Log on:
Powered by Elgg

Austin Tate :: Blog :: Moodle/SLoodle Experiments Issue 12 - Customised Inworld Object

November 25, 2011

With kind support from Edmund Edgar I have been experimenting with the "Demo Object" in SLoodle, which is a stub or template for developing customised objects in Second Life or OpenSim which can connect with a corresponding module in the Moodle VLE.

Moodle Module Setup

The Moodle "demo-1.0" module is in the standard SLoodle distribution - I am using version 2.0.10 alpha. And can be found in mod/sloodle/mod/demo-1.0.  The object_definitions/default.php script should be altered to "show" the object in the inworld Rezzer.

Edmund Edgar points out:

Note that if you have syntax errors in an object definition file or extra whitespace outside the PHP brackets, lots of things will break.

The in-world object will need an extra script:
         .../mod/sloodle/mod/set-1.0/sloodle_rezzer_object.lsl
which deals with setting up communication with the server, and sends linked messages to any other scripts in it with information about the Moodle server it needs to connect to, and any other configuration parameters it might have.

Inworld Object Setup

  1. An object should be created in world with default name "SLOODLE Demo Object" or an alias "SLOODLE 1.1 Demo Object" both of which are permitted by settings which act as exemplars in object_definitions/default.php
  2. Into this object, two scripts should be placed. One is obtained from .../mod/sloodle/mod/demo-1.0/sloodle_mod_demo-1.0.lsl The other is a generic script and can be obtained from .../mod/sloodle/mod/set-1.0/sloodle_rezzer_object.lsl. These are the base that can be used to create a custom module.
  3. Set the permissions of the in world object and its scripts as appropriate and then take a copy into inventory. 
  4. Drop that object into the contents of the inworld SLOODLE Rezzer.

You should now be able to use the Rezzer as normal to select an appropriate SLOODLE controller and scene, and then under "Other" objects you will find the "Demo Object"  which you can add to the scene.   After it rezzes in a default position close by the Rezzer, reposition it where you want, and then hit the "Freeze" button on the Rezzer screen to sync the current position of the scene objects.

Other Templates

There are some other objects in the SLoodle kit which can also act as guides, such as the "SLOODLE Tracker Button" which when clicked in world communicates with a Moodle module and gives a message back.

Current Status

At the time of writing I have the SLOODLE Demo Objects rezzing from the SLOODLE Rezzer, but don't yet have Moodle responding through it. Testing continues.

Posted by Austin Tate


Comments

  1. At 14:25 10/12/2011, Edmund Edgar wrote:

    XML-RPC is used by the distributor tool to allow you to choose an object in Moodle and get it sent to an avatar in-world. IIRC it isn't used anywhere else. We plan to rewrite that to use HTTP-in instead, but we haven't got around to it yet, as we've found XML-RPC unreliable in the past.

    It wouldn't surprise me if a grid that doesn't allow incoming XML-RPC doesn't allow incoming HTTP-in either. That would break Sloodle 2 rezzer, and also the mechanism that we use for updating the new scoreboard when scores change. We'll be using HTTP-in more in future, so it will break more tools going forward.

    We do have a plan to add a method to fall back on HTTP polling for situations where HTTP-in won't work (either because the Moodle won't let traffic out or because the grid won't let it in), but it'll probably be a while until we do it.

    Austin TateAustin Tate on Saturday, 10 December 2011, 16:39 GMT # |

You must be logged in to post a comment.