Moodle in English: Where are the output files are located?

Where are the output files are located?

by Acqua Alta - Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 4:57 AM

Hi,
In case that the student submission in a VPL activity creates an output file, can the teacher access the file directly? I assume that the output files is created somewhere in the VPL jail server, but the question is if the teacher can get an access to it via the VPL user interface in Moodle?

I already thought about the option to instruct the students to output the output file at the end of the code of the submission, but the teacher wants to get an access to the file itself.

Thanks in advance for any info about this issue

Re: Where are the output files are located?

by Juan Carlos Rodríguez-del-Pino - Monday, November 30, 2020, 8:03 PM

Dear Acqua Alta,

at this moment there is no way to retrieve files created by the code of the students, really you can not get any files from the execution environment.

But if you want to check the existence and content of files created by the student code you can use the features of the test cases to check it.

For example, to check the existence of a file after a given test, you can:

1- Write a script to check the file's existence and its content.

2- Add a test case that runs the script.

The test case after the case that creates the student file.

Case = Checks file content
program to run = check_file.sh
program arguments = student_file.txt correct_file.txt
Fail message = The file created does not exist or does not have the expected content
output = "OK"

The script "check_file.sh" that checks the student's files. Notice: first parameter student file, second correct file.

#!/bin/bash
if [ -f  "$1" ]
then
    diff "$1" "$2" >& /dev/null
    if [ "$?" == "0" ]
    then
	echo "OK"
    else
        echo "Differ"
    fi
else
    echo "The file $1 does not exists"

Note: the script and the correct files must be in the execution files and in "files to keep when running"

Best regards,
Juan Carlos.

Average of ratings:Useful (1)

Re: Where are the output files are located?

by Acqua Alta - Saturday, December 5, 2020, 5:46 AM

Thanks a lot, Juan, for the detailed answer

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Re: Where are the output files are located?

by Sean Headrick - Wednesday, April 28, 2021, 10:56 PM

Dear Juan Carlos:

I'm a high school teacher and I teach java. First I want to let you know that I LOVE 😍 VPL! This is the best tool for teaching computer science and you have built in so many features to make grading quick and easy. The students engage so much more when test cases are provided. This is an AWESOME tool and thank you for providing it free!

I pay for moodle hosting. VPL writes data files and directories to /repository/moodledata/vpl_data/. Three times over the past 18 months, directories from vpl_data have gone missing. The only reason I know this is because I will go back to a previous VPL assignment and find that data is missing: NO test cases; NO required files; and NO user files -- all the .java files are gone! So I contacted the host and they found a server backup. I replaced the directories and all the VPL assignments worked again.

QUESTION: Have you heard of this happening to anyone? Do you think the hosting company system is removing the vpl_data directories? Do you think it is when the Moodle version is upgraded? Do you have a suggestion of how to prevent this from happening?

Thank you for any advice or information you have!

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Re: Where are the output files are located?

by Sean Headrick - Thursday, April 29, 2021, 2:15 AM

the filepath above should be /moodledata/vpl_data/ (the directory repository is actually under moodledata

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Re: Where are the output files are located?

by Juan Carlos Rodríguez-del-Pino - Thursday, April 29, 2021, 3:26 PM

Dear Sean,

thank you for your comments about VPL. I hope you enjoy the use of VPL for many years.

Answering your question: I have no received reports with symptoms similar to the annoying problem you describe.

Anyway, due to the severity of the problem, I will study the issue to give you a full response.

Best regards,

Juan Carlos.

Average of ratings: -

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Where are the output files are located?