moodle/lib/UPGRADING.md

core (subsystem) Upgrade notes

4.5.1+

Added

• A new core\ip_utils::normalize_internet_address() method is created to sanitize an IP address, a range of IP addresses, a domain name or a wildcard domain matching pattern.

  Moodle previously allowed entries such as 192.168. or .moodle.org for certain variables (eg: $CFG->proxybypass). Since MDL-74289, these formats are no longer allowed. This method converts this informations into an authorized format. For example, 192.168. becomes 192.168.0.0/16 and .moodle.org becomes *.moodle.org.

  Also a new core\ip_utils::normalize_internet_address_list() method is created. Based on core\ip_utils::normalize_internet_address(), this method normalizes a string containing a series of Internet addresses.

  For more information see MDL-79121

Changed

• The core_renderer::tag_list function now has a new parameter named displaylink. When displaylink is set to true, the tag name will be displayed as a clickable hyperlink. Otherwise, it will be rendered as plain text.

  For more information see MDL-75075

• The following test classes have been moved into autoloadable locations:

  Old location	New classname
  \core\tests\route_testcase	\core\tests\router\route_testcase
  \core\router\mocking_route_loader	\core\tests\router\mocking_route_loader

  For more information see MDL-83968

4.5.1

Added

• \core\output\activity_header now uses the is_title_allowed() method when setting the title in the constructor.

  This method has been improved to give priority to the 'notitle' option in the theme config for the current page layout, over the top-level option in the theme.

  For example, the Boost theme sets $THEME->activityheaderconfig['notitle'] = true; by default, but in its secure pagelayout, it has 'notitle' = false. This prevents display of the title in all layouts except secure.

  For more information see MDL-75610

Changed

• All uses of the following PHPUnit methods have been removed as these methods are deprecated upstream without direct replacement:

  • withConsecutive
  • willReturnConsecutive
  • onConsecutive

  Any plugin using these methods must update their uses.

  For more information see MDL-81308

4.5

Added

• A new method, \core_user::get_name_placeholders(), has been added to return an array of user name fields.

  For more information see MDL-64148

• The following classes have been renamed and now support autoloading. Existing classes are currently unaffected.

  Old class name	New class name
  \core_component	\core\component

  For more information see MDL-66903

• Added the ability for unit tests to autoload classes in the \[component]\tests\ namespace from the [path/to/component]/tests/classes directory.

  For more information see MDL-66903

• Added a helper to load fixtures from a components tests/fixtures/ folder:

  advanced_testcase::load_fixture(string $component, string $fixture): void;
  

  For more information see MDL-66903

• Redis session cache has been improved to make a single call where two were used before.

  For more information see MDL-69684

• Added stored progress bars

  For more information see MDL-70854

• Two new functions have been introduced in the \moodle_database class:

  • \moodle_database::get_counted_records_sql()
  • \moodle_database::get_counted_recordset_sql()

  These methods are compatible with all databases.

  They will check the current running database engine and apply the COUNT window function if it is supported, otherwise, they will use the usual COUNT function.

  The COUNT window function optimization is applied to the following databases:

  • PostgreSQL
  • MariaDB
  • Oracle

  Note: MySQL and SQL Server do not use this optimization due to insignificant performance differences before and after the improvement.

  For more information see MDL-78030

• The after_config() callback has been converted to a hook, \core\hook\after_config.

  For more information see MDL-79011

• The \core\output\select_menu widget now supports rendering dividers between menu options. Empty elements (null or empty strings) within the array of options are considered and rendered as dividers in the dropdown menu.

  For more information see MDL-80747

• The \core\output\select_menu widget now supports a new feature: inline labels. You can render the label inside the combobox widget by passing true to the $inlinelabel parameter when calling the ->set_label() method.

  For more information see MDL-80747

• A new hook called \core\hook\output\after_http_headers has been created. This hook allow plugins to modify the content after headers are sent.

  For more information see MDL-80890

• The following classes have been renamed. Existing classes are currently unaffected.

  Old class name	New class name
  \core_user	\core\user

  For more information see MDL-81031

• New DML constant SQL_INT_MAX to define the size of a large integer with cross database platform support.

