Document Management API - Revision history

Tsala: category

2006-03-26T19:52:17Z

Delius: changed heading hierarchy

2006-03-26T17:53:55Z

changed heading hierarchy

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:53, 26 March 2006
Line 188:		Line 188:
	Returns: URL or false		Returns: URL or false

	=Other methods=		===Other methods===
	change_owner();		change_owner();

			==Other Considerations==
	===Other Considerations===
	* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)		* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)

	==Forum discussions==		==Forum discussions==
	RFC - Remote object repositories -- consolidating implementations http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41026		RFC - Remote object repositories -- consolidating implementations http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41026

Delius: /* Other Considerations */ added link to forum discussion

2006-03-26T17:51:28Z

Other Considerations: added link to forum discussion

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:51, 26 March 2006
Line 194:		Line 194:
	===Other Considerations===		===Other Considerations===
	* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)		* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)

			==Forum discussions==
			RFC - Remote object repositories -- consolidating implementations http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41026

MattOquist: /* DMS Properties Object */

2006-02-01T17:41:44Z

DMS Properties Object

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:41, 1 February 2006
Line 24:		Line 24:

	var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that		var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that


			/* OK, some shameless module promotion here. I've implemented a generic access_control module that I think could be useful here. Maybe it's duplicating some other functionality I just don't know about yet and maybe it has horrible problems that haven't been pointed out to me yet, but I'll mention it here just the same. It's under contrib/ in the [http://moodle.org/download/modules/portfolio.zip portfolio module]. */

	var $access_control; // object with access control specification/methods		var $access_control; // object with access control specification/methods

MattOquist: /* Methods */

2006-02-01T17:33:48Z

Methods

@@ Line 84: / Line 84: @@
 Moves the document from its present directory to the specified new one.
 Returns: true/false
@@ Line 170: / Line 184: @@
 Returns: URL or false
 =Other methods=

MattOquist: /* DMS Properties Object */

2006-02-01T17:29:12Z

DMS Properties Object

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:29, 1 February 2006
Line 17:		Line 17:

	// every time a separate module/instance refers to this document, refcount is bumped. When refcount==0, bye-bye, document!		// every time a separate module/instance refers to this document, refcount is bumped. When refcount==0, bye-bye, document!

	// Hopefully most DMS backends will already implement this sort of thing themselves, so those plugins don't have to mess with this.		// Hopefully most DMS backends will already implement this sort of thing themselves, so those plugins don't have to mess with this.

	var $refcount;		var $refcount;


	var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that		var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that

MattOquist: /* DMS Properties Object */

2006-02-01T17:28:55Z

DMS Properties Object

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:28, 1 February 2006
Line 16:		Line 16:
	var $directory;		var $directory;

	~~var $refcount;~~ // every time a separate module/instance refers to this document, refcount is bumped. When refcount==0, bye-bye, document!		// every time a separate module/instance refers to this document, refcount is bumped. When refcount==0, bye-bye, document!
			// Hopefully most DMS backends will already implement this sort of thing themselves, so those plugins don't have to mess with this.
			var $refcount;

	var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that		var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that

	var $access_control; // object with access control specification/methods		var $access_control; // object with access control specification/methods


	==DMS Data Object==		==DMS Data Object==

MattOquist at 17:27, 1 February 2006

2006-02-01T17:27:29Z

New page

This page is for (rapidly!) designing the new DMS APIs. As Martin says, "Basically we'll have an API that interfaces Moodle files handling everywhere via a plugin to the chosen repository (or repositories). This allows us to use all the great repositories are around without needing to restrict ourselves to just one." ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=4380 relevant forum post])

This is an interesting thing to do, because some DMS backends will provide features that others don't provide, and Moodle will/may have to provide those features transparently for backends that don't.

This is a first pass at doing this, and the naming conventions I'm using are intended to be clear but not necessarily to indicate what I think these things should really be called in code.

==DMS Properties Object==
class dms_document_properties

var $id;

var $name;

var $author;

var $directory;

var $refcount; // every time a separate module/instance refers to this document, refcount is bumped. When refcount==0, bye-bye, document!

var $credentials; // username, password, stuff like that

var $access_control; // object with access control specification/methods

==DMS Data Object==
class dms_document

var $dms_document_properties;

var $content;

var $pwd; // I'm not sure I like this. You can traipse around the filesystem carrying $content and the content's $dms_document_properties->directory along with you?

==Methods==
/* This is just a first pass to get something on the table. */

get_document_content();

Content of the document sufficiently specified by $this->dms_document_properties is fetched from DMS backend.

Returns: value of $this->id, or false

put_document_content();

Content of document sufficiently specified by $this->dms_document_properties is stored/updated in DMS backend.

Returns: value of $this->id, or false

get_document_properties();

Full properties of the document sufficiently specified by $this->dms_document_properties (id, owner, title, etc.) are fetched from DMS backend.

Returns: dms_document_properties object, or false

access_change($access_object);

Change the access un/specified for $this according to the $access_object specification (type of access, grant/deny/revoke, designee, etc.)

Returns: true/false

access_test($access_object);

Check to see whether the specified $access_object describes access that has been granted to $this.

Returns: true if specified access is granted, false otherwise

delete();

Decrements the refcount and deletes $this if refcount==0. Hopefully most DMSes already have their own refcount (or whatever); I"m shooting from the hip here.

Returns: true/false

move($new_directory_path);

Moves the document from its present directory to the specified new one.

Returns: true/false

copy_this_to($new_dms_document);

Copies $this into the directory_path, owner, title, etc. specified by $new_dms_document.

Returns: $new_dms_document->id, or false

copy_this_from($old_dms_document);

Copies $old_dms_document into the directory_path, owner, title, etc. specified by $this.

Returns: $this->id, or false

lock();

Locks $this.

Returns: true/false

unlock();

Unlocks $this.

Returns: true/false

break_lock();

Forcibly unlocks $this.

Returns: true/false

mkdir($new_dir);

Make the specified new directory, including necessary parent directories as required (perhaps if an additional boolean parameter is set).

Returns: true/false

pwd();

Get the present working directory.

Returns: present working directory as a string, or false

chdir($new_directory_path);

Change PWD to the specified $new_directory_path, which can be absolute or relative.

Returns: true/false

list();

List the files/directories in $pwd.

Returns: array of document_properties of all the files/directories in $pwd, or false

get_property($property_name);

Get the named property from $this->dms_document_properties.

Returns: value of property, or false (er... 'false' on failure?)

set_property($property_name, $value);

Set the named property in $this->dms_document_properties.

Returns: true/false

get_my_url();

Return a URL that points to the document specified by $this, if possible.

Returns: URL or false

=Other methods=
change_owner();

===Other Considerations===
* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:52, 26 March 2006
Line 194:		Line 194:
	* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)		* Will the plugged-in DMS store access controls, or will Moodle handle those? (I think it best to let Moodle handle them but perhaps also pass-through as well as possible; not all external DMSes will have the same or sufficient access controls.)

	==~~Forum discussions~~==		==See also==
	~~RFC - Remote object repositories -- consolidating implementations~~ http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41026		* Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41026 RFC - Remote object repositories -- consolidating implementations] forum discussion

			[[Category:Developer]]