Quiz Submission Questions

API for answering and flagging questions in a quiz-taking session.

A QuizSubmissionQuestion object looks like:

{
  // The ID of the QuizQuestion this answer is for.
  "id": 1,
  // Whether this question is flagged.
  "flagged": true,
  // The provided answer (if any) for this question. The format of this parameter
  // depends on the type of the question, see the Appendix for more information.
  "answer": null,
  // The possible answers for this question when those possible answers are
  // necessary.  The presence of this parameter is dependent on permissions.
  "answers": null
}

Get all quiz submission questions.

Quizzes::QuizSubmissionQuestionsController#index

GET /api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions

Get a list of all the question records for this quiz submission.

200 OK response code is returned if the request was successful.

Request Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
include[]	string	Associations to include with the quiz submission question. Allowed values: quiz_question

Example Response:

{
  "quiz_submission_questions": [QuizSubmissionQuestion]
}

Answering questions

Quizzes::QuizSubmissionQuestionsController#answer

POST /api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions

Scope: url:POST|/api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions

Provide or update an answer to one or more QuizQuestions.

Request Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
attempt	Required integer	The attempt number of the quiz submission being taken. Note that this must be the latest attempt index, as questions for earlier attempts can not be modified.
validation_token	Required string	The unique validation token you received when the Quiz Submission was created.
access_code	string	Access code for the Quiz, if any.
quiz_questions[]	QuizSubmissionQuestion	Set of question IDs and the answer value. See Appendix: Question Answer Formats for the accepted answer formats for each question type.

Example Request:

{
  "attempt": 1,
  "validation_token": "YOUR_VALIDATION_TOKEN",
  "access_code": null,
  "quiz_questions": [{
    "id": "1",
    "answer": "Hello World!"
  }, {
    "id": "2",
    "answer": 42.0
  }]
}

Returns a list of QuizSubmissionQuestion objects.

Get a formatted student numerical answer.

Quizzes::QuizSubmissionQuestionsController#formatted_answer

GET /api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions/:id/formatted_answer

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions/:id/formatted_answer

Matches the intended behavior of the UI when a numerical answer is entered and returns the resulting formatted number

Request Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
answer	Required Numeric	no description

Example Response:

{
  "formatted_answer": 12.1234
}

Flagging a question.

Quizzes::QuizSubmissionQuestionsController#flag

PUT /api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions/:id/flag

Scope: url:PUT|/api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions/:id/flag

Set a flag on a quiz question to indicate that you want to return to it later.

Request Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
attempt	Required integer	The attempt number of the quiz submission being taken. Note that this must be the latest attempt index, as questions for earlier attempts can not be modified.
validation_token	Required string	The unique validation token you received when the Quiz Submission was created.
access_code	string	Access code for the Quiz, if any.

Example Request:

{
  "attempt": 1,
  "validation_token": "YOUR_VALIDATION_TOKEN",
  "access_code": null
}

Unflagging a question.

Quizzes::QuizSubmissionQuestionsController#unflag

PUT /api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions/:id/unflag

Scope: url:PUT|/api/v1/quiz_submissions/:quiz_submission_id/questions/:id/unflag

Remove the flag that you previously set on a quiz question after you’ve returned to it.

Request Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
attempt	Required integer	The attempt number of the quiz submission being taken. Note that this must be the latest attempt index, as questions for earlier attempts can not be modified.
validation_token	Required string	The unique validation token you received when the Quiz Submission was created.
access_code	string	Access code for the Quiz, if any.

Example Request:

{
  "attempt": 1,
  "validation_token": "YOUR_VALIDATION_TOKEN",
  "access_code": null
}

Appendixes

Appendix: Question Answer Formats

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Essay Questions

• Question parametric type: essay_question

• Parameter type: Text

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": "Answer text." }

Example request

{
  "answer": "<h2>My essay</h2>\n\n<p>This is a long article.</p>"
}

Possible errors

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Text is too long.	The answer text is larger than the allowed limit of 16 kilobytes.

Fill In Multiple Blanks Questions

• Question parametric type: fill_in_multiple_blanks_question

• Parameter type: Hash{String => String}

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": { "variable": "Answer string." } }

Example request

Given that the question accepts answers to two variables, color1 and color2:

{
  "answer": {
    "color1": "red",
    "color2": "green"
  }
}

Possible errors

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Unknown variable 'var'.	The answer map contains a variable that is not accepted by the question.
400 Bad Request	Text is too long.	The answer text is larger than the allowed limit of 16 kilobytes.

Fill In The Blank Questions

• Question parametric type: short_answer_question

• Parameter type: String

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": "Some sentence." }

Example request

{
  "answer": "Hello World!"
}

Possible errors

Similar to the errors produced by Essay Questions.

Formula Questions

• Question parametric type: calculated_question

• Parameter type: Decimal

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": decimal } where decimal is either a rational number, or a literal version of it (String)

Example request

With an exponent:

{
  "answer": 2.3e-6
}

With a string for a number:

{
  "answer": "13.4"
}

Possible errors

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Parameter must be a valid decimal.	The specified value could not be processed as a decimal.

Matching Questions

• Question parametric type: matching_question

• Parameter type: Array<Hash>

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": [{ "answer_id": id, "match_id": id }] } where the IDs must identify answers and matches accepted by the question.

Example request

Given that the question accepts 3 answers with IDs [ 3, 6, 9 ] and 6 matches with IDs: [ 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ]:

{
  "answer": [{
    "answer_id": 6,
    "match_id": 10
  }, {
    "answer_id": 3,
    "match_id": 14
  }]
}

The above request:

• pairs answer#6 with match#10

• pairs answer#3 with match#14

• leaves answer#9 un-matched

Possible errors

<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Answer entry must be of type Hash, got '...'.</code></td>
  <td>One of the entries of the match-pairings set is not a valid hash.</td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Missing parameter 'answer_id'.</code></td>
  <td>One of the entries of the match-pairings does not specify an <code>answer_id</code>.</td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Missing parameter 'match_id'.</code></td>
  <td>One of the entries of the match-pairings does not specify an <code>match_id</code>.</td>
</tr>


<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Parameter must be of type Integer.</code></td>
  <td>
    One of the specified <code>answer_id</code> or <code>match_id</code>
    is not an integer.
  </td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Unknown answer '123'.</code></td>
  <td>An <code>answer_id</code> you supplied does not identify a valid answer
  for that question.</td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Unknown match '123'.</code></td>
  <td>A <code>match_id</code> you supplied does not identify a valid match
  for that question.</td>
</tr>

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Answer must be of type Array.	The match-pairings set you supplied is not an array.

Multiple Choice Questions

• Question parametric type: multiple_choice_question

• Parameter type: Integer

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": answer_id } where answer_id is an ID of one of the question's answers.

Example request

Given an answer with an ID of 5:

{
  "answer": 5
}

Possible errors

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Parameter must be of type Integer.	The specified `answer_id` is not an integer.
400 Bad Request	Unknown answer '123'	The specified `answer_id` is not a valid answer.

Multiple Dropdowns Questions

• Question parametric type: multiple_dropdowns_question

• Parameter type: Hash{String => Integer}

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": { "variable": answer_id } } where the keys are variables accepted by the question, and their values are IDs of answers provided by the question.

Example request

Given that the question accepts 3 answers to a variable named color with the ids [ 3, 6, 9 ]:

{
  "answer": {
    "color": 6
  }
}

Possible errors

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Unknown variable 'var'.	The answer map you supplied contains a variable that is not accepted by the question.
400 Bad Request	Unknown answer '123'.	An answer_id you supplied does not identify a valid answer for that question.

Multiple Answers Questions

• Question parametric type: multiple_answers_question

• Parameter type: Array<Integer>

• Parameter synopsis: { "answer": [ answer_id ] } where the array items are IDs of answers accepted by the question.

Example request

Given that the question accepts 3 answers with the ids [ 3, 6, 9 ] and we want to select the answers 3 and 6:

{
  "answer": [ 3, 6 ]
}

Possible errors

<tr>
  <td>400 Bad Request</td>
  <td><code>Unknown answer '123'.</code></td>
  <td>An answer ID you supplied in the selection set does not identify a
    valid answer for that question.</td>
</tr>

HTTP RC	Error Message	Cause
400 Bad Request	Selection must be of type Array.	The selection set you supplied is not an array.
400 Bad Request	Parameter must be of type Integer.	One of the answer IDs you supplied is not a valid ID.

Numerical Questions

• Question parametric type: numerical_question

This is similar to Formula Questions.

True/False Questions

• Question parametric type: true_false_question

The rest is similar to Multiple Choice questions.

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This documentation is generated directly from the Canvas LMS source code, available on Github.