  For more information see MDL-81282

• Added a new exception L2 Namespace to APIs.

  For more information see MDL-81903

• Added a mechanism to support autoloading of legacy class files. This will help to reduce the number of require_once calls in the codebase, and move away from the use of monolithic libraries.

  For more information see MDL-81919

• The following exceptions are now also available in the \core\exception namespace:

  • \coding_exception
  • \file_serving_exception
  • \invalid_dataroot_permissions
  • \invalid_parameter_exception
  • \invalid_response_exception
  • \invalid_state_exception
  • \moodle_exception
  • \require_login_exception
  • \require_login_session_timeout_exception
  • \required_capability_exception
  • \webservice_parameter_exception

  For more information see MDL-81919

• The following classes are now also available in the \core\ namespace and support autoloading:

  Old class name	New class name
  \emoticon_manager	\core\emoticon_manager
  \lang_string	\core\lang_string

  For more information see MDL-81920

• The following classes have been renamed and now support autoloading. Existing classes are currently unaffected.

  Old class name	New class name
  \moodle_url	\core\url
  \progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace
  \combined_progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace\combined_progress_trace
  \error_log_progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace\error_log_progress_trace
  \html_list_progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace\html_list_progress_trace
  \html_progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace\html_progress_trace
  \null_progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace\null_progress_trace
  \progress_trace_buffer	\core\output\progress_trace\progress_trace_buffer
  \text_progress_trace	\core\output\progress_trace\text_progress_trace

  For more information see MDL-81960

• The following classes are now also available in the following new locations. They will continue to work in their old locations:

  Old classname	New classname
  \action_link	\core\output\action_link
  \action_menu_filler	\core\output\action_menu\filler
  \action_menu_link_primary	\core\output\action_menu\link_primary
  \action_menu_link_secondary	\core\output\action_menu\link_secondary
  \action_menu_link	\core\output\action_menu\link
  \action_menu	\core\output\action_menu
  \block_contents	\core_block\output\block_contents
  \block_move_target	\core_block\output\block_move_target
  \component_action	\core\output\actions\component_action
  \confirm_action	\core\output\actions\confirm_action
  \context_header	\core\output\context_header
  \core\output\local\action_menu\subpanel	\core\output\action_menu\subpanel
  \core_renderer_ajax	\core\output\core_renderer_ajax
  \core_renderer_cli	\core\output\core_renderer_cli
  \core_renderer_maintenance	\core\output\core_renderer_maintenance
  \core_renderer	\core\output\core_renderer
  \custom_menu_item	\core\output\custom_menu_item
  \custom_menu	\core\output\custom_menu
  \file_picker	\core\output\file_picker
  \flexible_table	\core_table\flexible_table
  \fragment_requirements_manager	\core\output\requirements\fragment_requirements_manager
  \help_icon	\core\output\help_icon
  \html_table_cell	\core_table\output\html_table_cell
  \html_table_row	\core_table\output\html_table_row
  \html_table	\core_table\output\html_table
  \html_writer	\core\output\html_writer
  \image_icon	\core\output\image_icon
  \initials_bar	\core\output\initials_bar
  \js_writer	\core\output\js_writer
  \page_requirements_manager	\core\output\requirements\page_requirements_manager
  \paging_bar	\core\output\paging_bar
  \pix_emoticon	\core\output\pix_emoticon
  \pix_icon_font	\core\output\pix_icon_font
  \pix_icon_fontawesome	\core\output\pix_icon_fontawesome
  \pix_icon	\core\output\pix_icon
  \plugin_renderer_base	\core\output\plugin_renderer_base
  \popup_action	\core\output\actions\popup_action
  \preferences_group	\core\output\preferences_group
  \preferences_groups	\core\output\preferences_groups
  \progress_bar	\core\output\progress_bar
  \renderable	\core\output\renderable
  \renderer_base	\core\output\renderer_base
  \renderer_factory_base	\core\output\renderer_factory\renderer_factory_base
  \renderer_factory	\core\output\renderer_factory\renderer_factory_interface
  \single_button	\core\output\single_button
  \single_select	\core\output\single_select
  \standard_renderer_factory	\core\output\renderer_factory\standard_renderer_factory
  \table_dataformat_export_format	\core_table\dataformat_export_format
  \table_default_export_format_parent	\core_table\base_export_format
  \table_sql	\core_table\sql_table
  \tabobject	\core\output\tabobject
  \tabtree	\core\output\tabtree
  \templatable	\core\output\templatable
  \theme_config	\core\output\theme_config
  \theme_overridden_renderer_factory	\core\output\renderer_factory\theme_overridden_renderer_factory
  \url_select	\core\output\url_select
  \user_picture	\core\output\user_picture
  \xhtml_container_stack	\core\output\xhtml_container_stack
  \YUI_config	\core\output\requirements\yui

