1 This files describes API changes in core libraries and APIs,
2 information provided here is intended especially for developers.
6 * Node.js versions >=4 are now required to run grunt.
7 * New option 'blanktarget' added to format_text. This option adds target="_blank" to links
8 * A new webservice structure `external_files` has been created which provides a standardised view of files in Moodle and
9 should be used for all file return descriptions.
10 Files matching this format can be retrieved via the new `external_util::get_area_files` method.
11 See MDL-54951 for further information.
12 * The parameter $usepost of the following functions has been deprecated and is not used any more:
13 - get_max_upload_file_size()
14 - get_user_max_upload_file_size()
15 * The following functions have been removed and should not be used any more:
16 - file_modify_html_header() - See MDL-29738 for more information.
20 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'limittoenrolled' to filter the results
21 only to courses the user is enrolled in, and are visible to them.
22 * External functions that are not calling external_api::validate_context are buggy and will now generate
23 exceptions. Previously they were only generating warnings in the webserver error log.
24 See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/External_functions_API#Security
25 * The moodle/blog:associatecourse and moodle/blog:associatemodule capabilities has been removed.
26 * The following functions has been finally deprecated and can not be used any more:
27 - profile_display_badges()
28 - useredit_shared_definition_preferences()
29 - calendar_normalize_tz()
30 - get_user_timezone_offset()
31 - get_timezone_offset()
32 - get_list_of_timezones()
33 - calculate_user_dst_table()
34 - dst_changes_for_year()
35 - get_timezone_record()
36 - test_get_list_of_timezones()
37 - test_get_timezone_offset()
38 - test_get_user_timezone_offset()
39 * The google api library has been updated to version 1.1.7. There was some important changes
40 on the SSL handling. Now the SSL version will be determined by the underlying library.
41 For more information see https://github.com/google/google-api-php-client/pull/644
42 * The get_role_users() function will now add the $sort fields that are not part
43 of the requested fields to the query result and will throw a debugging message
44 with the added fields when that happens.
45 * The core_user::fill_properties_cache() static method has been introduced to be a reference
46 and allow standard user fields data validation. Right now only type validation is supported
47 checking it against the parameter (PARAM_*) type of the target user field. MDL-52781 is
48 going to add support to null/not null and choices validation, replacing the existing code to
49 validate the user fields in different places in a common way.
50 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses now returns results when the search string
51 is less than 2 chars long.
52 * Webservice function core_course_search_courses accepts a new parameter 'requiredcapabilities' to filter the results
53 by the capabilities of the current user.
54 * New mform element 'course' handles thousands of courses with good performance and usability.
55 * The redirect() function will now redirect immediately if output has not
56 already started. Messages will be displayed on the subsequent page using
57 session notifications. The type of message output can be configured using the
58 fourth parameter to redirect().
59 * The specification of extra classes in the $OUTPUT->notification()
60 function, and \core\output\notification renderable have been deprecated
61 and will be removed in a future version.
62 Notifications should use the levels found in \core\output\notification.
63 * The constants for NOTIFY_PROBLEM, NOTIFY_REDIRECT, and NOTIFY_MESSAGE in
64 \core\output\notification have been deprecated in favour of NOTIFY_ERROR,
65 NOTIFY_WARNING, and NOTIFY_INFO respectively.
66 * The following functions, previously used (exclusively) by upgrade steps are not available
67 anymore because of the upgrade cleanup performed for this version. See MDL-51580 for more info:
68 - upgrade_mysql_fix_unsigned_and_lob_columns()
69 - upgrade_course_completion_remove_duplicates()
70 - upgrade_save_orphaned_questions()
71 - upgrade_rename_old_backup_files_using_shortname()
72 - upgrade_mssql_nvarcharmax()
73 - upgrade_mssql_varbinarymax()
74 - upgrade_fix_missing_root_folders()
75 - upgrade_course_modules_sequences()
76 - upgrade_grade_item_fix_sortorder()
77 - upgrade_availability_item()
78 * A new parameter $ajaxformdata was added to the constructor for moodleform. When building a
79 moodleform in a webservice or ajax script (for example using the new fragments API) we
80 cannot allow the moodleform to parse it's own data from _GET and _POST - we must pass it as
82 * Plugins can extend the navigation for user by declaring the following callback:
83 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_user(navigation_node $parentnode, stdClass $user,
84 context_user $context, stdClass $course,
85 context_course $coursecontext)
86 * The function notify() now throws a debugging message - see MDL-50269.
87 * Ajax calls going through lib/ajax/* now validate the return values before sending
88 the response. If the validation does not pass an exception is raised. This behaviour
89 is consistent with web services.
90 * Several changes in Moodle core, standard plugins and third party libraries to
91 ensure compatibility with PHP7. All plugins are recommended to perform testing
92 against PHP7 as well. Refer to https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_and_PHP7 for more
93 information. The following changes may affect you:
94 * Class moodleform, moodleform_mod and some module classes have been changed to use
95 __construct() for the constructor. Calling parent constructors by the class
96 name will display debugging message. Incorrect: parent::moodleform(),
97 correct: parent::__construct()
98 * All form elements have also changed the constructor syntax. No changes are
99 needed for using form elements, however if plugin defines new form element it
100 needs to use correct syntax. For example, incorrect: parent::HTML_QuickForm_input(),
101 HTML_QuickForm_input::HTML_QuickForm_input(), $this->HTML_QuickForm_input().
102 Correct: HTML_QuickForm_input::__construct() or parent::__construct().
103 * profile_field_base::profile_field_base() is deprecated, use parent::__construct()
104 in custom profile fields constructors. Similar deprecations in exsiting
105 profile_field_* classes.
