Changeset 13025


Ignore:
Timestamp:
1 Jun 2015, 11:49:56 (9 years ago)
Author:
Henrik Bettermann
Message:

Restructure student section documentation.

Location:
main/waeup.kofa/trunk/docs/source/userdocs
Files:
4 added
2 edited

Legend:

Unmodified
Added
Removed

  • main/waeup.kofa/trunk/docs/source/userdocs/academics.rst

    r12969 r13025  
    4545.. note::
    4646
    47   In the user handbook we do not describe how to browse the user
    48   interface of Kofa. The menu navigation should be
     47  In the user handbook we do not describe how to browse the
     48  academic section. The menu navigation should be
    4949  self-explanatory and it's quite easy to follow the menu
    50   prompts. However, in the beginning of the development of Kofa,
    51   we used extensive doc tests which describe the navigation very
    52   well. Thus navigating through the academic section and other
    53   parts of Kofa with a test browser is perfectly described in
    54   :ref:`pages.txt <pages_txt>`.
     50  prompts. However, in the beginning of the development of
     51  Kofa, we used extensive doc tests which describe the
     52  navigation very well. Thus navigating through the academic
     53  section and other parts of Kofa with a test browser is
     54  perfectly described in :ref:`pages.txt <pages_txt>`.
    5555
    56 
    57 Faculties
    58 =========
     56Faculty
     57=======
    5958
    6059Faculties are container objects of type `Faculty`. They have a
    … …  
    7473
    7574
    76 Departments
    77 ===========
     75Department
     76==========
    7877
    7978Additionally, each department object has the attributes
    … …  
    9493     :noindex:
    9594
    96 Courses
    97 =======
     95Course
     96======
    9897
    9998The `Course` class inherits from `grok.Model` which means it is
    … …  
    130129
    131130
    132 Certificates
    133 ============
     131Certificate
     132===========
    134133
    135134.. seealso::
    … …  
    164163
    165164
    166 Certificate Courses
    167 ===================
     165Certificate Course
     166==================
    168167
    169168`CertificateCourse` objects point to `Course` objects which means

  • main/waeup.kofa/trunk/docs/source/userdocs/students.rst

    r13024 r13025  
    11.. _student_section:
    22
    3 Student Section :sup:`in progress`
    4 **********************************
     3Student Section
     4***************
    55
    6 'Student' is a multi-purpose term in Kofa which may lead to some misconceptions. First of all, 'Student' is a Python/Grok container class and student objects are the instances of this class. Sometimes we are sluggish when talking about 'creating students' and actually mean: 'creating student container objects and storing the objects (persistently) in the ``students`` container'. The latter is the parent container for all students in the portal.
     6'Student' is a multi-purpose term in Kofa which may lead to some
     7misconceptions. First of all, 'Student' is a Python/Grok container
     8class and student objects are the instances of this class. Sometimes
     9we are sluggish when talking about 'creating students' and actually
     10mean: 'creating student container objects and storing the objects
     11(persistently) in the ``students`` container'. The latter is the
     12parent container for all students in the portal.
    713
    8 The :ref:`treelike storage of objects <object_database>` in the student section can be figured as follows::
     14The :ref:`treelike storage of objects <object_database>` in the
     15student section can be figured as follows::
    916
    1017
    … …  
    3037.. note::
    3138
    32   Throughout Kofa we distinguish singular and plural expressions. A students container contains students (or more precisely student containers), a payments container contains payments, a courses container contains courses, a certificates container contains certificates.
     39  Throughout Kofa we distinguish singular and plural expressions. A
     40  students container contains students (or more precisely student
     41  containers), a payments container contains payments, a courses
     42  container contains courses, a certificates container contains
     43  certificates.
    3344
    34 Furthermore, a student is also a user of the portal and the student object is a user account surrogate, see :ref:`Applicants and Students <applicants_and_students>`. In the following we always refer to the student container when talking about a student.