  For more information see MDL-82183

• A new method, \core\output\::get_deprecated_icons(), has been added to the icon_system class. All deprecated icons should be registered through this method. Plugins can implement a callback to pluginname_get_deprecated_icons() to register their deprecated icons too. When $CFG->debugpageinfo is enabled, a console message will display a list of the deprecated icons.

  For more information see MDL-82212

• Two new optional parameters have been added to the \core\output\notification constructor:

  • null|string $title - null|string $icon

  For more information see MDL-82297

• A new method, \url_select::set_disabled_option(), has been added to enable or disable an option from its url (the key for the option).

  For more information see MDL-82490

• A new static method, \advanced_testcase::get_fixture_path(), has been added to enable unit tests to fetch the path to a fixture.

  For more information see MDL-82627

• A new static method, \advanced_testcase::get_mocked_http_client(), has been added to allow unit tests to mock the \core\http_client and update the DI container.

  For more information see MDL-82627

• The Moodle autoloader should now be registered using \core\component::register_autoloader rather than manually doing so in any exceptional location which requires it. Note: It is not normally necessary to include the autoloader manually, as it is registered automatically when the Moodle environment is bootstrapped.

  For more information see MDL-82747

• A new JS module for interacting with the Routed REST API has been introduced. For more information see the documentation in the core/fetch module.

  For more information see MDL-82778

• The \section_info class now includes a new method \section_info::get_sequence_cm_infos() that retrieves all \cm_info instances associated with the course section.

  For more information see MDL-82845

• When rendering a renderable located within a namespace, the namespace will now be included in the renderer method name with double-underscores separating the namespace parts.

  Note: Only those renderables within an output namespace will be considered, for example \core\output\action_menu\link and only the parts of the namespace after output will be included.

  The following are examples of the new behaviour:

  Renderable name	Renderer method name
  \core\output\action_menu\link	render_action_menu__link
  \core\output\action_menu\link_primary	render_action_menu__link_primary
  \core\output\action\menu\link	render_action__menu__link
  \core\output\user_menu\link	render_user_menu__link

  For more information see MDL-83164

Changed

• The minimum Redis server version is now 2.6.12. The minimum PHP Redis extension version is now 2.2.4.

  For more information see MDL-69684

• The class autoloader has been moved to an earlier point in the Moodle bootstrap.

  Autoloaded classes are now available to scripts using the ABORT_AFTER_CONFIG constant.

  For more information see MDL-80275

• The \core\dataformat::get_format_instance() method is now public, and can be used to retrieve a writer instance for a given dataformat.

  For more information see MDL-81781

• The \get_home_page() function can now return new constant HOMEPAGE_URL, applicable when a third-party hook has extended the default homepage options for the site.

  A new function, \get_default_home_page_url() has been added which will return the correct URL when this constant is returned.

  For more information see MDL-82066

Deprecated

• The following method has been deprecated and should no longer be used: reset_password_and_mail. Please consider using setnew_password_and_mail as a replacement.

