1 This files describes API changes in core libraries and APIs,
2 information provided here is intended especially for developers.
6 * A new token-based version of pluginfile.php has been added which can be used for out-of-session file serving by
7 setting the `$includetoken` parameter to true on the `moodle_url::make_pluginfile_url()`, and
8 `moodle_url::make_file_url()` functions.
9 * The following picture functions have been updated to support use of the new token-based file serving:
11 - get_group_picture_url
12 * The `user_picture` class has a new public `$includetoken` property which can be set to make use of the new token-based
14 * Custom AJAX handlers for the form autocomplete fields can now optionally return string in their processResults()
15 callback. If a string is returned, it is displayed instead of the list of suggested items. This can be used, for
16 example, to inform the user that there are too many items matching the current search criteria.
17 * The form element 'htmleditor' has been deprecated. Please use the 'editor' element instead.
18 * The print_textarea() function has been deprecated. Please use $OUTPUT->print_textarea() instead.
19 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
20 - external_function_info()
21 - core_renderer::update_module_button()
25 - events_is_registered()
27 - events_pending_count()
28 - events_process_queued_handler()
29 - events_queue_handler()
30 - events_trigger_legacy()
31 - events_update_definition()
33 - course_get_cm_rename_action()
36 - clam_message_admins()
37 - get_clam_error_code()
46 - get_logs_usercourse()
49 - prevent_form_autofill_password()
50 - prefixed_tablenode_transformations()
53 * Following api's have been removed in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
54 - get_features_with_tags()
55 - get_components_steps_definitions()
56 - get_config_file_contents()
57 - merge_behat_config()
59 - profile_guided_allocate()
62 - get_behat_tests_path()
63 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
64 - I set the field "<field_string>" to multiline
65 - I follow "<link_string>"" in the open menu
66 * The following behat steps have been deprecated, please do not use these step definitions any more:
67 - behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
68 - theme/boost/tests/behat/behat_theme_boost_behat_navigation.php: i_navigate_to_node_in()
69 Use one of the following steps instead:
70 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in current page administration
71 - I navigate to "PATH > ITEM" in site administration
72 - I navigate to course participants
73 - I navigate to "TAB1 > TAB2" in the course gradebook
74 If some items are not available without Navigation block at all, one can use combination of:
75 - I add the "Navigation" block if not present
76 - I click on "LINK" "link" in the "Navigation" "block"
77 * The core\session\util class has been removed. This contained one function only used by the memcached class which has
78 been moved there instead (connection_string_to_memcache_servers).
79 * Removed the lib/password_compat/lib/password.php file.
80 * The eventslib.php file has been deleted and its functions have been moved to deprecatedlib.php. The affected functions are:
85 - events_get_handlers()
86 * coursecat::get() now has optional $user parameter.
87 * coursecat::is_uservisible() now has optional $user parameter.
88 * Removed the lib/form/submitlink.php element which was deprecated in 3.2.
89 * The user_selector classes do not support custom list of extra identity fields any more. They obey the configured user
90 policy and respect the privacy setting made by site administrators. The list of user identifiers should never be
91 hard-coded. Instead, the setting $CFG->showuseridentity should be always respected, which has always been the default
92 behaviour (MDL-59847).
93 * The function message_send() in messagelib.php will now only take the object \core\message\message as a parameter.
94 * The method message_sent::create_from_ids() parameter courseid is now required. A debugging
95 message was previously displayed, and the SITEID was used, when not provided.
96 * The method \core\message\manager::send_message() now only takes the object \core\message\message as the first parameter.
97 * Following functions have been deprecated, please use get_roles_used_in_context.
98 - get_roles_on_exact_context()
99 - get_roles_with_assignment_on_context()
100 * New functions to support the merging of user draft areas from the interface; see MDL-45170 for details:
101 - file_copy_file_to_file_area()
102 - file_merge_draft_areas()
103 - file_replace_file_area_in_text()
104 - extract_draft_file_urls_from_text()
105 * Class coursecat is now alias to autoloaded class core_course_category, course_in_list is an alias to
106 core_course_list_element, class coursecat_sortable_records is deprecated without replacement.
107 * \core_user_external::create_users() and \core_user_external::update_users() can now accept more user profile fields so user
108 creation/update via web service can now be very similar to the edit profile page's functionality. The new fields that have been
123 * New function mark_user_dirty() must be called after changing data that gets cached in user sessions. Examples:
124 - Assigning roles to users.
125 - Unassigning roles from users.
126 - Enrolling users into courses.
127 - Unenrolling users from courses.
128 * New optional parameter $context for the groups_get_members_join() function and ability to filter users that are not members of
129 any group. Besides, groups_get_members_ids_sql, get_enrolled_sql and get_enrolled_users now accepts -1 (USERSWITHOUTGROUP) for
131 * Added $CFG->conversionattemptlimit setting to config.php allowing a maximum number of retries before giving up conversion
132 of a given document by the assignfeedback_editpdf\task\convert_submissions task. Default value: 3.
133 * The following events have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
134 - message_contact_blocked
135 - message_contact_unblocked
136 The reason for this is because you can now block/unblock users without them necessarily being a contact. These events
137 have been replaced with message_user_blocked and message_user_unblocked respectively.
138 * The event message_deleted has been changed, it no longer records the value of the 'useridto' due to
139 the introduction of group messaging. Please, if you have any observers or are triggering this event
140 in your code you will have to make some changes!
141 * The gradebook now supports the ability to accept files as feedback. This can be achieved by adding
142 'feedbackfiles' to the $grades parameter passed to grade_update().
144 $grades['feedbackfiles'] = [
146 'component' => 'mod_xyz',
147 'filearea' => 'mod_xyz_feedback',
150 These files will be then copied to the gradebook file area.
151 * Allow users to choose who can message them for privacy reasons, with a 'growing circle of contactability':
152 - Added $CFG->messagingallusers, for enabling messaging to all site users. Default value: 0.
153 When $CFG->messagingallusers = false users can choose being contacted by only contacts or contacts and users sharing a course with them.
154 In that case, the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_COURSEMEMBER (users sharing a course).
155 When $CFG->messagingallusers = true users have a new option for the privacy messaging preferences: "Anyone on the site". In that case,
156 the default user preference is MESSAGE_PRIVACY_SITE (all site users).
157 - Added $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled setting to config.php to force enabling $CFG->messagingallusers during the upgrading process.
159 When $CFG->keepmessagingallusersenabled is set to true, $CFG->messagingallusers will be also set to true to enable messaging site users.
160 However, when it is empty, $CFG->messagingallusers will be disabled during the upgrading process, so the users will only be able to
161 message contacts and users sharing a course with them.
165 * There is a new privacy API that every subsystem and plugin has to implement so that the site can become GDPR
166 compliant. Plugins use this API to report what information they store or process regarding users, and provide ability
167 to export and delete personal data. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Privacy_API for guidelines on how to implement the
168 privacy API in your plugin.
169 * The cron runner now sets up a fresh PAGE and OUTPUT between each task.
170 * The core_renderer methods notify_problem(), notify_success(), notify_message() and notify_redirect() that were
171 deprecated in Moodle 3.1 have been removed. Use \core\notification::add(), or \core\output\notification as required.
172 * The maximum supported precision (the total number of digits) for XMLDB_TYPE_NUMBER ("number") fields raised from 20 to
173 38 digits. Additionally, the whole number part (precision minus scale) must not be longer than the maximum length of
174 integer fields (20 digits). Note that PHP floats commonly support precision of roughly 15 digits only (MDL-32113).
175 * Event triggering and event handlers:
176 - The following events, deprecated since moodle 2.6, have been finally removed: groups_members_removed,
177 groups_groupings_groups_removed, groups_groups_deleted, groups_groupings_deleted.
178 * The following functions have been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
180 * XMLDB now validates the PATH attribute on every install.xml file. Both the XMLDB editor and installation will fail
181 when a problem is detected with it. Please ensure your plugins contain correct directory relative paths.
182 * Add recaptchalib_v2.php for support of reCAPTCHA v2.
183 * Plugins can define class 'PLUGINNAME\privacy\local\sitepolicy\handler' if they implement an alternative mechanisms for
184 site policies managements and agreements. Administrators can define which component is to be used for handling site
185 policies and agreements. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Site_policy_handler
186 * Scripts can define a constant NO_SITEPOLICY_CHECK and set it to true before requiring the main config.php file. It
187 will make the require_login() skipping the test for the user's policyagreed status. This is useful for plugins that
188 act as a site policy handler.
189 * There is a new is_fulltext_search_supported() DML function. The default implementation returns false. This function
190 is used by 'Simple search' global search engine to determine if the database full-text search capabilities can be used.
191 * The following have been removed from the list of core subsystems:
194 Following this change, \core_register_renderer and \core_publish_renderer have been removed and their methods have been
195 moved to \core_admin_renderer and \core_course_renderer respectively.
