How to use the DMS - Help File needed

How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by W Page -
Number of replies: 18
Hi Jon,

I know this DMS is not for big production sites but I just wanted to ask some questions because I think it could be used with about 200 people (teacher/admins/students).  I just cannot figure out,
  1. How to connect each user to their folder?
  2. Where the creation of folders within user folders take place?
  3. How to connect to the files from within Moodle?
Thanks in advance.

WP1
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In reply to W Page

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by John Papaioannou -
  1. By "connect each user to their folder", do you mean providing a link? If so, the correct URL for the link is

    /dms/index.php?from=course&id=XXXX&target=personal

    where XXXX is $course->id from the course you are viewing. Personally I have hacked this into the "admin" block for our educational portal as an extra link.
  2. Automatically it's not possible. See here.
  3. You cannot do it in any smooth way at this point. Sorry. You could always copy paste the links you see in the DMS, however.


PS: Point 1 is an undocumented feature. Nice question! wink
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In reply to John Papaioannou

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by Paul Duff -

Can the revamped Programme Resource in 1.4 (with variable passing) be utilised to provide a link to the folder area?

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In reply to Paul Duff

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by John Papaioannou -
I haven't had any exposure to the new resource system yet, so I can't answer this right now. However, since new features like this will go into 1.5 or an even later release, there is all the time in the world to check it out. Who knows? smile

Jon
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In reply to John Papaioannou

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by W Page -
Hi Jon!

Thanks for responding.

Now I am going to demonstrate my total dumbness about the following. I do not know if I phrased my question correctly so I will seem to be asking you the same question (Question 1) as above but I am only trying for understanding for myself smile

You indicated above that inorder to connect each user to their folder, one should use the path,
/dms/index.php?from=course&id=XXXX&target=personal
The "XXXX" reflects the "$course->id" from the course which is being used.

  • Would it be possible to use this path in a block which could appear specific to the student like your "PM" block so that the link to their folder in DMS could show when they go to a course?
  • Would the student be able to see what is in their folder from all their courses using this path?

WP1
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In reply to W Page

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by John Papaioannou -
OK, let me explain it a bit more and also give an example. I probably didn't give enough detail to make this clear.

  1. Yes, it is very possible and this exact thing is what I do myself. Specifically, I added a couple of lines to blocks/admin/block_admin.php:

    $this->content->items[] = '<a href="'.
    $CFG->wwwroot.'/dms/index.php?from=course&id='.$this->course->id.'target=personal">'.
    get_string('gotodms').'</a>';

    $this->content->icons[] = '<img src="'.$CFG->pixpath.'/i/files.gif" height="16" width="16" alt="" />';
     
    where you will have to replace the get_string() in bold with some title you find suitable.

    This gives each student a link to access his personal folder, accessible from every course which has the admin block. Of course, you could also make a brand new block just for this, but there's really no reason to do it.
  2. Yes, the personal folder is the same, it doesn't matter which course you are coming from.
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In reply to John Papaioannou

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by L. Vandijck -
DMS is what  I've been looking for for quite some time. Being able to link to it from the admin block is an extra feature greatly appreciated.

My personal wish list would include:
  • set quotas for more users at the same time (now done individually)
  • disable online storing of files for more users at the same time (now done by erasing user folders individually)
Thanks for your great work. Anxious to see new developments, "I'll be watching you"
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In reply to John Papaioannou

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by Luca Bagna -
Jon,
i've followed your tip to add a personal folder for every user : thanks.
Anyway from this link a user must browse to his folder and can see other users' folders too: is this a correct setting or have i missed something?
And, if this is the standard behaviour, is there a tweak to disable the read  permission access right to others in every folder, defaulting to no?
Hope i've explained the problem well smile
Luca

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In reply to Luca Bagna

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by John Papaioannou -
Luca, a user cannot do what you described. Are you sure it's not just happening because you are an administrator?

Jon
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In reply to John Papaioannou

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by Luca Bagna -
Jon, this behaviour happens to a normal student nor a teacher or admin.
Maybe I've typed the code you suggested in a wrong place of the block_admin.php file: is there a right place?
Thanks
Luca
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In reply to W Page

Additional information for installing and using DMS with Moodle

by Paul Daniels -

Pretty much the same as the original install instruction
except some additional information included for not-so-techie admins smile

=============================================================================
        UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS (Must do each time new users are Added!!)
=============================================================================

If you have already installed DMS in the past, it is possible that you need
to upgrade your database when installing newer versions. If you fail to do
this, you may encounter strange problems while working with DMS.

Upgrading your database is extremely simple, though. Just point your browser
to setup.php, as you did when first installing DMS, and everything will be
done automatically for you.

=============================================================================
        INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=============================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Install Moodle somewhere
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can try this an existing Moodle installation. DMS will not touch or
modify your files or database in any way that interferes with Moodle, and
if you wish to uninstall it, that process is also very simple and clean.
So it's actually preferable to try this on an existing install, because
it's good to be able to login as multiple users for testing purposes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Download DMS from the CVS at http://moodle.org/download.php/modules/dms.zip
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow this link: http://moodle.org/download.php/modules/dms.zip

and unzip the package:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Copy DMS into your Moodle installation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a folder named dms just inside the folder that Moodle is installed.
e.g. /moodle/dms

Copy the all of the folders and files inside the /mydms folder (which is inside the dms folder
that you just downloaded and unzipped) into the new dms folder that you just created inside the
your moodle directory.

