Mentor external database sync tool for Moodle

This plugin syncs parent/mentor relationships using an external database table.

Author

Michael Vangelovski, Canberra Grammar School michael.vangelovski@cgs.act.edu.au

Features

• Can be triggered via CLI and/or scheduled task.


• Syncronises parent/mentor relationships

Installation

1. 
   

   The plugin assumes that a parent/mentor role has been configured on your Moodle instance as defined here: https://docs.moodle.org/en/Parent_role

   
   


2. 
   

   Download the plugin or install it by using git to clone it into your source:

   
   

   git clone git@github.com:cgs-ets/moodle-tool_mentordatabase.git admin/tool/mentordatabase
   
   

   
   


3. 
   

   Then run the Moodle upgrade

   
   

Setting up the database and sync (How to)

Only a single table/view is required in the external database which contains a record for every parent/student combination. If the table is large it is a good idea to make sure appropriate indexes have been created:

• 
  

  The table/view must have the following minimum fields.

  
  
  
  
  • A unique mentor/parent identifier
  
  
  • A unique user identifier for the child
  
  
  
  


• 
  

  The identifiers must match one of the following fields.

  
  
  
  
  • the "idnumber" field in Moodle's user table (varchar 255), which is manually specified as the "ID number" when editing a user's profile
  
  
  • the "username" field in Moodle's user table (varchar 100), which is manually specified as the "Username" when editing a user's profile
  
  
  • the "email" field in Moodle's user table (varchar 100), which is manually specified as the "Email address" when editing a user's profile
  
  
  • the "id" field in Moodle's user table (int 10), which is based on user creation order
  
  
  
  


• 
  

  In Moodle, go to Site administration > Plugins > Admin tools > Mentor external database > Settings.

  
  
  
  
  • In the top panel, select the database type (make sure you have the necessary configuration in PHP for that type) and then supply the information to connect to the database.
  
  
  • role - The role select contains a list of roles that can be applied at the user level. Select the mentor/parent role that you want to assign.
  
  
  • localuserfield - in Moodle the name of the field in the user profile that uniquely identified the user (e.g., idnumber).
  
  
  • remotementortable - the name of the remote table/view.
  
  
  • remoteuserfield - the name of the column in the external database table that uniquiely identifies the child user.
  
  
  • remotementoridfield - the name of the column in the external database table that uniquiely identifies the mentor/parent user.
  
  
  • removeaction - Select whether to remove or keep mentor relationships that exist in moodle but do not appear in the external database table.
  
  
  
  

Support

If you have issues please log them in github here

https://github.com/cgs-ets/moodle-tool_mentordatabase/issues