The query string

The query string

This content is relevant to flexTeaching version 0.2+.

When accessing a flexTeaching shiny app, there are a number of settings you can pass via the query string (the part after the ? in a url). If these variables are set via the query string, they will be automatically filled in the relevant input element.

For example, the url:

https://myshinyserver.com/appName/app.Rmd?assignment=summaries&id=3948223&id_disable

has three query string variables: assignment, id, and id_disable. The flexTeaching app will open with the student ID set to "3948223", and the ID element will be disabled so that the student cannot change it. Additionally, the flexTeaching app will open the "summaries" assignment.

A disabled element is faded to indicate that the value cannot be changed. Disabling elements can help signal to the student that they should not change something.

The following tables list all the available query string variables and what they do.

Available from all pages

Variable name	Content	Description
solve	N/A	Start in practice mode (otherwise defaults to assignment mode)
entry_disable	N/A	Disable switch to change from assignment to practice mode and back
format	String	The default file format for data downloads
format_disable	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the format dropdown box is disabled.
assignment	String	The shortname of an assignment to display
assignment_disable	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the assignment dropdown box is disabled.
cache_mode	N/A	Start in cache mode. In this mode, currently unavailable documents are still generated and cached.
id	String	The student ID
id_disable	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the student ID text box is disabled.
category	String	A POSIX regular expression; only assignments matching the category regular expression will be shown. (Make sure you URL encode the regular expression, in case it contains special characters like "&" )
seed	String	The seed used for the assignment (under "Show admin")
seed_disable	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the Seed text box is disabled.
masterseed	String	The master seed used for generating the assignment seed
masterseed_disable	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the Master seed text box is disabled.
solutions	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the solutions checkbox is checked by default.
solutions_disable	N/A	If this variable is in the query string, then the Solutions checkbox is disabled.