BE CAREFUL: Copy everything from the /dms/mydms/ folder to moodle/dms/ !!!!
Notice that the name changes. You don't need to copy the other folders
inside the downloaded dms folder, (for example, db/).

You will also need to copy dms.php (inside /dms/lang/en/) to /moodle/lang/en/
to load the language.

That's all! You don't need anything else!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Create the DMS file storage directory
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a /moodle/dmsfiles/ directory, and make it world writable with
        chmod 777 /moodle/dmsfiles/

If for some reason you cannot create this directory under /moodle/, you can
create it somewhere else. In fact, it is NOT REQUIRED that this directory be
visible by your web server with http. This is intentional, for better
security.

Anyhow, if you make the DMS file storage directory somewhere else, you will
need to edit /moodle/dms/inc/inc.Settings.php and change line 47. It's pretty
straightforward.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Go to your Moodle site and login (preferably as admin)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Point your browser to http://www.yoursite.com/your_moodle_directory/dms/setup.php
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Other useful information
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Don't forget to point your browser to
http://www.yoursite.com/your_moodle_directory/dms/setup.php
each time new users are added in order for them to show up in the DMS folder list.

To make a link for students to use the DMS function, create a link on
the class page like: http://www.yoursite.com/your_moodle_directory/dms/

If the student is logged in, they will be able to access their own folder only.

=============================================================================
        UNINSTALLING
=============================================================================

If something goes wrong and for some reason DMS fouls up its database tables
and cannot work correctly anymore, or if you want to uninstall DMS, do the
following:

1. Remove the /moodle/dms/ directory and all its contents

2. Remove the /moodle/dmsfiles/ directory and all its contents

3. Drop all tables from your database named mdl_dms_.......


=============================================================================
        RESETTING THE DMS CONTENTS
=============================================================================

To clear the DMS database and start with a fresh install AFTER you have
installed it for the first time:

1. Remove all files in /moodls/dmsfiles/

2. Drop all tables from your database named mdl_dms_.......

3. Point your browser to setup.php

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In reply to Paul Daniels

Re: Additional information for installing and using DMS with Moodle

by shane luffman -
hi , can you help me, do you know the settings i would use on a windows server for this part of the DMS inc.config.php file? $this->_ADOdbPath = $CFG->dirroot.'/lib/adodb/' thanks shane ;
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In reply to Paul Daniels

Re: Additional information for installing and using DMS with Moodle

by shane luffman -
hi , can you help me, do you know the settings i would use on a windows server for this part of the DMS inc.config.php file? $this->_ADOdbPath = $CFG->dirroot.'/lib/adodb/' the reason for this is i get this error meesage when i try and call http://server/moodle/dms/mydms/setup.php Warning: main(../config.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in E:\moodle2005\dms\mydms\interface\moodle\dms.class.php on line 4 Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required '../config.php' (include_path='.;c:\php4\pear') in E:\moodle2005\dms\mydms\interface\moodle\dms.class.php on line 4 thanks shane ;
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In reply to shane luffman

Re: Additional information for installing and using DMS with Moodle

by John Papaioannou -
Shane, that setting is just fine. The error in your case is that you took the

/contrib/dms/mydms/

directory and copied its contents to

yoursite.org/moodle/dms/mydms/

while the correct way is to put them in

yoursite.org/moodle/dms/

If you fix that it should be fine. Cheers!

Jon
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In reply to W Page

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by L. Vandijck -
Is there any way in this (otherwise very nice) DMS to
  • set quotas for more users at the same time (now done individually) ?
  • disable online storing of files for more users at the same time (now done by erasing user folders individually) ?
This would greatly improve its practical use, because the number of users is really too large to set these changes manually for every user individually.
Can anyone please point me the way ? Or simply tell me it's impossible ? Or suggest a change somewhere in the code ? (knowing that I'm no computer buff but can read and follow clear instructions...)
Thanks.
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In reply to L. Vandijck

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by John Papaioannou -
Sorry, but there is no such capability right now. And it won't be easy to add either... mixed

Obviously this is something we want to do in the future because right now the DMS isn't very flexible (in the sense that it lacks basic but powerful administration features), but other matters are absorbing all of our energy... please be patient, or consider funding the development if it's a very high priority for you.

Jon
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In reply to John Papaioannou

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by L. Vandijck -
I'll (have to) be patient then, because being an ordinary high school teacher funding is not a very popular word around here...
It's the effort people like you pour into this sort of project that makes the difference for us.
Thanks for your swift reply, and your (priceless) contribution to this magnificent Moodle project.
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In reply to L. Vandijck

Re: How to use the DMS - Help File needed

by Yudi Wibisono -
Hello L. Vandijck,

If you can use SQL, you can set quota for multiple user at the same time by editing mdl_dms_node table using SQL "UPDATE" statement.

For erasing multiple user folder, you can use SQL "DELETE" on mdl_dms_node (but must be carefull with the relation on other table).


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