VPL (Virtual Programming Lab) 4.2.5 Release Notes

Overview

The VPL 4.2.5 update introduces several enhancements and fixes, with a primary focus on ensuring compatibility with Moodle 4.5.

New Features and Enhancements

• Execution Scripts:

  • Added a new C# execution script with NUnit support.
  • Introduced execution scripts for the "make" tool.
  • Improved R script execution for better performance in evaluation mode.
  • Enhanced automatic detection of tools beyond programming languages.

• Overrides:

  • Enhanced the interface to allow copying an override as a base for creating a new one.

• Error Handling:

  • Improved error handling for Jail server connection issues.

• Security:

  • Set default behavior to reject invalid HTTPS certificates.

Bug Fixes

• Display Fixes:

  • Resolved an issue with the display of “Compilation” and “Execution” panes to ensure they use fixed-width fonts.

• Multi-User Overrides:

  • Fixed a bug that prevented correct management of multi-user overrides.

Compatibility

This version of VPL is compatible with the following:

• Moodle: Versions 3.9 to 4.5
• PHP: Versions 7.4 to 8.3

Note: The VPL release number is independent of the Moodle release number, unlike other modules.

Known Issues

• JQuery-UI and Boost Theme Incompatibility:
  • The VPL editor interface, which uses JQuery-UI, may conflict with the Boost theme. This can occasionally cause issues with the theme's drawer toggles on the editor page.

Upgrading from a Previous Version

It is recommended to update to the latest version to benefit from recent security and bug fixes. Additionally, updating VPL Jail Servers is strongly advised.

Steps to upgrade to VPL 4.2.5 without losing existing plugin data:

1. Ensure your Moodle instance is updated to a supported version.
2. Proceed with the VPL plugin upgrade after updating Moodle. Upgrades from VPL version 2.4 onwards are supported.