199 * oauth2_client::request method has an extra parameter to specify the accept header for the response (MDL-60733)
200 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
201 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-57432 for more info:
202 - upgrade_mimetypes()
203 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders_draft()
204 - upgrade_minmaxgrade()
205 - upgrade_course_tags()
207 * Added new moodleform element 'filetypes' and new admin setting widget 'admin_setting_filetypes'. These new widgets
208 allow users to define a list of file types; either by typing them manually or selecting them from a list. The widgets
209 directly support the syntax used to feed the 'accepted_types' option of the filemanager and filepicker elements. File
210 types can be specified as extensions (.jpg or just jpg), mime types (text/plain) or groups (image).
211 * Removed accesslib private functions: load_course_context(), load_role_access_by_context(), dedupe_user_access() (MDL-49398).
212 * Internal "accessdata" structure format has changed to improve ability to perform role definition caching (MDL-49398).
213 * Role definitions are no longer cached in user session (MDL-49398).
214 * External function core_group_external::get_activity_allowed_groups now returns an additional field: canaccessallgroups.
215 It indicates whether the user will be able to access all the activity groups.
216 * file_get_draft_area_info does not sum the root folder anymore when calculating the foldercount.
217 * The moodleform element classes can now optionally provide a public function validateSubmitValue(). This method can be
218 used to perform implicit validation of submitted values - without the need to explicitly add the validation rules to
219 every form. The method should accept a single parameter with the submitted value. It should return a string with the
220 eventual validation error, or an empty value if the validation passes.
221 * New user_picture attribute $includefullname to determine whether to include the user's full name with the user's picture.
222 * Enrol plugins which provide enrolment actions can now declare the following "data-action" attributes in their implementation of
223 enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() whenever applicable:
224 * "editenrolment" - For editing a user'e enrolment details. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_EDIT.
225 * "unenrol" - For unenrolling a student. Defined by constant ENROL_ACTION_UNENROL.
226 These attributes enable enrol actions to be rendered via modals. If not added, clicking on the enrolment action buttons will still
227 redirect the user to the appropriate enrolment action page. Though optional, it is recommended to add these attributes for a
228 better user experience when performing enrol actions.
229 * The enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() implementations for core enrol plugins have been removed and moved to
230 the parent method itself. New enrol plugins don't have to implement get_user_enrolment_actions(), but just need to
231 make sure that they override:
232 - enrol_plugin::allow_manage(), and/or
233 - enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol_user() or enrol_plugin::allow_unenrol()
234 Existing enrol plugins that override enrol_plugin::get_user_enrolment_actions() don't have to do anything, but can
235 also opt to remove their own implementation of the method if they basically have the same logic as the parent method.
236 * New optional parameter $enrolid for the following functions:
237 - get_enrolled_join()
239 - get_enrolled_with_capabilities_join()
240 Setting this parameter to a non-zero value will add a condition to the query such that only users that were enrolled
241 with this enrolment method will be returned.
242 * New optional parameter 'closeSuggestionsOnSelect' for the enhance() function for form-autocomplete. Setting this to true will
243 close the suggestions popup immediately after an option has been selected. If not specified, it defaults to true for single-select
244 elements and false for multiple-select elements.
245 * user_can_view_profile() now also checks the moodle/user:viewalldetails capability.
246 * The core/modal_confirm dialogue has been deprecated. Please use the core/modal_save_cancel dialogue instead. Please ensure you
247 update to use the ModalEvents.save and ModalEvents.cancel events instead of their yes/no counterparts.
248 * Instead of checking the 'moodle/course:viewparticipants' and 'moodle/site:viewparticipants' capabilities use the
249 new functions course_can_view_participants() and course_require_view_participants().
250 * $stored_file->add_to_curl_request() now adds the filename to the curl request.
251 * The option for Login HTTPS (authentication-only SSL) has been removed
252 * $CFG->loginhttps is now deprecated, do not use it.
253 * $PAGE->https_required and $PAGE->verify_https_required() are now deprecated. They are no longer used and will throw a coding_exception.
254 * $CFG->httpswwwroot is now deprecated and will always result in the same value as wwwroot.
255 * Added function core_role_set_view_allowed() to check if a user should be able to see a given role.
256 This should be checked whenever displaying a list of roles to a user, however, core_role_set_assign_allowed may need to override it
258 * Deprecated allow_override, allow_assign and allow_switch and replaced with core_role_set_*_allowed to avoid function names conflicting.
262 * ldap_get_entries_moodle() now always returns lower-cased attribute names in the returned entries.
263 It was suppposed to do so before, but it actually didn't.
267 * Behat compatibility changes are now being documented at
268 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Acceptance_testing/Compatibility_changes
269 * PHPUnit's bootstrap has been changed to use HTTPS wwwroot (https://www.example.com/moodle) from previous HTTP version. Any
270 existing test expecting the old HTTP URLs will need to be switched to the new HTTPS value (reference: MDL-54901).
271 * The information returned by the idp list has changed. This is usually only rendered by the login page and login block.
272 The icon attribute is removed and an iconurl attribute has been added.
273 * Support added for a new type of external file: FILE_CONTROLLED_LINK. This is an external file that Moodle can control
274 the permissions. Moodle makes files read-only but can grant temporary write access.
275 When accessing a URL, the info from file_browser::get_file_info will be checked to determine if the user has write access,
276 if they do - the remote file will have access controls set to allow editing.
277 * The method moodleform::after_definition() has been added and can now be used to add some logic
278 to be performed after the form's definition was set. This is useful for intermediate subclasses.
279 * Moodle has support for font-awesome icons. Plugins should use the xxx_get_fontawesome_icon_map callback
280 to map their custom icons to one from font-awesome.
281 * $OUTPUT->pix_url() has been deprecated because it is was used mostly to manually generate image tags for icons.
282 We now distinguish between icons and "small images". The difference is that an icon does not have to be rendered as an image tag
283 with a source. It is OK to still have "small images" - if this desired use $OUTPUT->image_icon() and $OUTPUT->image_url(). For
284 other uses - use $OUTPUT->pix_icon() or the pix helper in mustache templates {{#pix}}...{{/pix}}
285 For other valid use cases use $OUTPUT->image_url().
286 * Activity icons have been split from standard icons. Use $OUTPUT->image_icon instead of $OUTPUT->pix_icon for these
287 type of icons (the coloured main icon for each activity).
288 * YUI module moodle-core-formautosubmit has been removed, use jquery .change() instead (see lib/templates/url_select.mustache for
290 * $mform->init_javascript_enhancement() is deprecated and no longer does anything. Existing uses of smartselect enhancement
291 should be switched to the searchableselector form element or other solutions.
292 * Return value of the validate_email() is now proper boolean as documented. Previously the function could return 1, 0 or false.
293 * The mcore YUI rollup which included various YUI modules such as moodle-core-notification is no longer included on every
294 page. Missing YUI depdencies may be exposed by this change (e.g. missing a requirement on moodle-core-notification when
295 using M.core.dialogue).
296 * Various legacy javascript functions have been removed:
297 * M.util.focus_login_form and M.util.focus_login_error no longer do anything. Please use jquery instead. See
298 lib/templates/login.mustache for an example.
299 * Some outdated global JS functions have been removed and should be replaced with calls to jquery
300 or alternative approaches:
301 checkall, checknone, select_all_in_element_with_id, select_all_in, deselect_all_in, confirm_if, findParentNode,
302 filterByParent, stripHTML
303 * M.util.init_toggle_class_on_click has been removed.
304 * The following functions have been deprecated and should not be used any more:
305 - file_storage::try_content_recovery - See MDL-46375 for more information
306 - file_storage::content_exists - See MDL-46375 for more information
307 - file_storage::deleted_file_cleanup - See MDL-46375 for more information
308 - file_storage::get_converted_document
309 - file_storage::is_format_supported_by_unoconv
310 - file_storage::can_convert_documents
311 - file_storage::send_test_pdf
312 - file_storage::test_unoconv_path
313 * Following behat steps have been removed from core:
314 - I click on "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" in the "<row_text_string>" table row
315 - I go to notifications page
316 - I add "<filename_string>" file from recent files to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
317 - I upload "<filepath_string>" file to "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
318 - I create "<foldername_string>" folder in "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
319 - I open "<foldername_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
320 - I unzip "<filename_string>" file from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
321 - I zip "<filename_string>" folder from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
322 - I delete "<file_or_folder_name_string>" from "<filepicker_field_string>" filepicker
323 - I send "<message_contents_string>" message to "<username_string>"
324 - I add "<user_username_string>" user to "<cohort_idnumber_string>" cohort
325 - I add "<username_string>" user to "<group_name_string>" group
326 - I fill in "<field_string>" with "<value_string>"
327 - I select "<option_string>" from "<select_string>"
328 - I select "<radio_button_string>" radio button
329 - I check "<option_string>"
330 - I uncheck "<option_string>"
331 - the "<field_string>" field should match "<value_string>" value
332 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should be checked
333 - the "<checkbox_string>" checkbox should not be checked
334 - I fill the moodle form with:
335 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should exists
336 - "<element_string>" "<selector_string>" should not exists
337 - the following "<element_string>" exists:
338 * get_user_capability_course() now has an additional parameter 'limit'. This can be used to return a set number of records with
339 the submitted capability. The parameter 'fieldsexceptid' will now accept context fields which can be used for preloading.
