Frankenstyle

'Frankenstyle component names' refers to the naming convention that is used to uniquely identify a Moodle plugin based on the type of plugin and its name. They are used throughout the Moodle code (with a notable exception being the css class names in the themes).

Martin Dougiamas invented the word 'frankenstyle' to describe this naming system which was invented by Petr Skoda.

Format

Frankenstyle component names have a prefix and then a folder name, separated by an underscore.

1. The prefix is determined by the type of plugin. For example, the prefix for an activity module is mod.
2. The name is the folder name of the plugin, always lower case. For example, the name for Quiz is quiz.

So the frankenstyle component name for the quiz module is mod_quiz.

Plugin types

Plugin type	Frankenstyle prefix	Moodle path
Activity modules	mod	/mod
Admin reports	report	/admin/report
Admin tools	tool	/admin/tool
Assignment types	assignment	/mod/assignment/type
Authentication plugins	auth	/auth
Blocks	block	/blocks
Core subsystems	core	/ (not a true plugin, see below for details)
Course formats	format	/course/format
Course reports	coursereport	/course/report
Database fields	datafield	/mod/data/field
Database presets	datapreset	/mod/data/preset
Editors	editor	/lib/editor
Enrolment plugins	enrol	/enrol
Filters	filter	/filter
Gradebook export	gradeexport	/grade/export
Gradebook import	gradeimport	/grade/import
Gradebook reports	gradereport	/grade/report
Grading methods	gradingform	/grade/grading/form
Local plugins	local	/local
Messaging consumers	message	/message/output
Mnet services	mnetservice	/mnet/service
Plagiarism plugins	plagiarism	/plagiarism
Portfolio plugins	portfolio	/portfolio
Question behaviours	qbehaviour	/question/behaviour
Question formats	qformat	/question/format
Question types	qtype	/question/type
Quiz reports	quiz	/mod/quiz/report
Repository plugins	repository	/repository
SCORM reports	scormreport	/mod/scorm/report
Themes	theme	/theme
User profile fields	profilefield	/user/profile/field
Webservice protocols	webservice	/webservice
Workshop allocation strategies	workshopallocation	/mod/workshop/allocation
Workshop evaluation plugins	workshopeval	/mod/workshop/eval
Workshop grading forms	workshopform	/mod/workshop/form

To get a definitive list in your version of Moodle 2.x, use a small Moodle script with print_object(get_plugin_types());.

Core subsystems

Subsystems in Moodle are not plugins themselves but can be referred to using core_xxx where xxx is the subsystem name as defined in get_core_subsystems().

You can see these being used in the @package parameter in phpdocs, or in the webservice function names.

Core subsystem	Frankenstyle component name
Access	core_access
Conditionals	core_condition
Comment	core_comment
Completion	core_completion
Course	core_course
Enrol	core_enrol
Files	core_files
Forms	core_form
Grade	core_grade
Groups	core_group
Messages	core_message
Mnet	core_mnet
My home page	core_my
Notes	core_notes
Ratings	core_rating
Role	core_role
RSS	core_rss
Tag	core_tag
User	core_user
Web service	core_webservice

Usage

Frankenstyle component names are used in:

Table names

All table names for a plugin must begin with its frankenstyle name (after the standard Moodle table prefix).

(The exception to this rule is Moodle activities which (for historical reasons) do not have mod_ in front of the plugin name)

Examples: mdl_local_coolreport, mdl_local_coolreport_users

Capabilities

All capabilities for a plugin use the frankenstyle name, except with a / instead of a _.

Example: mod/quiz:viewattempt

Language files

The main language file for each plugin (with the notable exception of activity modules) is the frankenstyle component name.

Examples: /blocks/participants/lang/en/block_participants.php

Other places (TODO)

• @package declarations in phpdocs
• web service function names
• Moodle Plugins database

Please add more as they come up.