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   1  This files describes API changes for question type plugins.
   2  
   3  === 2.7 ===
   4    + We have added a new method to the question_type base class 'break_down_stats_and_response_analysis_by_variant'. By default it
   5     returns true. If your question type does not have variants of question instances then you can ignore this method as it only
   6     applies to question types that have variants. If a question type does have variants the default action is to break down
   7     response analysis and question stats by variant. But for some question types there might be an almost infinite quantity of
   8     variants for the question, in this case you can suppress break down by variant by returning false from this method. See for
   9     example the non-core question type varnumeric or the slightly more complex stack question type.
  10    + We have added a pair of methods to the question_definition class 'prepare_simulated_post_data' and
  11    'get_student_response_values_for_simulation'. You may want to override these methods in question.php in your question type plug
  12     -in. These methods are used to convert data from a csv file of simulated step data into the simulated post data that is fed
  13     to the question engine. These csv files can be used for unit testing or manual testing the use of your question type within the
  14     quiz module.  You  can use the simulate quiz report for manual testing and also to easily generate csv test files. You can
  15     run a number of students through a test and then download a csv file representing their interaction with the quiz. For most
  16     question types the default of just passing csv data as post data, directly from the csv file will probably work fine. But for
  17     certain question types where the meaning of the post data is deliberately obfuscated it might be necessary to convert from a
  18     human friendly format in the csv file to response data expected by the question type using 'prepare_simulated_post_data' and
  19     to convert back from a question type response array to values for download in a csv file using
  20     'get_student_response_values_for_simulation'.
  21  === 2.6 ===
  22    + The changes in MDL-32750 were reverted in favour of the new pdw toggle toolbars
  23      plugin for TinyMCE. The get_non_collapsible_editor_options method has been deprecated.
  24  
  25  === 2.5 ===
  26  
  27  * There have been some tweaks to the helper class that is used to write
  28    walkthrough tests. You should not have to change your code, but you might
  29    like to take a look at some of the new helper methods available. In particular,
  30    if you had any code that did
  31    $this->process_submission(array('-finish' => 1));
  32    you should change that to
  33    $this->finish();
  34  
  35  * There have been lots of usability improvements to the question editing forms.
  36    MDL-37417 links to all the changes. There are only a few API changes that
  37    *require* you to upgrade your question type, but you are strongly recommended
  38    to make similar usability improvements in your own question types.
  39  
  40    + Some of the ids used in the form HTML have had ‘id_’ added at the front.
  41      Take care if you refer to these in your JavasSript or CSS.
  42  
  43    + MDL-32750 The HTML editing tools are now collapsed. This is applied by default
  44      to all HTML editors except question text and general feedback. If you want to
  45      add more exceptions, see the get_non_collabsible_editor_options method.
  46  
  47    + Form fields have been grouped onto one line where appropriate, to reduce
  48      the height of the form. qtype_numerical is a good example of this.
  49  
  50    + Where elements are in groups, we have changed the normal accesshide CSS, so
  51      that their labels are visible. If you were using grouped elements in the past
  52      with static elements to lable the fields, then you will need to remove the statics.
  53  
  54    + All the choices / answers have been merged into a single section of the form.
  55      This works better with the new 'shortforms' MDL-30637. Also the
  56      "Add blanks for more ..." buttons are now inside that section. This probably
  57      requries that you remove any headings from your per-answer fields, and change
  58      some of the labels.
  59  
  60    + Having merged all the elements into one form section, we then used CSS to
  61      visually group the fields for one choice, answer, etc.
  62  
  63    + When editing an existing question, we only show as many repeats are are
  64      actually needed until the user clicks the "Add blanks for more ..." button.
  65      Where you have your own repeat elements, you may need to change the
  66      number of repeats calculation.
  67  
  68    + As with all forms, setType() is now required for all text form elements.
