Override file extension for Speedgrader/DocViewer
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Judging from the What types of files can be previewed in Canvas? guide, the kind of preview one gets in Speedgrader seems to be determined entirely by what extension the uploaded file has—often a useful default, but definitely not something which works in all cases. As an instructor grading student submissions, I would like to be able to override this default (definitely for single files individually, but creating custom mappings applied on a per-assignment or per-course level would also be useful), primarily to the end of viewing the file as just a plain text file.
Example: If the assignment is about writing HTML code, then I don't want that HTML code to be rendered by Speedgrader, I want to see the HTML code itself so that I can point out errors being made.
It would also be good to have an indication of what preview of a student submission is actually being shown, since apparently it sometimes doesn't work right. Attached is (i) a student submission rendered correctly and (ii) Canvas's rather horrible preview of the source code for that submission — rather than showing me that source code, Canvas tries to render it, and does a spectacularly poor job at that. My first impulse was to blame the student, when in fact the culprit is the LMS.
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@lars_hellstrom You are correct on the way the Speedgrader DocViewer functions, and it is not currently set up to function the way you have described.
If you wouldn't mind, please consider making a post about this in our Idea Conversations page so that our engineers will be notified of this suggestion!
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Unfortunately there is not a way to alter the file extension of what your students are uploading. If you have an assignment set up to receive a file upload, you can restrict the extension that it will allow. That way you can control the formatting in which your students submit.
Have a look at the guide for what file types the docviewer can display in the Canvas site [here]. It is also good to note that you cannot annotate submissions via the RCE, whether it be text or a file embedded from the RCE text submission type.
