edq-lms-toolkit 1.1.0

A suite of CLI tools and Python library interfacing with Learning Management Systems (LMSs).

LMS Tools

A suite of tools and a Python interface for interacting with different Learning Management Systems (LMSs).

This project is not affiliated with any LMS developer/provider.

Links:

• API Reference
• Development Notes
• Installation
• Usage Notes
  • Authentication
  • Object Queries
  • Output Formats
  • Retrieval Operations
  • Groups vs Group Sets
• CLI Tools
  • Courses
    • Retrieve Courses
    • Assignments
      • Retrieve Assignments
      • Scores
        • Retrieve Assignment Scores
        • Upload Assignment Scores
    • Gradebook
      • Retrieve Gradebook
      • Upload Gradebook
    • User Groupings
      • Group Sets
        • Retrieve Group Sets
        • Create Group Sets
        • Delete Group Sets
        • Memberships
          • Retrieve Group Set Memberships
      • Groups
        • Retrieve Groups
        • Create Groups
        • Delete Groups
        • Memberships
          • Retrieve Group Memberships
    • Users
      • Retrieve Users
      • Scores
        • Retrieve User Scores
• LMS Coverage

Installation

The project (tools and API) can be installed from PyPi with:

pip install edq-lms-toolkit

Standard Python requirements are listed in pyproject.toml. The project and Python dependencies can be installed from source with:

pip3 install .

Cloning

This repository includes submodules. To fetch these submodules on clone, add the --recurse-submodules flag. For example:

git clone --recurse-submodules [e-mail]:edulinq/lms-toolkit.git

To fetch the submodules after cloning, you can use:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Usage Notes

Authentication

Different LMSs may require different information for authentication. The below table lists what each LMS needs. Note that values only need to be provided once (in the config or CLI).

LMS	Config Keys	CLI Options
Canvas	token	--token

Object Queries

LMS's typically require that you refer to objects using their specified identifier. Because this may be difficult, the LMS Toolkit provides a way for users to instead refer to object by other identifying fields. Fields with this behavior are referred to as "queries". Unless specified, all inputs into the CLI can be assumed to be queries.

A query can be the LMS identifier, another identifying field, or a combination of the two (referred to as a "label"). The allowed identifying fields varies depending on the object you are referring to, but is generally straightforward. For example, a user can also be identified by their email or full name, while an assignment can be identified by its full name. Labels combine the identifying field with the LMS id, and are most commonly used by the LMS Toolkit when outputting information. For example, a user may be identified by any of the following:

Query Type	Query
Email	[e-mail]
Name	Sammy Slug
ID	123
Label (Email)	[e-mail] (123)
Label (Name)	Sammy Slug (123)

Output Formats

Many commands can output data in three different formats:

• Text (--format text) -- A human-readable format (usually the default).
• Table (--format table) -- A tab-separated table.
• JSON (--format json) -- A JSON object/list.

Retrieval Operations

When retrieving data from the LMS, this project tends to use two different types of operations:

• list -- List out all the available entries, e.g., list all the users in a course.
• get -- Get a collection of entries by query, e.g., get several users by their email.

Groups vs Group Sets

When dealing with groups, there are two structures you need to be familiar with: Groups and Group Sets. A group is a collection of students. A group set (sometimes denoted as "groupsset") is a collection of groups, often created for a single purpose (e.g., a set of groups created for a specific assignment). All groups must exist within a group set.

CLI Tools

All CLI tools can be invoked with -h / --help to see the full usage and all options.

Examples listed here will assume that your authentication information is already defined in your global config file (use --help for more information on that).

Examples listed here are not exhaustive in terms of the available tools or the full functionality of each comment.

The data used in these examples are part of the official test data used for this repo (and other LMS test images).

Retrieve Courses

List all courses associated with a user with lms.cli.courses.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.list

You can get a single course with lms.cli.courses.get:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.get 'Course 101'

Retrieve Assignments

List all assignments associated with a course with lms.cli.assignments.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.assignments.list --course 'Course 101'

You can get a single assignment with lms.cli.assignments.get:

python3 -m lms.cli.assignments.get --course 'Course 101' 'Homework 0'

Retrieve Assignment Scores

List all student scores for an assignment with lms.cli.assignments.scores.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.assignments.scores.list --course 'Course 101' --assignment 'Homework 0'

The table format is especially useful for listing scores:

python3 -m lms.cli.assignments.scores.list --course 'Course 101' --assignment 'Homework 0' --format table

