Case Study: Adding Groups to Your Data Source

This case study will cover the process of adding a tables that allow you to include a learner’s Group name (in the context of a course). For the purposes of this case study, we will add the tables to the Grades Data Source.

The required Tables are not natively included with this Data Source—but we will make this as smooth as possible.

To begin, you will need to duplicate the public Grades Data Source. To duplicate the Grades Data Source, complete the following steps:

1. From the menu, hover over Data Sources and click ‘View existing’.

2. Right-click the Grades Data Source and select Duplicate.

Now that you have an editable copy of the Grades Data Source, you can edit it to add the Tables.

To add the required Tables to your newly copied Grades Data Source, complete the following steps:

1. Right-click the Grades Data Source and select Edit. The Edit Data Source page opens.

2. Underneath the Data Source Design heading, click the Edit with Data Source Designer link. The Data Source Designer opens to the Display tab.

3. Navigate to the Tables tab

4. Move mdl_groups and mdl_group_members from the left to the ‘Selected Tables’ on the right.

5. Navigate to the Joins tab and create the following joins:

• From the Left Table, select the course field from the mdl_course_completions table, then from the Right Table select the courseid field from the mdl_groups Table. Click the Left Outer Join button.

• From the Left Table, select the userid field from the mdl_course_completions table, then from the Right Table select the userid field from the mdl_group_members Table. Click the Left Outer Join button.

• From the Left Table, select the id field from the mdl_groups table, then from the Right Table select the groupid field from the mdl_group_members Table. Click the Left Outer Join button.

1. Navigate to the Display tab.

2. In the Resources panel expand JoinTree_1, then expand the mdl_groups table

3. Select the name field and drag it into the User set in the Sets and Items panel.

4. In the Sets and Items panel, select the newly added name item.

5. In the Properties panel, click the Edit button. The property fields of the name item become editable.

6. In the Label field, rename the name item to "Group Name", for presentation purposes.

7. Click the Save button to save your changes to the Group Name item.

8. Click the OK button to save your changes in the Data Source Designer and return to the Edit Data Source page.

9. Under the Required Information heading, rename the Grades Data Source in the Name field, in order to avoid confusing it with the existing Grades Data Source. We will call this Data Source the "Lambda Grades Data Source".

10. To save your changes to the Data Source, click the Submit button.

Note: If users belong to multiple groups within one course you may see situations where it appears like the user is duplicated in your reports. This is a result of that user belonging to one or more Groups. This can corrected with effective use of filters.