Note:

If you want to create a new page for developers, you should create it on the Moodle Developer Resource site.

Activity modules

From MoodleDocs
Revision as of 16:28, 8 March 2012 by Seth Battin (talk | contribs)
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Activity modules reside in the /mod directory. Each module is in a separate subdirectory and consists of the following mandatory elements (plus extra scripts unique to each module):

  • mod_form.php - a form to set up or update an instance of this module
  • version.php - defines some meta-info
  • pix/icon.gif - a 16x16 icon for the module
  • db/install.xml - defines the structure of db tables for all database types. Is used during module installation
  • db/upgrade.php - defines changes in the structure of db tables. Is used during module upgrade
  • db/access.php - defines module capabilities
  • index.php - a page to list all instances in a course
  • view.php - a page to view a particular instance
  • lib.php - any/all functions defined by the module should be in here. If the module name is called widget, then the required functions include:
  • widget_install() - will be called during the installation of the module
  • widget_add_instance() - code to add a new instance of widget
  • widget_update_instance() - code to update an existing instance
  • widget_delete_instance() - code to delete an instance
  • widget_user_outline() - given an instance, return a summary of a user's contribution
  • widget_user_complete() - given an instance, print details of a user's contribution
  • widget_get_view_actions() / widget_get_post_actions() - Used by the participation report (course/report/participation/index.php) to classify actions in the logs table.
  • Other functions available but not required are:
  • To avoid possible conflict, any module functions should be named starting with widget_ and any constants you define should start with WIDGET_
  • backuplib.php and restorelib.php (optional)
  • settings.php or settingstree.php - (optional) a definition of an admin settings page for this module. mod/assignment/settings.php is a good simple example. mod/quiz/settingstree.php is a more complex example.
  • defaults.php - lets you easily define default values for your configuration variables. It is included by upgrade_activity_modules in lib/adminlib.php. It should define an array $defaults. These values are then loaded into the config table. Alternatively, if you set $defaults['_use_config_plugins'] to true, the values are instead loaded into the config_plugins table, which is better practice. See mod/quiz/defaults.php for an example. (This apparently only works with moodle 2.x branch.)
  • lang/en/widget.php - (optional) Lastly, each module will have some language files that contain strings for that module.

IMPORTANT:

  • When creating a new module, the new name of the module must not contain numbers or other special characters!
  • You need a data base table with the same name as your module. This table must have at least three fields:
    1. id
    2. course
    3. name
  • You should also make sure that your activity module provides appropriate support for groups and meta-courses.

See also

Using Moodle forum discussions: