Managing the database¶

See also

nbgrader db student add: Command line options for nbgrader db student add
nbgrader db student import: Command line options for nbgrader db student import
nbgrader db student remove: Command line options for nbgrader db student remove
nbgrader db student list: Command line options for nbgrader db student list
nbgrader db assignment add: Command line options for nbgrader db assignment add
nbgrader db assignment import: Command line options for nbgrader db assignment import
nbgrader db assignment remove: Command line options for nbgrader db assignment remove
nbgrader db assignment list: Command line options for nbgrader db assignment list
The philosophy and the approach: More details on how the nbgrader hierarchy is structured.
Configuration options: Details on nbgrader_config.py

Most of the important information that nbgrader has access to—information about students, assignments, grades, etc.—is stored in the nbgrader database. Much of this is added to the database automatically by nbgrader, with the exception of two types of information: which students are in your class, and which assignments you have.

There are two methods for adding students and assignments to the database.

The first is by writing a Python script and using the API. The second way is to use the command line tool nbgrader db, which provides limited command line access to some of the API functionality.

%%bash

# remove the existing database, to start fresh
rm gradebook.db

Managing assignments¶

To add assignments, we can use the nbgrader db assignment add command, which takes the name of the assignment as well as optional arguments (such as its due date):

%%bash

nbgrader db assignment add ps1 --duedate="2015-02-02 17:00:00 UTC"

[DbAssignmentAddApp | INFO] Creating/updating assignment with ID 'ps1': {'duedate': '2015-02-02 17:00:00 UTC'}

After we have added the assignment, we can view what assignments exist in the database with nbgrader db assignment list:

%%bash

nbgrader db assignment list

There are 1 assignments in the database:
ps1 (due: 2015-02-02 17:00:00)

An alternate way to add assignments is a batch method of importing a CSV file. The file must have a column called name, and may optionally have columns for other assignment properties (such as the due date):

%%file assignments.csv
name,duedate
ps1,2015-02-02 17:00:00 UTC
ps2,2015-02-09 17:00:00 UTC

Writing assignments.csv

Then, to import this file, we use the nbgrader db assignment import command:

%%bash

nbgrader db assignment import assignments.csv

[DbAssignmentImportApp | INFO] Importing from: 'assignments.csv'
[DbAssignmentImportApp | INFO] Creating/updating Assignment with name 'ps1': {'duedate': '2015-02-02 17:00:00 UTC'}
[DbAssignmentImportApp | INFO] Creating/updating Assignment with name 'ps2': {'duedate': '2015-02-09 17:00:00 UTC'}

We can also remove assignments from the database with nbgrader db assignment remove. Be very careful using this command, as it is possible you could lose data!

%%bash

nbgrader db assignment remove ps1

[DbAssignmentRemoveApp | INFO] Removing assignment with ID 'ps1'

Managing students¶

Managing students in the database works almost exactly the same as managing assignments. To add students, we use the nbgrader db student add command:

%%bash

nbgrader db student add bitdiddle --last-name=Bitdiddle --first-name=Ben
nbgrader db student add hacker --last-name=Hacker --first-name=Alyssa

[DbStudentAddApp | INFO] Creating/updating student with ID 'bitdiddle': {'last_name': 'Bitdiddle', 'first_name': 'Ben', 'email': None, 'lms_user_id': None}
[DbStudentAddApp | INFO] Creating/updating student with ID 'hacker': {'last_name': 'Hacker', 'first_name': 'Alyssa', 'email': None, 'lms_user_id': None}

And to list the students in the database, we use the nbgrader db student list command:

%%bash

nbgrader db student list

There are 2 students in the database:
bitdiddle (Bitdiddle, Ben) -- None, None
hacker (Hacker, Alyssa) -- None, None

Like with the assignments, we can also batch add students to the database using the nbgrader db student import command. We first have to create a CSV file, which is required to have a column for id, and optionally may have columns for other student information (such as their name):

%%file students.csv
id,last_name,first_name,email
bitdiddle,Bitdiddle,Ben,
hacker,Hacker,Alyssa,

Writing students.csv

%%bash

nbgrader db student import students.csv

[DbStudentImportApp | INFO] Importing from: 'students.csv'
[DbStudentImportApp | INFO] Creating/updating Student with id 'bitdiddle': {'last_name': 'Bitdiddle', 'first_name': 'Ben', 'email': None}
[DbStudentImportApp | INFO] Creating/updating Student with id 'hacker': {'last_name': 'Hacker', 'first_name': 'Alyssa', 'email': None}

We can also remove students from the database with nbgrader db student remove. Be very careful using this command, as it is possible you could lose data!

%%bash

nbgrader db student remove bitdiddle

[DbStudentRemoveApp | INFO] Removing student with ID 'bitdiddle'