Unable to automate updating the override score

[DavidRobinson14]

I'm looking for a way to automate updating the override score.

We are calculating an attendance value on external data to Canvas, and then subtracting this value from the unposted current score and setting the result as the override score. We would be doing this daily.

I've looked at GraphQL, but this appears to be read only. I've looked at the Submission API call, but since the override score does not have an assignment ID, I cannot use this call. The only option I've found that does work is manually uploading csv files to the grade book. This is not ideal, since we would need to manually upload a file for each section/course.

Is there any other way to automate updating the override score?

[James · Accepted solution]

@DavidRobinson14 

I haven't tested this, but it sounds like you want the SetOverrideScore mutation with GraphQL. It requires the enrollment ID for the student. To see it in the /graphiql interface, click on the Add New Mutation button.

As you said, the Submissions API is going to be for individual submissions, not the override, which is for the entire course.

[DavidRobinson14]

@James 

Excellent. I was unaware of mutations; this is doing what I want. I just wish I didn't need to make a call per student/section, but at least I can automate the process now. Thanks!

[James]

@DavidRobinson14 

Is there an alternative way to do change the grade other than by using the grade override?

I don't know your specifics, but if you could tie it to an assignment, then you could update the entire class in one API call through the submissions. In some cases, the change is too drastic for one assignment to handle and that won't work. In other cases, you might be able to make the math work out so that you can.

The grade override was implemented when Canvas was pushing GraphQL and they didn't implement it through the REST API. Since a person can only override the grade of one student at a time through the web interface, they didn't implement a bulk change feature.

[DavidRobinson14]

@James 

We don't believe so, since we are trying to take exactly the value of the attendance grade off the top of the current final grade.

That was how we initially attempted to solve the problem, using the 'update_grades' Submission endpoint. We created an 'Attendance adjustment' assignment group with the associated assignment and set the group weight appropriately.

However, we ran into the issue of how assignment group weights are adjusted when an assignment group has no grades entered. Since it removes the assignment groups without grades in them from the final grade calculation, the weight of the assignment groups that do have grades in them get modified. We experimented with creating place holder assignments in every assignment group, so the weights remained unchanged throughout the course. But once real grades were populated in an assignment group, you now had this 'dummy' grade being averaged in.

I think the solution you presented is as close as will get until other features are added. Thanks again!