1 This files describes API changes in core libraries and APIs,
2 information provided here is intended especially for developers.
5 * New optional parameter $extracontent for print_collapsible_region_start(). This allows developers to add interactive HTML elements
6 (e.g. a help icon) after the collapsible region's toggle link.
7 * Behat now supports date selection from the date form element. Examples:
8 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##15 March 2021##"
9 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##first day of January last year##"
10 * Behat now supports date and time selection from the datetime form element. Examples:
11 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##15 March 2021 08:15##"
12 - I set the field "<field_string>" to "##first day of January last year noon##"
15 * PHPUnit has been upgraded to 8.5. That comes with a few changes:
16 - Breaking change: All the "template methods" (setUp(), tearDown()...) now require to return void. This implies
17 that the minimum version of PHP able to run tests will be PHP 7.1
18 - A good number of assertions have been deprecated with this version
19 and will be removed in a future one. In core all cases have been removed
20 (so it's deprecation-warnings free). It's recommended to perform the
21 switch to their new counterparts ASAP:
22 - assertInternalType() has been deprecated. Use the assertIsXXX() methods instead.
23 - assertArraySubset() has been deprecated. Use looping + assertArrayHasKey() or similar.
24 - @expectedExceptionXXX annotations have been deprecated. Use the expectExceptionXXX()
25 methods instead (and put them exactly before the line that is expected to throw the exception).
26 - assertAttributeXXX() have been deprecated. If testing public attributes use normal assertions. If
27 testing non-public attributes... you're doing something wrong :-)
28 - assertContains() to find substrings on strings has been deprecated. Use assertStringContainsString() instead.
29 (note that there are "IgnoringCase()" variants to perform case-insensitive matching.
30 - assertEquals() extra params have been deprecated and new assertions for them created:
31 - delta => use assertEqualsWithDelta()
32 - canonicalize => use assertEqualsCanonicalizing()
33 - ignoreCase => use assertEqualsIgnoringCase()
34 - maxDepth => removed without replacement.
35 - The custom printer that was used to show how to rerun a failure has been removed, it was old and "hacky"
36 solution, for more information about how to run tests, see the docs, there are plenty of options.
37 - phpunit/dbunit is not available any more and it has been replaced by a lightweight phpunit_dataset class, able to
38 load XML/CSV and PHP arrays, send the to database and return rows to calling code (in tests). That implies the
39 follwoing changes in the advanced_testcase class:
40 - createFlatXMLDataSet() has been removed. No uses in core, uses can switch to createXMLDataSet() (read below).
41 - createXMLDataSet() has been deprecated. Use dataset_from_files() instead.
42 - createCsvDataSet() has been deprecated. Use dataset_from_files() instead.
43 - createArrayDataSet() has been deprecated. This method was using the phpunit_ArrayDataSet class
44 that has been also removed from core. Use dataset_from_array() instead.
45 - loadDataSet() has been deprecated. Use phpunit_dataset->to_database() instead.
46 - All the previous uses of phpunit/dbunit methods like Dataset:getRows(), Dataset::getRowCount()
47 must be replaced by the new phpunit_dataset->get_rows() method.
48 * Retains the source course id when a course is copied from another course on the same site.
49 * Added function setScrollable in core/modal. This function can be used to set the modal's body to be scrollable or not
50 when the modal's height exceeds the browser's height. This is also supported in core/modal_factory through the
51 'scrollable' config parameter which can be set to either true or false. If not explicitly defined, the default value
52 of 'scrollable' is true.
53 * The `$CFG->behat_retart_browser_after` configuration setting has been removed.
54 The browser session is now restarted between all tests.
55 * add_to_log() has been through final deprecation, please rewrite your code to the new events API.
56 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used anymore:
58 - calendar_get_all_allowed_types
59 - groups_get_all_groups_for_courses
65 - get_roles_on_exact_context
66 - get_roles_with_assignment_on_context
68 - message_remove_contact
69 - message_unblock_contact
70 - message_block_contact
72 * The following renamed classes have been completely removed:
73 - course_in_list (now: core_course_list_element)
74 - coursecat (now: core_course_category)
75 * The form element 'htmleditor', which was deprecated in 3.6, has been removed.
76 * The `core_output_load_fontawesome_icon_map` web service has been deprecated and replaced by
77 `core_output_load_fontawesome_icon_system_map` which takes the name of the theme to generate the icon system map for.
78 * A new parameter `$rolenamedisplay` has been added to `get_viewable_roles()` and `get_switchable_roles` to define how role names
80 * The class coursecat_sortable_records has been removed.
81 * Admin setting admin_setting_configselect now supports lazy-loading the options list by supplying
82 a callback function instead of an array of options.
83 * Admin setting admin_setting_configselect now supports validating the selection by supplying a
85 * The task system has new functions adhoc_task_starting() and scheduled_task_starting() which must
86 be called before executing a task, and a new function \core\task\manager::get_running_tasks()
87 returns information about currently-running tasks.
88 * New library function rename_to_unused_name() to rename a file within its current location.
89 * Constant \core_h5p\file_storage::EDITOR_FILEAREA has been deprecated
90 because it's not required any more.
91 * The ZipStream-PHP library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/zipstream.
92 * The php-enum library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/php-enum.
93 * The http-message library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/http-message.
94 * Methods `filetypes_util::is_whitelisted()` and `filetypes_util::get_not_whitelisted()` have been deprecated and
95 renamed to `is_listed()` and `get_not_listed()` respectively.
96 * Method `mustache_helper_collection::strip_blacklisted_helpers()` has been deprecated and renamed to
97 `strip_disallowed_helpers()`.
98 * A new admin externalpage type `\core_admin\local\externalpage\accesscallback` for use in plugin settings is available that allows
99 a callback to be provided to determine whether page can be accessed.
100 * New setting $CFG->localtempdir overrides which defaults to sys_get_temp_dir()
101 * Function redirect() now emits a line of backtrace into the X-Redirect-By header when debugging is on
102 * New DML function $DB->delete_records_subquery() to delete records based on a subquery in a way
103 that will work across databases.
104 * Add support for email DKIM signatures via $CFG->emaildkimselector
107 * Following function has been deprecated, please use \core\task\manager::run_from_cli().
108 - cron_run_single_task()
109 * Following class has been deprecated, please use \core\task\manager.
110 - \tool_task\run_from_cli
111 * Following CLI scripts has been deprecated:
112 - admin/tool/task/cli/schedule_task.php please use admin/cli/scheduled_task.php
113 - admin/tool/task/cli/adhoc_task.php please use admin/cli/adhoc_task.php
114 * Old Safe Exam Browser quiz access rule (quizaccess_safebrowser) replaced by new Safe Exam Browser access rule (quizaccess_seb).
115 Experimental setting enablesafebrowserintegration was deleted.
116 * New CFPropertyList library has been added to Moodle core in /lib/plist.
117 * behat_data_generators::the_following_exist() has been removed, please use
118 behat_data_generators::the_following_entities_exist() instead. See MDL-67691 for more info.
119 * admin/tool/task/cli/adhoc_task.php now observers the concurrency limits.
120 If you want to get the previous (unlimited) behavior, use the --ignorelimits switch).
121 * Removed the following deprecated functions:
123 - question_is_only_toplevel_category_in_context
124 * format_float() now accepts a special value (-1) as the $decimalpoints parameter
125 which means auto-detecting number of decimal points.
126 * plagiarism_save_form_elements() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_coursemodule_edit_post_actions() instead.
127 * plagiarism_get_form_elements_module() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_coursemodule_standard_elements() instead.
128 * Changed default sessiontimeout to 8 hours to cover most normal working days
129 * Plugins can now explicitly declare supported and incompatible Moodle versions in version.php
130 - $plugin->supported = [37,39];
131 supported takes an array of ascending numbers, that correspond to a range of branch numbers of supported versions, inclusive.
132 Moodle versions that are outside of this range will produce a message notifying at install time, but will allow for installation.
133 - $plugin->incompatible = 36;
134 incompatible takes a single int corresponding to the first incompatible branch. Any Moodle versions including and
135 above this will be prevented from installing the plugin, and a message will be given when attempting installation.
136 * Added the <component>_bulk_user_actions() callback which returns a list of custom action_links objects
137 * Add 'required' admin flag for mod forms allows elements to be toggled between being required or not in admin settings.
138 - In mod settings, along with lock, advanced flags, the required flag can now be set with $setting->set_required_flag_options().
139 The name of the admin setting must be exactly the same as the mod_form element.
140 - Currently supported by:
143 * Added a native MySQL / MariaDB lock implementation
144 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) don't need to implement get_columns() anymore.
145 They have to implement fetch_columns instead.
146 * 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.
147 * The 'xxxx_check_password_policy' callback now only fires if $CFG->passwordpolicy is true
148 * 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.
149 * lib/outputrequirementslib::get_jsrev now is public, it can be called from other classes.
150 * H5P libraries have been moved from /lib/h5p to h5p/h5plib as an h5plib plugintype.
151 * mdn-polyfills has been renamed to polyfills. The reason there is no polyfill from the MDN is
152 because there is no example polyfills on the MDN for this functionality.
153 * AJAX pages can be called without requiring a session lock if they set READ_ONLY_SESSION to true, eg.
154 define('READ_ONLY_SESSION', true); Note - this also requires $CFG->enable_read_only_sessions to be set to true.
155 * External functions can be called without requiring a session lock if they define 'readonlysession' => true in
156 db/services.php. Note - this also requires $CFG->enable_read_only_sessions to be set to true.
157 * database_manager::check_database_schema() now checks for missing and extra indexes.
158 * Implement a more direct xsendfile_file() method for an alternative_file_system_class
159 * A new `dynamic` table interface has been defined, which allows any `flexible_table` to be converted into a table which
160 is updatable via ajax calls. See MDL-68495 and `\core_table\dynamic` for further information.
161 * The core/notification module has been updated to use AMD modals for its confirmation and alert dialogues.
162 The confirmation dialogue no longer has a configurable "No" button as per similar changes in MDL-59759.
163 This set of confirmation modals was unintentionally missed from that deprecation process.
164 * The download_as_dataformat() method has been deprecated. Please use \core\dataformat::download_data() instead
165 * The following functions have been updated to support passing in an array of group IDs (but still support passing in a single ID):
166 * groups_get_members_join()
167 * groups_get_members_ids_sql()
168 * Additional parameters were added to core_get_user_dates:
169 - type: specifies the calendar type. Optional, defaults to Gregorian.
170 - fixday: Whether to remove leading zero for day. Optional, defaults to 1.
171 - fixhour: Whether to remove leading zero for hour. Optional, defaults to 1.
172 * Legacy cron has been deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 4.1. This includes the functions:
173 - cron_execute_plugin_type()
174 - cron_bc_hack_plugin_functions()
175 Please, use the Task API instead: https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Task_API
176 * Introduce new hooks for plugin developers:
177 - <component>_can_course_category_delete($category)
178 - <component>_can_course_category_delete_move($category, $newcategory)
179 These hooks allow plugin developers greater control over category deletion. Plugin can return false in those
180 functions if category deletion or deletion with content move to the new parent category is not permitted.
181 Both $category and $newcategory params are instances of core_course_category class.
182 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete_move($category, $newcategory)
183 This hook is expanding functionality of existing <component>_pre_course_category_delete hook and allow plugin developers
184 to execute code prior to category deletion when its content is moved to another category.