     45Furthermore, a student is also a user of the portal and the student
     46object is a user account surrogate, see :ref:`Applicants and
     47Students <applicants_and_students>`. In the following we always
     48refer to the student container when talking about a student.
    3549
    36 Students
    37 ========
     50Interfaces
     51==========
    3852
    39 The `Student` class is a container class which means, there are not only attributes describing the student entity but also content. Each student container contains exactly three sub-containers: ``studycourse``  (instance of `StudentStudyCourse`), ``payments`` (instance of `StudentPaymentsContainer`)  and ``accommodation`` (instance of `StudentAccommodation`). The purposes of them are described further below.
     53.. toctree::
     54   :maxdepth: 3
    4055
    41 Let's talk about the attributes and methods belonging to the `Student` class, the so-called 'external behaviour' of student objects specified in Zope 'interfaces'. The data stored with each student object are subdivided into three parts: base data, personal data and clearance data. Each part has its own interface.
     56   students/interfaces
    4257
    43 .. _kofa_interfaces:
     58Workflow & History
     59==================
    4460
    45 .. note::
     61.. toctree::
     62   :maxdepth: 3
    4663
    47   **Interfaces** are one of the pillars of Zope's Component Architecture (ZCA, see also :ref:`prerequisites`). They document the 'external behaviour' of objects. In Kofa interfaces are used to specify the attributes, methods and schema fields of objects. The first two are well-known Python concepts. A Zope schema field is a bit more complicated. It's a detailed description of a field to be submitted via forms to the server, or which is processed by a batch processor. In both cases the input data are being validated against the schema field requirements. In Kofa, schema fields (see also note below) in interfaces are also used to automtically add `FieldProperty` attributes of the same name to most content classes. This is done by a function :py:func:`attrs_to_fields<waeup.kofa.utils.helpers.attrs_to_fields>` which is called once during startup of Kofa. These class attributes ensure that corresponding attributes of instances of this class - when being added or changed - always meet the requirements of the schema field. Another big advantage of such class attributes is, that attributes with a `FieldProperty` do not need to be set in `__init__` methods.
     64   students/workflow
    4865
    49 The `Student` class implements several interfaces which we will quote to unveil the student's 'external behaviour'.
     66Browser Pages  :sup:`in progress`
     67=================================
    5068
    51 `IStudentBase`
    52 --------------
     69.. toctree::
     70   :maxdepth: 3
    5371
    54 `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentBase` defines a fundamental set of attributes, schema fields and methods which are being used throughout the portal. This set is immutable. No class statement must be removed or added in customized versions of Kofa.
    55 
    56 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    57    :pyobject: IStudentBase
    58 
    59 The **first part** of the interface lists attributes. Except for the last two attributes (`password` and `temp_password`) they are all read-only property attributes, i.e. attributes with a getter method only. These properties are computed dynamically and can't be set. Most of them return data derived from the ``studycourse`` subobject.
    60 
    61 The **second part** of the interface specifies the schema fields
    62 
    63 .. _kofa_schemas:
    64 
    65 .. note::
    66 
    67   **Schema fields** are instances of schema field classes with `title`, `description`, `default`, `required`, `readonly` attributes. Class names and class attributes are self-explanatory and described in the `Zope Schema`_ documentation.
    68 
    69   A very powerful Zope Schema field is `Choice`. Choice fields 'are constrained to values drawn from a specified set, which can be static or dynamic'. This set can be a simple list of choices (= `values`), or a `vocabulary` or `source` which produce dynamic choices.
    70 
    71   **Vocabularies and sources** are very similar. The latter is a newer concept of producing choices and considered to replace vocabularies. In Kofa we are using both. Common to both is that a set of values is accompanied by a user-friendly title, which is displayed on pages (e.g. in select boxes) instead of a less informative value token or even a cryptic representation of a persistent value object. In most cases we have a token-title pair which perfectly describes the values of a source or a vocabulary. The tokens are being sent in forms or imported by batch processors.
