grm

GitRoom Manager: A command line GitHub classroom manager

Basic main course directory structure

A basic main course directory structure might look like this:

MainRepo
|__ Lessons
|   |__ lesson_1.md
|   |__ lesson_2.md 
|__ Assignments
    |__ assignment_1
    |   |__ assignment_1.md
    |__ assignment_2
    	  |__ assignment_2.md

Student directories will mimic this main course repo exactly:

StudentClassDirectory
|__ Student_1
|	 |__ Lessons
|	 |   |__ lesson_1.md
|	 |   |__ lesson_2.md 
|	 |__ Assignments
|    	  |__ assignment_1
|    	  |   |__ assignment_1.md
|    	  |__ assignment_2
|    	  	   |__ assignment_2.md
|__ Student_2
|	 |__ Lessons
|	 |   |__ lesson_1.md
|	 |   |__ lesson_2.md 
|	 |__ Assignments
|    	  |__ assignment_1
|    	  |   |__ assignment_1.md
|    	  |__ assignment_2
|    	  	   |__ assignment_2.md
|__ Student_3
	 |__ Lessons
	 |   |__ lesson_1.md
	 |   |__ lesson_2.md 
	 |__ Assignments
    	  |__ assignment_1
    	  |   |__ assignment_1.md
    	  |__ assignment_2
    	  	   |__ assignment_2.md

Files that are not synced with main

Hidden or dot (.) files

Hidden files and directories, those that start with a dot (.), are not copied to the student repositories. This prevents clutter as well as keeps the main course repo .git directory (if it has one) from overwritting the student .git directories.

Files and subdirectories starting with an underscore

Subdirectories beginning with an underscore are not copied. This is allows the instructor to have hidden working directories. These can be used for grading, instructor working files (lessons/assignments not ready to share), and even hosting the local student repos.

Updated directory structure

Here’s an updated example of a GitHub course directory. All files are stored in a single main course directory. _gitadmin, _working, and _student_repositories will not be copied into the local student repos.

MainRepo
|__ .git
|__ .gitignore
|__ Lessons
|   |__ lesson_1.md
|   |__ lesson_2.md 
|__ Assignments
|   |__ assignment_1
|   |   |__ assignment_1.md
|   |__ assignment_2
|    	  |__ assignment_2.md
|__ _gitadmin
|   |__ GitHub_token.txt
|   |__ CourseRoster.csv
|   |__ <CourseName>_grm.json
|__ _working
|   |__ assignment_3.md
|__ _student_repositories
	|__ Student_1
	|	 |__ Lessons
	|	 |   |__ lesson_1.md
	|	 |   |__ lesson_2.md 
	|	 |__ Assignments
	|    	  |__ assignment_1
	|    	  |   |__ assignment_1.md
	|    	  |__ assignment_2
	|    	  	   |__ assignment_2.md
	|__ Student_2	
	|	 |__ Lessons
	|	 |   |__ lesson_1.md
	|	 |   |__ lesson_2.md 
	|	 |__ Assignments
	|    	  |__ assignment_1
	|    	  |   |__ assignment_1.md
	|    	  |__ assignment_2
	|    	  	   |__ assignment_2.md
	|__ Student_3
		 |__ Lessons
	 	 |   |__ lesson_1.md
	 	 |   |__ lesson_2.md 
	 	 |__ Assignments
    	 	  |__ assignment_1
    	  	  |   |__ assignment_1.md
    	  	  |__ assignment_2
    	  	  	   |__ assignment_2.md

In this example, the GitRoom Manager json file, course roster, and API token reside in the main course repo, but aren’t shared with students.

Very Important Note!

If you use underscore directories in your main course repo and host it on GitHub, for example, be sure to add /_* to your .gitignore file so that your and your students’ sensitive data aren’t pushed to the remote. This will also prevent the remote main course repo and .git directory from blowing up in size.

If you want to sync a single underscore subdirectory with your remote (the _working subdirectory, for example), just add !/_<important dir to sync> to your .gitignore file.

E.g.

# .gitignore

/_*
!/_working