Index: lang/en_utf8/form.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/lang/en_utf8/form.php,v
retrieving revision 1.17.4.1
diff -u -r1.17.4.1 form.php
--- lang/en_utf8/form.php	6 Dec 2007 09:02:02 -0000	1.17.4.1
+++ lang/en_utf8/form.php	8 Nov 2008 23:48:22 -0000
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@
 $string['hour']='Hour';
 $string['minute']='Minute';
 
+$string['apply'] = 'Apply';
+$string['edoptions'] = 'Editing options';
+$string['numofblanks'] = 'Number of blanks';
+
 $string['advancedelement']='Advanced element';
 $string['hideadvanced']='Hide Advanced';
 $string['showadvanced']='Show Advanced';
Index: lang/en_utf8/qtype_match.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/lang/en_utf8/qtype_match.php,v
retrieving revision 1.1.6.1
diff -u -r1.1.6.1 qtype_match.php
--- lang/en_utf8/qtype_match.php	27 Oct 2008 02:33:28 -0000	1.1.6.1
+++ lang/en_utf8/qtype_match.php	8 Nov 2008 23:54:04 -0000
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
 $string['nomatchinganswerforq'] = 'You must specify an answer for this question.';
 $string['notenoughquestions'] = 'You must supply at least $a question and answer pairs.';
 $string['notenoughqsandas'] = 'You must supply at least $a->q questions and $a->a answers.';
+$string['numberofblanks'] = 'Number of blanks for matches';
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file
Index: lib/formslib.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/lib/formslib.php,v
retrieving revision 1.129.2.18
diff -u -r1.129.2.18 formslib.php
--- lib/formslib.php	22 Oct 2008 09:09:31 -0000	1.129.2.18
+++ lib/formslib.php	8 Nov 2008 23:52:24 -0000
@@ -529,28 +529,42 @@
      *                          'helpbutton' - helpbutton params array is value
      *                          'disabledif' - last three moodleform::disabledIf()
      *                                           params are value as an array
-     * @param string $repeathiddenname name for hidden element storing no of repeats in this form
-     * @param string $addfieldsname name for button to add more fields
-     * @param int $addfieldsno how many fields to add at a time
-     * @param string $addstring name of button, {no} is replaced by no of blanks that will be added.
-     * @param boolean $addbuttoninside if true, don't call closeHeaderBefore($addfieldsname). Default false.
+     * @param string $repeathiddenname name for hidden element storing OLD no of repeats in this form !!new meaning
+     * @param string $repeatname name for element to input no of repeats !!NEW
+     * @param string $groupname name for the group  !!NEW
+     * @param string $headername name for the header!!NEW
+     * @param string $addfieldsname name for button to apply settings - !! new meaning
+     * @param int $addfieldsno how many fields to add at a time !!DELETED
+     * @param string $repeatstring string for label of repeats !!NEW
+     * @param string $headerstring string for the header of !!NEW
+     * @param string $addstring text of button  - !!new meaning
      * @return int no of repeats of element in this page
      */
-    function repeat_elements($elementobjs, $repeats, $options, $repeathiddenname,
-            $addfieldsname, $addfieldsno=5, $addstring=null, $addbuttoninside=false){
+    function repeat_elements($elementobjs, $repeats, $options, $repeathiddenname, $repeatname, $groupname,
+            $headername, $addfieldsname, $repeatstring=null, $headerstring=null, $addstring=null){
         if ($addstring===null){
-            $addstring = get_string('addfields', 'form', $addfieldsno);
-        } else {
-            $addstring = str_ireplace('{no}', $addfieldsno, $addstring);
+            $addstring =  get_string('apply', 'form');
+        } 
+        if($headerstring===null){
+            $headerstring=get_string('edoptions', 'form');
         }
-        $repeats = optional_param($repeathiddenname, $repeats, PARAM_INT);
-        $addfields = optional_param($addfieldsname, '', PARAM_TEXT);
-        if (!empty($addfields)){
-            $repeats += $addfieldsno;
+        if($repeatstring===null){
+            $repeatstring=get_string('numofblanks', 'form');
         }
+        $oldrepeats = optional_param($repeathiddenname, 0, PARAM_INT);
+        $repeats = optional_param($repeatname, $repeats, PARAM_INT);
+
         $mform =& $this->_form;
-        $mform->registerNoSubmitButton($addfieldsname);
+        $mform->addElement('header',$headername,$headerstring);
+        $mform->closeHeaderBefore($headername);
+        $mform->addElement('text',$repeatname,$repeatstring,array('size'=>3));
+        $mform->addElement('submit',$addfieldsname,$addstring);
         $mform->addElement('hidden', $repeathiddenname, $repeats);
+        $mform->setDefault($repeatname,$repeats);
+        $mform->addRule($repeatname,null,'required',null,'client',true);
+        $mform->addRule($repeatname,null,'nonzero',null,'client',true);
+        $mform->addRule(array($repeatname, $repeathiddenname),'You can\'t delete blanks','compare','>=','client',true);//TODO get_string - well, the user doesn't really will see the message, but I leave it there just in case Jamie would normally fix MDL-17111 somewhere
+        $mform->registerNoSubmitButton($addfieldsname);
         //value not to be overridden by submitted value
         $mform->setConstants(array($repeathiddenname=>$repeats));
         for ($i=0; $i<$repeats; $i++) {
@@ -607,11 +621,6 @@
                 }
             }
         }
-        $mform->addElement('submit', $addfieldsname, $addstring);
-
-        if (!$addbuttoninside) {
-            $mform->closeHeaderBefore($addfieldsname);
-        }
 