    72 
    73   See `token-title pairs <http://kofa-demo.waeup.org/sources>`_ of most (non-database-dependent) sources and vocabularies in the Kofa base package.
    74 
    75 The **third part** of the interface lists the methods which can be applied to student objects.
    76 
    77 `IUGStudentClearance`
    78 ---------------------
    79 
    80 Much like all the following student interfaces, `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IUGStudentClearance` describes an additional set of schema fields which are exclusively used on form pages. They do not play any role beyond that purpose. Any kind of schema field can be safely added in customized versions of these interfaces to meet the conditions of the university's matriculation process. Also `date_of_birth` and `nationality` are not used in the base package for further data processing which means, there is no dependency on these two parameters. Attention: This might be different in customized versions of Kofa. Some views might use these parameters to restrict access or make actions (e.g. payment of items) conditional on the student's nationality or current age.
    81 
    82 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    83    :pyobject: IUGStudentClearance
    84 
    85 `clearance_locked` controls the access to the edit form page of clearance data. The corresponding attribute is automatically set by workflow transitions to lock or unlock the edit form page respectively. The attribute can also be set by officers via the manage form page to lock or unlock the page manually.
    86 
    87 `officer_comment` is usually edited by clearance officers when rejecting clearance previously requested by the student. The attribute contains the message which informs the student about the reasons of rejection. The attribute is cleared after final clearance. The message can be also found in ``students.log``.
    88 
    89 Both `clearance_locked` and `officer_comment` are controlled by workflow transitions not by states, see below.
    90 
    91 `IPGStudentClearance`
    92 ---------------------
    93 
    94 Most universities acquire different data from undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students. The forms vary widely. Therefore Kofa offers a second interface for acquiring PG clearance data. In the base package `IPGStudentClearance` inherits from the `IUGStudentClearance` interface. The additional `employer` field in the base package only serves as an example.
    95 
    96 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    97    :pyobject: IPGStudentClearance
    98 
    99 `IStudentPersonal`
    100 ------------------
    101 
    102 `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IUGStudentPersonal` defines an additional set of personal student data which are permantly editable by students. The set usually contains further contact data and information about the student's relatives.
    103 
    104 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    105    :pyobject: IStudentPersonal
    106 
    107 Kofa provides a mechanism which ensures that personal data are being kept up to date. Students are regularly requested to update the personal data directly after login. The personal data expire 180 days after saving the data for the last time which is stored in the `personal_updated` attribute. Then the `personal_data_expired` property returns ``True`` and the student is redirected to the personal data edit page when logging in.
    108 
    109 `IStudentNavigation`
    110 --------------------
    111 
    112 See docstring.
    113 
    114 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    115    :pyobject: IStudentNavigation
    116 
    117 Student Study Courses
    118 =====================
    119 
    120 All data related to an individual course of study are stored with the ``studycourse`` object. This container object is an instance of the `StudentStudyCourse` class which implements `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentStudyCourse`, `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentNavigation` and `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentStudyCourseTranscript`. The latter does not add further behaviour to our classes but is needed for transcript pages only. It is not described in the user handbook.
    121 
    122 `IStudentStudyCourse`
    123 ---------------------
    124 
    125 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    126    :pyobject: IStudentStudyCourse
    127 
    128 All attributes are read-only property attributes which are computed dynamically.
    129 
    130 The first schema field is a `Choice` field which allows values from the `CertificateSource`. The source provides all certificates stored in the portal. This way, `StudentStudyCourse` objects point to exactly one `Certificate` object in the portal. If the certificate is removed, an event handler takes care of clearing also all referring `certificate` attribute. The tokens of the `CertificateSource` are the certicate codes which means, that in forms and import files the unique code must be given and the desired `Certificate` object will be stored.
