in zip format. This does not affect the restore process, which continues accepting both.
810 * Added support for custom string manager implementations via $CFG->customstringmanager
811 directive in the config.php. See MDL-49361 for details.
812 * Add new make_request_directory() for creation of per-request files.
813 * Added generate_image_thumbnail_from_string. This should be used instead of generate_image_thumbnail when the source is a string.
814 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
815 * Added generate_image_thumbnail to stored_file class. This should be used when generating thumbnails for stored files.
816 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
817 * Removed pear/HTTP/WebDav. See MDL-49534 for details.
818 * Use standard PHP date time classes and methods - see new core_date class for timezone normalisation methods.
819 * Moved lib/google/Google/ to lib/google/src/Google. This is to address autoloader issues with Google's provided autoloader
820 for the library. See MDL-49519 for details.
821 * The outdated lib/google/Google_Client.php and related files have been completely removed. To use
822 the new client, read lib/google/readme_moodle.txt, please.
823 * profile_display_badges() has been deprecated. See MDL-48935 for details.
824 * 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"
825 then please use this function to ensure that the breadcrumb and navigation block are created properly for all user profile pages.
826 * process_new_icon() now does not always return a PNG file. When possible, it will try to keep the format of the original file.
827 Set the new argument $preferpng to true to force PNG. See MDL-46763 and MDL-50041 for details.
831 * Gradebook grade category option "aggregatesubcats" has been removed completely.
832 This means that the database column is removed, the admin settings are removed and
833 the properties from the grade_category object have been removed. If any courses were
834 found to be using this setting, a warning to check the grades will be shown in the
835 course grader report after upgrading the site. The same warning will be shown on
836 courses restored from backup that had this setting enabled (see MDL-47503).
837 * lib/excelllib.class.php has been updated. The class MoodleExcelWorkbook will now only produce excel 2007 files.
838 * renderers: We now remove the suffix _renderable when looking for a render method for a renderable.
839 If you have a renderable class named like "blah_renderable" and have a method on a renderer named "render_blah_renderable"
840 you will need to change the name of your render method to "render_blah" instead, as renderable at the end is no longer accepted.
841 * New functions get_course_and_cm_from_cmid($cmorid, $modulename) and
842 get_course_and_cm_from_instance($instanceorid, $modulename) can be used to
843 more efficiently load these basic data objects at the start of a script.
844 * New function cm_info::create($cm) can be used when you need a cm_info
845 object, but have a $cm which might only be a standard database record.
846 * $CFG->enablegroupmembersonly no longer exists.
847 * Scheduled tasks have gained support for syntax to introduce variability when a
848 task will run across installs. When a when hour or minute are defined as 'R'
849 they will be installed with a random hour/minute value.
850 * Several classes grade_edit_tree_column_xxx were removed since grades setup page
851 has been significantly changed. These classes should not be used outside of
852 gradebook or developers can copy them into their plugins from 2.7 branch.
853 * Google APIs Client Library (lib/google/) has been upgraded to 1.0.5-beta and
854 API has changed dramatically without backward compatibility. Any code accessing
855 it must be amended. It does not apply to lib/googleapi.php. See MDL-47297
856 * Added an extra parameter to the function get_formatted_help_string() (default null) which is used to specify
857 additional string parameters.
858 * User settings node and course node in navigation now support callbacks from admin tools.
859 * grade_get_grades() optional parameteres $itemtype, $itemmodule, $iteminstance are now required.
862 * completion_info->get_incomplete_criteria() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
863 * grade_category::aggregate_values() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
864 * groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with
865 core_availability\info::filter_user_list. Will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
866 * groups_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with $cm->uservisible.
867 * cm_info property $cm->groupmembersonly is deprecated and always returns 0.
868 Use core_availability\info::filter_user_list if trying to determine which
869 other users can see an activity.
870 * cm_info method $cm->is_user_access_restricted_by_group() is deprecated and
871 always returns false. Use $cm->uservisible to determine whether the user can
873 * Constant FEATURE_GROUPMEMBERSONLY (used in module _supports functions) is
875 * cohort_get_visible_list() is deprecated. There is a better function cohort_get_available_cohorts()
876 that respects user capabilities to view cohorts.
