Presentation at Moodle Moot USA 2016

1. Tools and Tips for
Moodle Developers
Dan Poltawski
Integrator
Moodle HQ
@dan_p
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#mootus16

2. $CFG->debug = (E_ALL | E_STRICT); // DEBUG_DEVELOPER.
$CFG->debugdisplay = 1; // (unless you tail logs)
$CFG->cachejs = false; // But beware of browser cache!
$CFG->debugstringids = true; // With strings=1 url param.
$CFG->debugusers = ‘2,3,10’; // List of users ids
Debugging: config.php settings
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3. // Beginner.
echo "Course ID: $course->id”;
// Intermediate.
print_object($SESSION);
// Advanced.
debugging('a stack trace too!', DEBUG_DEVELOPER);
if ($CFG->debugdeveloper) {
echo '[..] some diagnostic code.';
}
// Wizard.
// (Uses xdebug and variable introspection)
Stages of Moodle printf() debugging (PHP)
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4. Stages of Moodle printf() debugging (JS)
// Beginner:
alert('courseid is: ' + course.id);
// Intermediate:
console.dir(course);
// Advanced:
Y.log('Info example in YUI module', 'info');
define(['core/log'], function(log) {
log.info('Info example from AMD Module.');
});
// Wizard:
// (uses web inspector, variable introspection)
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5. Performance debugging
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$CFG->perfdebug = 15; // First step.

6. xhprof
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7. xhprof
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8. the world’s open source learning platform
PHPUnit
Useful CLI Options
Filtering
vendor/bin/phpunit --filter block_online_users
vendor/bin/phpunit --testsuite block_online_users_testsuite
vendor/bin/phpunit blocks/online_users/tests/online_users_test.php
Coverage
vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-html=coverage --filter block_online_users

9. PHPUnit
Test authoring tips:
• Use most specific assertion possible
• Make use of @dataProvider to
reduce duplication and get better
errors
• Remember we have data generators
to simplify setup code
/**
* Data provider for test_get_real_size().
*
* @return array An array of arrays contain test data
*/
public function data_for_test_get_real_size() {
return array(
array('8KB', 8192),
array('8G', 8589934592),
);
}
/**
* @dataProvider data_for_test_get_real_size
*/
public function test_get_real_size($input, $expectedbytes) {
$this->assertEquals($expectedbytes,get_real_size($input));
}
There was 1 failure:
1) core_setuplib_testcase::test_get_real_size with data set #0
('8KB', 8193)
Failed asserting that 8192 matches expected 8193.
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10. Behat
Useful CLI Options:
Filtering
—tags @block_online_users
—name “Add the online users on course
page and see other logged in users”
Rerun
—rerun
Profiles
—profile chrome
$CFG->behat_profiles = array(
'phantomjs' => array(
'browser' => ‘chrome’,
'wd_host' => ‘http://10.0.0.3:4444/wd/hub',
));
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11. Behat
Tips:
• Solutions for headless running:
• All platforms: Phantom JS
• Linux: Xvfb - X virtual framebuffer
• Mac: Fast user switching - with background user
• $x() in web developer console extremely useful for constructing
XPath queries
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12. Grunt
• grunt
• grunt watch
• grunt css
• grunt js
• grunt amd
• grunt yui
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13. • Analysing code for potential errors
• Good feedback loop
• Ensure consistency
• Integrate with your development workflow FTW!
Code Linting
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14. • Code-checker (local_codechecker)
• Available from Plugins Directory
• Uses PHP Code-sniffer underneath
• Integrations configured with path to local_codechecker/moodle/
location
Moodle Code Linters: PHP
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15. • ESLint
• New in Moodle 3.2 (MDL-52127), replaced jshint
• grunt js: checks for errors on AMD modules and YUI modules
• Integrations usually work without configuration ( eslintrc bundled)
Moodle Code Linters: Javascript
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16. • Packages: linter
• linter-phpcs
• linter-eslint
• Config:
"linter-phpcs":
codeStandardOrConfigFile: “/path/to/moodle-
Lint in your editor: Atom
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17. • Package: syntastic
• vimrc:
let g:syntastic_javascript_checkers = ['eslint']
let g:syntastic_php_checkers = ['php', 'phpcs']
let g:syntastic_php_phpcs_args='--standard="/
path/to/moodle-local_codechecker/moodle/"'
Lint in your editor: vim
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18. Lint in your editor: PHPStorm
Configured in Editor > Inspections:
• PHP > PHP Code SnifferValidation
• Select ‘Custom’ coding standard and
choose path to local_codechecker/
moodle/
• Javascript > Code Quality Tools >
ESLint
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19. • SublimeLinter
• SublimeLinter-phpcs
• SublimeLinter-contrib-eslint
Sublime
"linters": {
"eslint": {
"@disable": false,
"args": [],
"excludes": []
},
"phpcs": {
"@disable": false,
"args": [],
"excludes": [],
"standard": “/path/to/moodle-local_codechecker/moodle/"
}}the world’s open source learning platform

20. Lint in your editor….
I’m sure their is an emacs integration too 🙄😘
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21. the world’s open source learning platform
“The goal of this project is to facilitate the running of
tests and code analysis tools against a Moodle plugin in
Travis CI.”
• https://github.com/moodlerooms/moodle-plugin-ci
• Created by Mark Nielsen (Moodlerooms)
• Extremely simple and comprehensive way to add CI to
your plugin
moodle-plugin-ci

22. the world’s open source learning platform
moodle-plugin-ci

23. the world’s open source learning platform
“A collection of tools meant to make developers' lives easier.”
• https://github.com/FMCorz/mdk
• Created by Frédéric Massart (Moodle HQ)
• Python tools - works with Linux and Mac
• (Windows patches welcomed!)
• Developed for core development tasks, but useful for non-core
work too
Moodle Development Kit (mdk)

24. • mdk create
• mdk upgrade
• mdk install
• mdk run
• mdk remove
MDK: Instance management
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25. • mdk phpunit
• init
• mdk behat
• init
• fail dumps
• seleneium server start
MDK: Testing
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26. • mdk fix
• mdk pull
• mdk push
MDK: Fixing issues
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27. • mdk fix
• mdk pull
• mdk push
MDK: Fixing continued
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28. the world’s open source learning platform
Email testing: config options
// Disable all Email.
$CFG->noemailever = true;
// Divert all outgoing emails to this address to test and debug emailing features
$CFG->divertallemailsto = 'youremail@example.com';
// Except for certain email addresses you want to let through for testing. Accepts
// a comma separated list of regexes.
$CFG->divertallemailsexcept = 'tester@dev.com, fred(+.*)?@example.com';

29. Email testing: mailcatcher
$CFG->smtphosts = 'localhost:1025';
$ gem install mailcatcher
$ mailcatcher
Starting MailCatcher
==> smtp://127.0.0.1:1025
==> http://127.0.0.1:1080
*** MailCatcher runs as a daemon by default.
Go to the web interface to quit.
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30. the world’s open source learning platform
Accessibility testing
• ChromeVox
• Chrome Extension - Quick and straight forward to get started
• Not JAWS but better than nothing
• Accessibility Developer Tools - Accessibility audit useful

31. git
• git log
• git blame
• git bisect
• https://github.com/dmonllao/who-broke-it
• git log --author=Damyon --grep="services"
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32. Questions?
@dan_p
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