    131 
    132 The interface has two entry parameter fields. `entry_mode` stores the study mode of the programme and `entry_session` the academic year when the study course was started. Usually these parameters are fixed and must not be changed during course of study.
    133 
    134 Very import - or even most important - are the parameters which describe the current state of the student's study course. `current_session`, `current_level`, `current_verdict`, `previous_verdict` and the student's workflow state (see below) declare precisely in which academic session and how successfully the student has reached the current study level and state in the portal. All these attributes are set automatically by the portal und must (normally) not be changed via manage form pages.
    135 
    136 What is a verdict? A verdict is the individual judgement of a jury (senate in Nigeria) at the end of each academic session. The jury's verdict tells the portal, if the student has successfully completed an academic session or not. Depending on the verdict, the student will be either allowed to proceed to the next study level or forced to repeat the current level. Without a verdict, the student gets stuck and cannot even pay school fees for the next academic year. This will be further exlplained in the workflow section below.
    137 
    138 `StudentStudyCourse` is a container class. Study courses contain `StudentStudyLevel` instances which implement `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentStudyLevel` and also `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentNavigation`, see above.
    139 
    140 `IStudentStudyLevel`
    141 --------------------
    142 
    143 `StudentStudyLevel` instances contain information about the study progress achieved at that level. In Kofa study levels range from 100 to 900. There are two additional levels: a pre-studies level (10) and a special postgraduate level (999). There are also two probation levels per regular study level. Level 120, for instance, means level 100 on second probation. See `complete numbering of study levels <https://kofa-demo.waeup.org/sources#collapseStudyLevels>`_ in the base package.
    144 
    145 `StudentStudyLevel` instances are container objects which contain course tickets. We therefore sometimes speak of a level course list instead of a study level. The study level stores and provides the information when (`validation_date`) and by whom (`validated_by`) the course list was validated, in which session the level was taken (`level_session`) and which verdict the student finally obtained.
    146 
    147 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    148    :pyobject: IStudentStudyLevel
    149 
    150 `StudentStudyLevel` instances also compute some statistics on the fly to give an overview of the courses taken. These read-only property attributes are: `number_of_tickets`, `passed_params`, `gpa_params`, `gpa_params_rectified`, `cumulative_params`, `total_credits` and `gpa`. The attentive reader may wonder why the latter two are not listed in the attributes section of the interface, but as read-only schema fields further below. This is a trick which we used to properly display these fields on some display pages and pdf slips. However, the `attrs_to_fields` function explicitly excludes them when starting the portal, so that these fields are not used for persistent storage of same-named attributes in the database.
    151 
    152 `ICourseTicket`
    153 ---------------
    154 
    155 Course tickets allow students to attend a course. Lecturers can enter scores at the end of the term. A `CourseTicket` instance contains a copy of the original `Course` and `CertificateCourse` data. If the courses and/or the referring certificate courses are removed, the corresponding tickets remain unchanged. So we do not need any event triggered actions on course tickets.
    156 
    157 The `CourseTicket`  implements `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.ICourseTicket` and also `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentNavigation`, see above.
    158 
    159 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    160    :pyobject: ICourseTicket
    161 
    162 The quite long list of schema fields pretends that form pages may provide these fields for editing. This is not the case. Except for `score`, all these fields are 'for display' only. They can neither be changed through the UI nor by batch processing (import). They are solely meant for backing up the orginal course data. See also :ref:`course_ticket_processor`.
    163 
    164 .. note::
    165 
    166   It may happen that a course has been accidentally misconfigured, for example the number of credits was set too high. The course object can be corrected, but, course tickets, which refer to this course, can not. They are neither adjusted automatically nor changeable by the batch processor. The only solution to 'adjust' course tickets is to replace them by new tickets.
    167 
    168 Student Payments
    169 ================
    170 
    171 `IStudentOnlinePayment`
    172 -----------------------
    173 
    174 `waeup.kofa.students.interfaces.IStudentOnlinePayment` inherits from `waeup.kofa.payments.interfaces.IOnlinePayment` and has only two additional schema fields: `p_current` and `p_level` which are student-specific. It also promises three additional methods which process student data after successful or approved payment.