340 * The caching option 'immutable' has been added to send_stored_file() and send_file().
341 * New adhoc task refresh_mod_calendar_events_task that updates existing calendar events of modules.
342 * New 'priority' column for the event table to determine which event to show in case of events with user and group overrides.
343 * Webservices core_course_search_courses and core_course_get_courses_by_field will always return the sortorder field.
344 * core_course_external::get_activities_overview has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
345 * Changed the pix mustache template helper to accept context variables for the key, component and alt text.
346 * New auth_plugin_base helper methods:
347 - get_identity_providers() - Retrieves available auth identity providers.
348 - prepare_identity_providers_for_output() - Prepares auth identity provider data for output (e.g. to templates, WS, etc.).
352 * Custom roles with access to any part of site administration that do not use the manager archetype will need
353 moodle/site:configview capability added.
354 * Admin setting "Show My courses expanded on Dashboard" has been removed.
355 * Some backwards and forwards compatibility has been added for different bootstrap versions.
356 This is to allow the same markup to work in "clean" and "boost" themes alot of the time. It is also to allow user text
357 with bootstrap classes to keep working in the new theme. See MDL-56004 for the list of supported classes.
358 * MForms element 'submitlink' has been deprecated.
359 * Searchable selector form element is now a wrapper for autocomplete. A "No selection" option is automatically
360 added to the options list for best backwards compatibility - if you were manually adding a "no selection" option you will need
362 * Node.js versions >=4 are now required to run grunt.
363 * JQuery has been updated to 3.1.0. JQuery migrate plugins are no longer shipped - please read
364 https://jquery.com/upgrade-guide/3.0/ and update your javascript.
365 * New option 'blanktarget' added to format_text. This option adds target="_blank" to links
366 * A new webservice structure `external_files` has been created which provides a standardised view of files in Moodle and
367 should be used for all file return descriptions.
368 Files matching this format can be retrieved via the new `external_util::get_area_files` method.
369 See MDL-54951 for further information.
370 * The parameter $usepost of the following functions has been deprecated and is not used any more:
371 - get_max_upload_file_size()
372 - get_user_max_upload_file_size()
373 * The following classes have been removed and should not be used any more:
374 - boxclient - See MDL-49599 for more information.
375 * The following functions have been removed and should not be used any more:
376 - file_modify_html_header() - See MDL-29738 for more information.
377 * core_grades_external::get_grades has been deprecated. Please do not call this function any more.
378 External function gradereport_user_external::get_grade_items can be used for retrieving the course grades information.
379 * New option 'escape' added to format_string. When true (default), escapes HTML entities from the string
380 * The following functions have been deprecated and are not used any more:
381 - get_records_csv() Please use csv_import_reader::load_csv_content() instead.
382 - put_records_csv() Please use download_as_dataformat (lib/dataformatlib.php) instead.
383 - zip_files() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
384 - unzip_file() - See MDL-24343 for more information.
385 - print_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
386 - print_log_csv() - See MDL-43681 for more information
387 - print_log_ods() - See MDL-43681 for more information
388 - print_log_xls() - See MDL-43681 for more information
389 - print_mnet_log() - See MDL-43681 for more information
390 - build_logs_array() - See MDL-43681 for more information
391 - get_logs() - See MDL-43681 for more information
392 - get_logs_usercourse() - See MDL-43681 for more information
393 - get_logs_userday() - See MDL-43681 for more information
394 - prevent_form_autofill_password() Please do not use anymore.
395 * The password_compat library was removed as it is no longer required.
396 * Phpunit has been upgraded to 5.4.x and following has been deprecated and is not used any more:
397 - setExpectedException(), use @expectedException or $this->expectException() and $this->expectExceptionMessage()
398 - getMock(), use createMock() or getMockBuilder()->getMock()
399 - UnitTestCase class is removed.
400 * The following methods have been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
401 - course_modinfo::build_section_cache()
402 - cm_info::get_deprecated_group_members_only()
403 - cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_group()
404 * The following methods in cm_info::standardmethods have also been finally deprecated and should no longer be used:
405 - cm_info::get_after_edit_icons()
406 - cm_info::get_after_link()
407 - cm_info::get_content()
408 - cm_info::get_custom_data()
409 - cm_info::get_extra_classes()
410 - cm_info::get_on_click()
412 - cm_info::obtain_dynamic_data()
413 Calling them through the magic method __call() will throw a coding exception.
414 * The alfresco library has been removed from core. It was an old version of
415 the library which was not compatible with newer versions of Alfresco.
416 * Added down arrow: $OUTPUT->darrow.
417 * All file_packer implementations now accept an additional parameter to allow a simple boolean return value instead of
418 an array of individual file statuses.
419 * "I set the field "field_string" to multiline:" now end with colon (:), as PyStrings is supposed to end with ":"
420 * New functions to support deprecation of events have been added to the base event. See MDL-46214 for further details.
421 * A new function `get_name_with_info` has been added to the base event. This function adds information about event
422 deprecations and should be used where this information is relevant.
423 * Following api's have been deprecated in behat_config_manager, please use behat_config_util instead.
424 - get_features_with_tags
425 - get_components_steps_definitions
426 - get_config_file_contents
429 - profile_guided_allocate
432 - get_behat_tests_path
433 * behat_util::start_test_mode() accepts 3 options now:
434 - 1. Theme sute with all features: If behat should initialise theme suite with all core features.
435 - 2. Parallel runs: How many parallel runs will be running.
436 - 3. Run: Which process behat should be initialise for.
437 * behat_context_helper::set_session() has been deprecated, please use behat_context_helper::set_environment() instead.
438 * data-fieldtype="type" attribute has been added to form field default template.
439 * form elements extending MoodleQuickForm_group must call $this->createFormElement() instead of
440 @MoodleQuickForm::createElement() in order to be compatible with PHP 7.1
441 * Relative paths in $CFG->alternateloginurl will be resolved to absolute path within moodle site. Previously they
442 were resolved to absolute path within the server. That means:
443 - $CFG->wwwroot: http://example.com/moodle
444 - $CFG->alternateloginurl : /my/super/login.php
445 - Login url will be: http://example.com/moodle/my/super/login.php (moodle root based)
446 * Database (DML) layer:
447 - new sql_equal() method available for places where case sensitive/insensitive varchar comparisons are required.
448 * PostgreSQL connections now use advanced options to reduce connection overhead. These options are not compatible
449 with some connection poolers. The dbhandlesoptions parameter has been added to allow the database to configure the
450 required defaults. The parameters that are required in the database are;
451 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET client_encoding = UTF8;
452 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET standard_conforming_strings = on;
453 ALTER DATABASE moodle SET search_path = 'moodle,public'; -- Optional, if you wish to use a custom schema.
454 You can set these options against the database or the moodle user who connects.
455 * Some form elements have been refined to better support right-to-left languages. In RTL,
456 most fields should not have their direction flipped, a URL, a path to a file, a number, ...
457 are always displayed LTR. Input fields and text areas now will best guess whether they
458 should be forced to be displayed in LTR based on the PARAM type associated with it. You
459 can call $mform->setForceLtr($elementName, true/false) on some form fields to manually
461 * Action menus do_not_enhance() is deprecated, use a list of action_icon instead.
462 * The user_not_fully_set_up() function has a new $strict parameter (defaulting to true) in order to decide when
463 custom fields (and other checks) should be evaluated to determine if the user has been completely setup.
464 * profile_field_base class has new methods: get_field_config_for_external() and get_field_properties().
465 This two new methods should be implemented by profile field plugins to make them compatible with Web Services.
466 * The minifier library used by core_minify has been switched to https://github.com/matthiasmullie/minify - there are minor differences
468 * context_header additional buttons can now have a class attribute provided in the link attributes.
469 * The return signature for the antivirus::scan_file() function has changed.
470 The calling function will now handle removal of infected files from Moodle based on the new integer return value.
471 * The first parameter $eventdata of both message_send() and \core\message\manager::send_message() should
472 be \core\message\message. Use of stdClass is deprecated.
473 * The message_sent event now expects other[courseid] to be always set, exception otherwise. For BC with contrib code,
474 message_sent::create_from_ids() will show a debugging notice if the \core\message\message being sent is missing
475 the courseid property, defaulting to SITEID automatically. In Moodle 3.6 (MDL-55449) courseid will be fully mandatory
476 for all messages sent.
