Deprecated functions in 2.0

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Moodle 2.0

THIS PAGE IS OUTDATED, DO NOT USE!

This page lists all functions that have been deprecated between 1.9 and 2.0, with instructions on how to upgrade your code. A count of remaining function calls in core is kept next to each function name.

General notes

The following functions have been arranged in alphabetical order, although some of them are very closely related to each other. The number of occurrences of these function calls at the time of writing are indicated in parentheses.

Functions to migrate

button_to_popup_window (0)

Old code:

button_to_popup_window($url, $name, $linkname, $height, $width, $title, $options, $return, $id, $class);

New code:

$form = new html_form();
$form->button->text = $linkname;
$form->button->title = $title;
$form->button->id = $id;
$form->url = $url;
$form->add_class($class);
$form->button->add_action(new popup_action('click', $url, $name, $options));
echo $OUTPUT->button($form);

Note: popup parameters ($options) must be prepared as an associative array, not a string as previously. Simply reusing the $options param previously passed to button_to_popup_window() will not work. The $height and $width params are also part of the popup params. See lib/deprecatedlib.php for an example of how the legacy function call is handled.

choose_from_menu (1)

Old code:

choose_from_menu($options, $name, $selected, $nothing, $script, $nothingvalue, $return, $disabled, $tabindex, $id, $listbox, $multiple, $class);

New code:

$attributes['disabled'] = $disabled;
$attributes['tabindex'] = $tabindex;
$attributes['multiple'] = $multiple;
$attributes['class'] = $class;
$attributes['id'] = $id;

echo html_writer::select($options, $name, $selected, array($nothingvalue=>$nothing), $attributes);

choose_from_menu_nested (0)

Old code:

choose_from_menu_nested($options, $name, $selected, $nothing, $script, $nothingvalue, $return, $disabled, $tabindex);

New code:

$select = moodle_select::make($options, $name, $selected);
$select->tabindex = $tabindex;
$select->disabled = $disabled;
$select->nothingvalue = $nothingvalue;
$select->nested = true;

echo $OUTPUT->select($select);

Notes:

1. The lang string "choose" is no longer used, in favour of "choosedots".
2. The $script param is no longer supported. Please use component::add_action() instead.

choose_from_menu_yesno (0)

Old code:

choose_from_menu_yesno($name, $selected, $script, $return, $disabled, $tabindex);

New code:

$select = moodle_select::make_yes_no($name, $selected);
$select->disabled = $disabled;
$select->tabindex = $tabindex;
echo $OUTPUT->select($select);

Note: The $script param has been dropped, you need to use component::add_action() instead.

close_window_button (0)

Old code:

close_window_button($name, $return, $reloadopener);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->close_window_button(get_string($name));

Note: You must pass a language string already processed by get_string().

print_continue (0)

Old code:

print_continue($link, $return);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->continue_button($link);

doc_link (0)

Old code:

doc_link($path, $text, $iconpath);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->doc_link($path, $text, $iconpath);

Note: This is not for general use, do not confuse with help_icon()

formerr (0)

Old code:

formerr($string);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->error_text($error);

helpbutton (0)

Old code:

helpbutton($page, $title, $module, $image, $linktext, $text, $return, $imagetext);

New code:

$helpicon = new help_icon();
$helpicon->page = $page; // required
$helpicon->text = $title; // required
$helpicon->module = $module; // defaults to 'moodle'
$helpicon->linktext = $linktext;

echo $OUTPUT->help_icon($helpicon);

link_to_popup_window (0)

Old code:

link_to_popup_window($url, $name, $linkname, $height, $width, $title, $options, $return);

New code:

$link = html_link::make($url, $linkname);
$link->title = $title; // optional
$options['height'] = $height; // optional
$options['width'] = $width; // optional
$link->add_action(new popup_action('click', $url, $name, $options));
echo $OUTPUT->link($link);