    175 
    176 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    177    :pyobject: IStudentOnlinePayment
    178 
    179 Student Accommodation
    180 =====================
    181 
    182 `IBedTicket`
    183 ------------
    184 
    185 A bed ticket confirms that a bed space in a hostel has been allocated to the student for the period of an academic session (`booking_session`). The `bed_coordinates` specify which bed space has been booked. Sometimes this value is too cryptic and inappropriate to guide the student to the bed space. The `display_coordinates` property can be used to 'translate' the coordinates and display a customary description of the bed space. Much like some study level attributes, also `display_coordinates` is defined as a read-only schema field in order to automatically display the field on form pages. It is excluded by the `attrs_to_fields` function and thus not stored in the database.
    186 
    187 .. literalinclude:: ../../../src/waeup/kofa/students/interfaces.py
    188    :pyobject: IBedTicket
    189 
    190 Registration Workflow
    191 =====================
    192 
    193 Studying at a higher education institution means following orchestrated and repeatable patterns of activities or, in other words, following a workflow prescribed by the school regulations. This process starts with application for studying a programme offered by the school, and may end with de-registration of a student. But even after de-registration, former students can be kept in the system as alumni so that they can still access their records or can apply for official transcripts.
    194 
    195 Kofa divides these 'repeatable patterns of activities' into two different and strictly seperated workflows: an application and a student registration workflow. The latter, which presupposes the admission of the student, will be described here.
    196 
    197 A worflow defines states and transitions between the states. The following diagram shows the entire student registration workflow. Workflow states are connected with dashed lines which symbolize workflow transitions. There are no arrows at the end of each line because in most cases, Kofa provides transitions in both directions. Transitions are denoted by lower-case characters, reverse transitions additionally by a preceded dash. A few transitions do not make sense and are thus not available (N/A)::
    198 
    199               a
    200    created ------- admitted
    201               b       |
    202      +----------------+
    203      |                         e
    204      +------------------------------------------------------+
    205      |                  c                            d      |
    206    clearance started ------- clearance requested  ------- cleared
    207                                                             |
    208                                 f                           |
    209      +--------+---------------------------------------------+
    210      |        |
    211      | h    school fee paid -------- returning -------------+
    212      |        |             \   l        |                  |
    213      +--------+ g            \ _ _ _ m   | k                |
    214               |                      \   |                  |
    215            courses registered ------ courses validated      |
    216                           |      i       |                  |
    217                           |              | n                |
    218                           | j            |                  |
    219                           |          graduated              |
    220                           |              |                  |
    221                           |              | o                |
    222                           |              |                  |
    223                           |          transcript requested   |
    224      a: admit             |                                 |
    225     -a: reset1            +---------------------------------+
    226      b: start_clearance
    227     -b: reset2
    228      c: request_clearance
    229     -c: reset3 (= reject request)
    230      d: clear
    231     -d: N/A
    232      e: N/A
    233     -e: reset4 (= annul clearance)
    234      f: pay_first_school_fee, approve_first_school_fee
    235     -f: reset5 (= annul payment)
    236      g: register_courses
    237     -g: reset7 (= reject request)
    238      h: pay_pg_fee, approve_pg_fee
    239     -h: N/A
    240      i: validate_courses
    241     -i: N/A
    242      j: bypass_validation
    243     -j: N/A
    244      k: return
    245     -k: reset9
    246      l: pay_school_fee, approve_school_fee
    247     -l: reset6 (= annul payment)
    248      m: N/A
    249     -m: reset8 (= annul validation)
    250      n: N/A
    251     -n: N/A
    252      o: request_transcript
    253     -o: process_transcript
    254 
    255 
    256 Student registration starts with the first login of the student into state ``admitted``. After filling the email adress and phone number field, and also uploading a passport picture, the student immediately proceeds with the clearance sub-workflow. S/he starts clearance **(b)** either directly or by using a clearance activation code, depending on the configuration of the portal. After filling the clearance form and uploading all necessary documents, the student requests clearance **(c)** which can be either accepted **(d)** or rejected **(-c)** by a clearance officer. A cleared student can enter the 'cyclical' part of the workflow which starts after first school fee payment **(f)**.