477 * The send_confirmation_email() function has a new optional parameter $confirmationurl to provide a different confirmation URL.
478 * Introduced a new hook for plugin developers:
479 - <component>_course_module_background_deletion_recommended()
480 This hook should be used in conjunction with the existing '<component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod)'. It must
481 return a boolean and is called by core to check whether a plugin's implementation of
482 <component>_pre_course_module_deleted($mod) will take a long time. A plugin should therefore only implement this
483 function if it also implements <component>_pre_course_module_delete($mod).
484 An example in current use is recyclebin, which performs what can be a lengthy backup process in
485 tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete. The recyclebin, if enabled, now returns true in its implementation of
486 tool_recyclebin_course_module_background_deletion_recommended(), to indicate to core that the deletion (and
487 execution of tool_recyclebin_pre_course_module_delete) should be handled with an adhoc task, meaning it will not
492 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'limittoenrolled' to filter the results
493 only to courses the user is enrolled in, and are visible to them.
494 * External functions that are not calling external_api::validate_context are buggy and will now generate
495 exceptions. Previously they were only generating warnings in the webserver error log.
496 See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/External_functions_API#Security
497 * The moodle/blog:associatecourse and moodle/blog:associatemodule capabilities has been removed.
498 * The following functions has been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
499 - profile_display_badges()
500 - useredit_shared_definition_preferences()
501 - calendar_normalize_tz()
502 - get_user_timezone_offset()
503 - get_timezone_offset()
504 - get_list_of_timezones()
505 - calculate_user_dst_table()
506 - dst_changes_for_year()
507 - get_timezone_record()
508 - test_get_list_of_timezones()
509 - test_get_timezone_offset()
510 - test_get_user_timezone_offset()
511 * The google api library has been updated to version 1.1.7. There was some important changes
512 on the SSL handling. Now the SSL version will be determined by the underlying library.
513 For more information see https://github.com/google/google-api-php-client/pull/644
514 * The get_role_users() function will now add the $sort fields that are not part
515 of the requested fields to the query result and will throw a debugging message
516 with the added fields when that happens.
517 * The core_user::fill_properties_cache() static method has been introduced to be a reference
518 and allow standard user fields data validation. Right now only type validation is supported
519 checking it against the parameter (PARAM_*) type of the target user field. MDL-52781 is
520 going to add support to null/not null and choices validation, replacing the existing code to
521 validate the user fields in different places in a common way.
522 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses now returns results when the search string
523 is less than 2 chars long.
524 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'requiredcapabilities' to filter the results
525 by the capabilities of the current user.
526 * New mform element 'course' handles thousands of courses with good performance and usability.
527 * The redirect() function will now redirect immediately if output has not
528 already started. Messages will be displayed on the subsequent page using
529 session notifications. The type of message output can be configured using the
530 fourth parameter to redirect().
531 * The specification of extra classes in the $OUTPUT->notification()
532 function, and \core\output\notification renderable have been deprecated
533 and will be removed in a future version.
534 Notifications should use the levels found in \core\output\notification.
535 * The constants for NOTIFY_PROBLEM, NOTIFY_REDIRECT, and NOTIFY_MESSAGE in
536 \core\output\notification have been deprecated in favour of NOTIFY_ERROR,
537 NOTIFY_WARNING, and NOTIFY_INFO respectively.
538 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
539 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-51580 for more info:
540 - upgrade_mysql_fix_unsigned_and_lob_columns()
541 - upgrade_course_completion_remove_duplicates()
542 - upgrade_save_orphaned_questions()
543 - upgrade_rename_old_backup_files_using_shortname()
544 - upgrade_mssql_nvarcharmax()
545 - upgrade_mssql_varbinarymax()
546 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders()
547 - upgrade_course_modules_sequences()
548 - upgrade_grade_item_fix_sortorder()
549 - upgrade_availability_item()
550 * A new parameter $ajaxformdata was added to the constructor for moodleform. When building a
551 moodleform in a webservice or ajax script (for example using the new fragments API) we
552 cannot allow the moodleform to parse it's own data from _GET and _POST - we must pass it as
554 * Plugins can extend the navigation for user by declaring the following callback:
555 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_user(navigation_node $parentnode, stdClass $user,
556 context_user $context, stdClass $course,
557 context_course $coursecontext)
558 * The function notify() now throws a debugging message - see MDL-50269.
559 * Ajax calls going through lib/ajax/* now validate the return values before sending
560 the response. If the validation does not pass an exception is raised. This behaviour
561 is consistent with web services.
562 * Several changes in Moodle core, standard plugins and third party libraries to
563 ensure compatibility with PHP7. All plugins are recommended to perform testing
564 against PHP7 as well. Refer to https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_and_PHP7 for more
565 information. The following changes may affect you:
566 * Class moodleform, moodleform_mod and some module classes have been changed to use
567 __construct() for the constructor. Calling parent constructors by the class
568 name will display debugging message. Incorrect: parent::moodleform(),
569 correct: parent::__construct()
570 * All form elements have also changed the constructor syntax. No changes are
571 needed for using form elements, however if plugin defines new form element it
572 needs to use correct syntax. For example, incorrect: parent::HTML_QuickForm_input(),
573 HTML_QuickForm_input::HTML_QuickForm_input(), $this->HTML_QuickForm_input().
574 Correct: HTML_QuickForm_input::__construct() or parent::__construct().
575 * profile_field_base::profile_field_base() is deprecated, use parent::__construct()
576 in custom profile fields constructors. Similar deprecations in exsiting
577 profile_field_* classes.
578 * user_filter_type::user_filter_type() is deprecated, use parent::__construct() in
579 custom user filters. Similar deprecations in existing user_filter_* classes.
580 * table_default_export_format_parent::table_default_export_format_parent() is
581 deprecated, use parent::__construct() in extending classes.
582 * groups_delete_group_members() $showfeedback parameter has been removed and is no longer
583 respected. Users of this function should output their own feedback if required.
584 * Number of changes to Tags API, see tag/upgrade.txt for more details
585 * The previous events API handlers are being deprecated in favour of events 2 API, debugging messages are being displayed if
586 there are 3rd party plugins using it. Switch to events 2 API please, see https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2#Event_dispatching_and_observers
587 Note than you will need to bump the plugin version so moodle is aware that you removed the plugin's event handlers.
588 * mforms validation functions are not available in the global JS namespace anymore, event listeners
589 are assigned to fields and buttons through a self-contained JS function.
590 * Added $CFG->urlrewriteclass option to config.php allowing clean / semantic urls to
591 be implemented in a plugin, eg local_cleanurls.
592 * $CFG->pathtoclam global setting has been moved to clamav antivirus plugin setting of the same name.
593 * clam_message_admins() and get_clam_error_code() have been deprecated, its functionality
594 is now a part of \antivirus_clamav\scanner class methods.
595 * \repository::antivir_scan_file() has been deprecated, \core\antivirus\manager::scan_file() that
596 applies antivirus plugins is replacing its functionality.
597 * Added core_text::str_max_bytes() which safely truncates multi-byte strings to a maximum number of bytes.
598 * Zend Framework has been removed completely.
599 * Any plugin can report when a scale is being used with the callback function [pluginname]_scale_used_anywhere(int $scaleid).
600 * Changes in file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls: Passing a new option reverse = true in the $options var will make the function to convert
601 actual URLs in $text to encoded URLs in the @@PLUGINFILE@@ form.
602 * behat_util::is_server_running() is removed, please use behat_util::check_server_status() instead.
603 * Behat\Mink\Selector\SelectorsHandler::xpathLiteral() method is deprecated use behat_context_helper::escape instead
604 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.',
605 * table_sql download process is using the new data formats plugin which you can't use if you are buffering any output
606 * flexible_table::get_download_menu(), considered private, has been deleted. Use
607 $OUTPUT->download_dataformat_selector() instead.
608 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.
609 * Add new file_is_executable(), to consistently check for executables even in Windows (PHP bug #41062).
610 * Introduced new hooks for plugin developers.
611 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete($category)
612 - <component>_pre_course_delete($course)
613 - <component>_pre_course_module_delete($cm)
614 - <component>_pre_block_delete($instance)
615 - <component>_pre_user_delete($user)
616 These hooks allow developers to use the item in question before it is deleted by core. For example, if your plugin is
617 a module (plugins located in the mod folder) called 'xxx' and you wish to interact with the user object before it is
618 deleted then the function to create would be mod_xxx_pre_user_delete($user) in mod/xxx/lib.php.
619 * pear::Net::GeoIP has been removed.
623 * Minify updated to 2.2.1
624 * htmlpurifier upgraded to 4.7.0
625 * Less.php upgraded to 1.7.0.9
626 * The horde library has been updated to version 5.2.7.