877 * enrol_cohort_get_cohorts() and enrol_cohort_search_cohorts() are deprecated since
878 functionality is removed. Please use cohort_get_available_cohorts()
879 * enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users() is deprecated; enrol_manual is now responsible for this action
880 * enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort() is deprecated; replace with cohort_can_view_cohort()
882 === 2.6.4 / 2.7.1 ===
884 * setnew_password_and_mail() and update_internal_user_password() will trigger
885 \core\event\user_password_updated. Previously they used to generate
886 \core\event\user_updated event.
887 * update_internal_user_password() accepts optional boolean $fasthash for fast
889 * user_update_user() and user_create_user() api's accept optional param
890 $triggerevent to avoid respective events to be triggred from the api's.
894 * PHPUnit cannot be installed via PEAR any more, please use composer package manager instead.
895 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
898 * Significant changes in Logging API. For upgrading existing events_trigger() and
899 add_to_log() see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_logging_calls_in_plugins
900 For accessing logs from plugins see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_log_access_in_reports
901 * The validation of the following events is now stricter (see MDL-45445):
902 - \core\event\blog_entry_created
903 - \core\event\blog_entry_deleted
904 - \core\event\blog_entry_updated
905 - \core\event\cohort_member_added
906 - \core\event\cohort_member_removed
907 - \core\event\course_category_deleted
908 - \core\event\course_completed
909 - \core\event\course_content_deleted
910 - \core\event\course_created
911 - \core\event\course_deleted
912 - \core\event\course_restored
913 - \core\event\course_section_updated (see MDL-45229)
914 - \core\event\email_failed
915 - \core\event\group_member_added
916 - \core\event\group_member_removed
917 - \core\event\note_created
918 - \core\event\note_deleted
919 - \core\event\note_updated
920 - \core\event\role_assigned
921 - \core\event\role_deleted
922 - \core\event\role_unassigned
923 - \core\event\user_graded
924 - \core\event\user_loggedinas
925 - \core\event\user_profile_viewed
926 - \core\event\webservice_token_created
929 * $module uses in mod/xxx/version.php files is now deprecated. Please use $plugin instead. It will be removed in Moodle 2.10.
930 * Update init methods in all event classes - "level" property was renamed to "edulevel", the level property is now deprecated.
931 * Abstract class \core\event\course_module_instances_list_viewed is deprecated now, use \core\event\instances_list_viewed instead.
932 * Abstract class core\event\content_viewed has been deprecated. Please extend base event or other relevant abstract class.
933 * mod_book\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_book\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
934 * mod_chat\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_chat\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
935 * mod_choice\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_choice\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
936 * mod_feedback\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_feedback\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
937 * mod_page\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_page\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
938 * The constants FRONTPAGECOURSELIST, FRONTPAGETOPICONLY & FRONTPAGECOURSELIMIT have been removed.
939 * Conditional availability API has moved and changed. The condition_info class is
940 replaced by \core_availability\info_module, and condition_info_section by
941 \core_availability\info_section. (Code that uses the old classes will generally
943 * coursemodule_visible_for_user() has been deprecated but still works - replaced
944 by a new static function \core_availability\info_module::is_user_visible()
945 * cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_conditional_access has been deprecated
946 but still works (it has never done what its name suggests, and is
948 * cm_info and section_info property showavailability has been deprecated, but
949 still works (with the caveat that this information is now per-user).
950 * cm_info and section_info properties availablefrom and availableuntil have been
951 deprecated and always return zero (underlying data doesn't have these values).
952 * section_info property groupingid has been deprecated and always returns zero,
954 * Various cm_info methods have been deprecated in favour of their read-only properties (get_url(), get_content(), get_extra_classes(),
955 get_on_click(), get_custom_data(), get_after_link, get_after_edit_icons)
956 * The ajaxenabled function has been deprecated and always returns true. All code should be fully functional in Javascript.
957 * count_login_failures() has been deprecated, use user_count_login_failures() instead. Refer MDL-42891 for details.