         return $repeats;
     }
@@ -1335,11 +1344,22 @@
             //unset($element);
             //$element =& $this->getElement($elementName);
             //end of fix
-            $valFunc = 'validate_' . $this->_formName . '_' . $elementName . '(this)';
-            $onBlur = $element->getAttribute('onBlur');
-            $onChange = $element->getAttribute('onChange');
-            $element->updateAttributes(array('onBlur' => $onBlur . $valFunc,
+            //Rough Fix for bug with compare rule
+            if(is_array($element)){
+                $onBlur = $element[0]->getAttribute('onBlur');
+                $onChange = $element[0]->getAttribute('onChange');
+                $element[0]->updateAttributes(array('onBlur' => $onBlur . $valFunc,
+                                             'onChange' => $onChange . $valFunc));
+            }else{
+            //end of rough fix
+                $valFunc = 'validate_' . $this->_formName . '_' . $elementName . '(this)';
+                $onBlur = $element->getAttribute('onBlur');
+                $onChange = $element->getAttribute('onChange');
+                $element->updateAttributes(array('onBlur' => $onBlur . $valFunc,
                                              'onChange' => $onChange . $valFunc));
+            //Rough Fix for bug with compare rule
+            }
+            //end of rough fix
         }
 //  do not rely on frm function parameter, because htmlarea breaks it when overloading the onsubmit method
         $js .= '
Index: question/type/match/edit_match_form.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/question/type/match/edit_match_form.php,v
retrieving revision 1.8.2.4
diff -u -r1.8.2.4 edit_match_form.php
--- question/type/match/edit_match_form.php	27 Oct 2008 02:33:28 -0000	1.8.2.4
+++ question/type/match/edit_match_form.php	8 Nov 2008 23:54:26 -0000
@@ -36,16 +36,22 @@
         } else {
             $countsubquestions = 0;
         }
+        
+        $userprefrepeats=get_user_preferences($this->qtype().'_noanswers',0);
+        if($userprefrepeats==0){//fallback on default value
+            $userprefrepeats=QUESTION_NUMANS_START;
+        }
         if ($this->question->formoptions->repeatelements){
-            $repeatsatstart = (QUESTION_NUMANS_START > ($countsubquestions + QUESTION_NUMANS_ADD))?
-                                QUESTION_NUMANS_START : ($countsubquestions + QUESTION_NUMANS_ADD);
+            $repeatsatstart = ($countsubquestions > 0 )?
+                                $countsubquestions+QUESTION_NUMANS_ADD : $userprefrepeats;
         } else {
             $repeatsatstart = $countsubquestions;
         }
+        
         $mform->setType('subanswer', PARAM_TEXT);
         $mform->setType('subquestion', PARAM_TEXT);
 
-        $this->repeat_elements($repeated, $repeatsatstart, array(), 'noanswers', 'addanswers', QUESTION_NUMANS_ADD, get_string('addmoreqblanks', 'qtype_match'));
+        $this->repeat_elements($repeated, $repeatsatstart, array(), 'oldnoanswers','noanswers', 'edoptgrp', 'edopthdr', 'addanswers', get_string('numberofblanks', 'qtype_match'));
 
     }
 
Index: question/type/match/questiontype.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/question/type/match/questiontype.php,v
retrieving revision 1.32.2.5
diff -u -r1.32.2.5 questiontype.php
--- question/type/match/questiontype.php	20 Aug 2008 09:46:03 -0000	1.32.2.5
+++ question/type/match/questiontype.php	8 Nov 2008 23:41:18 -0000
@@ -30,11 +30,12 @@
 
         // $subquestions will be an array with subquestion ids
         $subquestions = array();
-
+        $countsubquestions=0;
         // Insert all the new question+answer pairs
         foreach ($question->subquestions as $key => $questiontext) {
             $answertext = $question->subanswers[$key];
             if ($questiontext != '' || $answertext != '') {
+                $countsubquestions++;
                 if ($subquestion = array_shift($oldsubquestions)) {  // Existing answer, so reuse it
                     $subquestion->questiontext = $questiontext;
                     $subquestion->answertext   = $answertext;
@@ -63,7 +64,8 @@
                 $result->notice = get_string('nomatchinganswer', 'quiz', $questiontext);
             }
         }
-
+        //save count of subquestions as  user preferences
+        set_user_preference($this->name().'_noanswers', $countsubquestions);
         // delete old subquestions records
         if (!empty($oldsubquestions)) {
             foreach($oldsubquestions as $os) {