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The Submitter Extension. Ian Utting University of Kent. Overview. The original extension – still part of the standard BlueJ download Provides a mechanism for submitting (files from) BlueJ projects for assessment/feedback Supports email, ftp, file transfer and http transfers
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The Submitter Extension Ian Utting University of Kent First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006
Overview • The original extension – still part of the standard BlueJ download • Provides a mechanism for submitting (files from) BlueJ projects for assessment/feedback • Supports email, ftp, file transfer and http transfers • Written in less security-conscious times (late 2002) First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006
Controlling submission • A driver file (submission.defs) contains a number of user-selectable submission definitions, it can be installed per BlueJ installation, per user or per project • This file can include further definitions retrieved from a URL – you can use this to “gate” submissions by changing a centrally controlled file. First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006
Submission transports • The target of a submission is specified by a URL-like transport definition, which can include entries collected from the user (e.g. user names, PINs, message text) • The mailto: transport requires an SMTP server name to be provided (via BlueJ’s Tools/Preferences panel). • The http: transport displays any resulting HTML in a Java panel, clicking an included link will open it in an external browser. • There’s no security implementation in the transport mechanisms, except for ftp:. First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006
Submit which files? • A definition can specify the files: • Which should be included • Which should be excluded • Which must be present before the submission can proceed • Submitted files can be bundled into a Jar (or zip) file. First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006
Where next? • Security concerns limit the utility of the Submitter, which doesn’t support: • Secure SMTP • HTTP authorization • SSH • Network filestores and the file: transport can be very effective • FTP has been rendered (generally) useless • On the other hand, there’s a lot more support from standard libraries now than when the Submitter was written First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006
More information • The submitter is included with the standard BlueJ download • Documentation on the submission.defs file format, with examples and a sample PHP submission handler, is at: www.bluej.org/extensions/submitter/submitter.html First BlueJ Day, Houston, Texas, 1st March 2006