API and Python Script to list Quizzes that have Shuffle turned on and "All of the above" etc answers

[RupertRussell]

My use case is to search a list courses that contain Classic Quizzes and to list any Quizzes that have "shuffle_answers":true and that contain one or more questions that have "All of the above" as a answer or distractor.

Unfortunately we have thousands of quizzes and most probably 1-2 % would fall into this category. 😞

Being able to filter out a list of all quizzes with "shuffle_answers":true  would be a start but I can't work out a smart way to then search the questions in the quizzes for "All of the above" or "Both A & D" or "None of the above" type distractors.

I am hoping that I don't have to write a AHK script to do this.
I would like a Python Script to do this if at all possible.

The answer to this question may hold some clues.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Developers-Group/Listing-all-question-groups-in-a-quiz/m-p...

[RupertRussell · Accepted solution]

Working with Chat GPT I have a working python script as follows:

# Fetches classic quizzes and associated questions from a list of Canvas courses.
# Not tested with new quizzes 
# Retrieves quiz details including: Course Name	Quiz Name, Number of Questions,	Shuffle Answers, Published,	Contains Search Strings
# Generates a CSV report
# Code Generated by Chat GPT 14/04/2024
# With prompts by Rupert Russell 

import os
import requests
import csv
import json

# Define your Canvas API URL and access token
API_URL = "https://....instructure.com/api/v1/"
ACCESS_TOKEN = '...' # generate your own token 


# Function to fetch quizzes for a course from Canvas
def get_quizzes(course_id):
    url = f"{API_URL}/courses/{course_id}/quizzes"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"}
    quizzes = []
    page = 1
    while True:
        params = {"page": page}
        try:
            response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=params)
            response.raise_for_status()  # Raise an exception for 4xx/5xx status codes
            quizzes_page = json.loads(response.text)  # Convert response text to dictionary using json.loads()
            quizzes.extend(quizzes_page)
            if "next" not in response.links:
                break  # No more pages to fetch
            page += 1
        except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
            print(f"Error fetching quizzes for course {course_id}: {e}")
            return []  # Return an empty list if there's an error
    return quizzes

# Function to fetch questions for a quiz from Canvas
def get_quiz_questions(course_id, quiz_id):
    url = f"{API_URL}/courses/{course_id}/quizzes/{quiz_id}/questions"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"}
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
        response.raise_for_status()  # Raise an exception for 4xx/5xx status codes
        return json.loads(response.text)  # Convert response text to dictionary using json.loads()
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error fetching questions for quiz {quiz_id} in course {course_id}: {e}")
        return []  # Return an empty list if there's an error

# Function to get quiz details from Canvas
def get_quiz_details(course_id, quiz_id):
    url = f"{API_URL}/courses/{course_id}/quizzes/{quiz_id}"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"}
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
        response.raise_for_status()  # Raise an exception for 4xx/5xx status codes
        return json.loads(response.text)  # Convert response text to dictionary using json.loads()
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error fetching details for quiz {quiz_id} in course {course_id}: {e}")
        return {}  # Return an empty dictionary if there's an error

# Function to fetch question bank details from Canvas
def get_question_bank_details(course_id, question_bank_id):
    url = f"{API_URL}/courses/{course_id}/question_groups/{question_bank_id}"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"}
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
        response.raise_for_status()  # Raise an exception for 4xx/5xx status codes
        return json.loads(response.text)  # Convert response text to dictionary using json.loads()
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error fetching details for question bank {question_bank_id} in course {course_id}: {e}")
        return {}  # Return an empty dictionary if there's an error

# Main function to fetch courses with quizzes and save as CSV
def main(course_numbers, search_strings):
    total_courses = len(course_numbers)
    csv_version = 1
    while True:
        csv_filename = f'courses_with_quizzes_v{csv_version:03d}.csv'
        if not os.path.exists(csv_filename):
            break
        csv_version += 1

    with open(csv_filename, 'w', newline='') as csvfile:
        fieldnames = ['Course Name', 'Quiz Name', 'Number of Questions', 'Shuffle Answers', 'Published', 'Contains Search Strings']
        writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, fieldnames=fieldnames)
        writer.writeheader()
        
        for i, course_number in enumerate(course_numbers, start=1):
            print(f"Checking course {i}/{total_courses}")
            quizzes = get_quizzes(course_number)
            for quiz in quizzes:
                shuffle_answers = 'True' if quiz.get('shuffle_answers', False) else 'False'
                quiz_questions = get_quiz_questions(course_number, quiz['id'])
                num_questions = len(quiz_questions)
                contains_search_strings = any(
                    any(search_string.lower() in choice['text'].lower() for choice in question.get('answers', []))
                    for question in quiz_questions
                    for search_string in search_strings
                )

                # Check questions in associated question banks
                question_bank_ids = [group['id'] for group in quiz.get('question_groups', [])]
                for question_bank_id in question_bank_ids:
                    question_bank_details = get_question_bank_details(course_number, question_bank_id)
                    if not question_bank_details:
                        continue  # Skip if unable to fetch question bank details
                    questions_in_bank = question_bank_details.get('questions', [])
                    contains_search_strings |= any(
                        any(search_string.lower() in choice['text'].lower() for choice in question.get('answers', []))
                        for question in questions_in_bank
                        for search_string in search_strings
                    )

                quiz_details = get_quiz_details(course_number, quiz['id'])
                is_published = quiz_details.get('published', False)
                writer.writerow({'Course Name': course_number, 'Quiz Name': quiz['title'], 'Number of Questions': num_questions, 'Shuffle Answers': shuffle_answers, 'Published': is_published, 'Contains Search Strings': contains_search_strings})

    print(f"CSV file '{csv_filename}' has been created.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example usage:
    courses = [522, 20451]
    search_strings = ["All of the above", "None of the above", "Some other string"]
    main(courses, search_strings)