185 Both $category and $newcategory params are instances of core_course_category class.
186 - <component>_get_course_category_contents($category)
187 This hook allow plugin developers to add information that is displayed on category deletion form. Function should
188 return string, which will be added to the list of category contents shown on the form. $category param is an instance
189 of core_course_category class.
190 * Data generator create_user in both unittests and behat now validates user fields and triggers user_created event
193 * Add CLI option to notify all cron tasks to stop: admin/cli/cron.php --stop
194 * The rotate_image function has been added to the stored_file class (MDL-63349)
195 * The yui checknet module is removed. Call \core\session\manager::keepalive instead.
196 * The generate_uuid() function has been deprecated. Please use \core\uuid::generate() instead.
197 * Remove lib/pear/auth/RADIUS.php (MDL-65746)
198 * Core components are now defined in /lib/components.json instead of coded into /lib/classes/component.php
199 * Subplugins should now be defined using /db/subplugins.json instead of /db/subplugins.php
200 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used anymore:
205 * verify_https_required()
206 * Remove duplicate font-awesome SCSS, Please see /theme/boost/scss/fontawesome for usage (MDL-65936)
207 * Remove lib/pear/Crypt/CHAP.php (MDL-65747)
208 * New output component available: \core\output\checkbox_toggleall
209 - This allows developers to easily output groups of checkboxes that can be toggled by master controls in the form of a checkbox or
210 a button. Action elements which perform actions on the selected checkboxes can also be enabled/disabled depending on whether
211 at least a single checkbox item is selected or not.
212 * Final deprecation (removal) of the core/modal_confirm dialogue.
213 * Upgrade scssphp to v1.0.2, This involves renaming classes from Leafo => ScssPhp as the repo has changed.
214 * Implement supports_xsendfile() method and allow support for xsendfile in alternative_file_system_class
215 independently of local files (MDL-66304).
216 * The methods get_local_path_from_storedfile and get_remote_path_from_storedfile in lib/filestore/file_system.php
217 are now public. If you are overriding these then you will need to change your methods to public in your class.
218 * It is now possible to use sub-directories for AMD modules.
219 The standard rules for Level 2 namespaces also apply to AMD modules.
220 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.
222 The following are all valid module names and locations in your plugin:
223 mod_forum/view: mod/forum/amd/src/view.js
224 mod_forum/local/views/post: mod/forum/amd/src/local/views/post
225 mod_forum/form/checkbox-toggle: mod/forum/amd/src/form/checkbox-toggle.js
227 The following are all invalid module names and locations in your plugin:
228 mod_forum/views/post: mod/forum/amd/src/views/post
229 * The 'xxxx_check_password_policy' method now has an extra parameter: $user. It contains the user object to perform password
230 validation against and defaults to null (so, no user needed) if not provided.
231 * It is now possible to use sub-directories when creating mustache templates.
232 The standard rules for Level 2 namespaces also apply to templates.
233 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.
235 The following are all valid template names and locations in your plugin:
236 mod_forum/forum_post: mod/forum/templates/forum_post.mustache
237 mod_forum/local/post/user: mod/forum/templates/local/post/user.mustache
238 mod_forum/form/checkbox_toggle: mod/forum/templates/form/checkbox_toggle.mustache
240 The following are _invalid_ template names and locations:
241 mod_forum/post/user: mod/forum/templates/local/post/user.mustache
242 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
243 - I go to "<gradepath_string>" in the course gradebook
244 * A new admin setting widget 'core_admin\local\settings\filesize' is added.
245 * Core capabilities 'moodle/community:add' and 'moodle/community:download' have been removed from core as part of Moodle.net sunsetting.
246 * As part of Moodle.net sunsetting process the following hub api functions have been deprecated:
251 - download_course_backup
252 - upload_course_backup
253 * A new setting 'Cache templates' was added (see MDL-66367). This setting determines if templates are cached or not.
254 This setting can be set via the UI or by defining $CFG->cachetemplates in your config.php file. It is a boolean
255 and should be set to either false or true. Developers will probably want to set this to false.
256 * The core_enrol_edit_user_enrolment webservice has been deprecated. Please use core_enrol_submit_user_enrolment_form instead.
257 * \single_button constructor has a new attributes param to add attributes to the button HTML tag.
258 * Improved url matching behaviour for profiled urls and excluded urls
259 * Attempting to use xsendfile via the 3rd param of readstring_accel() is now ignored.
260 * New H5P libraries have been added to Moodle core in /lib/h5p.
261 * New H5P core subsystem have been added.
262 * Introduced new callback for plugin developers '<component>_get_path_from_pluginfile($filearea, $args)': This will return
263 the itemid and filepath for the filearea and path defined in $args. It has been added in order to get the correct itemid and
264 filepath because some components, such as mod_page or mod_resource, add the revision to the URL where the itemid should be placed
265 (to prevent caching problems), but then they don't store it in database.
266 * New utility function \core_form\util::form_download_complete should be called if your code sends
267 a file with Content-Disposition: Attachment in response to a Moodle form submit button (to ensure
268 that disabled submit buttons get re-enabled in that case). It is automatically called by the
269 filelib.php send_xx functions.
270 * If you have a form which sends a file in response to a Moodle form submit button, but you cannot
271 call the above function because the file is sent by a third party library, then you should add
272 the attribute data-double-submit-protection="off" to your form.
276 * Nodes in the navigation api can have labels for each group. See set/get_collectionlabel().
277 * The method core_user::is_real_user() now returns false for userid = 0 parameter
278 * 'mform1' dependencies (in themes, js...) will stop working because a randomly generated string has been added to the id
279 attribute on forms to avoid collisions in forms loaded in AJAX requests.
280 * A new method to allow queueing or rescheduling of an existing scheduled task was added. This allows an existing task
281 to be updated or queued as required. This new functionality can be found in \core\task\manager::reschedule_or_queue_adhoc_task.
282 * 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.
283 * 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.
284 * The \core_rating provider's get_sql_join function now accepts an optional $innerjoin parameter.
285 It is recommended that privacy providers using this function call rewrite any long query into a number of separate
286 calls to add_from_sql for improved performance, and that the new argument is used.
287 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.
288 * /message/defaultoutputs.php file and admin_page_defaultmessageoutputs class have been deprecated
289 and all their settings moved to admin/message.php (see MDL-64495). Please use admin_page_managemessageoutputs class instead.
290 * A new parameter $lang has been added to mustache_template_source_loader->load_with_dependencies() method
291 so it is possible for Mustache to request string in a specific language.
292 * Behat timeout constants behat_base::TIMEOUT, EXTENDED_TIMEOUT, and REDUCED_TIMEOUT have been
293 deprecated. Please instead use the functions behat_base::get_timeout(), get_extended_timeout(),
294 and get_reduced_timeout(). These allow for timeouts to be increased by a setting in config.php.
295 * The $draftitemid parameter of file_save_draft_area_files() function now supports the constant IGNORE_FILE_MERGE:
296 When the parameter is set to that constant, the function won't process file merging, keeping the original state of the file area.
297 Notice also than when $text is set, pluginfile rewrite won't be processed so the text will not be modified.
298 * Introduced new callback for plugin developers '<component>_pre_processor_message_send($procname, $proceventdata)':
299 This will allow any plugin to manipulate messages or notifications before they are sent by a processor (email, mobile...)
300 * New capability 'moodle/category:viewcourselist' in category context that controls whether user is able to browse list of courses
301 in this category. To work with list of courses use API methods in core_course_category and also 'course' form element.
302 * It is possible to pass additional conditions to get_courses_search();
303 core_course_category::search_courses() now allows to search only among courses with completion enabled.
304 * Add support for a new xxx_after_require_login callback
305 * A new conversation type has been created for self-conversations. During the upgrading process:
306 - Firstly, the existing self-conversations will be starred and migrated to the new type, removing the duplicated members in the
307 message_conversation_members table.
308 - Secondly, the legacy self conversations will be migrated from the legacy 'message_read' table. They will be created using the
309 new conversation type and will be favourited.
310 - Finally, the self-conversations for all remaining users without them will be created and starred.
311 Besides, from now, a self-conversation will be created and starred by default to all the new users (even when $CFG->messaging
313 * New optional parameter $throwexception for \get_complete_user_data(). If true, an exception will be thrown when there's no
314 matching record found or when there are multiple records found for the given field value. If false, it will simply return false.
315 Defaults to false when not set.
316 * Exposed submit button to allow custom styling (via customclassoverride variable) which can override btn-primary/btn-secondary classes
317 * `$includetoken` parameter type has been changed. Now supports:
318 boolean: False indicates to not include the token, true indicates to generate a token for the current user ($USER).
319 integer: Indicates to generate a token for the user whose id is the integer value.
320 * The following functions have been updated to support the new usage:
321 - make_pluginfile_url
322 - file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls
323 * New mform element 'float' handles localised floating point numbers.
327 * A new token-based version of pluginfile.php has been added which can be used for out-of-session file serving by
328 setting the `$includetoken` parameter to true on the `moodle_url::make_pluginfile_url()`, and
329 `moodle_url::make_file_url()` functions.
330 * The following picture functions have been updated to support use of the new token-based file serving:
331 - print_group_picture
332 - get_group_picture_url
333 * The `user_picture` class has a new public `$includetoken` property which can be set to make use of the new token-based
335 * Custom AJAX handlers for the form autocomplete fields can now optionally return string in their processResults()
336 callback. If a string is returned, it is displayed instead of the list of suggested items. This can be used, for
337 example, to inform the user that there are too many items matching the current search criteria.
338 * The form element 'htmleditor' has been deprecated. Please use the 'editor' element instead.
339 * The print_textarea() function has been deprecated. Please use $OUTPUT->print_textarea() instead.
340 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
341 - external_function_info()
342 - core_renderer::update_module_button()
346 - events_is_registered()
348 - events_pending_count()
349 - events_process_queued_handler()
350 - events_queue_handler()
351 - events_trigger_legacy()
352 - events_update_definition()
354 - course_get_cm_rename_action()
355 - course_scale_used()
357 - clam_message_admins()
358 - get_clam_error_code()
367 - get_logs_usercourse()
370 - prevent_form_autofill_password()
371 - prefixed_tablenode_transformations()
372 - core_media_renderer
374 * Following api's have been removed in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
375 - get_features_with_tags()
376 - get_components_steps_definitions()
377 - get_config_file_contents()
378 - merge_behat_config()
379 - get_behat_profile()
380 - profile_guided_allocate()
383 - get_behat_tests_path()
384 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
385 - I set the field "<field_string>" to multiline
386 - I follow "<link_string>"" in the open menu
387 * The following behat steps have been deprecated, please do not use these step definitions any more:
388 - behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
389 - theme/boost/tests/behat/behat_theme_boost_behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
390 Use one of the following steps instead:
391 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in current page administration
392 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in site administration
393 - I navigate to course participants
394 - I navigate to "TAB1 > TAB2" in the course gradebook
395 If some items are not available without Navigation block at all, one can use combination of:
396 - I add the "Navigation" block if not present
397 - I click on "LINK" "link" in the "Navigation" "block"
398 * The core\session\util class has been removed. This contained one function only used by the memcached class which has
399 been moved there instead (connection_string_to_memcache_servers).
400 * Removed the lib/password_compat/lib/password.php file.
