Let’s go workshopping
While the test site where you can play with the new workshop module is up and running, I am working on migration procedures to get current 1.9 workshop data into the new framework. I am following similar approach as Petr used for the migration of the Resource module. I personally call it Scavenger design pattern.
The basic idea of the migration is that all 1.9 tables are renamed using _old suffix and new ones are created as if we were starting from scratch. Then the upgrade script goes through all 1.9 records, transforms data into new formats and inserts them into new tables (marking old records as processed). Once finished, the new workshop core tables are fed up with the old data. Later during the installation, new workshop subplugins get created (allocators, grading strategies and grading evaluators). They find the old dead workshop tables and start picking data from them. At the end of the day, the new tables are populated with the old data.
Such a procedure requires that 1.9 workshop instances are at least in sort-of-well-defined-coma state. Therefore I started to fix the most critical functional and security bugs in workshop 1.9. So far the most important one may be that the workshop in Moodle 1.9.7 will push grades into gradebook as expected during the Synchronise legacy grades procedure. Big thanks to all patient users who help me with testing both new features and fixes.