Note: popup parameters ($options) must be prepared as an associative array, not a string as previously. Simply reusing the $options param previously passed to link_to_popup_window() will not work. See lib/deprecatedlib.php for an example of how the legacy function call is handled.

notice_yesno (0)

Old code:

notice_yesno($message, $linkyes, $linkno, $optionsyes, $optionsno, $methodyes, $methodno);

New code (simplest form):

echo $OUTPUT->confirm($message, $linkyes, $linkno);

New code (with options in arrays):

echo $OUTPUT->confirm($message, new moodle_url($linkyes, $optionsyes), new moodle_url($linkno, $optionsno));

New code (if the "get" method is required):

$formcontinue = new single_button($linkyes, $optionsyes, get_string('yes'), $methodyes);
$formcancel = new single_button($linkno, $optionsno, get_string('no'), $methodno);
echo $OUTPUT->confirm($message, $formcontinue, $formcancel);

notify (0)

Old code:

notify($message, $classes, $align, $return);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->notification($message, $classes='');

Note: Use a CSS rule for alignment.

popup_form (0)

Old code:

popup_form($baseurl, $options, $formid, $selected, $nothing, $help, $helptext, $return, $targetwindow, $selectlabel, $optionsextra, $submitvalue, $disabled, $showbutton);

New code:

// if $baseurl == 'http://domain.com/index.php?var1=1&var2='
$select = html_select::make_popup_form('http://domain.com/index.php?var1=1', 'var2', $options, $formid, $selected);
$select->disabled = $disabled; // optional
$select->set_label($selectlabel, $select->id); // optional, set to false if no "nothing" option is desired (when $selectlabel == '' in original call)
$select->set_help_icon($help, $helptext); // optional
$select->form->button->text = $submitvalue; // optional

echo $OUTPUT->select($select);

Notes:

• The $optionsextra param is not supported. If your code uses it, you should find another way to add extra params to your <option> tags without using this horrible hack which usually includes inline JS or CSS.

print_box* (0)

Old code:

print_box($message, $classes, $ids, $return);
print_box_start($classes, $ids, $return);
print_box_end();

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->box($message, $classes, $ids);
echo $OUTPUT->box_start($classes, $ids);
echo $OUTPUT->box_end();

print_checkbox (10)

Old code:

print_checkbox($name, $value, $checked, $label, $alt, $script, $return);

New code:

$checkbox = new html_select_option();
$checkbox->value = $value; // Required
$checkbox->selected = $checked;
$checkbox->text = $label;
$checkbox->label->text = $label;
$checkbox->alt = $alt;
                                               
echo $OUTPUT->checkbox($checkbox, $name);

Note: html_select_option is a component that can be rendered as a select <option>, a radio button or a checkbox. It holds sufficient information to render all these elements, except the $name variable which is attached to a moodle_select component. This is why we pass the $name string to $OUTPUT->checkbox().

print_container (0)

Old code:

print_container($message, $clearfix, $classes, $idbase, $return);

New code:

if ($clearfix) {
    $classes .= ' clearfix';
}
echo $OUTPUT->container($message, $classes, $idbase);

print_footer (0)

Old code:

print_footer($course, $usercourse, $return);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->footer();

Notes: No parameters are required.

print_header (501)

Old code:

print_header($title, $heading, $navigation, $focus, $meta, $cache, $button, $menu, $usexml, $bodytags, $return);

New code:

$PAGE->set_heading($heading); // Required
$PAGE->set_title($title);
$PAGE->set_cacheable($cache);
$PAGE->set_focuscontrol($focus);
$PAGE->set_button($button);
$PAGE->navbar->add($nav_entry[0]);
$PAGE->navbar->add($nav_entry[1]);

echo $OUTPUT->header();

Note: Navigation code is being rewritten, this doc will then be updated with the new usage.

print_heading (0)

Old code:

print_heading($text, $align, $size, $class, $return, $id);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->heading($text, $size, $class, $id);

Note: Use a CSS class rule to control alignment.

print_headline (0)