401 * The eventslib.php file has been deleted and its functions have been moved to deprecatedlib.php. The affected functions are:
402 - events_get_cached()
406 - events_get_handlers()
407 * coursecat::get() now has optional $user parameter.
408 * coursecat::is_uservisible() now has optional $user parameter.
409 * Removed the lib/form/submitlink.php element which was deprecated in 3.2.
410 * The user_selector classes do not support custom list of extra identity fields any more. They obey the configured user
411 policy and respect the privacy setting made by site administrators. The list of user identifiers should never be
412 hard-coded. Instead, the setting $CFG->showuseridentity should be always respected, which has always been the default
413 behaviour (MDL-59847).
414 * The function message_send() in messagelib.php will now only take the object \core\message\message as a parameter.
415 * The method message_sent::create_from_ids() parameter courseid is now required. A debugging
416 message was previously displayed, and the SITEID was used, when not provided.
417 * The method \core\message\manager::send_message() now only takes the object \core\message\message as the first parameter.
418 * Following functions have been deprecated, please use get_roles_used_in_context.
419 - get_roles_on_exact_context()
420 - get_roles_with_assignment_on_context()
421 * New functions to support the merging of user draft areas from the interface; see MDL-45170 for details:
422 - file_copy_file_to_file_area()
423 - file_merge_draft_areas()
424 - file_replace_file_area_in_text()
425 - extract_draft_file_urls_from_text()
426 * Class coursecat is now alias to autoloaded class core_course_category, course_in_list is an alias to
427 core_course_list_element, class coursecat_sortable_records is deprecated without replacement.
428 * \core_user_external::create_users() and \core_user_external::update_users() can now accept more user profile fields so user
429 creation/update via web service can now be very similar to the edit profile page's functionality. The new fields that have been
444 * New function mark_user_dirty() must be called after changing data that gets cached in user sessions. Examples:
445 - Assigning roles to users.
446 - Unassigning roles from users.
447 - Enrolling users into courses.
448 - Unenrolling users from courses.
449 * New optional parameter $context for the groups_get_members_join() function and ability to filter users that are not members of
450 any group. Besides, groups_get_members_ids_sql, get_enrolled_sql and get_enrolled_users now accepts -1 (USERSWITHOUTGROUP) for
452 * Added $CFG->conversionattemptlimit setting to config.php allowing a maximum number of retries before giving up conversion
453 of a given document by the assignfeedback_editpdf\task\convert_submissions task. Default value: 3.
454 * The following events have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
455 - message_contact_blocked
456 - message_contact_unblocked
457 The reason for this is because you can now block/unblock users without them necessarily being a contact. These events
458 have been replaced with message_user_blocked and message_user_unblocked respectively.
459 * The event message_deleted has been changed, it no longer records the value of the 'useridto' due to
460 the introduction of group messaging. Please, if you have any observers or are triggering this event
461 in your code you will have to make some changes!
462 * The gradebook now supports the ability to accept files as feedback. This can be achieved by adding
463 'feedbackfiles' to the $grades parameter passed to grade_update().
465 $grades['feedbackfiles'] = [
467 'component' => 'mod_xyz',
468 'filearea' => 'mod_xyz_feedback',
471 These files will be then copied to the gradebook file area.
472 * Allow users to choose who can message them for privacy reasons, with a 'growing circle of contactability':
473 - Added $CFG->messagingallusers, for enabling messaging to all site users. Default value: 0.
474 When $CFG->messagingallusers = false users can choose being contacted by only contacts or contacts and users sharing a course with them.
475 In that case, the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_COURSEMEMBER (users sharing a course).
476 When $CFG->messagingallusers = true users have a new option for the privacy messaging preferences: "Anyone on the site". In that case,
477 the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_SITE (all site users).
478 - Added $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled setting to config.php to force enabling $CFG->messagingallusers during the upgrading process.
480 When $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled is set to true, $CFG->messagingallusers will be also set to true to enable messaging site users.
481 However, when it is empty, $CFG->messagingallusers will be disabled during the upgrading process, so the users will only be able to
482 message contacts and users sharing a course with them.
483 * There has been interface and functional changes to admin_apply_default_settings() (/lib/adminlib.php). The function now takes two
484 additional optional parameters, $admindefaultsettings and $settingsoutput. It also has a return value $settingsoutput.
485 The function now does not need to be called twice to ensure all default settings are set. Instead the function calls itself recursively
486 until all settings have been set. The additional parameters are used recursively and shouldn't be need to be explicitly passed in when calling
487 the function from other parts of Moodle.
488 The return value: $settingsoutput is an array of setting names and the values that were set by the function.
489 * Webservices no longer update the lastaccess time for a user in a course. Call core_course_view_course() manually if needed.
490 * 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.
494 * There is a new privacy API that every subsystem and plugin has to implement so that the site can become GDPR
495 compliant. Plugins use this API to report what information they store or process regarding users, and provide ability
496 to export and delete personal data. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Privacy_API for guidelines on how to implement the
497 privacy API in your plugin.
498 * The cron runner now sets up a fresh PAGE and OUTPUT between each task.
499 * The core_renderer methods notify_problem(), notify_success(), notify_message() and notify_redirect() that were
500 deprecated in Moodle 3.1 have been removed. Use \core\notification::add(), or \core\output\notification as required.
501 * The maximum supported precision (the total number of digits) for XMLDB_TYPE_NUMBER ("number") fields raised from 20 to
502 38 digits. Additionally, the whole number part (precision minus scale) must not be longer than the maximum length of
503 integer fields (20 digits). Note that PHP floats commonly support precision of roughly 15 digits only (MDL-32113).
504 * Event triggering and event handlers:
505 - The following events, deprecated since moodle 2.6, have been finally removed: groups_members_removed,
506 groups_groupings_groups_removed, groups_groups_deleted, groups_groupings_deleted.
507 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
509 * XMLDB now validates the PATH attribute on every install.xml file. Both the XMLDB editor and installation will fail
510 when a problem is detected with it. Please ensure your plugins contain correct directory relative paths.
511 * Add recaptchalib_v2.php for support of reCAPTCHA v2.
512 * Plugins can define class 'PLUGINNAME\privacy\local\sitepolicy\handler' if they implement an alternative mechanisms for
513 site policies managements and agreements. Administrators can define which component is to be used for handling site
514 policies and agreements. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Site_policy_handler
515 * Scripts can define a constant NO_SITEPOLICY_CHECK and set it to true before requiring the main config.php file. It
516 will make the require_login() skipping the test for the user's policyagreed status. This is useful for plugins that
517 act as a site policy handler.
518 * There is a new is_fulltext_search_supported() DML function. The default implementation returns false. This function
519 is used by 'Simple search' global search engine to determine if the database full-text search capabilities can be used.
520 * The following have been removed from the list of core subsystems:
523 Following this change, \core_register_renderer and \core_publish_renderer have been removed and their methods have been
524 moved to \core_admin_renderer and \core_course_renderer respectively.
528 * oauth2_client::request method has an extra parameter to specify the accept header for the response (MDL-60733)
529 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
530 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-57432 for more info:
531 - upgrade_mimetypes()
532 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders_draft()
533 - upgrade_minmaxgrade()
534 - upgrade_course_tags()
536 * Added new moodleform element 'filetypes' and new admin setting widget 'admin_setting_filetypes'. These new widgets
537 allow users to define a list of file types; either by typing them manually or selecting them from a list. The widgets
538 directly support the syntax used to feed the 'accepted_types' option of the filemanager and filepicker elements. File
539 types can be specified as extensions (.jpg or just jpg), mime types (text/plain) or groups (image).
540 * Removed accesslib private functions: load_course_context(), load_role_access_by_context(), dedupe_user_access() (MDL-49398).
541 * Internal "accessdata" structure format has changed to improve ability to perform role definition caching (MDL-49398).
542 * Role definitions are no longer cached in user session (MDL-49398).
543 * External function core_group_external::get_activity_allowed_groups now returns an additional field: canaccessallgroups.
544 It indicates whether the user will be able to access all the activity groups.
545 * file_get_draft_area_info does not sum the root folder anymore when calculating the foldercount.
546 * The moodleform element classes can now optionally provide a public function validateSubmitValue(). This method can be
547 used to perform implicit validation of submitted values - without the need to explicitly add the validation rules to
548 every form. The method should accept a single parameter with the submitted value. It should return a string with the
549 eventual validation error, or an empty value if the validation passes.
550 * New user_picture attribute $includefullname to determine whether to include the user's full name with the user's picture.
551 * Enrol plugins which provide enrolment actions can now declare the following "data-action" attributes in their implementation of
552 enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() whenever applicable:
553 * "editenrolment" - For editing a user'e enrolment details. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_EDIT.
554 * "unenrol" - For unenrolling a student. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_UNENROL.
555 These attributes enable enrol actions to be rendered via modals. If not added, clicking on the enrolment action buttons will still
556 redirect the user to the appropriate enrolment action page. Though optional, it is recommended to add these attributes for a
557 better user experience when performing enrol actions.
558 * The enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() implementations for core enrol plugins have been removed and moved to
559 the parent method itself. New enrol plugins don't have to implement get_user_enrolment_actions(), but just need to
560 make sure that they override:
561 - enrol_plugin::allow_manage(), and/or
562 - enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol_user() or enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol()
563 Existing enrol plugins that override enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() don't have to do anything, but can
564 also opt to remove their own implementation of the method if they basically have the same logic as the parent method.
565 * New optional parameter $enrolid for the following functions:
566 - get_enrolled_join()
568 - get_enrolled_with_capabilities_join()
569 Setting this parameter to a non-zero value will add a condition to the query such that only users that were enrolled
570 with this enrolment method will be returned.
571 * New optional parameter 'closeSuggestionsOnSelect' for the enhance() function for form-autocomplete. Setting this to true will
572 close the suggestions popup immediately after an option has been selected. If not specified, it defaults to true for single-select
573 elements and false for multiple-select elements.
574 * user_can_view_profile() now also checks the moodle/user:viewalldetails capability.
575 * The core/modal_confirm dialogue has been deprecated. Please use the core/modal_save_cancel dialogue instead. Please ensure you
576 update to use the ModalEvents.save and ModalEvents.cancel events instead of their yes/no counterparts.
577 * Instead of checking the 'moodle/course:viewparticipants' and 'moodle/site:viewparticipants' capabilities use the
578 new functions course_can_view_participants() and course_require_view_participants().
579 * $stored_file->add_to_curl_request() now adds the filename to the curl request.
580 * The option for Login HTTPS (authentication-only SSL) has been removed
581 * $CFG->loginhttps is now deprecated, do not use it.
582 * $PAGE->https_required and $PAGE->verify_https_required() are now deprecated. They are no longer used and will throw a coding_exception.
583 * $CFG->httpswwwroot is now deprecated and will always result in the same value as wwwroot.
584 * Added function core_role_set_view_allowed() to check if a user should be able to see a given role.
585 This should be checked whenever displaying a list of roles to a user, however, core_role_set_assign_allowed may need to override it
587 * Deprecated allow_override, allow_assign and allow_switch and replaced with core_role_set_*_allowed to avoid function names conflicting.
591 * ldap_get_entries_moodle() now always returns lower-cased attribute names in the returned entries.
