Importing Courses

Import

You can import Adapt courses into the Adapt authoring tool. This accommodates a variety of workflows that divide course production between the Adapt framework and the authoring tool.

The import feature does not update or overwrite an existing course. A new course will always be created. New IDs will be generated to identify course elements and assets. If IDs are hardcoded in your course, you will need to manually update them after import.

The import feature requires a minimum authoring tool version of 0.5.0.

The authoring tool uses the Adapt framework as its "engine." Both the authoring tool and framework have version numbers. Their version numbers are numerically distinct and are incremented independently.

There are limitations depending on the versions of the framework, plug-ins, and the authoring tool you are using. For example, prior to authoring tool v0.10.0, the imported course's framework version had to be compatible with the version of the framework used by the authoring tool.

Zip Your Course

Locate your course project files, and step into the root of the project—the level containing build, grunt, and src folders. Ultimately you will create a zipped file at this level, but not yet.

Some files and folders are unnecessary for import. While they may be ignored by the authoring tool, they will needlessly bloat the zip file. Avoid timeouts and file size restrictions by deselecting all files and folders except src and package.json. (Don't delete any files from your computer. They're needed for your project; just not for the import zip.)

It is essential that the src folder and package.json are present and located at the root of your zip. Zip these up.

The zip you import will imitate the package structure of a course exported from the authoring tool. If ever in doubt, export a course and compare the organisation of the export to your zipped course. (The export will include a few more items beyond src and package.json. If you were to include these in your import zip, no damage done. They'd be ignored during import.)

The Adapt framework compiles and minifies source code found in the src directory and writes it to the build directory. The code in the build folder is used to publish a course to an LMS or LRS. The authoring tool takes responsibility for the build, so we do not need to import those files.

The Adapt authoring tool provides two buttons on the course dashboard. "Publish course" produces a zip of the build files, and "Export source" produces a zip of the source files.

Importing the Course Source Code

In the authoring tool, import a course by going to the dashboard and clicking "Import source" on the side bar. This will open the course import page.

File: Locate the zipped course you want to import by clicking on "Browse".

Asset Folder: Enter the folder names where assets that are referenced by the course's JSON files are stored. Asset folders should be inside the src/course/[lang] folder. By default the import checks for the following folders: assets, images, video, audio. You may accept these defaults by entering no value. However, if you enter values for "Asset Folders," you must list all folders that contain assets.

Tags: You can add tags to the course that you are importing. Any tags that you enter will also be applied to all imported assets.

Limitations

• Plug-ins that are already installed in the authoring tool will be ignored. They will not be upgraded.
• Some third-party plug-ins work in the framework but not in the authoring tool. A missing properties.schema file is often to blame. Contact the plug-in's developer to rectify the issue.
• In order to prevent duplicate assets, the import process will check if it already exists in the authoring tool before importing.
• The framework versions of the authoring tool and imported course must be compatible (e.g., trying to import a v3 course into an authoring tool with framework v2 will not work).
• The project source files must be in the root of the zip. A zip containing a nested folder will be rejected.
• The authoring tool installs with a default maximum file size (200MB) that can be imported. This default can be located and changed in the authoring tool's source code: "maxFileUploadSize" at /conf/config.json