627 * Google libraries (lib/google) updated to 1.1.5
628 * Html2Text library has been updated to the latest version of the library.
629 * External functions x_is_allowed_from_ajax() methods have been deprecated. Define 'ajax' => true in db/services.php instead.
630 * External functions can be called without a session if they define 'loginrequired' => true in db/services.php.
631 * All plugins are required to declare their frankenstyle component name via
632 the $plugin->component property in their version.php file. See
633 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/version.php for details (MDL-48494).
634 * PHPUnit is upgraded to 4.7. Some tests using deprecated assertions etc may need changes to work correctly.
635 * Users of the text editor API to manually create a text editor should call set_text before calling use_editor.
636 * Javascript - SimpleYUI and the Y instance used for modules have been merged. Y is now always the same instance of Y.
637 * get_referer() has been deprecated, please use the get_local_referer function instead.
638 * \core\progress\null is renamed to \core\progress\none for improved PHP7 compatibility as null is a reserved word (see MDL-50453).
639 * \webservice_xmlrpc_client now respects proxy server settings. If your XMLRPC server is available on your local network and not via your proxy server, you may need to add it to the list of proxy
640 server exceptions in $CFG->proxybypass. See MDL-39353 for details.
641 * Group and groupings idnumbers can now be passed to and/or are returned from the following web services functions:
642 ** core_group_external::create_groups
643 ** core_group_external::get_groups
644 ** core_group_external::get_course_groups
645 ** core_group_external::create_groupings
646 ** core_group_external::update_groupings
647 ** core_group_external::get_groupings
648 ** core_group_external::get_course_groupings
649 ** core_group_external::get_course_user_groups
650 * Following functions are removed from core. See MDL-50049 for details.
651 password_compat_not_supported()
652 session_get_instance()
659 session_is_loggedinas()
660 session_get_realuser()
667 update_log_display_entry()
668 get_recent_enrolments()
669 groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible()
670 groups_course_module_visible()
674 editorshortcutshelpbutton()
677 get_generic_section_name()
682 format_weeks_get_section_dates()
683 get_print_section_cm_text()
684 print_section_add_menus()
685 make_editing_buttons()
688 print_recent_activity()
689 delete_course_module()
690 update_category_button()
691 make_categories_list()
692 category_delete_move()
693 category_delete_full()
695 course_category_hide()
696 course_category_show()
697 get_course_category()
698 create_course_category()
699 get_all_subcategories()
700 get_child_categories()
702 print_course_search()
704 print_remote_course()
706 print_whole_category_list()
707 print_category_info()
708 get_course_category_tree()
711 get_category_courses_array()
712 get_category_courses_array_recursively()
713 blog_get_context_url()
714 get_courses_wmanagers()
715 convert_tree_to_html()
716 convert_tabrows_to_tree()
717 can_use_rotated_text()
718 get_parent_contexts()
719 get_parent_contextid()
725 preload_course_contexts()
727 fetch_context_capabilities()
728 context_instance_preload()
729 get_contextlevel_name()
735 get_user_courses_bycap()
736 get_role_context_caps()
737 get_courseid_from_context()
738 context_instance_preload_sql()
739 get_related_contexts_string()
740 get_plugin_list_with_file()
741 check_browser_operating_system()
742 check_browser_version()
744 get_device_type_list()
745 get_selected_theme_for_device_type()
746 get_device_cfg_var_name()
747 set_user_device_type()
748 get_user_device_type()
749 get_browser_version_classes()
750 generate_email_supportuser()
751 badges_get_issued_badge_info()
752 can_use_html_editor()
753 enrol_cohort_get_cohorts()
754 enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort()
755 cohort_get_visible_list()
756 enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users()
757 enrol_cohort_search_cohorts()
758 * The never unused webdav_locks table was dropped.
759 * The actionmenu hideMenu() function now expects an EventFacade object to be passed to it,
760 i.e. a call to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu() should be change to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu(e)
761 * In the html_editors (tinyMCE, Atto), the manage files button can be hidden by changing the 'enable_filemanagement' option to false.
762 * external_api::validate_context now is public, it can be called from other classes.
763 * rss_error() now supports returning of correct HTTP status of error and will return '404 Not Found'
764 unless other status is specified.
765 * Plugins can extend the navigation for categories settings by declaring the following callback:
766 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_category_settings(navigation_node, context_coursecat)
767 * The clilib.php provides two new functions cli_write() and cli_writeln() that should be used for outputting texts from the command
768 line interface scripts.
769 * External function core_course_external::get_course_contents returned parameter "name" has been changed to PARAM_RAW,
770 this is because the new external_format_string function may return raw data if the global moodlewssettingraw parameter is used.
771 * Function is_web_crawler() has been deprecated, please use core_useragent::is_web_crawler() instead.
775 * New methods grade_grade::get_grade_max() and get_grade_min() must be used rather than directly the public properties rawgrademax and rawgrademin.
776 * New method grade_item::is_aggregate_item() indicates when a grade_item is an aggreggated type grade.
780 * The default home page for users has been changed to the dashboard (formely my home). See MDL-45774.
781 * Support for rendering templates from php or javascript has been added. See MDL-49152.
782 * Support for loading AMD javascript modules has been added. See MDL-49046.
783 * Webservice core_course_delete_courses now return warning messages on any failures and does not try to rollback the entire deletion.
784 * \core\event\course_viewed 'other' argument renamed from coursesectionid to coursesectionnumber as it contains the section number.
785 * New API core_filetypes::add_type (etc.) allows custom filetypes to be added and modified.
786 * PHPUnit: PHPMailer Sink is now started for all tests and is setup within the phpunit wrapper for advanced tests.
787 Catching debugging messages when sending mail will no longer work. Use $sink = $this->redirectEmails(); and then check
788 the message in the sink instead.
789 * The file pluginlib.php was deprecated since 2.6 and has now been removed, do not include or require it.
790 * \core_component::fetch_subsystems() now returns a valid path for completion component instead of null.
791 * Deprecated JS global methods have been removed (show_item, destroy_item, hide_item, addonload, getElementsByTagName, findChildNodes).
792 * For 3rd party plugin specific environment.xml files, it's now possible to specify version independent checks by using the
793 <PLUGIN name="component_name"> tag instead of the version dependent <MOODLE version="x.y"> one. If the PLUGIN tag is used any
794 Moodle specific tags will be ignored.
795 * html_table: new API for adding captions to tables (new field, $table->caption) and subsequently hiding said captions from sighted users using accesshide (enabled using $table->captionhide).
796 * The authorization procedure in the mdeploy.php script has been improved. The script
797 now relies on the main config.php when deploying an available update.
798 * sql_internal_reader and sql_select_reader interfaces have been deprecated in favour of sql_internal_table_reader
799 and sql_reader which use iterators to be more memory efficient.
800 * $CFG->enabletgzbackups setting has been removed as now backups are stored internally using .tar.gz format by default, you can
801 set $CFG->usezipbackups to store them in zip format. This does not affect the restore process, which continues accepting both.
802 * Added support for custom string manager implementations via $CFG->customstringmanager
803 directive in the config.php. See MDL-49361 for details.
804 * Add new make_request_directory() for creation of per-request files.
805 * Added generate_image_thumbnail_from_string. This should be used instead of generate_image_thumbnail when the source is a string.
806 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
807 * Added generate_image_thumbnail to stored_file class. This should be used when generating thumbnails for stored files.
808 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
809 * Removed pear/HTTP/WebDav. See MDL-49534 for details.
810 * Use standard PHP date time classes and methods - see new core_date class for timezone normalisation methods.
811 * Moved lib/google/Google/ to lib/google/src/Google. This is to address autoloader issues with Google's provided autoloader
812 for the library. See MDL-49519 for details.
813 * The outdated lib/google/Google_Client.php and related files have been completely removed. To use
814 the new client, read lib/google/readme_moodle.txt, please.
815 * profile_display_badges() has been deprecated. See MDL-48935 for details.
816 * Added a new method add_report_nodes() to pagelib.php. If you are looking to add links to the user profile page under the heading "Reports"
817 then please use this function to ensure that the breadcrumb and navigation block are created properly for all user profile pages.
818 * process_new_icon() now does not always return a PNG file. When possible, it will try to keep the format of the original file.
819 Set the new argument $preferpng to true to force PNG. See MDL-46763 and MDL-50041 for details.
823 * Gradebook grade category option "aggregatesubcats" has been removed completely.
824 This means that the database column is removed, the admin settings are removed and
825 the properties from the grade_category object have been removed. If any courses were
826 found to be using this setting, a warning to check the grades will be shown in the
827 course grader report after upgrading the site. The same warning will be shown on
828 courses restored from backup that had this setting enabled (see MDL-47503).
