moodlexport 0.0.13

A package to export test questions into Moodle from python or latex

moodlexport

This Python module provides code which allows to easily generate families of questions (called categories in Moodle) that can be directly exported from either Python or Latex to Moodle, and use them to create a test. The main motivation behind this module is that :

• it is easier to define mathematical objects in Python than Moodle
• it is more comfortable to type maths in Latex
• generating random problems is simpler in Python and can go way beyond what Moodle proposes
• it is easier to store/manipulate locally a Latex or Python file than doing it on the Moodle interface. It also simplifies collaborating projects.

It can be installed with a pip command : pip install moodlexport

Some internal links within this documentation:

• Main features of this module so far
• Quick start
  • Simple examples from Python
  • Simple examples from Latex
  • Exporting many questions at once
• Documentation
  • Main commands
• Known issues/missing features

Main features of this module so far

• Creating a question. The only supported classes of questions are:
  • "essay" : the student answers in a white text box.
  • "multichoice" : the question comes with at least 2 possible answers.
• All the options available in Moodle are available here (defining a grade, information for the grader, feedback, etc). See more details below.
• Creating a category (family) of questions.
• Supports Unicode within python and latex : éàê ...
• Supports Latex syntax in Moodle : correctly supports inline latex with $e^x$, and equation with $$ f(x) = \sum_i x_i^2 $$, \begin{equation*}...\end{equation*}, \begin{cases} etc

Quick start

Simple examples from Python:

from moodlexport import Question

question = Question("essay")
question.text("What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?")
question.grade(1.5)
question.save("my first question")

Simple examples from Latex

You can produce the same result as above by defining your question directly in a Latex file. Suppose for isntance that you have a Latex file myquestion.tex containing the following :

\documentclass{amsart}
\usepackage{latextomoodle}
\begin{document}
\begin{question}[essay]
What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?
\grade{1.5}
\end{question}
\end{document}

Then you can convert this myquestion.tex file directly into a readytoexport.xml file, by using the following Python commands:

from moodlexport import latextomoodle
latextomoodle('myquestion.tex','my first question')

Note that if you wish to compile the .tex file without errors, you will need to place the Latex package latextomoodle.sty in the same folder. This package can be found in the latex folder of this project.

Exporting many questions at once

If you want to export more than one question, you might want to gather them within a category, which will produce a single file containing all those questions. Here is how to proceed:

In Python:

from moodlexport import Question, Category

category = Category("My little catgory name")

question = Question("essay")
question.text("What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?")
question.grade(1.5)
question.addto(category)
              
question = Question("multichoice")
question.text("Is every symmetric matrix invertible?")
question.grade(2.0)
question.answer("Yes", False)
question.answer("No", True)
question.addto(category)

category.save()

In Latex, followed by the python command latextomoodle('file_name.tex') :

\documentclass{amsart}
\usepackage{latextomoodle}
\begin{document}
\begin{category}[My little catgory name]
\begin{question}[essay]
What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?
\grade{1.5}
\end{question}
\begin{question}[multichoice]
Is every symmetric matrix invertible?
\answer[0]{Yes}
\answer[100]{No}
\grade{2.0}
\end{question}
\end{category}
\end{document}

Documentation

Main commands

The Category Class

category = Category(string) creates an object of class Category. string here specifies the name of the category, which will appear in Moodle. It comes with a few methods:

• category.save(string) creates an XML file under the XML Moodle format, ready to import within Moodle. The name of the file is the name of the category by default. If a string is given, the name of the file will be string.xml.
• category.description(string) Adds a description to the category, which will appear in Moodle.

The Question Class

question = Question(type) creates an object of class Question. The type of the question can be essay (default) or multichoice. It comes with a family of methods question.OPTION(value) where OPTION describes every possible option that you can set in Moodle. The most important ones are:

• question.title(string) sets the title of the question
• question.text(string) sets the text (main body) of the question
• question.grade(float) sets the grade of the quesiton
• question.graderinfo(string) sets the information to be given to the grader
• question.addto(category) adds the question to a category

Methods specific to the essay type (answer via a text editor):

• question.responseformat(string) : editorfilepicker lets the student upload a file as an answer (default) , editor forbids it.
• question.responserequired(bool) : 0 if no response is required (default), 1 if a response is required.

Methods specific to the multichoice type (finite number of possible answers):

• question.answer(string, value) : Adds a possible answer to the question. string is the text of the answer, value describes if this answer is correct or no. It can be described in two ways:
  • as a boolean True or False (default)
  • as a percentage (integer between 0 and 100), which represents the fraction of the grade attributed to the answer. This is typically used for questions with more than 2 answers. A unique true answer has 100, a wrong answer has 0 (default)
• question.single(value) : true if only one answer is possible (default), false if more than one answer can be selected by the student.

Main commands in Latex (bêta)

It is possible to use a similar syntax within a TEX document :

• \begin{category}[name] ... \end{category} defines the environment corresponding to a category. It is possible to write various categories within the same document. name is the name of the category.
• \begin{question}[type] ... \end{question} defines the environment corresponding to a question. It is possible to write various question within the same category. type is the type of the question, essay by default.
• All the methods mentioned above can be used in latex. The analogue of .OPTION(value) becomes \OPTION{value} in Latex (and must be placed within the corresponding environment). For instance :
  • \description{string} sets the description of a category
  • \grade{float} sets the grade of a question
  • \answer[value]{string} adds an answer to a multichoice question

The corresponding latex package can be found in the latex folder.

Known issues/missing features

• for multichoice we never check that the sum of the fractions is equal to 100%
• for the latex package, there is issues with newcommand and renewcommand because for instance the document class amsart defines text but it is not the case for article.