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  1. Moodle
  2. MDL-68806

New quiz attempt states and asynchronous attempt creation

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    • MOODLE_37_STABLE, MOODLE_38_STABLE, MOODLE_402_STABLE
    • MOODLE_500_STABLE
    • MDL-68806_main
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      Upgrade

      1. Before applying the changes, create a course and add a quiz
      2. Apply the changes and run the upgrade.
      3. During the upgrade, set the new "Precreate period" plugin setting to "5 hours".
      4. Go back to the quiz and access the settings page.
      5. Expand the "Timing" fieldset.
      6. Confirm that you do not see the "Pre-create attempts" setting.
      7. Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Quiz
      8. Uncheck the "Locked" checkbox for the "Precreate period" setting and save.
      9. Return to the quiz settings page.
      10. Expand the "Timing" fieldset.
      11. Confirm that you do not see the "Pre-create attempts" setting.
      12. Check "Enabled" on the "Open the quiz" setting
      13. Confirm that you do see the "Pre-create attempts" setting, and it is unchecked.
      14. Check "Pre-create attempts" and save settings
      15. Return to the quiz settings screen.
      16. Confirm that "Pre-create attempts" is checked.

      Pre-create attempts

      1. Create a course with some students and teacher enrolled.
      2. Log in as admin
      3. Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Quiz
      4. Set the new "Precreate period" plugin setting to "5 hours" and check "Locked", if not already, and save changes.
      5. Create a quiz called "Test Quiz" with Timing > Open the quiz set to 5 minutes from now.
      6. Add a question to the quiz (doesn't matter what).
      7. Go to Site Administration > Server > Tasks > Scheduled tasks, find \mod_quiz\task\precreate_attempts, and click "Run now"
        1. Confirm that you see the following output, where X is the number of enrolled students:
          Found 1 quizzes to create attempts for
          Creating attempts for Test Quiz
          Created X attempts for Test Quiz in Y seconds
          Created attempts for 1 quizzes
      8. Return to the quiz view page
        1. Confirm that you see an "Attempts: X"
      9. Follow the link to the list of attempts
        1. Confirm that the options at the top of the page are set to "Attempts from: enrolled users who have a quiz attempt" and "Attempts that are" has all 6 states selected.
        2. Confirm that the list of attempts contains an attempt for each enrolled student, in the state "Not started", with all subsequent columns containing "-".
      10. Set "Attempts from" to "Enrolled users who do not have a quiz attempt" and click "Show report"
        1. Confirm that no users are shown.
      11. Set "Attempts from" to "Enrolled users who have, or do not have a quiz attempt" and click "Show report"
        1. Confirm that the attempts are shown again
      12. Untick "Not started" from the list of attempt states and click "Show report"
        1. Confirm that no attempts are shown.
      13. Log out

      Start and submit a pre-created attempt

      1. Log in as a student
      2. If necessary, wait until the quiz open time is reached
      3. Go to the course and access the quiz
        1. Confirm you do not see any attempts listed on the page
        2. Confirm you see the "Attempt quiz" button
      4. Click "Attempt quiz"
        1. Confirm you are on this quiz page with the question displayed
      5. Click "Back"
        1. Confirm that the page lists 1 in-progress attempt
      6. Click "Continue attempt"
      7. Answer the question and click "Finish attempt..."
      8. Click "Submit all and finish"