106 * user_filter_type::user_filter_type() is deprecated, use parent::__construct() in
107 custom user filters. Similar deprecations in existing user_filter_* classes.
108 * table_default_export_format_parent::table_default_export_format_parent() is
109 deprecated, use parent::__construct() in extending classes.
110 * groups_delete_group_members() $showfeedback parameter has been removed and is no longer
111 respected. Users of this function should output their own feedback if required.
112 * Number of changes to Tags API, see tag/upgrade.txt for more details
113 * The previous events API handlers are being deprecated in favour of events 2 API, debugging messages are being displayed if
114 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
115 Note than you will need to bump the plugin version so moodle is aware that you removed the plugin's event handlers.
116 * mforms validation functions are not available in the global JS namespace anymore, event listeners
117 are assigned to fields and buttons through a self-contained JS function.
118 * Added $CFG->urlrewriteclass option to config.php allowing clean / semantic urls to
119 be implemented in a plugin, eg local_cleanurls.
120 * $CFG->pathtoclam global setting has been moved to clamav antivirus plugin setting of the same name.
121 * clam_message_admins() and get_clam_error_code() have been deprecated, its functionality
122 is now a part of \antivirus_clamav\scanner class methods.
123 * \repository::antivir_scan_file() has been deprecated, \core\antivirus\manager::scan_file() that
124 applies antivirus plugins is replacing its functionality.
125 * Added core_text::str_max_bytes() which safely truncates multi-byte strings to a maximum number of bytes.
126 * Zend Framework has been removed completely.
127 * Any plugin can report when a scale is being used with the callback function [pluginname]_scale_used_anywhere(int $scaleid).
128 * Changes in file_rewrite_pluginfile_urls: Passing a new option reverse = true in the $options var will make the function to convert
129 actual URLs in $text to encoded URLs in the @@PLUGINFILE@@ form.
130 * behat_util::is_server_running() is removed, please use behat_util::check_server_status() instead.
131 * Behat\Mink\Selector\SelectorsHandler::xpathLiteral() method is deprecated use behat_context_helper::escape instead
132 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.',
133 * table_sql download process is using the new data formats plugin which you can't use if you are buffering any output
134 * flexible_table::get_download_menu(), considered private, has been deleted. Use
135 $OUTPUT->download_dataformat_selector() instead.
136 when building Xpath, or pass the unescaped value when using the named selector.
137 * Add new file_is_executable(), to consistently check for executables even in Windows (PHP bug #41062).
138 * Introduced new hooks for plugin developers.
139 - <component>_pre_course_category_delete($category)
140 - <component>_pre_course_delete($course)
141 - <component>_pre_course_module_delete($cm)
142 - <component>_pre_block_delete($instance)
143 - <component>_pre_user_delete($user)
144 These hooks allow developers to use the item in question before it is deleted by core. For example, if your plugin is
145 a module (plugins located in the mod folder) called 'xxx' and you wish to interact with the user object before it is
146 deleted then the function to create would be mod_xxx_pre_user_delete($user) in mod/xxx/lib.php.
150 * Minify updated to 2.2.1
151 * htmlpurifier upgraded to 4.7.0
152 * Less.php upgraded to 1.7.0.9
153 * The horde library has been updated to version 5.2.7.
154 * Google libraries (lib/google) updated to 1.1.5
155 * Html2Text library has been updated to the latest version of the library.
156 * External functions x_is_allowed_from_ajax() methods have been deprecated. Define 'ajax' => true in db/services.php instead.
157 * External functions can be called without a session if they define 'loginrequired' => true in db/services.php.
158 * All plugins are required to declare their frankenstyle component name via
159 the $plugin->component property in their version.php file. See
160 https://docs.moodle.org/dev/version.php for details (MDL-48494).
161 * PHPUnit is upgraded to 4.7. Some tests using deprecated assertions etc may need changes to work correctly.
162 * Users of the text editor API to manually create a text editor should call set_text before calling use_editor.
163 * Javascript - SimpleYUI and the Y instance used for modules have been merged. Y is now always the same instance of Y.
164 * get_referer() has been deprecated, please use the get_local_referer function instead.
165 * \core\progress\null is renamed to \core\progress\none for improved PHP7 compatibility as null is a reserved word (see MDL-50453).
166 * \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
167 server exceptions in $CFG->proxybypass. See MDL-39353 for details.
168 * Group and groupings idnumbers can now be passed to and/or are returned from the following web services functions:
169 ** core_group_external::create_groups
170 ** core_group_external::get_groups
171 ** core_group_external::get_course_groups
172 ** core_group_external::create_groupings
173 ** core_group_external::update_groupings
174 ** core_group_external::get_groupings
175 ** core_group_external::get_course_groupings
176 ** core_group_external::get_course_user_groups
177 * Following functions are removed from core. See MDL-50049 for details.
