General help

atw,

You are right must of the instructors usually comply, the problem is with the few that doesn't!

met.

 My selective reading ability catches me out again.

i

Okay, I've just tested this in 1.9 and it works just fine. This part of the code works the same for 1.8, so give it a try and let me know if you have any problems.

The file you'll need to edit is /course/edit_form.php. Look for the following line:

/// form definition with new course defaults

You'll see it around lines 40-45 or so. This is where the form for course settings is being built.

You'll then need to look for the part of the form you want to lock. I'll use fullname for example:

$mform->addElement('text','fullname', get_string('fullname'),'maxlength="254" size="50"');
$mform->setHelpButton('fullname', array('coursefullname', get_string('fullname')), true);
$mform->setDefault('fullname', get_string('defaultcoursefullname'));
$mform->addRule('fullname', get_string('missingfullname'), 'required', null, 'client');
$mform->setType('fullname', PARAM_MULTILANG);

What you need to do is wrap the code with a check for roles, and then lock the field so instructors can't edit it (they won't even see it). My added code is in red.

if (has_capability('moodle/course:create', $categorycontext)) {
$mform->addElement('text','fullname', get_string('fullname'),'maxlength="254" size="50"');
$mform->setHelpButton('fullname', array('coursefullname', get_string('fullname')), true);
$mform->setDefault('fullname', get_string('defaultcoursefullname'));
$mform->addRule('fullname', get_string('missingfullname'), 'required', null, 'client');
$mform->setType('fullname', PARAM_MULTILANG);
} else {
$mform->addElement('hidden', 'fullname', null);
}

You should be able to use this code for about any of the settings in this form (replace fullname in the second to last line of my hack with the field name - e.g. shortname if you're locking the shortname.). Simply wrap it around the section just as you've seen here.

I've got a couple of caveats with this - this code allows anyone with course creation capabilities at the category level to edit the wrapped fields, so if you need it at a higher level, change the capability 'moodle/course:create', $categorycontext to the capability you need. But if you DO change the capability, be real careful with the required fields - you could run into problems if someone has the capability to create a course but can't see these fields to input something into them.

Let me know if you have any problems or questions.

Thanks,
Matt