Hi
There doesn't seem to be a forum for discussing cron issues.
I'm working on a 'timed release of resources' module which uses cron. In the NEWMODULE code I downloaded from moodle.org for my new module, in version.php is the following line:
$module->cron = 0; // Period for cron to check this module (secs)
What does "Period for cron to check this module (secs)" mean, and is it used?
'$module->cron' is how long to wait between calling the <modulename>_cron() function, defined in the 'lib.php' file for that module.
This allows you to run tasks that need to be done from time to time (e.g. send out overdue assignment reminders by email), but which aren't tied to a specific action performed by a user.
Setting it to 0 (AFAIK) means, don't run the <modulename>_cron() function.
The term cron, comes from the Unix tool of the same name that automatically runs commands at specified time intervals (e.g. automated backups, log file trimming, etc.)
Edit: Ooops.. just re-read your original message and realised that the explanation of the term 'cron' was unnecessary, sorry.
Thanks; I was confused because I thought this information was stored in the modules table, but of course it is set in the modules table by the value in this line in the version.php file.
I suppose also,
// Period for cron to check this module (secs)
did not help. How about
//Frequency for cron to check this module (secs)
//This value is copied to the cron field of the modules table
(I've suggested this on the Comments tab of the NEWMODULE download page).