178 password_compat_not_supported()
179 session_get_instance()
186 session_is_loggedinas()
187 session_get_realuser()
194 update_log_display_entry()
195 get_recent_enrolments()
196 groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible()
197 groups_course_module_visible()
201 editorshortcutshelpbutton()
204 get_generic_section_name()
209 format_weeks_get_section_dates()
210 get_print_section_cm_text()
211 print_section_add_menus()
212 make_editing_buttons()
215 print_recent_activity()
216 delete_course_module()
217 update_category_button()
218 make_categories_list()
219 category_delete_move()
220 category_delete_full()
222 course_category_hide()
223 course_category_show()
224 get_course_category()
225 create_course_category()
226 get_all_subcategories()
227 get_child_categories()
229 print_course_search()
231 print_remote_course()
233 print_whole_category_list()
234 print_category_info()
235 get_course_category_tree()
238 get_category_courses_array()
239 get_category_courses_array_recursively()
240 blog_get_context_url()
241 get_courses_wmanagers()
242 convert_tree_to_html()
243 convert_tabrows_to_tree()
244 can_use_rotated_text()
245 get_parent_contexts()
246 get_parent_contextid()
252 preload_course_contexts()
254 fetch_context_capabilities()
255 context_instance_preload()
256 get_contextlevel_name()
262 get_user_courses_bycap()
263 get_role_context_caps()
264 get_courseid_from_context()
265 context_instance_preload_sql()
266 get_related_contexts_string()
267 get_plugin_list_with_file()
268 check_browser_operating_system()
269 check_browser_version()
271 get_device_type_list()
272 get_selected_theme_for_device_type()
273 get_device_cfg_var_name()
274 set_user_device_type()
275 get_user_device_type()
276 get_browser_version_classes()
277 generate_email_supportuser()
278 badges_get_issued_badge_info()
279 can_use_html_editor()
280 enrol_cohort_get_cohorts()
281 enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort()
282 cohort_get_visible_list()
283 enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users()
284 enrol_cohort_search_cohorts()
285 * The never unused webdav_locks table was dropped.
286 * The actionmenu hideMenu() function now expects an EventFacade object to be passed to it,
287 i.e. a call to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu() should be change to M.core.actionmenu.instance.hideMenu(e)
288 * In the html_editors (tinyMCE, Atto), the manage files button can be hidden by changing the 'enable_filemanagement' option to false.
289 * external_api::validate_context now is public, it can be called from other classes.
290 * rss_error() now supports returning of correct HTTP status of error and will return '404 Not Found'
291 unless other status is specified.
292 * Plugins can extend the navigation for categories settings by declaring the following callback:
293 <frankenstyle>_extend_navigation_category_settings(navigation_node, context_coursecat)
294 * The clilib.php provides two new functions cli_write() and cli_writeln() that should be used for outputting texts from the command
295 line interface scripts.
296 * External function core_course_external::get_course_contents returned parameter "name" has been changed to PARAM_RAW,
297 this is because the new external_format_string function may return raw data if the global moodlewssettingraw parameter is used.
298 * Function is_web_crawler() has been deprecated, please use core_useragent::is_web_crawler() instead.
302 * New methods grade_grade::get_grade_max() and get_grade_min() must be used rather than directly the public properties rawgrademax and rawgrademin.
303 * New method grade_item::is_aggregate_item() indicates when a grade_item is an aggreggated type grade.
307 * The default home page for users has been changed to the dashboard (formely my home). See MDL-45774.
308 * Support for rendering templates from php or javascript has been added. See MDL-49152.
309 * Support for loading AMD javascript modules has been added. See MDL-49046.
310 * Webservice core_course_delete_courses now return warning messages on any failures and does not try to rollback the entire deletion.
311 * \core\event\course_viewed 'other' argument renamed from coursesectionid to coursesectionnumber as it contains the section number.
312 * New API core_filetypes::add_type (etc.) allows custom filetypes to be added and modified.
313 * PHPUnit: PHPMailer Sink is now started for all tests and is setup within the phpunit wrapper for advanced tests.
314 Catching debugging messages when sending mail will no longer work. Use $sink = $this->redirectEmails(); and then check
315 the message in the sink instead.
316 * The file pluginlib.php was deprecated since 2.6 and has now been removed, do not include or require it.
317 * \core_component::fetch_subsystems() now returns a valid path for completion component instead of null.
318 * Deprecated JS global methods have been removed (show_item, destroy_item, hide_item, addonload, getElementsByTagName, findChildNodes).
319 * For 3rd party plugin specific environment.xml files, it's now possible to specify version independent checks by using the
320 <PLUGIN name="component_name"> tag instead of the version dependent <MOODLE version="x.y"> one. If the PLUGIN tag is used any
321 Moodle specific tags will be ignored.
322 * 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).
323 * The authorization procedure in the mdeploy.php script has been improved. The script
324 now relies on the main config.php when deploying an available update.
325 * sql_internal_reader and sql_select_reader interfaces have been deprecated in favour of sql_internal_table_reader
326 and sql_reader which use iterators to be more memory efficient.
327 * $CFG->enabletgzbackups setting has been removed as now backups are stored internally using .tar.gz format by default, you can
328 set $CFG->usezipbackups to store them in zip format. This does not affect the restore process, which continues accepting both.
329 * Added support for custom string manager implementations via $CFG->customstringmanager
330 directive in the config.php. See MDL-49361 for details.
331 * Add new make_request_directory() for creation of per-request files.
332 * Added generate_image_thumbnail_from_string. This should be used instead of generate_image_thumbnail when the source is a string.
333 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
334 * Added generate_image_thumbnail to stored_file class. This should be used when generating thumbnails for stored files.
335 This prevents the need to write files to disk unnecessarily.
336 * Removed pear/HTTP/WebDav. See MDL-49534 for details.
337 * Use standard PHP date time classes and methods - see new core_date class for timezone normalisation methods.
338 * Moved lib/google/Google/ to lib/google/src/Google. This is to address autoloader issues with Google's provided autoloader
339 for the library. See MDL-49519 for details.