959 Conditional availability (activities and sections):
960 * New conditional availability API in /availability, including new availability
961 condition plugins in /availability/condition. The new API is very similar with
962 regard to checking availability, but any code that modifies availability settings
963 for an activity or section is likely to need substantial changes.
966 * The lightbox attribute for moodle-core-notification-dialogue has been
967 deprecated and replaced by the modal attribute. This was actually
968 changed in Moodle 2.2, but has only been marked as deprecated now. It
969 will be removed in Moodle 2.9.
970 * When destroying any type of dialogue based on moodle-core-notification, the relevant content is also removed from
971 the DOM. Previously it was left orphaned.
974 * The findChildNodes global function has been deprecated. Y.all should
976 * The callback argument to confirm_action and M.util.show_confirm_dialog has been deprecated. If you need to write a
977 confirmation which includes a callback, please use moodle-core-notification-confirmation and attach callbacks to the
980 * New locking api and admin settings to configure the system locking type.
981 * New "Time spent waiting for the database" performance metric displayed along with the
982 other MDL_PERF vars; the change affects both the error logs and the vars displayed in
984 * Changes in the tag API. The component and contextid are now saved when assigning tags to an item. Please see
985 tag/upgrade.txt for more information.
989 * Use new methods from core_component class instead of get_core_subsystems(), get_plugin_types(),
990 get_plugin_list(), get_plugin_list_with_class(), get_plugin_directory(), normalize_component(),
991 get_component_directory() and get_plugin_list_with_file(). The names of the new methods are
992 exactly the same, the only differences are that core_component::get_plugin_types() now always returns
993 full paths and core_component::get_plugin_list() does not accept empty parameter any more.
994 * Use core_text::* instead of textlib:: and also core_collator::* instead of collatorlib::*.
995 * Use new function moodleform::mock_submit() to simulate form submission in unit tests (backported).
996 * New $CFG->localcachedir setting useful for cluster nodes. Admins have to update X-Sendfile aliases if used.
997 * MS SQL Server drivers are now using NVARCHAR(MAX) instead of NTEXT and VARBINARY(MAX) instead of IMAGE,
998 this change should be fully transparent and it should help significantly with add-on compatibility.
999 * The string manager classes were renamed. Note that they should not be modified or used directly,
1000 always use get_string_manager() to get instance of the string manager.
1001 * The ability to use an 'insecure' rc4encrypt/rc4decrypt key has been removed.
1002 * Use $CFG->debugdeveloper instead of debugging('', DEBUG_DEVELOPER).
1003 * Use set_debugging(DEBUG_xxx) when changing debugging level for current request.
1004 * Function moveto_module() does not modify $mod argument and instead now returns the new module visibility value.
1005 * Use behat_selectors::get_allowed_text_selectors() and behat_selectors::get_allowed_selectors() instead of
1006 behat_command::$allowedtextselectors and behat_command::$allowedselectors
1007 * Subplugins are supported in admin tools and local plugins.
1008 * file_packer/zip_packer API has been modified so that key functions support a new file_progress interface
1009 to report progress during long operations. Related to this, zip_archive now supports an estimated_count()
1010 function that returns an approximate number of entries in the zip faster than the count() function.
1011 * Class cm_info no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only and calculated on first request only.
1012 * Class course_modinfo no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only.
1013 * Database fields modinfo and sectioncache in table course are removed. Application cache core/coursemodinfo
1014 is used instead. Course cache is still reset, rebuilt and retrieved using function rebuild_course_cache() and
1015 get_fast_modinfo(). Purging all caches and every core upgrade purges course modinfo cache as well.
1016 If function get_fast_modinfo() is called for multiple courses make sure to include field cacherev in course
1018 * Internal (noreply and support) user support has been added for sending/receiving message.
1019 Use core_user::get_noreply_user() and core_user::get_support_user() to get noreply and support user's respectively.
1020 Real users can be used as noreply/support users by setting $CFG->noreplyuserid and $CFG->supportuserid
1021 * New function readfile_allow_large() in filelib.php for use when very large files may need sending to user.
1022 * Use core_plugin_manager::reset_caches() when changing visibility of plugins.