592 It was suppposed to do so before, but it actually didn't.
596 * Behat compatibility changes are now being documented at
597 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Acceptance_testing/Compatibility_changes
598 * PHPUnit's bootstrap has been changed to use HTTPS wwwroot (https://www.example.com/moodle) from previous HTTP version. Any
599 existing test expecting the old HTTP URLs will need to be switched to the new HTTPS value (reference: MDL-54901).
600 * The information returned by the idp list has changed. This is usually only rendered by the login page and login block.
601 The icon attribute is removed and an iconurl attribute has been added.
602 * Support added for a new type of external file: FILE_CONTROLLED_LINK. This is an external file that Moodle can control
603 the permissions. Moodle makes files read-only but can grant temporary write access.
604 When accessing a URL, the info from file_browser::get_file_info will be checked to determine if the user has write access,
605 if they do - the remote file will have access controls set to allow editing.
606 * The method moodleform::after_definition() has been added and can now be used to add some logic
607 to be performed after the form's definition was set. This is useful for intermediate subclasses.
608 * Moodle has support for font-awesome icons. Plugins should use the xxx_get_fontawesome_icon_map callback
609 to map their custom icons to one from font-awesome.
610 * $OUTPUT->pix_url() has been deprecated because it is was used mostly to manually generate image tags for icons.
611 We now distinguish between icons and "small images". The difference is that an icon does not have to be rendered as an image tag
612 with a source. It is OK to still have "small images" - if this desired use $OUTPUT->image_icon() and $OUTPUT->image_url(). For
613 other uses - use $OUTPUT->pix_icon() or the pix helper in mustache templates {{#pix}}...{{/pix}}
614 For other valid use cases use $OUTPUT->image_url().
615 * Activity icons have been split from standard icons. Use $OUTPUT->image_icon instead of $OUTPUT->pix_icon for these
616 type of icons (the coloured main icon for each activity).
617 * YUI module moodle-core-formautosubmit has been removed, use jquery .change() instead (see lib/templates/url_select.mustache for
619 * $mform->init_javascript_enhancement() is deprecated and no longer does anything. Existing uses of smartselect enhancement
620 should be switched to the searchableselector form element or other solutions.
621 * Return value of the validate_email() is now proper boolean as documented. Previously the function could return 1, 0 or false.
622 * The mcore YUI rollup which included various YUI modules such as moodle-core-notification is no longer included on every
623 page. Missing YUI depdencies may be exposed by this change (e.g. missing a requirement on moodle-core-notification when
624 using M.core.dialogue).
625 * Various legacy javascript functions have been removed:
626 * M.util.focus_login_form and M.util.focus_login_error no longer do anything. Please use jquery instead. See
627 lib/templates/login.mustache for an example.
628 * Some outdated global JS functions have been removed and should be replaced with calls to jquery
629 or alternative approaches:
630 checkall, checknone, select_all_in_element_with_id, select_all_in, deselect_all_in, confirm_if, findParentNode,
631 filterByParent, stripHTML
632 * M.util.init_toggle_class_on_click has been removed.
633 * The following functions have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
634 - file_storage::try_content_recovery - See MDL-46375 for more information
635 - file_storage::content_exists - See MDL-46375 for more information
636 - file_storage::deleted_file_cleanup - See MDL-46375 for more information
637 - file_storage::get_converted_document
638 - file_storage::is_format_supported_by_unoconv
639 - file_storage::can_convert_documents
640 - file_storage::send_test_pdf
641 - file_storage::test_unoconv_path
642 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
643 - I click on "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" in the "<row_text_string>" table row
644 - I go to notifications page
645 - I add "<filename_string>" file from recent files to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
646 - I upload "<filepath_string>" file to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
647 - I create "<foldername_string>" folder in "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
648 - I open "<foldername_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
649 - I unzip "<filename_string>" file from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
650 - I zip "<filename_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
651 - I delete "<file_or_folder_name_string>" from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
652 - I send "<message_contents_string>" message to "<username_string>"
653 - I add "<user_username_string>" user to "<cohort_idnumber_string>" cohort
654 - I add "<username_string>" user to "<group_name_string>" group
655 - I fill in "<field_string>" with "<value_string>"
656 - I select "<option_string>" from "<select_string>"
657 - I select "<radio_button_string>" radio button
658 - I check "<option_string>"
659 - I uncheck "<option_string>"
660 - the "<field_string>" field should match "<value_string>" value
661 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should be checked
662 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should not be checked
663 - I fill the moodle form with:
664 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should exists
665 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should not exists
666 - the following "<element_string>" exists:
667 * get_user_capability_course() now has an additional parameter 'limit'. This can be used to return a set number of records with
668 the submitted capability. The parameter 'fieldsexceptid' will now accept context fields which can be used for preloading.
669 * The caching option 'immutable' has been added to send_stored_file() and send_file().
670 * New adhoc task refresh_mod_calendar_events_task that updates existing calendar events of modules.
671 * New 'priority' column for the event table to determine which event to show in case of events with user and group overrides.
672 * Webservices core_course_search_courses and core_course_get_courses_by_field will always return the sortorder field.
673 * core_course_external::get_activities_overview has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
674 * Changed the pix mustache template helper to accept context variables for the key, component and alt text.
675 * New auth_plugin_base helper methods:
676 - get_identity_providers() - Retrieves available auth identity providers.
677 - prepare_identity_providers_for_output() - Prepares auth identity provider data for output (e.g. to templates, WS, etc.).
681 * Custom roles with access to any part of site administration that do not use the manager archetype will need
682 moodle/site:configview capability added.
683 * Admin setting "Show My courses expanded on Dashboard" has been removed.
684 * Some backwards and forwards compatibility has been added for different bootstrap versions.
685 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
686 with bootstrap classes to keep working in the new theme. See MDL-56004 for the list of supported classes.
687 * MForms element 'submitlink' has been deprecated.
688 * Searchable selector form element is now a wrapper for autocomplete. A "No selection" option is automatically
689 added to the options list for best backwards compatibility - if you were manually adding a "no selection" option you will need
691 * Node.js versions >=4 are now required to run grunt.
692 * JQuery has been updated to 3.1.0. JQuery migrate plugins are no longer shipped - please read
693 https://jquery.com/upgrade-guide/3.0/ and update your javascript.
694 * New option 'blanktarget' added to format_text. This option adds target="_blank" to links
695 * A new webservice structure `external_files` has been created which provides a standardised view of files in Moodle and
696 should be used for all file return descriptions.
697 Files matching this format can be retrieved via the new `external_util::get_area_files` method.
698 See MDL-54951 for further information.
699 * The parameter $usepost of the following functions has been deprecated and is not used any more:
700 - get_max_upload_file_size()
701 - get_user_max_upload_file_size()
702 * The following classes have been removed and should not be used any more:
703 - boxclient - See MDL-49599 for more information.
704 * The following functions have been removed and should not be used any more:
705 - file_modify_html_header() - See MDL-29738 for more information.
706 * core_grades_external::get_grades has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
707 External function gradereport_user_external::get_grade_items can be used for retrieving the course grades information.
708 * New option 'escape' added to format_string. When true (default), escapes HTML entities from the string
709 * The following functions have been deprecated and are not used any more:
710 - get_records_csv() Please use csv_import_reader::load_csv_content() instead.
711 - put_records_csv() Please use download_as_dataformat (lib/dataformatlib.php) instead.
712 - zip_files() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
713 - unzip_file() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
714 - print_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
715 - print_log_csv() - See MDL-43681 for more information
716 - print_log_ods() - See MDL-43681 for more information
717 - print_log_xls() - See MDL-43681 for more information
718 - print_mnet_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
719 - build_logs_array() - See MDL-43681 for more information
720 - get_logs() - See MDL-43681 for more information
721 - get_logs_usercourse() - See MDL-43681 for more information
722 - get_logs_userday() - See MDL-43681 for more information
723 - prevent_form_autofill_password() Please do not use anymore.
724 * The password_compat library was removed as it is no longer required.
725 * Phpunit has been upgraded to 5.4.x and following has been deprecated and is not used any more:
726 - setExpectedException(), use @expectedException or $this->expectException() and $this->expectExceptionMessage()
727 - getMock(), use createMock() or getMockBuilder()->getMock()
728 - UnitTestCase class is removed.
729 * The following methods have been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
730 - course_modinfo::build_section_cache()
731 - cm_info::get_deprecated_group_members_only()
732 - cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_group()
733 * The following methods in cm_info::standardmethods have also been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
734 - cm_info::get_after_edit_icons()
735 - cm_info::get_after_link()
736 - cm_info::get_content()
737 - cm_info::get_custom_data()
738 - cm_info::get_extra_classes()
739 - cm_info::get_on_click()
741 - cm_info::obtain_dynamic_data()
742 Calling them through the magic method __call() will throw a coding exception.
743 * The alfresco library has been removed from core. It was an old version of
744 the library which was not compatible with newer versions of Alfresco.
745 * Added down arrow: $OUTPUT->darrow.
746 * All file_packer implementations now accept an additional parameter to allow a simple boolean return value instead of
747 an array of individual file statuses.
748 * "I set the field "field_string" to multiline:" now end with colon (:), as PyStrings is supposed to end with ":"
749 * New functions to support deprecation of events have been added to the base event. See MDL-46214 for further details.
750 * A new function `get_name_with_info` has been added to the base event. This function adds information about event
751 deprecations and should be used where this information is relevant.
752 * Following api's have been deprecated in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
753 - get_features_with_tags
754 - get_components_steps_definitions
755 - get_config_file_contents
758 - profile_guided_allocate
761 - get_behat_tests_path
762 * behat_util::start_test_mode() accepts 3 options now:
763 - 1. Theme sute with all features: If behat should initialise theme suite with all core features.
764 - 2. Parallel runs: How many parallel runs will be running.
765 - 3. Run: Which process behat should be initialise for.
766 * behat_context_helper::set_session() has been deprecated, please use behat_context_helper::set_environment() instead.
767 * data-fieldtype="type" attribute has been added to form field default template.
768 * form elements extending MoodleQuickForm_group must call $this->createFormElement() instead of
769 @MoodleQuickForm::createElement() in order to be compatible with PHP 7.1
770 * Relative paths in $CFG->alternateloginurl will be resolved to absolute path within moodle site. Previously they
771 were resolved to absolute path within the server. That means:
772 - $CFG->wwwroot: http://example.com/moodle
773 - $CFG->alternateloginurl : /my/super/login.php
774 - Login url will be: http://example.com/moodle/my/super/login.php (moodle root based)
775 * Database (DML) layer:
776 - new sql_equal() method available for places where case sensitive/insensitive varchar comparisons are required.
777 * PostgreSQL connections now use advanced options to reduce connection overhead. These options are not compatible
778 with some connection poolers. The dbhandlesoptions parameter has been added to allow the database to configure the
779 required defaults. The parameters that are required in the database are;
780 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET client_encoding = UTF8;
781 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET standard_conforming_strings = on;
782 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET search_path = 'moodle,public'; -- Optional, if you wish to use a custom schema.
783 You can set these options against the database or the moodle user who connects.
784 * Some form elements have been refined to better support right-to-left languages. In RTL,
785 most fields should not have their direction flipped, a URL, a path to a file, a number, ...
786 are always displayed LTR. Input fields and text areas now will best guess whether they
787 should be forced to be displayed in LTR based on the PARAM type associated with it. You
788 can call $mform->setForceLtr($elementName, true/false) on some form fields to manually
790 * Action menus do_not_enhance() is deprecated, use a list of action_icon instead.