      Re-create pre-created attempts when a question is edited

      1. Log in as admin
      2. Go back to "Test Quiz" and select the "Results" tab.
      3. Check all attempts in the list and select "Delete selected attempts"
      4. Go to the "Settings" tab.
      5. Set "Timing" > "Open the quiz" to 5 minutes from now and save changes.
      6. Go to Site Administration > Server > Tasks > Scheduled tasks, find \mod_quiz\task\precreate_attempts, and click "Run now"
      7. Return to the "Test Quiz" "Results" tab
        1. Confirm that you see a list of attempts in "Not started" state.
      8. Go to the "Question bank" tab.
      9. Pick one of the questions used in the quiz, select "Edit" > "Edit settings".
      10. Edit the question text and save changes.
      11. Log in as a student with a pre-created attempt.
      12. Wait for the quiz to open (if needed) and begin your attempt.
      13. Navigate to the edited question.
        1. Confirm that you see the edited question text, not the original text.
      Show
      Upgrade Before applying the changes, create a course and add a quiz Apply the changes and run the upgrade. During the upgrade, set the new "Precreate period" plugin setting to "5 hours". Go back to the quiz and access the settings page. Expand the "Timing" fieldset. Confirm that you do not see the "Pre-create attempts" setting. Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Quiz Uncheck the "Locked" checkbox for the "Precreate period" setting and save. Return to the quiz settings page. Expand the "Timing" fieldset. Confirm that you do not see the "Pre-create attempts" setting. Check "Enabled" on the "Open the quiz" setting Confirm that you do see the "Pre-create attempts" setting, and it is unchecked. Check "Pre-create attempts" and save settings Return to the quiz settings screen. Confirm that "Pre-create attempts" is checked. Pre-create attempts Create a course with some students and teacher enrolled. Log in as admin Go to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Quiz Set the new "Precreate period" plugin setting to "5 hours" and check "Locked", if not already, and save changes. Create a quiz called "Test Quiz" with Timing > Open the quiz set to 5 minutes from now. Add a question to the quiz (doesn't matter what). Go to Site Administration > Server > Tasks > Scheduled tasks, find \mod_quiz\task\precreate_attempts, and click "Run now" Confirm that you see the following output, where X is the number of enrolled students: Found 1 quizzes to create attempts for Creating attempts for Test Quiz Created X attempts for Test Quiz in Y seconds Created attempts for 1 quizzes Return to the quiz view page Confirm that you see an "Attempts: X" Follow the link to the list of attempts Confirm that the options at the top of the page are set to "Attempts from: enrolled users who have a quiz attempt" and "Attempts that are" has all 6 states selected. Confirm that the list of attempts contains an attempt for each enrolled student, in the state "Not started", with all subsequent columns containing "-". Set "Attempts from" to "Enrolled users who do not have a quiz attempt" and click "Show report" Confirm that no users are shown. Set "Attempts from" to "Enrolled users who have, or do not have a quiz attempt" and click "Show report" Confirm that the attempts are shown again Untick "Not started" from the list of attempt states and click "Show report" Confirm that no attempts are shown. Log out Start and submit a pre-created attempt Log in as a student If necessary, wait until the quiz open time is reached Go to the course and access the quiz Confirm you do not see any attempts listed on the page Confirm you see the "Attempt quiz" button Click "Attempt quiz" Confirm you are on this quiz page with the question displayed Click "Back" Confirm that the page lists 1 in-progress attempt Click "Continue attempt" Answer the question and click "Finish attempt..." Click "Submit all and finish" Re-create pre-created attempts when a question is edited Log in as admin Go back to "Test Quiz" and select the "Results" tab. Check all attempts in the list and select "Delete selected attempts" Go to the "Settings" tab. Set "Timing" > "Open the quiz" to 5 minutes from now and save changes. Go to Site Administration > Server > Tasks > Scheduled tasks, find \mod_quiz\task\precreate_attempts, and click "Run now" Return to the "Test Quiz" "Results" tab Confirm that you see a list of attempts in "Not started" state. Go to the "Question bank" tab. Pick one of the questions used in the quiz, select "Edit" > "Edit settings". Edit the question text and save changes. Log in as a student with a pre-created attempt. Wait for the quiz to open (if needed) and begin your attempt. Navigate to the edited question. Confirm that you see the edited question text, not the original text.
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      Code verified against automated checks with warnings.

      Checked MDL-68806 using repository: https://github.com/marxjohnson/moodle

      Should these errors be fixed?