1023 * Implement new method get_enabled_plugins() method in subplugin info classes.
1024 * Each plugin should include version information in version.php.
1025 * Module and block tables do not contain version column any more, use get_config('xx_yy', 'version') instead.
1026 * $USER->password field is intentionally unset so that session data does not contain password hashes.
1027 * Use core_shutdown_manager::register_function() instead of register_shutdown_function().
1028 * New file packer for .tar.gz files; obtain by calling get_file_packer('application/x-gzip'). Intended initially
1029 for use in backup/restore only, as there are limitations on supported filenames. Also new packer for
1030 backups which supports both compression formats; get_file_packer('application/vnd.moodle.backup').
1031 * New optional parameter to stored_file::get_content_file_handle to open file handle with 'gzopen' instead
1032 of 'fopen' to read gzip-compressed files if required.
1033 * update_internal_user_password() and setnew_password_and_mail() now trigger user_updated event.
1034 * Add thirdpartylibs.xml file to plugins that bundle any 3rd party libraries.
1035 * New class introduced to help auto generate zIndex values for modal dialogues. Class "moodle-has-zindex"
1036 should set on any element which uses a non-default zindex and needs to ensure it doesn't show above a
1038 * $CFG->filelifetime is now used consistently for most file serving operations, the default was lowered
1039 to 6 hours from 24 hours because etags and x-sendfile support should make file serving less expensive.
1040 * Date format locale charset for windows server will come from calendar type and for gregorian it will use
1042 * The library to interact with Box.net (class boxclient) is only compatible with their APIv1 which
1043 reaches its end of life on the 14th of Dec. You should migrate your scripts to make usage of the
1044 new class boxnet_client(). Note that the method names and return values have changed.
1045 * Settings pages are now possible for Calendar type plugins. Calendar type plugins that require a settings page to
1046 work properly will need to set their requires version to a number that is equal to or grater than the 2.6.1 release version.
1047 * The admin/tool/generator tool was overhauled to use testing data generators and the previous interface to create
1048 test data was removed (it was not working correctly anyway). If you were using this tool you will probably need to
1052 Various previously deprecated functions have now been altered to throw DEBUG_DEVELOPER debugging notices
1053 and will be removed in a future release (target: 2.8), a summary follows:
1056 * get_context_instance() -> context_xxxx::instance()
1057 * get_context_instance_by_id() -> context::instance_by_id($id)
1058 * get_system_context() -> context_system::instance()
1059 * context_moved() -> context::update_moved()
1060 * preload_course_contexts() -> context_helper::preload_course()
1061 * context_instance_preload() -> context_helper::preload_from_record()
1062 * context_instance_preload_sql() -> context_helper::get_preload_record_columns_sql()
1063 * get_contextlevel_name() -> context_helper::get_level_name()
1064 * create_contexts() -> context_helper::create_instances()
1065 * cleanup_contexts() -> context_helper::cleanup_instances()
1066 * build_context_path() -> context_helper::build_all_paths()
1067 * print_context_name() -> $context->get_context_name()
1068 * mark_context_dirty() -> $context->mark_dirty()
1069 * delete_context() -> $context->delete_content() or context_helper::delete_instance()
1070 * get_context_url() -> $context->get_url()
1071 * get_course_context() -> $context->get_course_context()
1072 * get_parent_contexts() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids()
1073 * get_parent_contextid() -> $context->get_parent_context()
1074 * get_child_contexts() -> $context->get_child_contexts()
1075 * rebuild_contexts() -> $context->reset_paths()
1076 * get_user_courses_bycap() -> enrol_get_users_courses()
1077 * get_courseid_from_context() -> $context->get_course_context(false)
1078 * get_role_context_caps() -> (no replacement)
1079 * load_temp_role() -> (no replacement)
1080 * remove_temp_roles() -> (no replacement)
1081 * get_related_contexts_string() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids(true)
1082 * get_recent_enrolments() -> (no replacement)
1085 * get_course_participants() -> get_enrolled_users()
1086 * is_course_participant() -> is_enrolled()
1089 * current_theme() -> $PAGE->theme->name
