"UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

"UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Chris Lamb -
Number of replies: 9

I'm trying to use some new NLN materials in the IMS Content Package, but when I try to deploy them I get the message "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY".  Older materials don't cause a problem, and I can use the new ones in the NLN Object Module okay.

I've searched the Moodle site to see if there's a solution to the problem, but the closest I can get is a posting by Helen Foster back in May 2006 (http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=31011) saying "It seems that some of the recently-released NLN materials were incorrectly packaged as UTF-16. However, I understand that the mistake is due to be corrected soon and the materials re-released."  That was 18 months ago, and I downloaded these materials from the NLN site on Tuesday, so they don't seem to have re-released them after all.

Is there a fix for this problem, please?  I'm using Moodle 1.7.2, and the version of deploy.php is "v 1.16 2006/09/20 20:31:43" according to the line at the top.

Incidentally, this problem also occurs if I try to use the SCORM module as well.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Chris

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In reply to Chris Lamb

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Helen Foster -
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Hi Chris,

For the benefit of everyone wanting to use NLN materials in Moodle, I'd strongly urge you to contact the organisation responsible for the NLN materials to request that the materials are packaged as UTF-8. (Sorry I don't know the name of the organisation responsible these days, as I'm no longer living in the UK.)

An alternative solution would be for you to try converting the materials to UTF-8 yourself. For further information, please see the documentation on converting files to UTF-8.
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In reply to Helen Foster

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Chris Lamb -

Hi Helen,

Thanks for that, I'll try and get hold of the people who supply the NLN materials and see if there's any risk of them converting them.

If I try to convert them myself, do I just convert the imsmanifest.xml file for each object, or do I have to convert other things as well?

Thanks again

Chris

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In reply to Chris Lamb

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Helen Foster -
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Hi Chris,

I think you'd need to convert other files too.

The best solution is really for the organisation responsible for the NLN materials to repackage the materials as UTF-8. It was a big mistake to package them as UTF-16.

You may find this article (from 2003!) interesting reading: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Unicode.html
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In reply to Chris Lamb

Solution/Workaround Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Chris Lamb -

I've contacted NLN and they tell me that if you select "Legacy" as your VLE type, rather than Moodle you get the UTF-8 version of the resources.  I've just tried a couple of NLN resources and this does appear to be the case, as they deployed and ran okay (apart from a problem with the IMS Content Package module where the resources don't show at full size or in the right place, but I don't think this is related to UTF encoding).  They appeared to run perfectly in the SCORM module.

I don't know if selecting 'Legacy' as the VLE causes other problems, but it does appear to fix the UTF encoding problem.

Chris

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In reply to Chris Lamb

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Robin Skelcey -
For anyone still interested in this issue, its now been fully researched and resolved. All new downloads from NLN use UTF-8 encoding, and we also have a solution for those who still need to import/deploy older downloaded packages that use UTF-16. Please see this question in our FAQ for full details.

Robin Skelcey
Technical Director
The NLN Materials Service
www.nln.ac.uk
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In reply to Robin Skelcey

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Eloy Lafuente (stronk7) -
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That's great news, Robin! Thanks for the effort! Yes

Sure a lot of people in this site will find the change to UTF-8 really useful! cool

Congrats and ciao smile
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In reply to Robin Skelcey

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by scott hallman -

Hi Robin and all

things have moved on on the NLN resources. It's great to see them feeding the gradebook. I have managed to get them to work in various forms. BUt the functionality isn't quite there in each.

Old method I used the object module and click on the reources until I found 1 then clicked add to course. (single object upload great, but no search menu and not scorm compliant. (not loading on current version of moodle)

SCORM package method load package to moodle course unzip. (great scorm, single object but have to load to each course and no search function)

IMS package load zip deploy (same as scom only worse as doesn't fee to grade book)

Dream not load modules to course but in repository, browse repository choose upload singe or multiple packages save. (this method is the best for teachers as it is fast and not technical. I don't want to have to load the zips to moodle courses (takes up valuable space))

Wondering if you gurus have any ideas. Is the new 2.0 repository going to address this?

Hope you can help

Scott

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In reply to scott hallman

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Robin Skelcey -
Hi Scott.
There's certainly pros and cons with all the various methods of getting the NLN Materials exposed on Moodle. We've set up a page detailing each of them at http://www.nln.ac.uk/?p=Moodle - there's a couple of methods you haven't mentioned which avoid the need for importing completely, including linking directly to the LO on the NLN site, and there's also MrCute, which is an extension to Moodle's repository module that includes some search and browse.
That page also mentions a project of our own known as "Noodle", which is an "NLN Materials browser for Moodle". Rather than being another local repository system, this links to the NLN site to allow practitioners to use our site's comprehensive search and browse functionality (and then for learners to view the NLN LOs directly on the NLN site), without Moodle admins having to download or import anything. There's more details on Noodle at http://www.nln.ac.uk/?p=Noodle. Its full release has been somewhat delayed unfortunately, as its a project we're doing on our own 'free time', but we're still hoping to get it out by the end of this month. I'll be starting a new thread here when it is released.

Best wishes,
Robin Skelcey
Technical Director, Xtensis ltd./NLN Materials Service

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In reply to Robin Skelcey

Re: "UTF-16 - CAN'T DEPLOY" Error in IMS CP with NLN materials

by Robin Skelcey -
I forgot to mention tracking - Since Noodle uses the NLN site to show the content, including letting the learners navigate through the nodes in an any LO, Moodle will be able to track the fact that the LO was launched, but nothing else, and won't be able to receive grade scores, since that generally requires the system and the content to be on the same domain. All that is detailed on the Moodle page on the NLN site, though bear in mind I'm no expert in that area and the info on tracking is from reports from others. Feel free to send me any corrections or expansions.
R
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