      Built on: Fri Mar 28 09:46:44 UTC 2025

      Show
      Code verified against automated checks with warnings. Checked MDL-68806 using repository: https://github.com/marxjohnson/moodle main (0 errors / 3 warnings) [branch: MDL-68806_main | CI Job ] overview (0/0) , phplint (0/0) , phpcs (0/0) , js (0/0) , css (0/0) , phpdoc (0/0) , commit (0/1) , savepoint (0/0) , thirdparty (0/0) , externalbackup (0/2) , grunt (0/0) , shifter (0/0) , mustache (0/0) , gherkin (0/0) , Should these errors be fixed? Built on: Fri Mar 28 09:46:44 UTC 2025
    • Hide

      Launching automatic jobs for branch MDL-68806_main

      Built on: Fri Mar 28 10:32:33 UTC 2025

      Show
      Launching automatic jobs for branch MDL-68806 _main https://ci.moodle.org/view/Testing/job/DEV.02%20-%20Developer-requested%20PHPUnit/18863/ PHPUnit (sqlsrv / complete) https://ci.moodle.org/view/Testing/job/DEV.01%20-%20Developer-requested%20Behat/64575/ Behat (NonJS - boost and classic / complete) https://ci.moodle.org/view/Testing/job/DEV.01%20-%20Developer-requested%20Behat/64576/ Behat (Firefox - boost / complete) https://ci.moodle.org/view/Testing/job/DEV.01%20-%20Developer-requested%20Behat/64577/ Behat (Firefox - classic / complete) https://ci.moodle.org/view/Testing/job/DEV.01%20-%20Developer-requested%20Behat/64578/ App tests (stable app version) / complete) Built on: Fri Mar 28 10:32:33 UTC 2025

      Currently, the state diagram for quiz attempts looks like this:

      This imposes two limitations which cause performance bottlenecks:

      1. Because a newly created quiz attempt goes straight into the 'in progress' state, we are required to go straight from the quiz attempt not existing, to the state where the quiz attempt is fully initialised. Therefore, all the work to create the attempt, randomly select question from the bank, and initialise them all, must be done synchronously when the students clicks 'Start attempt'.
      2. Similarly, becuase we have to do the transition In progress -> Finished, in a single step, we must do all the work of finishing all question when handling 'Submit all and finish'.

      The plan is two introduce two new states:

      • Created: This splits 1) above. It will be possible to do all the work of populating the quiz attempt and save that as a 'Created' attempt. Then, when the student clicks Start attempt, we only need to change quiz_attempt.state = 'inprogress' and quiz_attempt.timestart.
      • Submitted: This splits 2) above. While this state will also be created as part of this issue, the full implementation will be handled separately in MDL-82654.

      To support those low-level changes, we will need to:

      • All the quiz UI will need to be reviewed to ensure attempts in these states are handled and displayed appropriately. (I don't think this is a big deal.)
      • Related to the Created state, we will want to add some UI (probably in quiz_overview report) to pre-create attempts for all or selected students.
      • There is a subtle detail. The start time is also stored in each question attempt, and it is stored when the quiz attempt is created. This is not really ideal anyway. E.g. for analytics, in a multipage quiz, that does not say when the student first saw that particual question. Therefore, I think the best thing to do here is to change the question system so that new question_attempst are created with first step timestamp null, and then that timestamp is set the first time the question is rendered.

      Doing this should help greatly smooth out the two biggest peaks in server load when students are making simultaneous quiz attempts.

      Note to self: these to docs pages need to be merged, and the obsolete information removed.
      https://docs.moodle.org/dev/States_of_a_quiz_attempt
      https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Better_handling_of_overdue_quiz_attempts

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            Watchers:
            33 Start watching this issue

              Created:
              Updated:
              Resolved:

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                Time Spent - 4 weeks, 1 day, 1 hour, 17 minutes
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