  69  
  70    + A good example of a question type being upgraded to take account of all these
  71      changes is
  72      https://github.com/moodleou/moodle-qtype_pmatch/commit/9d8e1beb9f780246416a0f3a7622f700b8fa90c8
  73  
  74  
  75  === 2.3.5 / 2.4.2 / 2.5 ===
  76  
  77  * The special value question_attempt::PARAM_CLEANHTML_FILES that could be used
  78    in the get_expected_data method was renamed to question_attempt::PARAM_RAW_FILES
  79    in order to fix a bug. We failed to think this throught, and so did not realised
  80    that this might break some question types. If this affected your question type,
  81    please accept our apologies. Details in MDL-37847.
  82  
  83  
  84  === 2.3 ===
  85  
  86  * Support for backwards-compatible string names dropped. MDL-30120. (See under 2.2 below.)
  87  * If you are overriding export_to_xml and import_from_xml to provide Moodle XML format
  88    import and export, then you will probably get PHP strict syntax notices in developer
  89    debug mode until you change the method signature to include qformat_xml $format.
  90    That is, you need to specify the argument type.
  91  * qtype_xxx_pluginfile() is now given the 7th parameter (hopefully the last
  92    one) that contains additional options for the file serving. The array should
  93    be re-passed to question_pluginfile() as is.
  94  
  95  
  96  === 2.2 ===
  97  
  98  * The XML import/export base class has had some minor API changes. The
  99    - write_combined_feedback method now requires that you pass the questionid and
 100      contextid. (MDL-29058)
 101    - calls to the import_hints and import_answer methods now should pass the question
 102      text format as the last argument, to be used as a default if necessary. (MDL-29739)
 103    If you do not upgrade your code, it will not break, but there will be PHP
 104    warnings, and it the export will not work 100% correctly.
 105  
 106  * The old
 107      public function requires_qtypes()
 108  method is no more. Instead use the ->dependencies facility in version.php. E.g.
 109  $plugin->dependencies = array(
 110      'qtype_numerical' => 2011102700,
 111  );
 112  
 113  * The plugin name and related strings used to be defined in language strings
 114  called the same thing as the format, for example:
 115  
 116  $string['addingdescription'] = 'Adding a Description';
 117  $string['description'] = 'Description';
 118  $string['description_help'] = 'A description is not really a question type. It simply enables text to be displayed without requiring any answers, similar to a label on the course page.
 119  $string['description_link'] = 'A description is not really a question type. It simply enables text to be displayed without requiring any answers, similar to a label on the course page.
 120  $string['descriptionsummary'] = 'This is not actually a question. Instead it is a way to add some instructions, rubric or other content to the activity. This is similar to the way that labels can be used to add content to the course page.';
 121  $string['editingdescription'] = 'Editing a Description';
 122  
 123  All these need to be changed to use the standard string name pluginname, as for
 124  other plugin types, and similar for the other strings.
 125  
 126  $string['pluginname'] = 'Description';
 127  $string['pluginname_help'] = 'A description is not really a question type. It simply enables text to be displayed without requiring any answers, similar to a label on the course page.
 128  $string['pluginname_link'] = 'A description is not really a question type. It simply enables text to be displayed without requiring any answers, similar to a label on the course page.
 129  $string['pluginnameadding'] = 'Adding a Description';
 130  $string['pluginnameediting'] = 'Editing a Description';
 131  $string['pluginnamesummary'] = 'This is not actually a question. Instead it is a way to add some instructions, rubric or other content to the activity. This is similar to the way that labels can be used to add content to the course page.';
 132  
 133  The old strings will continue to work, but only until Moodle 2.3 is released.
 134  
 135  * If you are using the facilities provided by overriding the extra_answer_fields
 136    or questionid_column_name methods, then you must change these to be public
 137    methods. (This is required so that backup and restore can be made to work
 138    automatically. MDL-24408, MDL-25617, MDL-30562)
 139  
 140  
 141  === 2.1 ===
 142  
 143  * Lots of API changes due to the new question engine. See
 144  http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Developing_a_Question_Type#Converting_a_Moodle_2.0_question_type
 145  
 146  
 147  === 2.0 ===
 148  
 149  * Lots of changes due to all the API changes in Moodle 2.0.
 150  
 151  * This plugin type now supports cron in the standard way. If required, Create a
 152    lib.php file containing
 153  function qtype_mypluginname_cron() {};