791 * The user_not_fully_set_up() function has a new $strict parameter (defaulting to true) in order to decide when
792 custom fields (and other checks) should be evaluated to determine if the user has been completely setup.
793 * profile_field_base class has new methods: get_field_config_for_external() and get_field_properties().
794 This two new methods should be implemented by profile field plugins to make them compatible with Web Services.
795 * The minifier library used by core_minify has been switched to https://github.com/matthiasmullie/minify - there are minor differences
797 * context_header additional buttons can now have a class attribute provided in the link attributes.
798 * The return signature for the antivirus::scan_file() function has changed.
799 The calling function will now handle removal of infected files from Moodle based on the new integer return value.
800 * The first parameter $eventdata of both message_send() and \core\message\manager::send_message() should
801 be \core\message\message. Use of stdClass is deprecated.
802 * The message_sent event now expects other[courseid] to be always set, exception otherwise. For BC with contrib code,
803 message_sent::create_from_ids() will show a debugging notice if the \core\message\message being sent is missing
804 the courseid property, defaulting to SITEID automatically. In Moodle 3.6 (MDL-55449) courseid will be fully mandatory
805 for all messages sent.
806 * The send_confirmation_email() function has a new optional parameter $confirmationurl to provide a different confirmation URL.
807 * Introduced a new hook for plugin developers:
808 - <component>_course_module_background_deletion_recommended()
809 This hook should be used in conjunction with the existing '<component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod)'. It must
810 return a boolean and is called by core to check whether a plugin's implementation of
811 <component>_pre_course_module_deleted($mod) will take a long time. A plugin should therefore only implement this
812 function if it also implements <component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod).
813 An example in current use is recyclebin, which performs what can be a lengthy backup process in
814 tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete. The recyclebin, if enabled, now returns true in its implementation of
815 tool_recyclebin_course_module_background_deletion_recommended(), to indicate to core that the deletion (and
816 execution of tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete) should be handled with an adhoc task, meaning it will not
821 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'limittoenrolled' to filter the results
822 only to courses the user is enrolled in, and are visible to them.
823 * External functions that are not calling external_api::validate_context are buggy and will now generate
824 exceptions. Previously they were only generating warnings in the webserver error log.
825 See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/External_functions_API#Security
826 * The moodle/blog:associatecourse and moodle/blog:associatemodule capabilities has been removed.
827 * The following functions has been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
828 - profile_display_badges()
829 - useredit_shared_definition_preferences()
830 - calendar_normalize_tz()
831 - get_user_timezone_offset()
832 - get_timezone_offset()
833 - get_list_of_timezones()
834 - calculate_user_dst_table()
835 - dst_changes_for_year()
836 - get_timezone_record()
837 - test_get_list_of_timezones()
838 - test_get_timezone_offset()
839 - test_get_user_timezone_offset()
840 * The google api library has been updated to version 1.1.7. There was some important changes
841 on the SSL handling. Now the SSL version will be determined by the underlying library.
842 For more information see https://github.com/google/google-api-php-client/pull/644
843 * The get_role_users() function will now add the $sort fields that are not part
844 of the requested fields to the query result and will throw a debugging message
845 with the added fields when that happens.
846 * The core_user::fill_properties_cache() static method has been introduced to be a reference
847 and allow standard user fields data validation. Right now only type validation is supported
848 checking it against the parameter (PARAM_*) type of the target user field. MDL-52781 is
849 going to add support to null/not null and choices validation, replacing the existing code to
850 validate the user fields in different places in a common way.
851 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses now returns results when the search string
852 is less than 2 chars long.
853 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'requiredcapabilities' to filter the results
854 by the capabilities of the current user.
855 * New mform element 'course' handles thousands of courses with good performance and usability.
856 * The redirect() function will now redirect immediately if output has not
857 already started. Messages will be displayed on the subsequent page using
858 session notifications. The type of message output can be configured using the
859 fourth parameter to redirect().
860 * The specification of extra classes in the $OUTPUT->notification()
861 function, and \core\output\notification renderable have been deprecated
862 and will be removed in a future version.
863 Notifications should use the levels found in \core\output\notification.
864 * The constants for NOTIFY_PROBLEM, NOTIFY_REDIRECT, and NOTIFY_MESSAGE in
865 \core\output\notification have been deprecated in favour of NOTIFY_ERROR,
866 NOTIFY_WARNING, and NOTIFY_INFO respectively.
867 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
868 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-51580 for more info:
869 - upgrade_mysql_fix_unsigned_and_lob_columns()
870 - upgrade_course_completion_remove_duplicates()
871 - upgrade_save_orphaned_questions()
872 - upgrade_rename_old_backup_files_using_shortname()
873 - upgrade_mssql_nvarcharmax()
874 - upgrade_mssql_varbinarymax()
875 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders()
876 - upgrade_course_modules_sequences()
877 - upgrade_grade_item_fix_sortorder()
878 - upgrade_availability_item()
879 * A new parameter $ajaxformdata was added to the constructor for moodleform. When building a
880 moodleform in a webservice or ajax script (for example using the new fragments API) we
881 cannot allow the moodleform to parse it's own data from _GET and _POST - we must pass it as
883 * Plugins can extend the navigation for user by declaring the following callback:
884 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_user(navigation_node $parentnode, stdClass $user,
885 context_user $context, stdClass $course,
886 context_course $coursecontext)
887 * The function notify() now throws a debugging message - see MDL-50269.
888 * Ajax calls going through lib/ajax/* now validate the return values before sending
889 the response. If the validation does not pass an exception is raised. This behaviour
890 is consistent with web services.
891 * Several changes in Moodle core, standard plugins and third party libraries to
892 ensure compatibility with PHP7. All plugins are recommended to perform testing
893 against PHP7 as well. Refer to https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_and_PHP7 for more
894 information. The following changes may affect you:
895 * Class moodleform, moodleform_mod and some module classes have been changed to use
896 __construct() for the constructor. Calling parent constructors by the class
897 name will display debugging message. Incorrect: parent::moodleform(),
898 correct: parent::__construct()
899 * All form elements have also changed the constructor syntax. No changes are
900 needed for using form elements, however if plugin defines new form element it
901 needs to use correct syntax. For example, incorrect: parent::HTML_QuickForm_input(),
902 HTML_QuickForm_input::HTML_QuickForm_input(), $this->HTML_QuickForm_input().
903 Correct: HTML_QuickForm_input::__construct() or parent::__construct().
904 * profile_field_base::profile_field_base() is deprecated, use parent::__construct()
905 in custom profile fields constructors. Similar deprecations in exsiting
906 profile_field_* classes.
907 * user_filter_type::user_filter_type() is deprecated, use parent::__construct() in
908 custom user filters. Similar deprecations in existing user_filter_* classes.
909 * table_default_export_format_parent::table_default_export_format_parent() is
910 deprecated, use parent::__construct() in extending classes.
911 * groups_delete_group_members() $showfeedback parameter has been removed and is no longer
912 respected. Users of this function should output their own feedback if required.
913 * Number of changes to Tags API, see tag/upgrade.txt for more details
914 * The previous events API handlers are being deprecated in favour of events 2 API, debugging messages are being displayed if
915 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
916 Note than you will need to bump the plugin version so moodle is aware that you removed the plugin's event handlers.
917 * mforms validation functions are not available in the global JS namespace anymore, event listeners
918 are assigned to fields and buttons through a self-contained JS function.
919 * Added $CFG->urlrewriteclass option to config.php allowing clean / semantic urls to
920 be implemented in a plugin, eg local_cleanurls.
921 * $CFG->pathtoclam global setting has been moved to clamav antivirus plugin setting of the same name.
922 * clam_message_admins() and get_clam_error_code() have been deprecated, its functionality
923 is now a part of \antivirus_clamav\scanner class methods.
924 * \repository::antivir_scan_file() has been deprecated, \core\antivirus\manager::scan_file() that
925 applies antivirus plugins is replacing its functionality.
926 * Added core_text::str_max_bytes() which safely truncates multi-byte strings to a maximum number of bytes.
927 * Zend Framework has been removed completely.
928 * Any plugin can report when a scale is being used with the callback function [pluginname]_scale_used_anywhere(int $scaleid).
929 * Changes in file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls: Passing a new option reverse = true in the $options var will make the function to convert
930 actual URLs in $text to encoded URLs in the @@PLUGINFILE@@ form.
931 * behat_util::is_server_running() is removed, please use behat_util::check_server_status() instead.
932 * Behat\Mink\Selector\SelectorsHandler::xpathLiteral() method is deprecated use behat_context_helper::escape instead
933 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.',
934 * table_sql download process is using the new data formats plugin which you can't use if you are buffering any output
935 * flexible_table::get_download_menu(), considered private, has been deleted. Use
936 $OUTPUT->download_dataformat_selector() instead.
937 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.
938 * Add new file_is_executable(), to consistently check for executables even in Windows (PHP bug #41062).
939 * Introduced new hooks for plugin developers.
940 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete($category)
941 - <component>_pre_course_delete($course)
942 - <component>_pre_course_module_delete($cm)
943 - <component>_pre_block_delete($instance)
944 - <component>_pre_user_delete($user)
945 These hooks allow developers to use the item in question before it is deleted by core. For example, if your plugin is
946 a module (plugins located in the mod folder) called 'xxx' and you wish to interact with the user object before it is
947 deleted then the function to create would be mod_xxx_pre_user_delete($user) in mod/xxx/lib.php.
948 * pear::Net::GeoIP has been removed.
952 * Minify updated to 2.2.1
953 * htmlpurifier upgraded to 4.7.0
954 * Less.php upgraded to 1.7.0.9
955 * The horde library has been updated to version 5.2.7.
956 * Google libraries (lib/google) updated to 1.1.5
957 * Html2Text library has been updated to the latest version of the library.
958 * External functions x_is_allowed_from_ajax() methods have been deprecated. Define 'ajax' => true in db/services.php instead.
959 * External functions can be called without a session if they define 'loginrequired' => true in db/services.php.
960 * All plugins are required to declare their frankenstyle component name via
961 the $plugin->component property in their version.php file. See
962 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/version.php for details (MDL-48494).
963 * PHPUnit is upgraded to 4.7. Some tests using deprecated assertions etc may need changes to work correctly.
964 * Users of the text editor API to manually create a text editor should call set_text before calling use_editor.
965 * Javascript - SimpleYUI and the Y instance used for modules have been merged. Y is now always the same instance of Y.
966 * get_referer() has been deprecated, please use the get_local_referer function instead.
967 * \core\progress\null is renamed to \core\progress\none for improved PHP7 compatibility as null is a reserved word (see MDL-50453).
968 * \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
969 server exceptions in $CFG->proxybypass. See MDL-39353 for details.
970 * Group and groupings idnumbers can now be passed to and/or are returned from the following web services functions:
971 ** core_group_external::create_groups
972 ** core_group_external::get_groups
973 ** core_group_external::get_course_groups
974 ** core_group_external::create_groupings
975 ** core_group_external::update_groupings
976 ** core_group_external::get_groupings
977 ** core_group_external::get_course_groupings
978 ** core_group_external::get_course_user_groups
979 * Following functions are removed from core. See MDL-50049 for details.