1090 * skip_main_destination() -> $OUTPUT->skip_link_target()
1091 * print_container() -> $OUTPUT->container()
1092 * print_container_start() -> $OUTPUT->container_start()
1093 * print_container_end() -> $OUTPUT->container_end()
1094 * print_continue() -> $OUTPUT->continue_button()
1095 * print_header() -> $PAGE methods
1096 * print_header_simple() -> $PAGE methods
1097 * print_side_block() -> $OUTPUT->block()
1098 * print_arrow() -> $OUTPUT->arrow()
1099 * print_scale_menu_helpbutton() -> $OUTPUT->help_icon_scale($courseid, $scale)
1100 * print_checkbox() -> html_writer::checkbox()
1103 * print_navigation() -> $OUTPUT->navbar()
1104 * build_navigation() -> $PAGE->navbar methods
1105 * navmenu() -> (no replacement)
1106 * settings_navigation::
1107 get_course_modules() -> (no replacement)
1109 Files and repositories:
1110 * stored_file::replace_content_with() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1111 * stored_file::set_filesize() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1112 * stored_file::get_referencelifetime() -> (no replacement)
1113 * repository::sync_external_file() -> see repository::sync_reference()
1114 * repository::get_file_by_reference() -> repository::sync_reference()
1116 get_reference_file_lifetime() -> (no replacement)
1117 * repository::sync_individual_file() -> (no replacement)
1118 * repository::reset_caches() -> (no replacement)
1121 * add_event() -> calendar_event::create()
1122 * update_event() -> calendar_event->update()
1123 * delete_event() -> calendar_event->delete()
1124 * hide_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(false)
1125 * show_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(true)
1128 * filter_text() -> format_text(), format_string()...
1129 * httpsrequired() -> $PAGE->https_required()
1130 * detect_munged_arguments() -> clean_param([...], PARAM_FILE)
1131 * mygroupid() -> groups_get_all_groups()
1132 * js_minify() -> core_minify::js_files()
1133 * css_minify_css() -> core_minify::css_files()
1134 * course_modinfo::build_section_cache() -> (no replacement)
1135 * generate_email_supportuser() -> core_user::get_support_user()
1138 * session_get_instance()->xxx() -> \core\session\manager::xxx()
1139 * session_kill_all() -> \core\session\manager::kill_all_sessions()
1140 * session_touch() -> \core\session\manager::touch_session()
1141 * session_kill() -> \core\session\manager::kill_session()
1142 * session_kill_user() -> \core\session\manager::kill_user_sessions()
1143 * session_gc() -> \core\session\manager::gc()
1144 * session_set_user() -> \core\session\manager::set_user()
1145 * session_is_loggedinas() -> \core\session\manager::is_loggedinas()
1146 * session_get_realuser() -> \core\session\manager::get_realuser()
1147 * session_loginas() -> \core\session\manager::loginas()
1149 User-agent related functions:
1150 * check_browser_operating_system() -> core_useragent::check_browser_operating_system()
1151 * check_browser_version() -> core_useragent::check_browser_version()
1152 * get_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type()
1153 * get_device_type_list() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_list()
1154 * get_selected_theme_for_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_theme()
1155 * get_device_cfg_var_name() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_cfg_var_name()
1156 * set_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::set_user_device_type()
1157 * get_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_user_device_type()
1158 * get_browser_version_classes() -> core_useragent::get_browser_version_classes()
1161 * moodle-core-notification has been deprecated with a recommendation of
1162 using its subclasses instead. This is to allow for reduced page
1163 transport costs. Current subclasses include:
1170 Event triggering and event handlers:
1171 * All existing events and event handlers should be replaced by new
1172 event classes and matching new event observers.
1173 * See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2 for more information.
1174 * The following events will be entirely removed, though they can still
1175 be captured using handlers, but they should not be used any more.
1176 * groups_members_removed -> \core\event\group_member_removed
1177 * groups_groupings_groups_removed -> (no replacement)
1178 * groups_groups_deleted -> \core\event\group_deleted
1179 * groups_groupings_deleted -> \core\event\grouping_deleted
1180 * edit_module_post_actions() does not trigger events any more.