  For more information see MDL-64148

• • The following methods have been finally deprecated and removed:
    • \plagiarism_plugin::get_configs()
    • \plagiarism_plugin::get_file_results()
    • \plagiarism_plugin::update_status(), please use {plugin name}_before_standard_top_of_body_html instead.
  • Final deprecation and removal of \plagiarism_get_file_results(). Please use \plagiarism_get_links() instead.
  • Final deprecation and removal of \plagiarism_update_status(). Please use \{plugin name}_before_standard_top_of_body_html() instead.

  For more information see MDL-71326

• \moodle_list and \list_item were only used by qbank_managecategories, and these usages have been removed, so these classes, and the lib/listlib.php file have now been deprecated. This method was the only usage of the QUESTION_PAGE_LENGTH constant, which was defined in question_category_object.php, and so is also now deprecated.

  For more information see MDL-72397

• The $timeout property of the \navigation_cache class has been deprecated.

  For more information see MDL-79628

• The following classes are deprecated as they are handled by core_sms API and smsgateway_aws plugin:

  • \core\aws\admin_settings_aws_region
  • \core\aws\aws_helper
  • \core\aws\client_factory

  For more information see MDL-80962

• The following methods have been deprecated, existing usage should switch to use the secure \core\encryption::encrypt() and \core\encryption::decrypt() static methods:

  • \rc4encrypt()
  • \rc4decrypt()
  • \endecrypt()

  For more information see MDL-81940

• The following method has been deprecated and should not be used any longer: \print_grade_menu().

  For more information see MDL-82157

• The following files and their contents have been deprecated:

  • lib/soaplib.php
  • lib/tokeniserlib.php

  For more information see MDL-82191

• The following functions have been initially deprecated:

  • \get_core_subsystems()
  • \get_plugin_types()
  • \get_plugin_list()
  • \get_plugin_list_with_class()
  • \get_plugin_directory()
  • \normalize_component()
  • \get_component_directory()
  • \get_context_instance()

  Note: These methods have been deprecated for a long time, but previously did not emit any deprecation notice.

  For more information see MDL-82287

• The following methods have been finally deprecated and will now throw an exception if called:

  • \get_context_instance()
  • \can_use_rotated_text()
  • \get_system_context()
  • \print_arrow()

  For more information see MDL-82287

• The global_navigation::load_section_activities method is now deprecated and replaced by global_navigation::load_section_activities_navigation.

  For more information see MDL-82845

• The following renderer methods have been deprecated from the core renderer:

  method	replacement
  render_action_menu_link	render_action_menu__link
  render_action_menu_link_primary	render_action_menu__link_primary
  render_action_menu_link_secondary	render_action_menu__link_secondary
  render_action_menu_filler	render_action_menu__filler

  For more information see MDL-83164

Removed

• The previously deprecated function search_generate_text_SQL has been removed and can no longer be used.

  For more information see MDL-48940

• The previously deprecated function \core_text::reset_caches() has been removed and can no longer be used.

  For more information see MDL-71748

• The following previously deprecated methods have been removed and can no longer be used:

  • \renderer_base::should_display_main_logo()

  For more information see MDL-73165

• Final deprecation of \print_error(). Please use the \moodle_exception class instead.

  For more information see MDL-74484

• Final deprecation of \core\task\manager::ensure_adhoc_task_qos().

  For more information see MDL-74843

• Support for the deprecated block and activity namespaces <component>\local\views\secondary, which supported the overriding of secondary navigation, has now been entirely removed.

  For more information see MDL-74939

• Remove deprecation layer for YUI JS Events. The deprecation layer was introduced with MDL-70990 and MDL-72291.

  For more information see MDL-77167

Fixed

• The \navigation_cache class now uses the Moodle Universal Cache (MUC) to store the navigation cache data instead of storing it in the global $SESSION variable.

  For more information see MDL-79628

• All the setUp() and tearDown() methods of PHPUnit now are required to, always, call to their parent counterparts. This is a good practice to avoid future problems, especially when updating to PHPUnit >= 10. This includes the following methods:

  • setUp()
  • tearDown()
  • setUpBeforeClass()
  • tearDownAfterClass()

  For more information see MDL-81523

• Use server timezone when constructing \DateTimeImmutable for the system \core\clock implementation.

  For more information see MDL-81894