980 password_compat_not_supported()
981 session_get_instance()
988 session_is_loggedinas()
989 session_get_realuser()
996 update_log_display_entry()
997 get_recent_enrolments()
998 groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible()
999 groups_course_module_visible()
1003 editorshortcutshelpbutton()
1006 get_generic_section_name()
1008 add_mod_to_section()
1010 get_course_section()
1011 format_weeks_get_section_dates()
1012 get_print_section_cm_text()
1013 print_section_add_menus()
1014 make_editing_buttons()
1017 print_recent_activity()
1018 delete_course_module()
1019 update_category_button()
1020 make_categories_list()
1021 category_delete_move()
1022 category_delete_full()
1024 course_category_hide()
1025 course_category_show()
1026 get_course_category()
1027 create_course_category()
1028 get_all_subcategories()
1029 get_child_categories()
1031 print_course_search()
1033 print_remote_course()
1035 print_whole_category_list()
1036 print_category_info()
1037 get_course_category_tree()
1040 get_category_courses_array()
1041 get_category_courses_array_recursively()
1042 blog_get_context_url()
1043 get_courses_wmanagers()
1044 convert_tree_to_html()
1045 convert_tabrows_to_tree()
1046 can_use_rotated_text()
1047 get_parent_contexts()
1048 get_parent_contextid()
1049 get_child_contexts()
1052 build_context_path()
1054 preload_course_contexts()
1056 fetch_context_capabilities()
1057 context_instance_preload()
1058 get_contextlevel_name()
1059 print_context_name()
1060 mark_context_dirty()
1063 get_course_context()
1064 get_user_courses_bycap()
1065 get_role_context_caps()
1066 get_courseid_from_context()
1067 context_instance_preload_sql()
1068 get_related_contexts_string()
1069 get_plugin_list_with_file()
1070 check_browser_operating_system()
1071 check_browser_version()
1073 get_device_type_list()
1074 get_selected_theme_for_device_type()
1075 get_device_cfg_var_name()
1076 set_user_device_type()
1077 get_user_device_type()
1078 get_browser_version_classes()
1079 generate_email_supportuser()
1080 badges_get_issued_badge_info()
1081 can_use_html_editor()
1082 enrol_cohort_get_cohorts()
1083 enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort()
1084 cohort_get_visible_list()
1085 enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users()
1086 enrol_cohort_search_cohorts()
1087 * The never unused webdav_locks table was dropped.
1088 * The actionmenu hideMenu() function now expects an EventFacade object to be passed to it,
1089 i.e. a call to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu() should be change to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu(e)
1090 * In the html_editors (tinyMCE, Atto), the manage files button can be hidden by changing the 'enable_filemanagement' option to false.
1091 * external_api::validate_context now is public, it can be called from other classes.
1092 * rss_error() now supports returning of correct HTTP status of error and will return '404 Not Found'
1093 unless other status is specified.
1094 * Plugins can extend the navigation for categories settings by declaring the following callback:
1095 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_category_settings(navigation_node, context_coursecat)
1096 * The clilib.php provides two new functions cli_write() and cli_writeln() that should be used for outputting texts from the command
1097 line interface scripts.
1098 * External function core_course_external::get_course_contents returned parameter "name" has been changed to PARAM_RAW,
1099 this is because the new external_format_string function may return raw data if the global moodlewssettingraw parameter is used.
1100 * Function is_web_crawler() has been deprecated, please use core_useragent::is_web_crawler() instead.
1104 * New methods grade_grade::get_grade_max() and get_grade_min() must be used rather than directly the public properties rawgrademax and rawgrademin.
1105 * New method grade_item::is_aggregate_item() indicates when a grade_item is an aggreggated type grade.
1109 * The default home page for users has been changed to the dashboard (formely my home). See MDL-45774.
1110 * Support for rendering templates from php or javascript has been added. See MDL-49152.
1111 * Support for loading AMD javascript modules has been added. See MDL-49046.
1112 * Webservice core_course_delete_courses now return warning messages on any failures and does not try to rollback the entire deletion.
1113 * \core\event\course_viewed 'other' argument renamed from coursesectionid to coursesectionnumber as it contains the section number.
1114 * New API core_filetypes::add_type (etc.) allows custom filetypes to be added and modified.
1115 * PHPUnit: PHPMailer Sink is now started for all tests and is setup within the phpunit wrapper for advanced tests.
1116 Catching debugging messages when sending mail will no longer work. Use $sink = $this->redirectEmails(); and then check
1117 the message in the sink instead.
1118 * The file pluginlib.php was deprecated since 2.6 and has now been removed, do not include or require it.
1119 * \core_component::fetch_subsystems() now returns a valid path for completion component instead of null.
1120 * Deprecated JS global methods have been removed (show_item, destroy_item, hide_item, addonload, getElementsByTagName, findChildNodes).
1121 * For 3rd party plugin specific environment.xml files, it's now possible to specify version independent checks by using the
1122 <PLUGIN name="component_name"> tag instead of the version dependent <MOODLE version="x.y"> one. If the PLUGIN tag is used any
1123 Moodle specific tags will be ignored.
1124 * 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).
1125 * The authorization procedure in the mdeploy.php script has been improved. The script
1126 now relies on the main config.php when deploying an available update.
1127 * sql_internal_reader and sql_select_reader interfaces have been deprecated in favour of sql_internal_table_reader
1128 and sql_reader which use iterators to be more memory efficient.
1129 * $CFG->enabletgzbackups setting has been removed as now backups are stored internally using .tar.gz format by default, you can
1130 set $CFG->usezipbackups to store them in zip format. This does not affect the restore process, which continues accepting both.
1131 * Added support for custom string manager implementations via $CFG->customstringmanager
1132 directive in the config.php. See MDL-49361 for details.
1133 * Add new make_request_directory() for creation of per-request files.
1134 * Added generate_image_thumbnail_from_string. This should be used instead of generate_image_thumbnail when the source is a string.
1135 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
1136 * Added generate_image_thumbnail to stored_file class. This should be used when generating thumbnails for stored files.
1137 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
1138 * Removed pear/HTTP/WebDav. See MDL-49534 for details.
1139 * Use standard PHP date time classes and methods - see new core_date class for timezone normalisation methods.
1140 * Moved lib/google/Google/ to lib/google/src/Google. This is to address autoloader issues with Google's provided autoloader
1141 for the library. See MDL-49519 for details.
1142 * The outdated lib/google/Google_Client.php and related files have been completely removed. To use
1143 the new client, read lib/google/readme_moodle.txt, please.
1144 * profile_display_badges() has been deprecated. See MDL-48935 for details.
1145 * 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"
1146 then please use this function to ensure that the breadcrumb and navigation block are created properly for all user profile pages.
1147 * process_new_icon() now does not always return a PNG file. When possible, it will try to keep the format of the original file.
1148 Set the new argument $preferpng to true to force PNG. See MDL-46763 and MDL-50041 for details.
1152 * Gradebook grade category option "aggregatesubcats" has been removed completely.
1153 This means that the database column is removed, the admin settings are removed and
1154 the properties from the grade_category object have been removed. If any courses were
1155 found to be using this setting, a warning to check the grades will be shown in the
1156 course grader report after upgrading the site. The same warning will be shown on
1157 courses restored from backup that had this setting enabled (see MDL-47503).
1158 * lib/excelllib.class.php has been updated. The class MoodleExcelWorkbook will now only produce excel 2007 files.
1159 * renderers: We now remove the suffix _renderable when looking for a render method for a renderable.
1160 If you have a renderable class named like "blah_renderable" and have a method on a renderer named "render_blah_renderable"
1161 you will need to change the name of your render method to "render_blah" instead, as renderable at the end is no longer accepted.
1162 * New functions get_course_and_cm_from_cmid($cmorid, $modulename) and
1163 get_course_and_cm_from_instance($instanceorid, $modulename) can be used to
1164 more efficiently load these basic data objects at the start of a script.
1165 * New function cm_info::create($cm) can be used when you need a cm_info
1166 object, but have a $cm which might only be a standard database record.
1167 * $CFG->enablegroupmembersonly no longer exists.
1168 * Scheduled tasks have gained support for syntax to introduce variability when a
1169 task will run across installs. When a when hour or minute are defined as 'R'
1170 they will be installed with a random hour/minute value.
1171 * Several classes grade_edit_tree_column_xxx were removed since grades setup page
1172 has been significantly changed. These classes should not be used outside of
1173 gradebook or developers can copy them into their plugins from 2.7 branch.
1174 * Google APIs Client Library (lib/google/) has been upgraded to 1.0.5-beta and
1175 API has changed dramatically without backward compatibility. Any code accessing
1176 it must be amended. It does not apply to lib/googleapi.php. See MDL-47297
1177 * Added an extra parameter to the function get_formatted_help_string() (default null) which is used to specify
1178 additional string parameters.
1179 * User settings node and course node in navigation now support callbacks from admin tools.
1180 * grade_get_grades() optional parameteres $itemtype, $itemmodule, $iteminstance are now required.
1183 * completion_info->get_incomplete_criteria() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
1184 * grade_category::aggregate_values() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
1185 * groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with
1186 core_availability\info::filter_user_list. Will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
1187 * groups_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with $cm->uservisible.
1188 * cm_info property $cm->groupmembersonly is deprecated and always returns 0.
1189 Use core_availability\info::filter_user_list if trying to determine which
1190 other users can see an activity.
1191 * cm_info method $cm->is_user_access_restricted_by_group() is deprecated and
1192 always returns false. Use $cm->uservisible to determine whether the user can
1193 access the activity.
1194 * Constant FEATURE_GROUPMEMBERSONLY (used in module _supports functions) is
1196 * cohort_get_visible_list() is deprecated. There is a better function cohort_get_available_cohorts()
1197 that respects user capabilities to view cohorts.
1198 * enrol_cohort_get_cohorts() and enrol_cohort_search_cohorts() are deprecated since
1199 functionality is removed. Please use cohort_get_available_cohorts()
1200 * enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users() is deprecated; enrol_manual is now responsible for this action
1201 * enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort() is deprecated; replace with cohort_can_view_cohort()
1203 === 2.6.4 / 2.7.1 ===
1205 * setnew_password_and_mail() and update_internal_user_password() will trigger
1206 \core\event\user_password_updated. Previously they used to generate
1207 \core\event\user_updated event.
1208 * update_internal_user_password() accepts optional boolean $fasthash for fast
1210 * user_update_user() and user_create_user() api's accept optional param
1211 $triggerevent to avoid respective events to be triggred from the api's.
1215 * PHPUnit cannot be installed via PEAR any more, please use composer package manager instead.
1216 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
1219 * Significant changes in Logging API. For upgrading existing events_trigger() and
1220 add_to_log() see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_logging_calls_in_plugins
1221 For accessing logs from plugins see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_log_access_in_reports
1222 * The validation of the following events is now stricter (see MDL-45445):
1223 - \core\event\blog_entry_created
1224 - \core\event\blog_entry_deleted
1225 - \core\event\blog_entry_updated
1226 - \core\event\cohort_member_added
1227 - \core\event\cohort_member_removed
1228 - \core\event\course_category_deleted
1229 - \core\event\course_completed
1230 - \core\event\course_content_deleted
1231 - \core\event\course_created
1232 - \core\event\course_deleted
1233 - \core\event\course_restored
1234 - \core\event\course_section_updated (see MDL-45229)
1235 - \core\event\email_failed
1236 - \core\event\group_member_added
1237 - \core\event\group_member_removed
1238 - \core\event\note_created
1239 - \core\event\note_deleted
1240 - \core\event\note_updated
1241 - \core\event\role_assigned
1242 - \core\event\role_deleted
1243 - \core\event\role_unassigned
1244 - \core\event\user_graded
1245 - \core\event\user_loggedinas
1246 - \core\event\user_profile_viewed
1247 - \core\event\webservice_token_created
1250 * $module uses in mod/xxx/version.php files is now deprecated. Please use $plugin instead. It will be removed in Moodle 2.10.
