Book Image

Moodle 1.9 Extension Development

Book Image

Moodle 1.9 Extension Development

Overview of this book

Moodle gives you the power to create and customize feature-rich plug-ins. If you can write Moodle plug-ins, you can make it do just about anything. From making the site easier to administer, to new features, to completely changing the way it looks; plug-ins are the method Moodle offers to customize and extend its functionality. This book will show you how to build all sorts of Moodle plug-ins: admin plug-ins, Blocks, Activities, Grading components, Reports, Fliters that change the way your site works and looks. You will develop standard Moodle plug-ins such as Activities, Filters, and Blocks by creating functioning code that you can execute in your own Moodle installation. Writing modular plug-ins for Moodle will be a large focus of this book.This book will take you inside Moodle and provide you with the ability to develop code the “Moodle way”.This book will expose you to all of the core code functions in Moodle, in a progressive, understandable way. You will learn what libraries are available, what the API calls are, how it is structured and how it can be expanded beyond the plug-in system.You will begin by getting an understanding of the basic architecture that Moodle uses to operate in. Next you will build your first plug-in; a block. You will carry on building other Moodle plug-ins, gaining knowledge of the “Moodle way” of coding, before plunging deeper into the API and inner libraries. Lastly, you will learn how to integrate Moodle with other systems using a variety of methods.When you have completed, you will have a solid understanding of Moodle programming and knowledge of how to extend its functionality in whatever way you want.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Moodle 1.9 Extension Development
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
Preface

Chapter 7. Developing Pluggable Core Modules

Moodle can be extended by using a variety of plugins. Each of these plugin subsystems can be developed by using a variety of standard techniques and unique APIs.

In this chapter, we will look at several of these plugin systems, including:

  • Assignment types

  • Resource types

  • Question types

We will also build our own assignment type.

Assignment types

An assignment is a Moodle activity module that allows specific tasks, which can be completed and tracked, to be assigned to students. The actual task is dependent upon the type of assignment that was selected when the activity is added to the course.

Assignments can be gradable, can be scheduled, and can be assigned due dates. Students complete an assignment through a specific submission action.

Types of tasks can include offline activities, uploading files, or composing content online by using a web-based editor. Assignment tasks are defined by a variety of assignment types.

What is an assignment type

Assignment...