Conditional Requirements#

Conditional Requirements allow a degree or group to modify its requirements based on conditions that apply to a student. This can be useful when different students need to follow different requirements based on factors such as the current term.

Note: Conditional Requirements are available only to institutions that have the Conditional Requirements module enabled.

Where to Find Conditional Requirements#

Conditional Requirements are configured from the Edit Degree form.

To access them:

1. Find the degree or group you want to configure, and edit it.
2. Locate the appropriate Conditional Requirements field.

Conditional Requirements are entered using a simple syntax that specifies a condition and the action that should be taken when the condition is met.

Basic Syntax#

A conditional requirement follows this general format:

IF condition THEN action( requirement )

For example:

IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN add_course("ENGL 101")

This can be read as:

If the student’s term is Fall 2017 or later, add ENGL 101 as a requirement.

The syntax consists of four main parts:

The IF and THEN keywords are not case-sensitive, and there must be spaces between each keyword.

Conditions#

A condition determines when a conditional requirement should be applied.

term_is_gte()#

The term_is_gte() condition tests whether the student’s term is greater than or equal to a specified term.

For example:

term_is_gte(2017F)

This condition is true for students when the current term is Fall 2017 or later.

A complete IF/THEN action might look like:

IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN add_course("ENGL 101")

In this example, ENGL 101 is added to the requirements for students when the current term is Fall 2017 or later.

Actions#

An action specifies what FlightPath should do when the condition is met.

add_course()#

The add_course() action adds a course or requirement to the degree.

For example:

IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN add_course("ENGL 101")

When the condition is true, ENGL 101 is added as a requirement.

The requirement passed to add_course() can use the appropriate FlightPath requirement syntax. Examples:

• add_course("ENGL 101")
• add_course("MATH 101 (C)")
• add_course("MATH 101 [4]")

rem_course()#

The rem_course() action removes a course or requirement.

For example:

IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN rem_course("ENGL 101")

When the condition is true, ENGL 101 is removed from the requirements.

rem_course_if_not_prev_completed()#

The rem_course_if_not_prev_completed() action removes a course or requirement only if the student has not previously completed it.

For example:

IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN rem_course_if_not_prev_completed("ENGL 101")

This can be useful when a requirement is no longer applicable to newer students while preserving the requirement for students who have already completed the course.

Requirement Strings#

The requirement supplied to an action can contain the normal FlightPath requirement syntax.

For example:

IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN add_course("ENGL 101")

A conditional requirement can therefore do more than simply add or remove an individual course. The requirement string can represent the appropriate degree or group requirement.

When creating a conditional requirement, make sure the requirement string is valid for the location in which the conditional rule is being used.

Comments#

Comments can be included in Conditional Requirements by beginning a line with #.

For example:

# Add the new English requirement for students beginning in Fall 2017
IF term_is_gte(2017F) THEN add_course("ENGL 101")

Comments are ignored when the conditional requirements are processed. They can be useful for documenting why a particular rule exists, especially when maintaining degrees with multiple historical curriculum changes.