340 * The outdated lib/google/Google_Client.php and related files have been completely removed. To use
341 the new client, read lib/google/readme_moodle.txt, please.
342 * profile_display_badges() has been deprecated. See MDL-48935 for details.
343 * 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"
344 then please use this function to ensure that the breadcrumb and navigation block are created properly for all user profile pages.
345 * process_new_icon() now does not always return a PNG file. When possible, it will try to keep the format of the original file.
346 Set the new argument $preferpng to true to force PNG. See MDL-46763 and MDL-50041 for details.
350 * Gradebook grade category option "aggregatesubcats" has been removed completely.
351 This means that the database column is removed, the admin settings are removed and
352 the properties from the grade_category object have been removed. If any courses were
353 found to be using this setting, a warning to check the grades will be shown in the
354 course grader report after upgrading the site. The same warning will be shown on
355 courses restored from backup that had this setting enabled (see MDL-47503).
356 * lib/excelllib.class.php has been updated. The class MoodleExcelWorkbook will now only produce excel 2007 files.
357 * renderers: We now remove the suffix _renderable when looking for a render method for a renderable.
358 If you have a renderable class named like "blah_renderable" and have a method on a renderer named "render_blah_renderable"
359 you will need to change the name of your render method to "render_blah" instead, as renderable at the end is no longer accepted.
360 * New functions get_course_and_cm_from_cmid($cmorid, $modulename) and
361 get_course_and_cm_from_instance($instanceorid, $modulename) can be used to
362 more efficiently load these basic data objects at the start of a script.
363 * New function cm_info::create($cm) can be used when you need a cm_info
364 object, but have a $cm which might only be a standard database record.
365 * $CFG->enablegroupmembersonly no longer exists.
366 * Scheduled tasks have gained support for syntax to introduce variability when a
367 task will run across installs. When a when hour or minute are defined as 'R'
368 they will be installed with a random hour/minute value.
369 * Several classes grade_edit_tree_column_xxx were removed since grades setup page
370 has been significantly changed. These classes should not be used outside of
371 gradebook or developers can copy them into their plugins from 2.7 branch.
372 * Google APIs Client Library (lib/google/) has been upgraded to 1.0.5-beta and
373 API has changed dramatically without backward compatibility. Any code accessing
374 it must be amended. It does not apply to lib/googleapi.php. See MDL-47297
375 * Added an extra parameter to the function get_formatted_help_string() (default null) which is used to specify
376 additional string parameters.
377 * User settings node and course node in navigation now support callbacks from admin tools.
378 * grade_get_grades() optional parameteres $itemtype, $itemmodule, $iteminstance are now required.
381 * completion_info->get_incomplete_criteria() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
382 * grade_category::aggregate_values() is deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
383 * groups_filter_users_by_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with
384 core_availability\info::filter_user_list. Will be removed in Moodle 3.0.
385 * groups_course_module_visible() is deprecated; replace with $cm->uservisible.
386 * cm_info property $cm->groupmembersonly is deprecated and always returns 0.
387 Use core_availability\info::filter_user_list if trying to determine which
388 other users can see an activity.
389 * cm_info method $cm->is_user_access_restricted_by_group() is deprecated and
390 always returns false. Use $cm->uservisible to determine whether the user can
392 * Constant FEATURE_GROUPMEMBERSONLY (used in module _supports functions) is
394 * cohort_get_visible_list() is deprecated. There is a better function cohort_get_available_cohorts()
395 that respects user capabilities to view cohorts.
396 * enrol_cohort_get_cohorts() and enrol_cohort_search_cohorts() are deprecated since
397 functionality is removed. Please use cohort_get_available_cohorts()
398 * enrol_cohort_enrol_all_users() is deprecated; enrol_manual is now responsible for this action
399 * enrol_cohort_can_view_cohort() is deprecated; replace with cohort_can_view_cohort()
401 === 2.6.4 / 2.7.1 ===
403 * setnew_password_and_mail() and update_internal_user_password() will trigger
404 \core\event\user_password_updated. Previously they used to generate
405 \core\event\user_updated event.
406 * update_internal_user_password() accepts optional boolean $fasthash for fast
408 * user_update_user() and user_create_user() api's accept optional param
409 $triggerevent to avoid respective events to be triggred from the api's.
413 * PHPUnit cannot be installed via PEAR any more, please use composer package manager instead.
414 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
417 * Significant changes in Logging API. For upgrading existing events_trigger() and
418 add_to_log() see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_logging_calls_in_plugins
419 For accessing logs from plugins see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Migrating_log_access_in_reports
420 * The validation of the following events is now stricter (see MDL-45445):
421 - \core\event\blog_entry_created
422 - \core\event\blog_entry_deleted
423 - \core\event\blog_entry_updated
424 - \core\event\cohort_member_added
425 - \core\event\cohort_member_removed
426 - \core\event\course_category_deleted
427 - \core\event\course_completed
428 - \core\event\course_content_deleted
429 - \core\event\course_created
430 - \core\event\course_deleted
431 - \core\event\course_restored
432 - \core\event\course_section_updated (see MDL-45229)
433 - \core\event\email_failed
434 - \core\event\group_member_added
435 - \core\event\group_member_removed
436 - \core\event\note_created
437 - \core\event\note_deleted
438 - \core\event\note_updated
439 - \core\event\role_assigned
440 - \core\event\role_deleted
441 - \core\event\role_unassigned
442 - \core\event\user_graded
443 - \core\event\user_loggedinas
444 - \core\event\user_profile_viewed
445 - \core\event\webservice_token_created
448 * $module uses in mod/xxx/version.php files is now deprecated. Please use $plugin instead. It will be removed in Moodle 2.10.