1251 * Update init methods in all event classes - "level" property was renamed to "edulevel", the level property is now deprecated.
1252 * Abstract class \core\event\course_module_instances_list_viewed is deprecated now, use \core\event\instances_list_viewed instead.
1253 * Abstract class core\event\content_viewed has been deprecated. Please extend base event or other relevant abstract class.
1254 * mod_book\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_book\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1255 * mod_chat\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_chat\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1256 * mod_choice\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_choice\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1257 * mod_feedback\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_feedback\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1258 * mod_page\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_page\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
1259 * The constants FRONTPAGECOURSELIST, FRONTPAGETOPICONLY & FRONTPAGECOURSELIMIT have been removed.
1260 * Conditional availability API has moved and changed. The condition_info class is
1261 replaced by \core_availability\info_module, and condition_info_section by
1262 \core_availability\info_section. (Code that uses the old classes will generally
1264 * coursemodule_visible_for_user() has been deprecated but still works - replaced
1265 by a new static function \core_availability\info_module::is_user_visible()
1266 * cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_conditional_access has been deprecated
1267 but still works (it has never done what its name suggests, and is
1269 * cm_info and section_info property showavailability has been deprecated, but
1270 still works (with the caveat that this information is now per-user).
1271 * cm_info and section_info properties availablefrom and availableuntil have been
1272 deprecated and always return zero (underlying data doesn't have these values).
1273 * section_info property groupingid has been deprecated and always returns zero,
1275 * Various cm_info methods have been deprecated in favour of their read-only properties (get_url(), get_content(), get_extra_classes(),
1276 get_on_click(), get_custom_data(), get_after_link, get_after_edit_icons)
1277 * The ajaxenabled function has been deprecated and always returns true. All code should be fully functional in Javascript.
1278 * count_login_failures() has been deprecated, use user_count_login_failures() instead. Refer MDL-42891 for details.
1280 Conditional availability (activities and sections):
1281 * New conditional availability API in /availability, including new availability
1282 condition plugins in /availability/condition. The new API is very similar with
1283 regard to checking availability, but any code that modifies availability settings
1284 for an activity or section is likely to need substantial changes.
1287 * The lightbox attribute for moodle-core-notification-dialogue has been
1288 deprecated and replaced by the modal attribute. This was actually
1289 changed in Moodle 2.2, but has only been marked as deprecated now. It
1290 will be removed in Moodle 2.9.
1291 * When destroying any type of dialogue based on moodle-core-notification, the relevant content is also removed from
1292 the DOM. Previously it was left orphaned.
1295 * The findChildNodes global function has been deprecated. Y.all should
1297 * The callback argument to confirm_action and M.util.show_confirm_dialog has been deprecated. If you need to write a
1298 confirmation which includes a callback, please use moodle-core-notification-confirmation and attach callbacks to the
1301 * New locking api and admin settings to configure the system locking type.
1302 * New "Time spent waiting for the database" performance metric displayed along with the
1303 other MDL_PERF vars; the change affects both the error logs and the vars displayed in
1305 * Changes in the tag API. The component and contextid are now saved when assigning tags to an item. Please see
1306 tag/upgrade.txt for more information.
1310 * Use new methods from core_component class instead of get_core_subsystems(), get_plugin_types(),
1311 get_plugin_list(), get_plugin_list_with_class(), get_plugin_directory(), normalize_component(),
1312 get_component_directory() and get_plugin_list_with_file(). The names of the new methods are
1313 exactly the same, the only differences are that core_component::get_plugin_types() now always returns
1314 full paths and core_component::get_plugin_list() does not accept empty parameter any more.
1315 * Use core_text::* instead of textlib:: and also core_collator::* instead of collatorlib::*.
1316 * Use new function moodleform::mock_submit() to simulate form submission in unit tests (backported).
1317 * New $CFG->localcachedir setting useful for cluster nodes. Admins have to update X-Sendfile aliases if used.
1318 * MS SQL Server drivers are now using NVARCHAR(MAX) instead of NTEXT and VARBINARY(MAX) instead of IMAGE,
1319 this change should be fully transparent and it should help significantly with add-on compatibility.
1320 * The string manager classes were renamed. Note that they should not be modified or used directly,
1321 always use get_string_manager() to get instance of the string manager.
1322 * The ability to use an 'insecure' rc4encrypt/rc4decrypt key has been removed.
1323 * Use $CFG->debugdeveloper instead of debugging('', DEBUG_DEVELOPER).
1324 * Use set_debugging(DEBUG_xxx) when changing debugging level for current request.
1325 * Function moveto_module() does not modify $mod argument and instead now returns the new module visibility value.
1326 * Use behat_selectors::get_allowed_text_selectors() and behat_selectors::get_allowed_selectors() instead of
1327 behat_command::$allowedtextselectors and behat_command::$allowedselectors
1328 * Subplugins are supported in admin tools and local plugins.
1329 * file_packer/zip_packer API has been modified so that key functions support a new file_progress interface
1330 to report progress during long operations. Related to this, zip_archive now supports an estimated_count()
1331 function that returns an approximate number of entries in the zip faster than the count() function.
1332 * Class cm_info no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only and calculated on first request only.
1333 * Class course_modinfo no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only.
1334 * Database fields modinfo and sectioncache in table course are removed. Application cache core/coursemodinfo
1335 is used instead. Course cache is still reset, rebuilt and retrieved using function rebuild_course_cache() and
1336 get_fast_modinfo(). Purging all caches and every core upgrade purges course modinfo cache as well.
1337 If function get_fast_modinfo() is called for multiple courses make sure to include field cacherev in course
1339 * Internal (noreply and support) user support has been added for sending/receiving message.
1340 Use core_user::get_noreply_user() and core_user::get_support_user() to get noreply and support user's respectively.
1341 Real users can be used as noreply/support users by setting $CFG->noreplyuserid and $CFG->supportuserid
1342 * New function readfile_allow_large() in filelib.php for use when very large files may need sending to user.
1343 * Use core_plugin_manager::reset_caches() when changing visibility of plugins.
1344 * Implement new method get_enabled_plugins() method in subplugin info classes.
1345 * Each plugin should include version information in version.php.
1346 * Module and block tables do not contain version column any more, use get_config('xx_yy', 'version') instead.
1347 * $USER->password field is intentionally unset so that session data does not contain password hashes.
1348 * Use core_shutdown_manager::register_function() instead of register_shutdown_function().
1349 * New file packer for .tar.gz files; obtain by calling get_file_packer('application/x-gzip'). Intended initially
1350 for use in backup/restore only, as there are limitations on supported filenames. Also new packer for
1351 backups which supports both compression formats; get_file_packer('application/vnd.moodle.backup').
1352 * New optional parameter to stored_file::get_content_file_handle to open file handle with 'gzopen' instead
1353 of 'fopen' to read gzip-compressed files if required.
1354 * update_internal_user_password() and setnew_password_and_mail() now trigger user_updated event.
1355 * Add thirdpartylibs.xml file to plugins that bundle any 3rd party libraries.
1356 * New class introduced to help auto generate zIndex values for modal dialogues. Class "moodle-has-zindex"
1357 should set on any element which uses a non-default zindex and needs to ensure it doesn't show above a
1359 * $CFG->filelifetime is now used consistently for most file serving operations, the default was lowered
1360 to 6 hours from 24 hours because etags and x-sendfile support should make file serving less expensive.
1361 * Date format locale charset for windows server will come from calendar type and for gregorian it will use
1363 * The library to interact with Box.net (class boxclient) is only compatible with their APIv1 which
1364 reaches its end of life on the 14th of Dec. You should migrate your scripts to make usage of the
1365 new class boxnet_client(). Note that the method names and return values have changed.
1366 * Settings pages are now possible for Calendar type plugins. Calendar type plugins that require a settings page to
1367 work properly will need to set their requires version to a number that is equal to or grater than the 2.6.1 release version.
1368 * The admin/tool/generator tool was overhauled to use testing data generators and the previous interface to create
1369 test data was removed (it was not working correctly anyway). If you were using this tool you will probably need to
1373 Various previously deprecated functions have now been altered to throw DEBUG_DEVELOPER debugging notices
1374 and will be removed in a future release (target: 2.8), a summary follows:
1377 * get_context_instance() -> context_xxxx::instance()
1378 * get_context_instance_by_id() -> context::instance_by_id($id)
1379 * get_system_context() -> context_system::instance()
1380 * context_moved() -> context::update_moved()
1381 * preload_course_contexts() -> context_helper::preload_course()
1382 * context_instance_preload() -> context_helper::preload_from_record()
1383 * context_instance_preload_sql() -> context_helper::get_preload_record_columns_sql()
1384 * get_contextlevel_name() -> context_helper::get_level_name()
1385 * create_contexts() -> context_helper::create_instances()
1386 * cleanup_contexts() -> context_helper::cleanup_instances()
1387 * build_context_path() -> context_helper::build_all_paths()
1388 * print_context_name() -> $context->get_context_name()
1389 * mark_context_dirty() -> $context->mark_dirty()
1390 * delete_context() -> $context->delete_content() or context_helper::delete_instance()
1391 * get_context_url() -> $context->get_url()
1392 * get_course_context() -> $context->get_course_context()
1393 * get_parent_contexts() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids()
1394 * get_parent_contextid() -> $context->get_parent_context()
1395 * get_child_contexts() -> $context->get_child_contexts()
1396 * rebuild_contexts() -> $context->reset_paths()
1397 * get_user_courses_bycap() -> enrol_get_users_courses()
1398 * get_courseid_from_context() -> $context->get_course_context(false)
1399 * get_role_context_caps() -> (no replacement)
1400 * load_temp_role() -> (no replacement)
1401 * remove_temp_roles() -> (no replacement)
1402 * get_related_contexts_string() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids(true)
1403 * get_recent_enrolments() -> (no replacement)
1406 * get_course_participants() -> get_enrolled_users()
1407 * is_course_participant() -> is_enrolled()
1410 * current_theme() -> $PAGE->theme->name
1411 * skip_main_destination() -> $OUTPUT->skip_link_target()
1412 * print_container() -> $OUTPUT->container()
1413 * print_container_start() -> $OUTPUT->container_start()
1414 * print_container_end() -> $OUTPUT->container_end()
1415 * print_continue() -> $OUTPUT->continue_button()
1416 * print_header() -> $PAGE methods
1417 * print_header_simple() -> $PAGE methods
1418 * print_side_block() -> $OUTPUT->block()
1419 * print_arrow() -> $OUTPUT->arrow()
1420 * print_scale_menu_helpbutton() -> $OUTPUT->help_icon_scale($courseid, $scale)
1421 * print_checkbox() -> html_writer::checkbox()
1424 * print_navigation() -> $OUTPUT->navbar()
1425 * build_navigation() -> $PAGE->navbar methods
1426 * navmenu() -> (no replacement)
1427 * settings_navigation::
1428 get_course_modules() -> (no replacement)
1430 Files and repositories:
1431 * stored_file::replace_content_with() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1432 * stored_file::set_filesize() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1433 * stored_file::get_referencelifetime() -> (no replacement)
1434 * repository::sync_external_file() -> see repository::sync_reference()
1435 * repository::get_file_by_reference() -> repository::sync_reference()
1437 get_reference_file_lifetime() -> (no replacement)
1438 * repository::sync_individual_file() -> (no replacement)
1439 * repository::reset_caches() -> (no replacement)
1442 * add_event() -> calendar_event::create()
1443 * update_event() -> calendar_event->update()
1444 * delete_event() -> calendar_event->delete()
1445 * hide_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(false)
1446 * show_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(true)
1449 * filter_text() -> format_text(), format_string()...