829 * lib/excelllib.class.php has been updated. The class MoodleExcelWorkbook will now only produce excel 2007 files.
830 * renderers: We now remove the suffix _renderable when looking for a render method for a renderable.
831 If you have a renderable class named like "blah_renderable" and have a method on a renderer named "render_blah_renderable"
832 you will need to change the name of your render method to "render_blah" instead, as renderable at the end is no longer accepted.
833 * New functions get_course_and_cm_from_cmid($cmorid, $modulename) and
834 get_course_and_cm_from_instance($instanceorid, $modulename) can be used to
835 more efficiently load these basic data objects at the start of a script.
836 * New function cm_info::create($cm) can be used when you need a cm_info
837 object, but have a $cm which might only be a standard database record.
838 * $CFG->enablegroupmembersonly no longer exists.
839 * Scheduled tasks have gained support for syntax to introduce variability when a
840 task will run across installs. When a when hour or minute are defined as 'R'
841 they will be installed with a random hour/minute value.
842 * Several classes grade_edit_tree_column_xxx were removed since grades setup page
843 has been significantly changed. These classes should not be used outside of
844 gradebook or developers can copy them into their plugins from 2.7 branch.
845 * Google APIs Client Library (lib/google/) has been upgraded to 1.0.5-beta and
846 API has changed dramatically without backward compatibility. Any code accessing
847 it must be amended. It does not apply to lib/googleapi.php. See MDL-47297
848 * Added an extra parameter to the function get_formatted_help_string() (default null) which is used to specify
849 additional string parameters.
850 * User settings node and course node in navigation now support callbacks from admin tools.
851 * grade_get_grades() optional parameteres $itemtype, $itemmodule, $iteminstance are now required.
854 * completion_info->get_incomplete_criteria() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
855 * grade_category::aggregate_values() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
856 * groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with
857 core_availability\info::filter_user_list. Will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
858 * groups_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with $cm->uservisible.
859 * cm_info property $cm->groupmembersonly is deprecated and always returns 0.
860 Use core_availability\info::filter_user_list if trying to determine which
861 other users can see an activity.
862 * cm_info method $cm->is_user_access_restricted_by_group() is deprecated and
863 always returns false. Use $cm->uservisible to determine whether the user can
865 * Constant FEATURE_GROUPMEMBERSONLY (used in module _supports functions) is
867 * cohort_get_visible_list() is deprecated. There is a better function cohort_get_available_cohorts()
868 that respects user capabilities to view cohorts.
869 * enrol_cohort_get_cohorts() and enrol_cohort_search_cohorts() are deprecated since
870 functionality is removed. Please use cohort_get_available_cohorts()
871 * enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users() is deprecated; enrol_manual is now responsible for this action
872 * enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort() is deprecated; replace with cohort_can_view_cohort()
874 === 2.6.4 / 2.7.1 ===
876 * setnew_password_and_mail() and update_internal_user_password() will trigger
877 \core\event\user_password_updated. Previously they used to generate
878 \core\event\user_updated event.
879 * update_internal_user_password() accepts optional boolean $fasthash for fast
881 * user_update_user() and user_create_user() api's accept optional param
882 $triggerevent to avoid respective events to be triggred from the api's.
886 * PHPUnit cannot be installed via PEAR any more, please use composer package manager instead.
887 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
890 * Significant changes in Logging API. For upgrading existing events_trigger() and
891 add_to_log() see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_logging_calls_in_plugins
892 For accessing logs from plugins see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_log_access_in_reports
893 * The validation of the following events is now stricter (see MDL-45445):
894 - \core\event\blog_entry_created
895 - \core\event\blog_entry_deleted
896 - \core\event\blog_entry_updated
897 - \core\event\cohort_member_added
898 - \core\event\cohort_member_removed
899 - \core\event\course_category_deleted
900 - \core\event\course_completed
901 - \core\event\course_content_deleted
902 - \core\event\course_created
903 - \core\event\course_deleted
904 - \core\event\course_restored
905 - \core\event\course_section_updated (see MDL-45229)
906 - \core\event\email_failed
907 - \core\event\group_member_added
908 - \core\event\group_member_removed
909 - \core\event\note_created
910 - \core\event\note_deleted
911 - \core\event\note_updated
912 - \core\event\role_assigned
913 - \core\event\role_deleted
914 - \core\event\role_unassigned
915 - \core\event\user_graded
916 - \core\event\user_loggedinas
917 - \core\event\user_profile_viewed
918 - \core\event\webservice_token_created
921 * $module uses in mod/xxx/version.php files is now deprecated. Please use $plugin instead. It will be removed in Moodle 2.10.
922 * Update init methods in all event classes - "level" property was renamed to "edulevel", the level property is now deprecated.
923 * Abstract class \core\event\course_module_instances_list_viewed is deprecated now, use \core\event\instances_list_viewed instead.
924 * Abstract class core\event\content_viewed has been deprecated. Please extend base event or other relevant abstract class.
925 * mod_book\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_book\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
926 * mod_chat\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_chat\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
927 * mod_choice\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_choice\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
928 * mod_feedback\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_feedback\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
929 * mod_page\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_page\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
930 * The constants FRONTPAGECOURSELIST, FRONTPAGETOPICONLY & FRONTPAGECOURSELIMIT have been removed.
931 * Conditional availability API has moved and changed. The condition_info class is
932 replaced by \core_availability\info_module, and condition_info_section by
933 \core_availability\info_section. (Code that uses the old classes will generally
935 * coursemodule_visible_for_user() has been deprecated but still works - replaced
936 by a new static function \core_availability\info_module::is_user_visible()
937 * cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_conditional_access has been deprecated
938 but still works (it has never done what its name suggests, and is
940 * cm_info and section_info property showavailability has been deprecated, but
941 still works (with the caveat that this information is now per-user).
942 * cm_info and section_info properties availablefrom and availableuntil have been
943 deprecated and always return zero (underlying data doesn't have these values).
944 * section_info property groupingid has been deprecated and always returns zero,
946 * Various cm_info methods have been deprecated in favour of their read-only properties (get_url(), get_content(), get_extra_classes(),
947 get_on_click(), get_custom_data(), get_after_link, get_after_edit_icons)
948 * The ajaxenabled function has been deprecated and always returns true. All code should be fully functional in Javascript.
949 * count_login_failures() has been deprecated, use user_count_login_failures() instead. Refer MDL-42891 for details.
951 Conditional availability (activities and sections):
952 * New conditional availability API in /availability, including new availability
953 condition plugins in /availability/condition. The new API is very similar with
954 regard to checking availability, but any code that modifies availability settings
955 for an activity or section is likely to need substantial changes.
958 * The lightbox attribute for moodle-core-notification-dialogue has been
959 deprecated and replaced by the modal attribute. This was actually
960 changed in Moodle 2.2, but has only been marked as deprecated now. It
961 will be removed in Moodle 2.9.
962 * When destroying any type of dialogue based on moodle-core-notification, the relevant content is also removed from
963 the DOM. Previously it was left orphaned.
966 * The findChildNodes global function has been deprecated. Y.all should
968 * The callback argument to confirm_action and M.util.show_confirm_dialog has been deprecated. If you need to write a
969 confirmation which includes a callback, please use moodle-core-notification-confirmation and attach callbacks to the
972 * New locking api and admin settings to configure the system locking type.
973 * New "Time spent waiting for the database" performance metric displayed along with the
974 other MDL_PERF vars; the change affects both the error logs and the vars displayed in
976 * Changes in the tag API. The component and contextid are now saved when assigning tags to an item. Please see
977 tag/upgrade.txt for more information.
981 * Use new methods from core_component class instead of get_core_subsystems(), get_plugin_types(),
982 get_plugin_list(), get_plugin_list_with_class(), get_plugin_directory(), normalize_component(),
983 get_component_directory() and get_plugin_list_with_file(). The names of the new methods are
984 exactly the same, the only differences are that core_component::get_plugin_types() now always returns
985 full paths and core_component::get_plugin_list() does not accept empty parameter any more.
986 * Use core_text::* instead of textlib:: and also core_collator::* instead of collatorlib::*.
987 * Use new function moodleform::mock_submit() to simulate form submission in unit tests (backported).
988 * New $CFG->localcachedir setting useful for cluster nodes. Admins have to update X-Sendfile aliases if used.
989 * MS SQL Server drivers are now using NVARCHAR(MAX) instead of NTEXT and VARBINARY(MAX) instead of IMAGE,
990 this change should be fully transparent and it should help significantly with add-on compatibility.
991 * The string manager classes were renamed. Note that they should not be modified or used directly,
992 always use get_string_manager() to get instance of the string manager.
993 * The ability to use an 'insecure' rc4encrypt/rc4decrypt key has been removed.
994 * Use $CFG->debugdeveloper instead of debugging('', DEBUG_DEVELOPER).
