Synchronization upgrade between the university information system and the learning management system Moodle

V diplomskem delu je predstavljena problematika sinhronizacije oziroma izmenjave podatkov med dvema sistemoma, visokošolskim informacijskim sistemom (VIS) in sistemom za upravljanje z učenjem Moodle, ki delujeta znotraj iste ustanove. V grobem so predstavljeni možni načini sinhronizacije, ki ju omogočata oba sistema. Podrobno pa je predstavljen način sinhronizacije med sistemoma VIS in spletno učilnico Medicinske fakultete v Ljubljani (SU) z uporabo spletne storitve sistema Moodle, ki smo ga implementirali. Ta način zagotavlja nujno potrebne funkcije sistema Moodle za sinhronizacijo med sistemoma in zagotavlja dolgoročno združljivost med različicami sistema Moodle. S tem zagotavljamo lažje vzdrževanje programske kode tudi v primeru nadgradenj SU. Dobra stran vmesnika spletne storitve je tudi, da nam poenostavi izmenjavo podatkov s sistemom Moodle in nam ni potrebno poznati celotne strukture sistema Moodle in strukture njegove podatkovne zbirke. Rezultat diplomskega dela je programska oprema, ki realizira sinhronizacijo med sistemoma VIS in Moodle na tak način, da je vzdrževanje programske kode enostavno in dolgoročno vzdržno. Slabost uporabe spletne storitve v primerjavi z morebitnimi lastnimi rešitvami, je slabša časovna zmogljivost programske opreme v primeru velike količine podatkov. Ta slabost ni ključna, saj se sinhronizacija opravlja enkrat dnevno in še to samo za spremembe podatkov. Občutno večja količina podatkov za izmenjavo nastopi običajno le ob začetku študijskega leta.This thesis presents the problem of data synchronization or data exchange between two systems, that operate within the same institution, namely the university information system (VIS) and the learning management system Moodle. It roughly presents the methods of synchronization that are provided by the two systems. The method of synchronization between the VIS system and the web classroom of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ljubljana (SU) with the use of Moodle web service, is presented in detail. This is the method that we implemented. This method provides crucial functions of the Moodle system for synchronization between the two systems and ensures long term compatibility between Moodle versions. This way we ensure easier code maintenance even in the case of upgrading the Moodle system. Also the positive side of the web service interface is that it simplifies the data transfer with the Moodle system, since we don\u27t need to know the whole structure of the Moodle system and the structure of its database. The result of this thesis is software that implements the synchronization between VIS and Moodle systems in such a way that the maintenance of the program code is quite easy and sustainable in the long run. One of the deficiencies of using a web service, in comparison to other solutions, is that it is more time consuming when dealing with large amounts of data. But this deficiency is not critical, since the synchronization with small amounts of data occurs daily, while substantially larger amounts of data for synchronization usually occurs only at the start of a new study year