Upload Assignment Scores

Upload a single score for an assignment and user with lms.cli.assignments.scores.upload-score. For example, to upload a score of 1.0 for user course-student and assignment `Homework 0', use:

python3 -m lms.cli.assignments.scores.upload-score --course 'Course 101' --assignment 'Homework 0' --user 'course-student' 1.0

To upload multiple scores for a single assignment, use lms.cli.assignments.scores.upload. This tool takes a TSV file (tab-separated) file as input. The file may have a header, which must be skipped using the --skip-rows option. Each data row can have two or three columns (different rows can have different number of columns). The values are as follows:

1. User Query
2. Numeric Score
3. (Optional) Comment

For example, assume we have a file scores.txt with the following contents:

User	Score	Comment
[e-mail]	1
[e-mail]	1.5
[e-mail]	2	foo
[e-mail]	2.5	foo

We can upload these scores for Assignment 1 in the course Extra Course using:

python3 -m lms.cli.assignments.scores.upload --course 'Extra Course' --assignment 'Assignment 1' scores.txt

Retrieve Gradebook

List all gradebook entries associated with a course with lms.cli.courses.gradebook.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.gradebook.list --course 'Course 101'

Gradebooks are always output as TSV tables.

Upload Gradebook

Upload a gradebook with lms.cli.courses.gradebook.upload. The gradebook file must be the same format that is outputted by lms.cli.courses.gradebook.list.

For example, assume we have a file gradebook.txt with the following contents:

User	Assignment 1 (130000100)	Assignment 2 (130000200)
[e-mail] (100060000)	1.0	1.0
[e-mail] (100070000)		0.5

We can upload these three scores to course Extra Course with:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.gradebook.upload --course 'Extra Course' gradebook.txt

A gradebook does not need to represent all assignments or students in a course. Only the assignments and students of interest need to be included. An empty cell (missing score) will be ignored, but all rows must have the correct number of cells (tabs).

Retrieve Group Sets

List all groups sets in a course lms.cli.courses.groupsets.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groupsets.list --course 'Extra Course'

Create Group Sets

Create a new group set with: lms.cli.courses.groupsets.create:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groupsets.create --course 'Extra Course' 'My New Group Set'

Delete Group Sets

Delete group sets with: lms.cli.courses.groupsets.delete:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groupsets.delete --course 'Extra Course' --groupset 'Group Set 1'

Retrieve Group Set Memberships

List all memberships in a group set with: lms.cli.courses.groupsets.memberships.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groupsets.memberships.list --course 'Extra Course' --groupset 'Group Set 1'

Retrieve Groups

List all the groups for a group set with lms.cli.courses.groups.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groups.list --course 'Extra Course' --groupset 'Group Set 1'

Create Groups

Create a new group with: lms.cli.courses.groups.create:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groups.create --course 'Extra Course' --groupset 'Group Set 1' 'My New Group'

Delete Groups

Delete groups with: lms.cli.courses.groups.delete:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groups.delete --course 'Extra Course' --groupset 'Group Set 1' --group 'Group 1-1'

Retrieve Group Memberships

List all memberships in a group with: lms.cli.courses.groups.memberships.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.courses.groups.memberships.list --course 'Extra Course' --groupset 'Group Set 1' --group 'Group 1-1'

Retrieve Users

List all users associated with a course with lms.cli.users.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.users.list --course 'Course 101'

You can get a single user with lms.cli.users.get:

python3 -m lms.cli.users.get --course 'Course 101' 'course-student'

Retrieve User Scores

List all scores for a student with lms.cli.users.scores.list:

python3 -m lms.cli.users.scores.list --course 'Extra Course' --user 'extra-course-student-1'

The table format is especially useful for listing scores:

python3 -m lms.cli.users.scores.list --course 'Extra Course' --user 'extra-course-student-1' --format table

LMS Coverage

The LMS Toolkit is constantly expanding its support with hopes for supporting all major LMSs.

Legend:

• + -- Supported
• - -- Not Yet Supported
• x -- Support Impossible (See Notes)

Tool	Canvas	Moodle
lms.cli.courses.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.assignments.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.assignments.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.assignments.scores.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.assignments.scores.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.assignments.scores.upload	+	-
lms.cli.courses.assignments.scores.upload-score	+	-
lms.cli.courses.gradebook.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.gradebook.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.gradebook.upload	+	-
lms.cli.courses.groups.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.groups.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.groups.memberships.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.groupsets.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.groupsets.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.groupsets.memberships.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.users.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.users.list	+	-
lms.cli.courses.users.scores.get	+	-
lms.cli.courses.users.scores.list	+	-
lms.cli.server.identify	+	+