Download "Not Downloadable" Contents in Blackboard LMS, exposed pdfURL

This guide shows how you can download the materials with no "three-dot button" on the left that shows the material is not for download. I have tested this with pdfs but not with other materials, there is a different way with other type of materials so let me know. This guide uses the PDF viewer and using the exposed pdfURL in the params.

difference of downloadable and not downloadable content

Requirements:
Browsers with Inspector (Chrome, Edge etc.)
Internet

Steps:

1. Navigate to the Content Tab of your Course and open the Material / Content you want to be downloaded. (You should see some kind of pdf viewer if it is a pdf ofc).

2. Open inspector and click this Element Selector tool in the Inspector tab

3. Click at the right most of the topbar of the pdf viewer, it should show something like this (the whole top bar is selected).

4. In the inspector, scroll up until you see an iframe tag, and copy the src attribute and open it in a new tab. It should show the bigger viewer of the PDF.

5. Go to the URL and notice the pdfURL parameter. copy that until the end

6. go to a new tab then search for any url decoder, like https://www.urldecoder.org/, then decode

7. Open the decoded link in the new tab then the download should start shortly :)).

LMK if you have questions and problems. I discovered this bc i need to make a reviewer with ai for my exam haha. 

Getting PUT Request's Body in PHP

Scroll to the bottom for Workaround

 Why?x

     I am currently building a REST-like API for a CMS and one of the concepts is to use HTTP requests to access and send data. HTTP Request includes POST, GET, PUT and DELETE. 

    In php, when we try to access the POST Request's body, we just use the $_POST variable

    and the syntax is something like this:  

     your body(in json):

  {name: "xander", age:3}

  in your php after POST request:

  $_POST['name'] <-- this returns "xander" 

  $_POST['age'] <-- this returns 3

 

 It's good if this also works with PUT... right?

 But it doesn't.

    

    I don't have a very clear explanation why they didn't implemented it, but if it only works on GET and POST,  it's kinda weird... (maybe because i'm just bad)

 Workarounds

     Based on PHP: PUT method support you want to implement it like this:

     $putfp = fopen('php://input', 'r');

  Usage:


$putfp = fopen('php://input', 'r');
$putdata = '';
while($data = fread($putfp, 1024))
    $putdata .= $data;
fclose($putfp);

     But this is how i implemented it, using:

    $rawBody = file_get_contents("php://input"); 
    $body = json_decode($rawData, true);

    $body now is an associative array

  You can now use it like

    $body['name']

    $body['age'] 

 

Summary

    There's no to summarize, hmmm... we can still use PUT request in php but we can't access the body like POST and GET. 

      Learn More:

        https://www.php.net/manual/en/features.file-upload.put-method.php

        https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7231#section-4

        https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27941207/http-protocols-put-and-delete-and-their-usage-in-php/27944729#27944729

         

   

Parachute Panic: Water

 attempt to replicate parachute panic, old game.

Made a prototype original chacter!

i also added animations, this is just a prototype pixel art char, im kinda proud of it!