1184 * New get_course() function for use when obtaining the course record from database. Will
1185 reuse existing $COURSE or $SITE globals if possible to improve performance.
1189 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) aren't using anymore the ::columns property
1190 for caching database metadata. MUC (databasemeta) is used instead. Any custom DB driver should
1191 apply for that change.
1192 * The cron output has been changed to include time and memory usage (see cron_trace_time_and_memory()),
1193 so any custom utility relying on the old output may require modification.
1194 * Function get_max_file_sizes now returns an option for (for example) "Course limit (500MB)" or
1195 "Site limit (200MB)" when appropriate with the option set to 0. This function no longer returns
1196 an option for 0 bytes. Existing code that was replacing the 0 option in the return
1197 from this function with a more sensible message, can now use the return from this function directly.
1198 * Functions responsible for output in course/lib.php are deprecated, the code is moved to
1199 appropriate renderers: print_section(), print_section_add_menus(), get_print_section_cm_text(),
1200 make_editing_buttons()
1201 See functions' phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php
1202 * Function get_print_section_cm_text() is deprecated, replaced with methods in cm_info
1203 * zip_packer may create empty zip archives, there is a new option to ignore
1204 problematic files when creating archive
1205 * The function delete_course_module was deprecated and has been replaced with
1206 course_delete_module. The reason for this was because the function delete_course_module
1207 only partially deletes data, so wherever it was called extra code was needed to
1208 perform the whole deletion process. The function course_delete_module now takes care
1209 of the whole process.
1210 * curl::setopt() does not accept constant values any more. As it never worked properly,
1211 we decided to make the type check stricter. Now, the keys of the array pass must be a string
1212 corresponding to the curl constant name.
1213 * Function get_users_listing now return list of users except guest and deleted users. Previously
1214 deleted users were excluded by get_users_listing. As guest user is not expected while browsing users,
1215 and not included in get_user function, it will not be returned by get_users_listing.
1216 * The add_* functions in course/dnduploadlib.php have been deprecated. Plugins should be using the
1217 MODNAME_dndupload_register callback instead.
1218 * The signature of the add() method of classes implementing the parentable_part_of_admin_tree
1219 interface (such as admin_category) has been extended. The new parameter allows the caller
1220 to prepend the new node before an existing sibling in the admin tree.
1221 * condition_info:get_condition_user_fields($formatoptions) now accepts the optional
1222 param $formatoptions, that will determine if the field names are processed by
1223 format_string() with the passed options.
1224 * remove all references to $CFG->gdversion, GD PHP extension is now required
1225 * Formslib will now throw a developer warning if a PARAM_ type hasn't been set for elements which
1226 need it. Please set PARAM_RAW explicitly if you do not want any cleaning.
1227 * Functions responsible for managing and accessing course categories are moved to class coursecat
1228 in lib/coursecatlib.php, functions responsible for rendering courses and categories lists are
1229 moved to course/renderer.php. The following global functions are deprecated: make_categories_list(),
1230 category_delete_move(), category_delete_full(), move_category(), course_category_hide(),
1231 course_category_show(), get_course_category(), create_course_category(), get_all_subcategories(),
1232 get_child_categories(), get_categories(), print_my_moodle(), print_remote_course(),
1233 print_remote_host(), print_whole_category_list(), print_category_info(), get_course_category_tree(),
1234 print_courses(), print_course(), get_category_courses_array(), get_category_courses_array_recursively(),
1235 get_courses_wmanagers()
1236 See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Courses_lists_upgrade_to_2.5
1237 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
1238 * Additional (optional) param $onlyactive has been added to get_enrolled_users, count_enrolled_users
1239 functions to get information for only active (excluding suspended enrolments) users. Included two
1240 helper functions extract_suspended_users, get_suspended_userids to extract suspended user information.
1241 * The core_plugin_manager class now provides two new helper methods for getting information
1242 about known plugins: get_plugins_of_type() and get_subplugins_of_plugin().