    257 
    258 A properly registering undergraduate student creates a new study level (course list) at the beginning of each academic session, adds the necessary course tickets and finally registers the list **(g)**. The student's course adviser subsequently validates the list **(i)**, or rejects the course registration request **(-g)** so that the student has to register again. Even after validation there is an option to annul the already validated course list **(-m)** so that the student can revise the list. At the end of the session, when all exams have been taken, course results (scores) are either entered by lecturers or imported by an import officer, a verdict is announced and the student is finally enabled to return **(k)**. In Kofa the last two steps are automatically performed by the Verdict Batch Processor. In some cases, course validators are not available or course validation is not necessary. Then validation can be skipped **(j)** by setting `bypass_validation` in the processor's import file to ``True``. In both cases the student arrives in state ``returning`` but is still in the same session. Also the current level has not changed. The new session starts only if the student pays school fee for the subsequent session **(l)**. Then `current_session` increases by one, `current_level` is set according to the verdict obtained, the old verdict is copied into `previous_verdict` and `current_verdict` is cleared. The student has arrived in the new academic session in state ``school_fee_paid``. The **gikl** cycle is repeatedly passed through till the student is ready for graduation.
    259 
    260 So far we have spoken about undergraduate students. The same sequence of transitions also applies to postgraduate students if they have to pass several levels (e.g. 700 and 800). Very often the level model does not apply to postgraduates. The students remain in the same (999) level but pay for each year of studying. In this case the gikl cycle collapses to the **h** cycle. Students may add course tickets whenever they like, but cannot register their course list.
    261 
    262 .. _workflow_batch_processing:
    263 
    264 Workflow Batch Processing
    265 =========================
    266 
    267 The :py:class:`StudentProcessor <waeup.kofa.students.batching.StudentProcessor>` allows to import either workflow states or transitions. As already emphasized in the description of the processor class, we refer to them as unsafe and safe respectively. Transitions are only possible between allowed workflow states. Only transitions ensure that the registration workflow is maintained. Setting the workflow state by import is considered brute and must be avoided.
    268 
    269 .. _student_history:
    270 
    271 Student History
    272 ===============
    273 
    274 All transitions are automatically logged in ``students.log``. And also the import of workflow states is recorded in the logfile. However, these logfiles can only be accessed by some officers and are hidden from students. Since Kofa takes up the cause of transparancy, we were of the opinion, that also students must know, when and by whom the state of their record was changed. Therefore we store all workflow-relevant changes additionally in the student history which is attached to the student object. The history is a list of messages. Each message contains the local time, the workflow transition message and the public name of the user who triggered the transition, either online or by import::
    275 
    276   2015-05-16 05:11:34 UTC - Record created by System Admin
    277   2015-05-30 07:34:09 UTC - Admitted by System Admin
    278   2015-05-30 08:34:11 UTC - Clearance started by John Doe
    279   2015-05-30 09:34:15 UTC - Clearance requested by John Doe
    280   2015-05-30 10:37:27 UTC - Cleared by Clearance Officer
    281 
    282 If the workflow state is set by import, the following message would have been added instead::
    283 
    284   2015-05-30 10:37:27 UTC - State 'cleared' set by Import Officer
    285 
    286 Student histories are exportable but cannot be imported.
    287 
    288 
    289 Browser Pages
    290 =============
    291 
    292 
    293 .. _zope schema: http://docs.zope.org/zope.schema
     72   students/browser
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