auxua / moodlerwth

Basic API Client for RWTH Moodle system

MoodleRWTH

Basic API Client for RWTH Moodle system

The good old RWTH eLearning System (L²P) is succeeded by the RWTH Moodle system. Currently, the ITC is implementing an API for the Moodle system. This project builds up a small client for the API, including the authentication implementation.

To use this Client, you will need a Developer Client ID from ITC of RWTH Aachen University.

This Client is available via nuget.org: auxua.RWTHMoodleClient

Technical

This project consists of two sub-projects:

RWTHMoodleClient

• A .NetStandard 2.0 implementation of the Client and Authentication.
• Only has a Newtonsoft.Json Dependency via Nuget
• Targets .NetStandard 2.0, but should be possible to adapt to older .Net Framework easily if needed
• Allows easy typesafe API Calling
• Can be configured depending on platform for persistent storage

RWTHMoodleExample

• A .Net Core (C# 7.1) example of the usage of the Client
• Authentication, Enrollment Listing and Error Handling

CI Pipeline

How to use?

0. Preparing

Please make sure, you have an Developer Client ID from ITC of RWTH Aachen University. This is mandatory to use the API at all. Include the Client - The easy way is to load the Client via nuget (TODO: Link)

1. Config & Authentication

The API system relies on OAuth2 Authentication.

// Set your ClientID here
RWTHMoodleClient.Config.ClientID = "XXX.apps.rwth-aachen.de";
            
Console.WriteLine("Starting Authentication Process");
// Get URL for Authentication (OAuth2)
string url = await RWTHMoodleClient.AuthenticationManager.StartAuthenticationProcess();
// Present Web to user (ITC RWTH requires you to user system web browser instead of own webview)

// Traditional approach (e.g. Mono/.NET - use Process.Start directly)
//Process.Start(url);
// .Net Core Workaround
if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
{
    url = url.Replace("&", "^&");
    Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo("cmd", $"/c start {url}") { CreateNoWindow = true });
}

The user now gets a website to login and authorize your app. If you keep a persistent storage, this is only needed once.

You need to wait, until the authorization is finished

// Wait for authentication
// so far, not authenticated
bool done = false;

while (!done)
{
    // Just wait 5 seconds - this is the recommended querying time for OAuth by ITC
    Thread.Sleep(5000);
    await RWTHMoodleClient.AuthenticationManager.CheckAuthenticationProgress();

    done = (RWTHMoodleClient.AuthenticationManager.State == RWTHMoodleClient.AuthenticationManager.AuthenticationState.ACTIVE);

    if (!done)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("App not authenticated right now...");
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine("App authenticated!");
    }

}

// Now, you are authenticated, Tokens are stored (and refreshed if needed)

2. Call the API

Now you can simply call the API. The client deals automatically with filling up additional fields and refreshing tokens.

// Getting List of current Course rooms in Moodle
RWTHMoodleClient.MoodleEnrolledCoursesResponse result = await RWTHMoodleClient.Api.RESTClient.MoodleGetEnrolledCourses();

// Use Result
foreach (var item in result.Data)
    Console.WriteLine("You are in course: " + item.courseTitle);

Extra: Error handling

While technical errors (No internet, etc.) will cause Exceptions, errors because of missing roles or invalid parameters will return indicators.

// Example of error handling
var errorResult = await RWTHMoodleClient.Api.RESTClient.MoodleGetEnrolledCourseById(-1);
// Checking for Error
if (errorResult.IsError)
    Console.WriteLine(errorResult.StatusInfo);

License

This project will be available under MIT License. This allows you to use the Client in your projects without problems.