1450 * httpsrequired() -> $PAGE->https_required()
1451 * detect_munged_arguments() -> clean_param([...], PARAM_FILE)
1452 * mygroupid() -> groups_get_all_groups()
1453 * js_minify() -> core_minify::js_files()
1454 * css_minify_css() -> core_minify::css_files()
1455 * course_modinfo::build_section_cache() -> (no replacement)
1456 * generate_email_supportuser() -> core_user::get_support_user()
1459 * session_get_instance()->xxx() -> \core\session\manager::xxx()
1460 * session_kill_all() -> \core\session\manager::kill_all_sessions()
1461 * session_touch() -> \core\session\manager::touch_session()
1462 * session_kill() -> \core\session\manager::kill_session()
1463 * session_kill_user() -> \core\session\manager::kill_user_sessions()
1464 * session_gc() -> \core\session\manager::gc()
1465 * session_set_user() -> \core\session\manager::set_user()
1466 * session_is_loggedinas() -> \core\session\manager::is_loggedinas()
1467 * session_get_realuser() -> \core\session\manager::get_realuser()
1468 * session_loginas() -> \core\session\manager::loginas()
1470 User-agent related functions:
1471 * check_browser_operating_system() -> core_useragent::check_browser_operating_system()
1472 * check_browser_version() -> core_useragent::check_browser_version()
1473 * get_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type()
1474 * get_device_type_list() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_list()
1475 * get_selected_theme_for_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_theme()
1476 * get_device_cfg_var_name() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_cfg_var_name()
1477 * set_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::set_user_device_type()
1478 * get_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_user_device_type()
1479 * get_browser_version_classes() -> core_useragent::get_browser_version_classes()
1482 * moodle-core-notification has been deprecated with a recommendation of
1483 using its subclasses instead. This is to allow for reduced page
1484 transport costs. Current subclasses include:
1491 Event triggering and event handlers:
1492 * All existing events and event handlers should be replaced by new
1493 event classes and matching new event observers.
1494 * See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2 for more information.
1495 * The following events will be entirely removed, though they can still
1496 be captured using handlers, but they should not be used any more.
1497 * groups_members_removed -> \core\event\group_member_removed
1498 * groups_groupings_groups_removed -> (no replacement)
1499 * groups_groups_deleted -> \core\event\group_deleted
1500 * groups_groupings_deleted -> \core\event\grouping_deleted
1501 * edit_module_post_actions() does not trigger events any more.
1505 * New get_course() function for use when obtaining the course record from database. Will
1506 reuse existing $COURSE or $SITE globals if possible to improve performance.
1510 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) aren't using anymore the ::columns property
1511 for caching database metadata. MUC (databasemeta) is used instead. Any custom DB driver should
1512 apply for that change.
1513 * The cron output has been changed to include time and memory usage (see cron_trace_time_and_memory()),
1514 so any custom utility relying on the old output may require modification.
1515 * Function get_max_file_sizes now returns an option for (for example) "Course limit (500MB)" or
1516 "Site limit (200MB)" when appropriate with the option set to 0. This function no longer returns
1517 an option for 0 bytes. Existing code that was replacing the 0 option in the return
1518 from this function with a more sensible message, can now use the return from this function directly.
1519 * Functions responsible for output in course/lib.php are deprecated, the code is moved to
1520 appropriate renderers: print_section(), print_section_add_menus(), get_print_section_cm_text(),
1521 make_editing_buttons()
1522 See functions' phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php
1523 * Function get_print_section_cm_text() is deprecated, replaced with methods in cm_info
1524 * zip_packer may create empty zip archives, there is a new option to ignore
1525 problematic files when creating archive
1526 * The function delete_course_module was deprecated and has been replaced with
1527 course_delete_module. The reason for this was because the function delete_course_module
1528 only partially deletes data, so wherever it was called extra code was needed to
1529 perform the whole deletion process. The function course_delete_module now takes care
1530 of the whole process.
1531 * curl::setopt() does not accept constant values any more. As it never worked properly,
1532 we decided to make the type check stricter. Now, the keys of the array pass must be a string
1533 corresponding to the curl constant name.
1534 * Function get_users_listing now return list of users except guest and deleted users. Previously
1535 deleted users were excluded by get_users_listing. As guest user is not expected while browsing users,
1536 and not included in get_user function, it will not be returned by get_users_listing.
1537 * The add_* functions in course/dnduploadlib.php have been deprecated. Plugins should be using the
1538 MODNAME_dndupload_register callback instead.
1539 * The signature of the add() method of classes implementing the parentable_part_of_admin_tree
1540 interface (such as admin_category) has been extended. The new parameter allows the caller
1541 to prepend the new node before an existing sibling in the admin tree.
1542 * condition_info:get_condition_user_fields($formatoptions) now accepts the optional
1543 param $formatoptions, that will determine if the field names are processed by
1544 format_string() with the passed options.
1545 * remove all references to $CFG->gdversion, GD PHP extension is now required
1546 * Formslib will now throw a developer warning if a PARAM_ type hasn't been set for elements which
1547 need it. Please set PARAM_RAW explicitly if you do not want any cleaning.
1548 * Functions responsible for managing and accessing course categories are moved to class coursecat
1549 in lib/coursecatlib.php, functions responsible for rendering courses and categories lists are
1550 moved to course/renderer.php. The following global functions are deprecated: make_categories_list(),
1551 category_delete_move(), category_delete_full(), move_category(), course_category_hide(),
1552 course_category_show(), get_course_category(), create_course_category(), get_all_subcategories(),
1553 get_child_categories(), get_categories(), print_my_moodle(), print_remote_course(),
1554 print_remote_host(), print_whole_category_list(), print_category_info(), get_course_category_tree(),
1555 print_courses(), print_course(), get_category_courses_array(), get_category_courses_array_recursively(),
1556 get_courses_wmanagers()
1557 See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Courses_lists_upgrade_to_2.5
1558 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
1559 * Additional (optional) param $onlyactive has been added to get_enrolled_users, count_enrolled_users
1560 functions to get information for only active (excluding suspended enrolments) users. Included two
1561 helper functions extract_suspended_users, get_suspended_userids to extract suspended user information.
1562 * The core_plugin_manager class now provides two new helper methods for getting information
1563 about known plugins: get_plugins_of_type() and get_subplugins_of_plugin().
1564 * The get_uninstall_url() method of all subclasses of \core\plugininfo\base class is now expected
1565 to always return moodle_url. Subclasses can use the new method is_uninstall_allowed()
1566 to control the availability of the 'Uninstall' link at the Plugins overview page (previously
1567 they would do it by get_uninstall_url() returning null). By default, URL to a new general plugin
1568 uninstall tool is returned. Unless the plugin type needs extra steps that can't be handled by
1569 plugininfo_xxx::uninstall() method or xmldb_xxx_uninstall() function, this default URL should
1570 satisfy all plugin types.
1572 Database (DML) layer:
1573 * $DB->sql_empty() is deprecated, you have to use sql parameters with empty values instead,
1574 please note hardcoding of empty strings in SQL queries breaks execution in Oracle database.
1575 * Indexes must not be defined on the same columns as keys, this is now reported as fatal problem.
1576 Please note that internally we create indexes instead of foreign keys.
1579 * M.util.help_icon has been deprecated. Code should be updated to use moodle-core-popuphelp
1580 instead. To do so, remove any existing JS calls to M.util.help_icon from your PHP and ensure
1581 that your help link is placed in a span which has the class 'helplink'.
1585 * Pagelib: Numerous deprecated functions were removed as classes page_base, page_course
1586 and page_generic_activity.
1587 * use $CFG->googlemapkey3 instead of removed $CFG->googlemapkey and migrate to Google Maps API V3
1588 * Function settings_navigation::add_course_editing_links() is completely removed
1589 * function global_navigation::format_display_course_content() is removed completely (the
1590 functionality is moved to course format class)
1591 * in the function global_navigation::load_generic_course_sections() the argument $courseformat is
1593 * New component and itemid columns in groups_members table - this allows plugin to create protected
1594 group memberships using 'xx_yy_allow_group_member_remove' callback and there is also a new restore
1595 callback 'xx_yy_restore_group_member()'.
1596 * New general role assignment restore plugin callback 'xx_yy_restore_role_assignment()'.
1597 * functions get_generic_section_name(), get_all_sections(), add_mod_to_section(), get_all_mods()
1598 are deprecated. See their phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php on how to replace them
1601 * moodle-enrol-notification has been renamed to moodle-core-notification
1602 * YUI2 code must now use 2in3, see http://yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/yui/yui-yui2.html
1603 * M.util.init_select_autosubmit() and M.util.init_url_select() have been deprecated. Code using this should be updated
1604 to use moodle-core-formautosubmit
1606 Unit testing changes:
1607 * output debugging() is not sent to standard output any more,
1608 use $this->assertDebuggingCalled(), $this->assertDebuggingNotCalled(),
1609 $this->getDebuggingMessages() or $this->assertResetDebugging() instead.
1613 Database layer changes:
1614 * objects are not allowed in paramters of DML functions, use explicit casting to strings if necessary
1617 * DDL and DML methods which were deprecated in 2.0 have now been removed, they will no longer produce
1618 debug messages and will produce fatal errors
1622 * send_stored_file() has changed its interface
1623 * deleted several resourcelib_embed_* functions from resourcelib.php
1627 removed unused libraries:
1628 * odbc, base32, CodeSniffer, overlib, apd profiling, kses, Smarty, PEAR Console, swfobject, cssshover.htc, md5.js
1631 * new admin/tool plugin type
1632 * new context API - old API is still available
1633 * deleted users do not have context any more
1634 * removed global search
1640 * basic suport for restore from 1.9
1641 * new mobile devices API
1648 * new DML API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DML_functions
1649 * new DDL API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DDL_functions
1650 * new file API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/File_API
1651 * new $PAGE and $OUTPUT API
1652 * new navigation API
1653 * new theme API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Theme_changes_in_2.0
1654 * new javascript API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/JavaScript_usage_guide
1656 * new local plugin type
1657 * new translation support - http://lang.moodle.org
1658 * new web service API
1665 * new backup/restore API
1668 * improved plugin support (aka Frankenstyle)
1669 * new registration and hub API
1670 * new course completion API
1671 * new plagiarism API
1673 * new text editor API
1674 * new my moodle and profiles API