995 * Use set_debugging(DEBUG_xxx) when changing debugging level for current request.
996 * Function moveto_module() does not modify $mod argument and instead now returns the new module visibility value.
997 * Use behat_selectors::get_allowed_text_selectors() and behat_selectors::get_allowed_selectors() instead of
998 behat_command::$allowedtextselectors and behat_command::$allowedselectors
999 * Subplugins are supported in admin tools and local plugins.
1000 * file_packer/zip_packer API has been modified so that key functions support a new file_progress interface
1001 to report progress during long operations. Related to this, zip_archive now supports an estimated_count()
1002 function that returns an approximate number of entries in the zip faster than the count() function.
1003 * Class cm_info no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only and calculated on first request only.
1004 * Class course_modinfo no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only.
1005 * Database fields modinfo and sectioncache in table course are removed. Application cache core/coursemodinfo
1006 is used instead. Course cache is still reset, rebuilt and retrieved using function rebuild_course_cache() and
1007 get_fast_modinfo(). Purging all caches and every core upgrade purges course modinfo cache as well.
1008 If function get_fast_modinfo() is called for multiple courses make sure to include field cacherev in course
1010 * Internal (noreply and support) user support has been added for sending/receiving message.
1011 Use core_user::get_noreply_user() and core_user::get_support_user() to get noreply and support user's respectively.
1012 Real users can be used as noreply/support users by setting $CFG->noreplyuserid and $CFG->supportuserid
1013 * New function readfile_allow_large() in filelib.php for use when very large files may need sending to user.
1014 * Use core_plugin_manager::reset_caches() when changing visibility of plugins.
1015 * Implement new method get_enabled_plugins() method in subplugin info classes.
1016 * Each plugin should include version information in version.php.
1017 * Module and block tables do not contain version column any more, use get_config('xx_yy', 'version') instead.
1018 * $USER->password field is intentionally unset so that session data does not contain password hashes.
1019 * Use core_shutdown_manager::register_function() instead of register_shutdown_function().
1020 * New file packer for .tar.gz files; obtain by calling get_file_packer('application/x-gzip'). Intended initially
1021 for use in backup/restore only, as there are limitations on supported filenames. Also new packer for
1022 backups which supports both compression formats; get_file_packer('application/vnd.moodle.backup').
1023 * New optional parameter to stored_file::get_content_file_handle to open file handle with 'gzopen' instead
1024 of 'fopen' to read gzip-compressed files if required.
1025 * update_internal_user_password() and setnew_password_and_mail() now trigger user_updated event.
1026 * Add thirdpartylibs.xml file to plugins that bundle any 3rd party libraries.
1027 * New class introduced to help auto generate zIndex values for modal dialogues. Class "moodle-has-zindex"
1028 should set on any element which uses a non-default zindex and needs to ensure it doesn't show above a
1030 * $CFG->filelifetime is now used consistently for most file serving operations, the default was lowered
1031 to 6 hours from 24 hours because etags and x-sendfile support should make file serving less expensive.
1032 * Date format locale charset for windows server will come from calendar type and for gregorian it will use
1034 * The library to interact with Box.net (class boxclient) is only compatible with their APIv1 which
1035 reaches its end of life on the 14th of Dec. You should migrate your scripts to make usage of the
1036 new class boxnet_client(). Note that the method names and return values have changed.
1037 * Settings pages are now possible for Calendar type plugins. Calendar type plugins that require a settings page to
1038 work properly will need to set their requires version to a number that is equal to or grater than the 2.6.1 release version.
1039 * The admin/tool/generator tool was overhauled to use testing data generators and the previous interface to create
1040 test data was removed (it was not working correctly anyway). If you were using this tool you will probably need to
1044 Various previously deprecated functions have now been altered to throw DEBUG_DEVELOPER debugging notices
1045 and will be removed in a future release (target: 2.8), a summary follows:
1048 * get_context_instance() -> context_xxxx::instance()
1049 * get_context_instance_by_id() -> context::instance_by_id($id)
1050 * get_system_context() -> context_system::instance()
1051 * context_moved() -> context::update_moved()
1052 * preload_course_contexts() -> context_helper::preload_course()
1053 * context_instance_preload() -> context_helper::preload_from_record()
1054 * context_instance_preload_sql() -> context_helper::get_preload_record_columns_sql()
1055 * get_contextlevel_name() -> context_helper::get_level_name()
1056 * create_contexts() -> context_helper::create_instances()
1057 * cleanup_contexts() -> context_helper::cleanup_instances()
1058 * build_context_path() -> context_helper::build_all_paths()
1059 * print_context_name() -> $context->get_context_name()
1060 * mark_context_dirty() -> $context->mark_dirty()
1061 * delete_context() -> $context->delete_content() or context_helper::delete_instance()
1062 * get_context_url() -> $context->get_url()
1063 * get_course_context() -> $context->get_course_context()
1064 * get_parent_contexts() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids()
1065 * get_parent_contextid() -> $context->get_parent_context()
1066 * get_child_contexts() -> $context->get_child_contexts()
1067 * rebuild_contexts() -> $context->reset_paths()
1068 * get_user_courses_bycap() -> enrol_get_users_courses()
1069 * get_courseid_from_context() -> $context->get_course_context(false)
1070 * get_role_context_caps() -> (no replacement)
1071 * load_temp_role() -> (no replacement)
1072 * remove_temp_roles() -> (no replacement)
1073 * get_related_contexts_string() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids(true)
1074 * get_recent_enrolments() -> (no replacement)
1077 * get_course_participants() -> get_enrolled_users()
1078 * is_course_participant() -> is_enrolled()
1081 * current_theme() -> $PAGE->theme->name
1082 * skip_main_destination() -> $OUTPUT->skip_link_target()
1083 * print_container() -> $OUTPUT->container()
1084 * print_container_start() -> $OUTPUT->container_start()
1085 * print_container_end() -> $OUTPUT->container_end()
1086 * print_continue() -> $OUTPUT->continue_button()
1087 * print_header() -> $PAGE methods
1088 * print_header_simple() -> $PAGE methods
1089 * print_side_block() -> $OUTPUT->block()
1090 * print_arrow() -> $OUTPUT->arrow()
1091 * print_scale_menu_helpbutton() -> $OUTPUT->help_icon_scale($courseid, $scale)
1092 * print_checkbox() -> html_writer::checkbox()
1095 * print_navigation() -> $OUTPUT->navbar()
1096 * build_navigation() -> $PAGE->navbar methods
1097 * navmenu() -> (no replacement)
1098 * settings_navigation::
1099 get_course_modules() -> (no replacement)
1101 Files and repositories:
1102 * stored_file::replace_content_with() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1103 * stored_file::set_filesize() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
1104 * stored_file::get_referencelifetime() -> (no replacement)
1105 * repository::sync_external_file() -> see repository::sync_reference()
1106 * repository::get_file_by_reference() -> repository::sync_reference()
1108 get_reference_file_lifetime() -> (no replacement)
1109 * repository::sync_individual_file() -> (no replacement)
1110 * repository::reset_caches() -> (no replacement)
1113 * add_event() -> calendar_event::create()
1114 * update_event() -> calendar_event->update()
1115 * delete_event() -> calendar_event->delete()
1116 * hide_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(false)
1117 * show_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(true)
1120 * filter_text() -> format_text(), format_string()...
1121 * httpsrequired() -> $PAGE->https_required()
1122 * detect_munged_arguments() -> clean_param([...], PARAM_FILE)
1123 * mygroupid() -> groups_get_all_groups()
1124 * js_minify() -> core_minify::js_files()
1125 * css_minify_css() -> core_minify::css_files()
1126 * course_modinfo::build_section_cache() -> (no replacement)
1127 * generate_email_supportuser() -> core_user::get_support_user()
1130 * session_get_instance()->xxx() -> \core\session\manager::xxx()
1131 * session_kill_all() -> \core\session\manager::kill_all_sessions()
1132 * session_touch() -> \core\session\manager::touch_session()
1133 * session_kill() -> \core\session\manager::kill_session()
1134 * session_kill_user() -> \core\session\manager::kill_user_sessions()
1135 * session_gc() -> \core\session\manager::gc()
1136 * session_set_user() -> \core\session\manager::set_user()
1137 * session_is_loggedinas() -> \core\session\manager::is_loggedinas()
1138 * session_get_realuser() -> \core\session\manager::get_realuser()
1139 * session_loginas() -> \core\session\manager::loginas()
1141 User-agent related functions:
1142 * check_browser_operating_system() -> core_useragent::check_browser_operating_system()
1143 * check_browser_version() -> core_useragent::check_browser_version()
1144 * get_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type()
1145 * get_device_type_list() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_list()
1146 * get_selected_theme_for_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_theme()
1147 * get_device_cfg_var_name() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_cfg_var_name()
1148 * set_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::set_user_device_type()
1149 * get_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_user_device_type()
1150 * get_browser_version_classes() -> core_useragent::get_browser_version_classes()
1153 * moodle-core-notification has been deprecated with a recommendation of
1154 using its subclasses instead. This is to allow for reduced page
1155 transport costs. Current subclasses include:
1162 Event triggering and event handlers:
1163 * All existing events and event handlers should be replaced by new
1164 event classes and matching new event observers.
