clientFiles and serverFiles¶

There are multiple locations within each course where files can be stored for access from the client or server. These can be used for code libraries used in questions, images embedded within questions, formula sheets available during exams, or online textbooks for reference during exams.

ClientFiles directories contain files that are accessible from the client web browser. This is appropriate for code libraries used on the client, or for files that a student should have access to, such as an image, reference webpages, or formula sheets.

ServerFiles directories are only accessible from code running on the server, so are useful for libraries that can solve questions or generate random question instances. Files in a serverFiles directory cannot be directly accessed by the student's web browser.

See an example of how to use serverFilesCourse in a Python autograder.

Directory layout¶

A clientFiles* subdirectory can be associated with the course, a question, a course instance, or an assessment, as shown below. The serverFilesCourse subdirectory is associated with the course as a whole.

exampleCourse
+-- clientFilesCourse                     # client files for the entire course
|   +-- library.js
+-- serverFilesCourse                     # server files for the entire course
|   `-- secret1.js
+-- questions
|   `-- fossilFuels
|       +-- clientFilesQuestion           # client files for the fossilFuels question
|       |   `-- power-station.jpg
`-- courseInstances
    `-- Fa16
       +-- clientFilesCourseInstance      # client files for the Fall 2016 course instance
       |   `-- Fa16_rules.pdf
       `-- assessments
           `-- hw01
               `-- clientFilesAssessment  # client files for the Homework 1 assessment
                   `-- formulaSheet.pdf

Access control¶

Each different clientFiles* directory is accessible under the same access control rules for the course instances and assessments. That is, clientFilesCourse is accessible to any student who has access to some course instance, while clientFilesQuestion, clientFilesCourseInstance, and clientFilesAssessment are accessible to students with access to the corresponding question, course instance, or assessment.

Accessing files from HTML templates¶

From within HTML, clientFiles directories can be templated with the following mustache patterns:

{{ options.client_files_course_url }}/filename.ext
{{ options.client_files_question_url }}/filename.ext

Accessing files from server.py question code¶

See the accessing files on disk section for details.