Old code:

print_headline($text, $size);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->heading($text, $size);

print_paging_bar (2)

Old code:

print_paging_bar($totalcount, $page, $perpage, $baseurl, $pagevar, $nocurr, $return);

New code:

$pagingbar = new moodle_paging_bar();
$pagingbar->totalcount = $totalcount; // Required
$pagingbar->page = $page; // Required
$pagingbar->perpage = $perpage; // Required
$pagingbar->baseurl = $baseurl; // Required
$pagingbar->pagevar = $pagevar;
echo $OUTPUT->paging_bar($pagingbar);

Note: The last two instances of print_paging_bar are found in the old tablelib, which will soon be deprecated.

Note: $nocurr has been dropped. Current page number is never displayed as a link

print_scale_menu_helpbutton (0)

Old code:

print_scale_menu_helpbutton($courseid, $scale);

New code:

echo $OUTPUT->help_button(help_button::make_scale_menu($courseid, $scale));

print_single_button (0)

Old code:

print_single_button($link, $options, $label, $method, $notusedanymore, $return, $tooltip, $disabled, $jsconfirmmessage, $formid)

New code:

$form = new html_form();
$form->url = new moodle_url($link, $options); // Required
$form->button = new html_button();
$form->button->text = $label; // Required
$form->button->disabled = $disabled;
$form->button->title = $tooltip;
$form->method = $method;
$form->id = $formid;

if ($jsconfirmmessage) {
    $confirmaction = new component_action('click', 'confirm_dialog', array('message' => $jsconfirmmessage));
    $form->button->add_action($confirmaction);
}

$output = $OUTPUT->button($form);

print_spacer (0)

Old code:

print_spacer($height, $width, $br, $return);

New code:

$spacer = new html_image();
$spacer->height = $height;
$spacer->width = $width;
echo $OUTPUT->spacer($spacer);

Note: The $br attribute has been dropped. You can simply add a line break manually if you need one.

print_table (0)

Old code:

$table = new stdClass();
$table->class = 'mytable';
$table->head  = array('Firstname', 'Lastname');
$table->rowclasses = array();
// (other table properties here)
$table->data = array(array(...),array(...),array(...));
print_table($table, $return);

New code:

$table = new html_table();
$table->set_classes('mytable'); // note the new style of setting CSS class
$table->head = array('First name', 'Last name');
$table->colclasses = array('name fname','name lname');
$table->rowclasses = array();
// (other table properties here)
$table->data = array(array(...),array(...),array(...));
echo $OUTPUT->table($newtable);

Notes: The new html_table object has the same member variables as the one originally used by print_table(), but has additional, required methods. You must map the old $table object to the new html_table object, as demonstrated above and in lib/deprecatedlib.php (see old print_table function).

print_user_picture (0)

Old code:

print_user_picture($user, $courseid, $picture, $size, $return, $link, $target, $alttext);

New code (simple):

$userpic = new moodle_user_picture();
$userpic->user = $user;
$userpic->courseid = $courseid;
echo $OUTPUT->user_picture($userpic);

New code (complex: alternate text, size, different image and popup action):

$userpic = new user_picture();
$userpic->user = $user;
$userpic->courseid = $courseid;
$userpic->size = $size;
$userpic->link = $link;
$userpic->visibletoscreenreaders = false;
$userpic->alttext = $alttext;
$userpic->image->src = $picture;
$userpic->add_action(new popup_action('click', new moodle_url($target)));

echo $OUTPUT->user_picture($userpic);

update_module_button (94)

Old code:

$button = update_module_button($cm->id, $course->id, get_string('modulename', 'workshop')); // passed to print_header_simple()

New code:

$PAGE->set_button($OUTPUT->update_module_button($cm->id, 'workshop'));

Note: $courseid param has been dropped.

Non-supported functions

These functions have been completely dropped in 2.0, most likely because they were used very little or not at all. All calls to these functions in core should have been replaced.

See also

• How Moodle outputs HTML
• Migrating your code to the 2.0 rendering API