1243 * The get_uninstall_url() method of all subclasses of \core\plugininfo\base class is now expected
1244 to always return moodle_url. Subclasses can use the new method is_uninstall_allowed()
1245 to control the availability of the 'Uninstall' link at the Plugins overview page (previously
1246 they would do it by get_uninstall_url() returning null). By default, URL to a new general plugin
1247 uninstall tool is returned. Unless the plugin type needs extra steps that can't be handled by
1248 plugininfo_xxx::uninstall() method or xmldb_xxx_uninstall() function, this default URL should
1249 satisfy all plugin types.
1251 Database (DML) layer:
1252 * $DB->sql_empty() is deprecated, you have to use sql parameters with empty values instead,
1253 please note hardcoding of empty strings in SQL queries breaks execution in Oracle database.
1254 * Indexes must not be defined on the same columns as keys, this is now reported as fatal problem.
1255 Please note that internally we create indexes instead of foreign keys.
1258 * M.util.help_icon has been deprecated. Code should be updated to use moodle-core-popuphelp
1259 instead. To do so, remove any existing JS calls to M.util.help_icon from your PHP and ensure
1260 that your help link is placed in a span which has the class 'helplink'.
1264 * Pagelib: Numerous deprecated functions were removed as classes page_base, page_course
1265 and page_generic_activity.
1266 * use $CFG->googlemapkey3 instead of removed $CFG->googlemapkey and migrate to Google Maps API V3
1267 * Function settings_navigation::add_course_editing_links() is completely removed
1268 * function global_navigation::format_display_course_content() is removed completely (the
1269 functionality is moved to course format class)
1270 * in the function global_navigation::load_generic_course_sections() the argument $courseformat is
1272 * New component and itemid columns in groups_members table - this allows plugin to create protected
1273 group memberships using 'xx_yy_allow_group_member_remove' callback and there is also a new restore
1274 callback 'xx_yy_restore_group_member()'.
1275 * New general role assignment restore plugin callback 'xx_yy_restore_role_assignment()'.
1276 * functions get_generic_section_name(), get_all_sections(), add_mod_to_section(), get_all_mods()
1277 are deprecated. See their phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php on how to replace them
1280 * moodle-enrol-notification has been renamed to moodle-core-notification
1281 * YUI2 code must now use 2in3, see http://yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/yui/yui-yui2.html
1282 * M.util.init_select_autosubmit() and M.util.init_url_select() have been deprecated. Code using this should be updated
1283 to use moodle-core-formautosubmit
1285 Unit testing changes:
1286 * output debugging() is not sent to standard output any more,
1287 use $this->assertDebuggingCalled(), $this->assertDebuggingNotCalled(),
1288 $this->getDebuggingMessages() or $this->assertResetDebugging() instead.
1292 Database layer changes:
1293 * objects are not allowed in paramters of DML functions, use explicit casting to strings if necessary
1296 * DDL and DML methods which were deprecated in 2.0 have now been removed, they will no longer produce
1297 debug messages and will produce fatal errors
1301 * send_stored_file() has changed its interface
1302 * deleted several resourcelib_embed_* functions from resourcelib.php
1306 removed unused libraries:
1307 * odbc, base32, CodeSniffer, overlib, apd profiling, kses, Smarty, PEAR Console, swfobject, cssshover.htc, md5.js
1310 * new admin/tool plugin type
1311 * new context API - old API is still available
1312 * deleted users do not have context any more
1313 * removed global search
1319 * basic suport for restore from 1.9
1320 * new mobile devices API
1327 * new DML API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DML_functions
1328 * new DDL API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DDL_functions
1329 * new file API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/File_API
1330 * new $PAGE and $OUTPUT API
1331 * new navigation API
1332 * new theme API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Theme_changes_in_2.0
1333 * new javascript API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/JavaScript_usage_guide
1335 * new local plugin type
1336 * new translation support - http://lang.moodle.org
1337 * new web service API
1344 * new backup/restore API
1347 * improved plugin support (aka Frankenstyle)
1348 * new registration and hub API
1349 * new course completion API
1350 * new plagiarism API
1352 * new text editor API
1353 * new my moodle and profiles API