449 * Update init methods in all event classes - "level" property was renamed to "edulevel", the level property is now deprecated.
450 * Abstract class \core\event\course_module_instances_list_viewed is deprecated now, use \core\event\instances_list_viewed instead.
451 * Abstract class core\event\content_viewed has been deprecated. Please extend base event or other relevant abstract class.
452 * mod_book\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_book\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
453 * mod_chat\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_chat\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
454 * mod_choice\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_choice\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
455 * mod_feedback\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_feedback\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
456 * mod_page\event\instances_list_viewed has been deprecated. Please use mod_page\event\course_module_instance_list_viewed instead.
457 * The constants FRONTPAGECOURSELIST, FRONTPAGETOPICONLY & FRONTPAGECOURSELIMIT have been removed.
458 * Conditional availability API has moved and changed. The condition_info class is
459 replaced by \core_availability\info_module, and condition_info_section by
460 \core_availability\info_section. (Code that uses the old classes will generally
462 * coursemodule_visible_for_user() has been deprecated but still works - replaced
463 by a new static function \core_availability\info_module::is_user_visible()
464 * cm_info::is_user_access_restricted_by_conditional_access has been deprecated
465 but still works (it has never done what its name suggests, and is
467 * cm_info and section_info property showavailability has been deprecated, but
468 still works (with the caveat that this information is now per-user).
469 * cm_info and section_info properties availablefrom and availableuntil have been
470 deprecated and always return zero (underlying data doesn't have these values).
471 * section_info property groupingid has been deprecated and always returns zero,
473 * Various cm_info methods have been deprecated in favour of their read-only properties (get_url(), get_content(), get_extra_classes(),
474 get_on_click(), get_custom_data(), get_after_link, get_after_edit_icons)
475 * The ajaxenabled function has been deprecated and always returns true. All code should be fully functional in Javascript.
476 * count_login_failures() has been deprecated, use user_count_login_failures() instead. Refer MDL-42891 for details.
478 Conditional availability (activities and sections):
479 * New conditional availability API in /availability, including new availability
480 condition plugins in /availability/condition. The new API is very similar with
481 regard to checking availability, but any code that modifies availability settings
482 for an activity or section is likely to need substantial changes.
485 * The lightbox attribute for moodle-core-notification-dialogue has been
486 deprecated and replaced by the modal attribute. This was actually
487 changed in Moodle 2.2, but has only been marked as deprecated now. It
488 will be removed in Moodle 2.9.
489 * When destroying any type of dialogue based on moodle-core-notification, the relevant content is also removed from
490 the DOM. Previously it was left orphaned.
493 * The findChildNodes global function has been deprecated. Y.all should
495 * The callback argument to confirm_action and M.util.show_confirm_dialog has been deprecated. If you need to write a
496 confirmation which includes a callback, please use moodle-core-notification-confirmation and attach callbacks to the
499 * New locking api and admin settings to configure the system locking type.
500 * New "Time spent waiting for the database" performance metric displayed along with the
501 other MDL_PERF vars; the change affects both the error logs and the vars displayed in
503 * Changes in the tag API. The component and contextid are now saved when assigning tags to an item. Please see
504 tag/upgrade.txt for more information.
508 * Use new methods from core_component class instead of get_core_subsystems(), get_plugin_types(),
509 get_plugin_list(), get_plugin_list_with_class(), get_plugin_directory(), normalize_component(),
510 get_component_directory() and get_plugin_list_with_file(). The names of the new methods are
511 exactly the same, the only differences are that core_component::get_plugin_types() now always returns
512 full paths and core_component::get_plugin_list() does not accept empty parameter any more.
513 * Use core_text::* instead of textlib:: and also core_collator::* instead of collatorlib::*.
514 * Use new function moodleform::mock_submit() to simulate form submission in unit tests (backported).
515 * New $CFG->localcachedir setting useful for cluster nodes. Admins have to update X-Sendfile aliases if used.
516 * MS SQL Server drivers are now using NVARCHAR(MAX) instead of NTEXT and VARBINARY(MAX) instead of IMAGE,
517 this change should be fully transparent and it should help significantly with add-on compatibility.
518 * The string manager classes were renamed. Note that they should not be modified or used directly,
519 always use get_string_manager() to get instance of the string manager.
520 * The ability to use an 'insecure' rc4encrypt/rc4decrypt key has been removed.
521 * Use $CFG->debugdeveloper instead of debugging('', DEBUG_DEVELOPER).
522 * Use set_debugging(DEBUG_xxx) when changing debugging level for current request.
523 * Function moveto_module() does not modify $mod argument and instead now returns the new module visibility value.
524 * Use behat_selectors::get_allowed_text_selectors() and behat_selectors::get_allowed_selectors() instead of
525 behat_command::$allowedtextselectors and behat_command::$allowedselectors
526 * Subplugins are supported in admin tools and local plugins.
527 * file_packer/zip_packer API has been modified so that key functions support a new file_progress interface
528 to report progress during long operations. Related to this, zip_archive now supports an estimated_count()
529 function that returns an approximate number of entries in the zip faster than the count() function.
530 * Class cm_info no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only and calculated on first request only.
531 * Class course_modinfo no longer extends stdClass. All properties are read-only.
532 * Database fields modinfo and sectioncache in table course are removed. Application cache core/coursemodinfo
533 is used instead. Course cache is still reset, rebuilt and retrieved using function rebuild_course_cache() and
534 get_fast_modinfo(). Purging all caches and every core upgrade purges course modinfo cache as well.
