Tracking CodeOcean task development in GIT and/or problem with Export from CodeOcean to CodeHarbor

[udoering]

Hello,
when transferring tasks from CodeOcean to CodeHarbor, we encountered an access rights problem.
The problem can probably be solved on both sides (CodeOcean and/or CodeHarbor), so here is the
entry as a suggestion for discussion and not as an issue.

Context

We (2+x people) develop the tasks (texts and tests) mainly directly in CodeOcean - initially iteratively until
to the first published version and then as required according to the practical experience gained.
We want to add the published tasks and all further changes to our GIT with appropriate comments.
To do this, we want to download all files associated with the task locally as a zip file.
Exporting to CodeHarbor and then downloading as a zip was the method of choice.
On CodeHarbor, the tasks are saved in a group so that everyone involved has access to them.

Error/problem description:

If the task has been changed in CodeOcean and should therefore be re-exported to CodeHarbor (i.e. "updated"), it should actually look like this:

However, if another user in the group has previously exported the task to CodeHarbor for the first time, the following message appears:

Solution attempts without success:

• Change visibility in CodeHarbor to "Public"
• Assign rights in another way via CodeHarbor's UI (no corresponding options found)

Not affected by the problem: CodeHarbor itself. There, tasks within the group can be edited, downloaded and sent back to CodeOcean, regardless of who initially imported them into CodeHarbor.

How/where could this problem best be solved?

• Could there be a download option directly in CodeOcean (parallel to CodeHarbor export) as a ZIP of the task files?
• And/or could the rights control at group level for the export from CodeOcean to CodeHarbor work in the same way as it is applied in CodeHarbor itself?
• Or would a connection to Git even be conceivable in the medium/long term for task development directly in CodeOcean?

Best regards from Ilmenau,
Ulf

[kkoehn]

• A way to im-/ and export exercises directly in CodeOcean has been implemented in add direct import of proforma zip #2867 and Add direct download of proforma zip #2834.
• I will look into the group rights on CodeHarbor
  • currently only the task owner can update a task via import (as you observed) (app/controllers/tasks_controller.rb:152 and app/services/proforma_service/import_task.rb:20)
  • I think it could make sense to allow members of groups (in CodeHarbor) to update tasks via import as well. @MrSerth @arkirchner what do you think?
• A git integration is currently not planned as far as I know

[MrSerth]

Thanks for your suggestions, Ulf -- I really appreciate it!

I'll just add a few details below, and I might be able to provide some additional background information.

I think it could make sense to allow members of groups (in CodeHarbor) to update tasks via import as well. @MrSerth @arkirchner what do you think?

Yes, enabling groups to make the update sounds good. We should also check the permissions in CodeOcean: For UI edits, we have a rather complicated algorithm to determine whether teachers share the same study group and subsequently allow updates. Can we do something similar for remote updates?

A git integration is currently not planned as far as I know

That's true. We considered a Git integration for CodeHarbor recently, but in the end decided against it. We have made a few thoughts already (like how to map some of the metadata to files), but there is no implementation yet. I would love to see it and think it would benefit the workflows. However, it is also a rather big, complex feature and would require additional planning before starting the implementation. Exporting, though, is likely easier to add than importing through Git, even though importing would be a really great addition.