1165 * See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2 for more information.
1166 * The following events will be entirely removed, though they can still
1167 be captured using handlers, but they should not be used any more.
1168 * groups_members_removed -> \core\event\group_member_removed
1169 * groups_groupings_groups_removed -> (no replacement)
1170 * groups_groups_deleted -> \core\event\group_deleted
1171 * groups_groupings_deleted -> \core\event\grouping_deleted
1172 * edit_module_post_actions() does not trigger events any more.
1176 * New get_course() function for use when obtaining the course record from database. Will
1177 reuse existing $COURSE or $SITE globals if possible to improve performance.
1181 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) aren't using anymore the ::columns property
1182 for caching database metadata. MUC (databasemeta) is used instead. Any custom DB driver should
1183 apply for that change.
1184 * The cron output has been changed to include time and memory usage (see cron_trace_time_and_memory()),
1185 so any custom utility relying on the old output may require modification.
1186 * Function get_max_file_sizes now returns an option for (for example) "Course limit (500MB)" or
1187 "Site limit (200MB)" when appropriate with the option set to 0. This function no longer returns
1188 an option for 0 bytes. Existing code that was replacing the 0 option in the return
1189 from this function with a more sensible message, can now use the return from this function directly.
1190 * Functions responsible for output in course/lib.php are deprecated, the code is moved to
1191 appropriate renderers: print_section(), print_section_add_menus(), get_print_section_cm_text(),
1192 make_editing_buttons()
1193 See functions' phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php
1194 * Function get_print_section_cm_text() is deprecated, replaced with methods in cm_info
1195 * zip_packer may create empty zip archives, there is a new option to ignore
1196 problematic files when creating archive
1197 * The function delete_course_module was deprecated and has been replaced with
1198 course_delete_module. The reason for this was because the function delete_course_module
1199 only partially deletes data, so wherever it was called extra code was needed to
1200 perform the whole deletion process. The function course_delete_module now takes care
1201 of the whole process.
1202 * curl::setopt() does not accept constant values any more. As it never worked properly,
1203 we decided to make the type check stricter. Now, the keys of the array pass must be a string
1204 corresponding to the curl constant name.
1205 * Function get_users_listing now return list of users except guest and deleted users. Previously
1206 deleted users were excluded by get_users_listing. As guest user is not expected while browsing users,
1207 and not included in get_user function, it will not be returned by get_users_listing.
1208 * The add_* functions in course/dnduploadlib.php have been deprecated. Plugins should be using the
1209 MODNAME_dndupload_register callback instead.
1210 * The signature of the add() method of classes implementing the parentable_part_of_admin_tree
1211 interface (such as admin_category) has been extended. The new parameter allows the caller
1212 to prepend the new node before an existing sibling in the admin tree.
1213 * condition_info:get_condition_user_fields($formatoptions) now accepts the optional
1214 param $formatoptions, that will determine if the field names are processed by
1215 format_string() with the passed options.
1216 * remove all references to $CFG->gdversion, GD PHP extension is now required
1217 * Formslib will now throw a developer warning if a PARAM_ type hasn't been set for elements which
1218 need it. Please set PARAM_RAW explicitly if you do not want any cleaning.
1219 * Functions responsible for managing and accessing course categories are moved to class coursecat
1220 in lib/coursecatlib.php, functions responsible for rendering courses and categories lists are
1221 moved to course/renderer.php. The following global functions are deprecated: make_categories_list(),
1222 category_delete_move(), category_delete_full(), move_category(), course_category_hide(),
1223 course_category_show(), get_course_category(), create_course_category(), get_all_subcategories(),
1224 get_child_categories(), get_categories(), print_my_moodle(), print_remote_course(),
1225 print_remote_host(), print_whole_category_list(), print_category_info(), get_course_category_tree(),
1226 print_courses(), print_course(), get_category_courses_array(), get_category_courses_array_recursively(),
1227 get_courses_wmanagers()
1228 See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Courses_lists_upgrade_to_2.5
1229 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
1230 * Additional (optional) param $onlyactive has been added to get_enrolled_users, count_enrolled_users
1231 functions to get information for only active (excluding suspended enrolments) users. Included two
1232 helper functions extract_suspended_users, get_suspended_userids to extract suspended user information.
1233 * The core_plugin_manager class now provides two new helper methods for getting information
1234 about known plugins: get_plugins_of_type() and get_subplugins_of_plugin().
1235 * The get_uninstall_url() method of all subclasses of \core\plugininfo\base class is now expected
1236 to always return moodle_url. Subclasses can use the new method is_uninstall_allowed()
1237 to control the availability of the 'Uninstall' link at the Plugins overview page (previously
1238 they would do it by get_uninstall_url() returning null). By default, URL to a new general plugin
1239 uninstall tool is returned. Unless the plugin type needs extra steps that can't be handled by
1240 plugininfo_xxx::uninstall() method or xmldb_xxx_uninstall() function, this default URL should
1241 satisfy all plugin types.
1243 Database (DML) layer:
1244 * $DB->sql_empty() is deprecated, you have to use sql parameters with empty values instead,
1245 please note hardcoding of empty strings in SQL queries breaks execution in Oracle database.
1246 * Indexes must not be defined on the same columns as keys, this is now reported as fatal problem.
1247 Please note that internally we create indexes instead of foreign keys.
1250 * M.util.help_icon has been deprecated. Code should be updated to use moodle-core-popuphelp
1251 instead. To do so, remove any existing JS calls to M.util.help_icon from your PHP and ensure
1252 that your help link is placed in a span which has the class 'helplink'.
1256 * Pagelib: Numerous deprecated functions were removed as classes page_base, page_course
1257 and page_generic_activity.
1258 * use $CFG->googlemapkey3 instead of removed $CFG->googlemapkey and migrate to Google Maps API V3
1259 * Function settings_navigation::add_course_editing_links() is completely removed
1260 * function global_navigation::format_display_course_content() is removed completely (the
1261 functionality is moved to course format class)
1262 * in the function global_navigation::load_generic_course_sections() the argument $courseformat is
1264 * New component and itemid columns in groups_members table - this allows plugin to create protected
1265 group memberships using 'xx_yy_allow_group_member_remove' callback and there is also a new restore
1266 callback 'xx_yy_restore_group_member()'.
1267 * New general role assignment restore plugin callback 'xx_yy_restore_role_assignment()'.
1268 * functions get_generic_section_name(), get_all_sections(), add_mod_to_section(), get_all_mods()
1269 are deprecated. See their phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php on how to replace them
1272 * moodle-enrol-notification has been renamed to moodle-core-notification
1273 * YUI2 code must now use 2in3, see http://yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/yui/yui-yui2.html
1274 * M.util.init_select_autosubmit() and M.util.init_url_select() have been deprecated. Code using this should be updated
1275 to use moodle-core-formautosubmit
1277 Unit testing changes:
1278 * output debugging() is not sent to standard output any more,
1279 use $this->assertDebuggingCalled(), $this->assertDebuggingNotCalled(),
1280 $this->getDebuggingMessages() or $this->assertResetDebugging() instead.
1284 Database layer changes:
1285 * objects are not allowed in paramters of DML functions, use explicit casting to strings if necessary
1288 * DDL and DML methods which were deprecated in 2.0 have now been removed, they will no longer produce
1289 debug messages and will produce fatal errors
1293 * send_stored_file() has changed its interface
1294 * deleted several resourcelib_embed_* functions from resourcelib.php
1298 removed unused libraries:
1299 * odbc, base32, CodeSniffer, overlib, apd profiling, kses, Smarty, PEAR Console, swfobject, cssshover.htc, md5.js
1302 * new admin/tool plugin type
1303 * new context API - old API is still available
1304 * deleted users do not have context any more
1305 * removed global search
1311 * basic suport for restore from 1.9
1312 * new mobile devices API
1319 * new DML API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DML_functions
1320 * new DDL API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DDL_functions
1321 * new file API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/File_API
1322 * new $PAGE and $OUTPUT API
1323 * new navigation API
1324 * new theme API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Theme_changes_in_2.0
1325 * new javascript API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/JavaScript_usage_guide
1327 * new local plugin type
1328 * new translation support - http://lang.moodle.org
1329 * new web service API
1336 * new backup/restore API
1339 * improved plugin support (aka Frankenstyle)
1340 * new registration and hub API
1341 * new course completion API
1342 * new plagiarism API
1344 * new text editor API
1345 * new my moodle and profiles API