535 If function get_fast_modinfo() is called for multiple courses make sure to include field cacherev in course
537 * Internal (noreply and support) user support has been added for sending/receiving message.
538 Use core_user::get_noreply_user() and core_user::get_support_user() to get noreply and support user's respectively.
539 Real users can be used as noreply/support users by setting $CFG->noreplyuserid and $CFG->supportuserid
540 * New function readfile_allow_large() in filelib.php for use when very large files may need sending to user.
541 * Use core_plugin_manager::reset_caches() when changing visibility of plugins.
542 * Implement new method get_enabled_plugins() method in subplugin info classes.
543 * Each plugin should include version information in version.php.
544 * Module and block tables do not contain version column any more, use get_config('xx_yy', 'version') instead.
545 * $USER->password field is intentionally unset so that session data does not contain password hashes.
546 * Use core_shutdown_manager::register_function() instead of register_shutdown_function().
547 * New file packer for .tar.gz files; obtain by calling get_file_packer('application/x-gzip'). Intended initially
548 for use in backup/restore only, as there are limitations on supported filenames. Also new packer for
549 backups which supports both compression formats; get_file_packer('application/vnd.moodle.backup').
550 * New optional parameter to stored_file::get_content_file_handle to open file handle with 'gzopen' instead
551 of 'fopen' to read gzip-compressed files if required.
552 * update_internal_user_password() and setnew_password_and_mail() now trigger user_updated event.
553 * Add thirdpartylibs.xml file to plugins that bundle any 3rd party libraries.
554 * New class introduced to help auto generate zIndex values for modal dialogues. Class "moodle-has-zindex"
555 should set on any element which uses a non-default zindex and needs to ensure it doesn't show above a
557 * $CFG->filelifetime is now used consistently for most file serving operations, the default was lowered
558 to 6 hours from 24 hours because etags and x-sendfile support should make file serving less expensive.
559 * Date format locale charset for windows server will come from calendar type and for gregorian it will use
561 * The library to interact with Box.net (class boxclient) is only compatible with their APIv1 which
562 reaches its end of life on the 14th of Dec. You should migrate your scripts to make usage of the
563 new class boxnet_client(). Note that the method names and return values have changed.
564 * Settings pages are now possible for Calendar type plugins. Calendar type plugins that require a settings page to
565 work properly will need to set their requires version to a number that is equal to or grater than the 2.6.1 release version.
566 * The admin/tool/generator tool was overhauled to use testing data generators and the previous interface to create
567 test data was removed (it was not working correctly anyway). If you were using this tool you will probably need to
571 Various previously deprecated functions have now been altered to throw DEBUG_DEVELOPER debugging notices
572 and will be removed in a future release (target: 2.8), a summary follows:
575 * get_context_instance() -> context_xxxx::instance()
576 * get_context_instance_by_id() -> context::instance_by_id($id)
577 * get_system_context() -> context_system::instance()
578 * context_moved() -> context::update_moved()
579 * preload_course_contexts() -> context_helper::preload_course()
580 * context_instance_preload() -> context_helper::preload_from_record()
581 * context_instance_preload_sql() -> context_helper::get_preload_record_columns_sql()
582 * get_contextlevel_name() -> context_helper::get_level_name()
583 * create_contexts() -> context_helper::create_instances()
584 * cleanup_contexts() -> context_helper::cleanup_instances()
585 * build_context_path() -> context_helper::build_all_paths()
586 * print_context_name() -> $context->get_context_name()
587 * mark_context_dirty() -> $context->mark_dirty()
588 * delete_context() -> $context->delete_content() or context_helper::delete_instance()
589 * get_context_url() -> $context->get_url()
590 * get_course_context() -> $context->get_course_context()
591 * get_parent_contexts() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids()
592 * get_parent_contextid() -> $context->get_parent_context()
593 * get_child_contexts() -> $context->get_child_contexts()
594 * rebuild_contexts() -> $context->reset_paths()
595 * get_user_courses_bycap() -> enrol_get_users_courses()
596 * get_courseid_from_context() -> $context->get_course_context(false)
597 * get_role_context_caps() -> (no replacement)
598 * load_temp_role() -> (no replacement)
599 * remove_temp_roles() -> (no replacement)
600 * get_related_contexts_string() -> $context->get_parent_context_ids(true)
601 * get_recent_enrolments() -> (no replacement)
604 * get_course_participants() -> get_enrolled_users()
605 * is_course_participant() -> is_enrolled()
608 * current_theme() -> $PAGE->theme->name
609 * skip_main_destination() -> $OUTPUT->skip_link_target()
610 * print_container() -> $OUTPUT->container()
611 * print_container_start() -> $OUTPUT->container_start()
612 * print_container_end() -> $OUTPUT->container_end()
613 * print_continue() -> $OUTPUT->continue_button()
614 * print_header() -> $PAGE methods
615 * print_header_simple() -> $PAGE methods
616 * print_side_block() -> $OUTPUT->block()
617 * print_arrow() -> $OUTPUT->arrow()
618 * print_scale_menu_helpbutton() -> $OUTPUT->help_icon_scale($courseid, $scale)
619 * print_checkbox() -> html_writer::checkbox()
622 * print_navigation() -> $OUTPUT->navbar()
623 * build_navigation() -> $PAGE->navbar methods
624 * navmenu() -> (no replacement)
625 * settings_navigation::
626 get_course_modules() -> (no replacement)
628 Files and repositories:
629 * stored_file::replace_content_with() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
630 * stored_file::set_filesize() -> stored_file::replace_file_with()
631 * stored_file::get_referencelifetime() -> (no replacement)
632 * repository::sync_external_file() -> see repository::sync_reference()
633 * repository::get_file_by_reference() -> repository::sync_reference()
635 get_reference_file_lifetime() -> (no replacement)
636 * repository::sync_individual_file() -> (no replacement)
637 * repository::reset_caches() -> (no replacement)
640 * add_event() -> calendar_event::create()
641 * update_event() -> calendar_event->update()
642 * delete_event() -> calendar_event->delete()
643 * hide_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(false)
644 * show_event() -> calendar_event->toggle_visibility(true)
647 * filter_text() -> format_text(), format_string()...
648 * httpsrequired() -> $PAGE->https_required()
649 * detect_munged_arguments() -> clean_param([...], PARAM_FILE)
650 * mygroupid() -> groups_get_all_groups()
651 * js_minify() -> core_minify::js_files()
652 * css_minify_css() -> core_minify::css_files()
653 * course_modinfo::build_section_cache() -> (no replacement)
654 * generate_email_supportuser() -> core_user::get_support_user()
657 * session_get_instance()->xxx() -> \core\session\manager::xxx()
658 * session_kill_all() -> \core\session\manager::kill_all_sessions()
659 * session_touch() -> \core\session\manager::touch_session()
660 * session_kill() -> \core\session\manager::kill_session()
661 * session_kill_user() -> \core\session\manager::kill_user_sessions()
662 * session_gc() -> \core\session\manager::gc()
663 * session_set_user() -> \core\session\manager::set_user()
664 * session_is_loggedinas() -> \core\session\manager::is_loggedinas()
665 * session_get_realuser() -> \core\session\manager::get_realuser()
666 * session_loginas() -> \core\session\manager::loginas()
668 User-agent related functions:
669 * check_browser_operating_system() -> core_useragent::check_browser_operating_system()
670 * check_browser_version() -> core_useragent::check_browser_version()
671 * get_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type()
672 * get_device_type_list() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_list()
673 * get_selected_theme_for_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_theme()
674 * get_device_cfg_var_name() -> core_useragent::get_device_type_cfg_var_name()
675 * set_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::set_user_device_type()
676 * get_user_device_type() -> core_useragent::get_user_device_type()
677 * get_browser_version_classes() -> core_useragent::get_browser_version_classes()
680 * moodle-core-notification has been deprecated with a recommendation of
681 using its subclasses instead. This is to allow for reduced page
682 transport costs. Current subclasses include:
689 Event triggering and event handlers:
690 * All existing events and event handlers should be replaced by new
691 event classes and matching new event observers.
692 * See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Event_2 for more information.
693 * The following events will be entirely removed, though they can still
694 be captured using handlers, but they should not be used any more.
695 * groups_members_removed -> \core\event\group_member_removed
696 * groups_groupings_groups_removed -> (no replacement)
697 * groups_groups_deleted -> \core\event\group_deleted
698 * groups_groupings_deleted -> \core\event\grouping_deleted
699 * edit_module_post_actions() does not trigger events any more.
703 * New get_course() function for use when obtaining the course record from database. Will
704 reuse existing $COURSE or $SITE globals if possible to improve performance.
708 * The database drivers (moodle_database and subclasses) aren't using anymore the ::columns property
709 for caching database metadata. MUC (databasemeta) is used instead. Any custom DB driver should
710 apply for that change.
711 * The cron output has been changed to include time and memory usage (see cron_trace_time_and_memory()),
712 so any custom utility relying on the old output may require modification.
713 * Function get_max_file_sizes now returns an option for (for example) "Course limit (500MB)" or
714 "Site limit (200MB)" when appropriate with the option set to 0. This function no longer returns
715 an option for 0 bytes. Existing code that was replacing the 0 option in the return
716 from this function with a more sensible message, can now use the return from this function directly.
717 * Functions responsible for output in course/lib.php are deprecated, the code is moved to
718 appropriate renderers: print_section(), print_section_add_menus(), get_print_section_cm_text(),
719 make_editing_buttons()
720 See functions' phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php
721 * Function get_print_section_cm_text() is deprecated, replaced with methods in cm_info
722 * zip_packer may create empty zip archives, there is a new option to ignore
723 problematic files when creating archive
724 * The function delete_course_module was deprecated and has been replaced with
725 course_delete_module. The reason for this was because the function delete_course_module
726 only partially deletes data, so wherever it was called extra code was needed to
727 perform the whole deletion process. The function course_delete_module now takes care
728 of the whole process.
729 * curl::setopt() does not accept constant values any more. As it never worked properly,
730 we decided to make the type check stricter. Now, the keys of the array pass must be a string
731 corresponding to the curl constant name.
732 * Function get_users_listing now return list of users except guest and deleted users. Previously
733 deleted users were excluded by get_users_listing. As guest user is not expected while browsing users,
734 and not included in get_user function, it will not be returned by get_users_listing.
735 * The add_* functions in course/dnduploadlib.php have been deprecated. Plugins should be using the
736 MODNAME_dndupload_register callback instead.
737 * The signature of the add() method of classes implementing the parentable_part_of_admin_tree
738 interface (such as admin_category) has been extended. The new parameter allows the caller
739 to prepend the new node before an existing sibling in the admin tree.
740 * condition_info:get_condition_user_fields($formatoptions) now accepts the optional
741 param $formatoptions, that will determine if the field names are processed by
742 format_string() with the passed options.
743 * remove all references to $CFG->gdversion, GD PHP extension is now required
744 * Formslib will now throw a developer warning if a PARAM_ type hasn't been set for elements which
745 need it. Please set PARAM_RAW explicitly if you do not want any cleaning.
746 * Functions responsible for managing and accessing course categories are moved to class coursecat
747 in lib/coursecatlib.php, functions responsible for rendering courses and categories lists are
748 moved to course/renderer.php. The following global functions are deprecated: make_categories_list(),
749 category_delete_move(), category_delete_full(), move_category(), course_category_hide(),
750 course_category_show(), get_course_category(), create_course_category(), get_all_subcategories(),
751 get_child_categories(), get_categories(), print_my_moodle(), print_remote_course(),
752 print_remote_host(), print_whole_category_list(), print_category_info(), get_course_category_tree(),
753 print_courses(), print_course(), get_category_courses_array(), get_category_courses_array_recursively(),
754 get_courses_wmanagers()
755 See http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Courses_lists_upgrade_to_2.5
756 * $core_renderer->block_move_target() changed to support more verbose move-block-here descriptions.
757 * Additional (optional) param $onlyactive has been added to get_enrolled_users, count_enrolled_users
758 functions to get information for only active (excluding suspended enrolments) users. Included two
759 helper functions extract_suspended_users, get_suspended_userids to extract suspended user information.
760 * The core_plugin_manager class now provides two new helper methods for getting information
761 about known plugins: get_plugins_of_type() and get_subplugins_of_plugin().
762 * The get_uninstall_url() method of all subclasses of \core\plugininfo\base class is now expected
763 to always return moodle_url. Subclasses can use the new method is_uninstall_allowed()
764 to control the availability of the 'Uninstall' link at the Plugins overview page (previously
765 they would do it by get_uninstall_url() returning null). By default, URL to a new general plugin
766 uninstall tool is returned. Unless the plugin type needs extra steps that can't be handled by
767 plugininfo_xxx::uninstall() method or xmldb_xxx_uninstall() function, this default URL should
768 satisfy all plugin types.
770 Database (DML) layer:
771 * $DB->sql_empty() is deprecated, you have to use sql parameters with empty values instead,
772 please note hardcoding of empty strings in SQL queries breaks execution in Oracle database.
773 * Indexes must not be defined on the same columns as keys, this is now reported as fatal problem.
774 Please note that internally we create indexes instead of foreign keys.
777 * M.util.help_icon has been deprecated. Code should be updated to use moodle-core-popuphelp
778 instead. To do so, remove any existing JS calls to M.util.help_icon from your PHP and ensure
779 that your help link is placed in a span which has the class 'helplink'.
783 * Pagelib: Numerous deprecated functions were removed as classes page_base, page_course
784 and page_generic_activity.
785 * use $CFG->googlemapkey3 instead of removed $CFG->googlemapkey and migrate to Google Maps API V3
786 * Function settings_navigation::add_course_editing_links() is completely removed
787 * function global_navigation::format_display_course_content() is removed completely (the
788 functionality is moved to course format class)
789 * in the function global_navigation::load_generic_course_sections() the argument $courseformat is
791 * New component and itemid columns in groups_members table - this allows plugin to create protected
792 group memberships using 'xx_yy_allow_group_member_remove' callback and there is also a new restore
793 callback 'xx_yy_restore_group_member()'.
794 * New general role assignment restore plugin callback 'xx_yy_restore_role_assignment()'.
795 * functions get_generic_section_name(), get_all_sections(), add_mod_to_section(), get_all_mods()
796 are deprecated. See their phpdocs in lib/deprecatedlib.php on how to replace them
799 * moodle-enrol-notification has been renamed to moodle-core-notification
800 * YUI2 code must now use 2in3, see http://yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/yui/yui-yui2.html
801 * M.util.init_select_autosubmit() and M.util.init_url_select() have been deprecated. Code using this should be updated
802 to use moodle-core-formautosubmit
804 Unit testing changes:
805 * output debugging() is not sent to standard output any more,
806 use $this->assertDebuggingCalled(), $this->assertDebuggingNotCalled(),
807 $this->getDebuggingMessages() or $this->assertResetDebugging() instead.
811 Database layer changes:
812 * objects are not allowed in paramters of DML functions, use explicit casting to strings if necessary
815 * DDL and DML methods which were deprecated in 2.0 have now been removed, they will no longer produce
816 debug messages and will produce fatal errors
820 * send_stored_file() has changed its interface
821 * deleted several resourcelib_embed_* functions from resourcelib.php
825 removed unused libraries:
826 * odbc, base32, CodeSniffer, overlib, apd profiling, kses, Smarty, PEAR Console, swfobject, cssshover.htc, md5.js
829 * new admin/tool plugin type
830 * new context API - old API is still available
831 * deleted users do not have context any more
832 * removed global search
838 * basic suport for restore from 1.9
839 * new mobile devices API
846 * new DML API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DML_functions
847 * new DDL API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/DDL_functions
848 * new file API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/File_API
849 * new $PAGE and $OUTPUT API
851 * new theme API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Theme_changes_in_2.0
852 * new javascript API - http://docs.moodle.org/dev/JavaScript_usage_guide
854 * new local plugin type
855 * new translation support - http://lang.moodle.org
856 * new web service API
863 * new backup/restore API
866 * improved plugin support (aka Frankenstyle)
867 * new registration and hub API
868 * new course completion API
871 * new text editor API
872 * new my moodle and profiles API
