# OLX users: Does this bug affect your site?

**URL:** https://discuss.openedx.org/t/olx-users-does-this-bug-affect-your-site/15277
**Category:** Releases
**Tags:** redwood, olx, sumac, quince, xblock
**Created:** [March 17, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://discuss.openedx.org/t/olx-users-does-this-bug-affect-your-site/15277 "2025-03-17T13:36:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![kmccormick](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.openedx.org/kmccormick/32/8982_2.png) [@kmccormick](https://discuss.openedx.org/u/kmccormick)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://discuss.openedx.org/t/olx-users-does-this-bug-affect-your-site/15277/1 "2025-03-17T13:36:38Z")

</div>

We believe that there is a bug in the course import that affects Redwood, Sumac, and master. In short: it seems that for any custom XBlock, Studio _will_ import the block if it is represented inline within the same file as the `<vertical>`, but it will _not_ import the block if it is represnted in its own file `course/<BLOCK_TYPE>/<URL_NAME>.xml`. The expected behavior is that both syntaxes would work for all blocks, whether built-in or custom.

We will fix the bug on master (and for Teak), but we’d also like to figure out exactly when the bug was introduced and why, and backport fixes if possible. If you use course exports with custom XBlocks, it would be helpful to hear if your site experiences this issue. If you reply, let us know which release you are running. Thanks!

> <https://github.com/openedx/edx-platform/issues/36390>
>
> \## Original behavior
> 
> We believe that, in the past, all XBlocks would currently …import via either "inline" or "pointer" syntax. We believe that this worked regardless of whether they were built-in to edx-platform or installed from an external repo.
> 
> Furthermore, we believe that CMS would export using pointer syntax rather than inline syntx.
> 
> \### 1. Inline syntax (one file)
> \`\`\`xml
> 
> \<vertical url\_name="foo"\>
> \<problem url\_name="bar" display\_name="The Bar"\>Bar content goes here\</problem\>
> \<drag-and-drop-v2 url\_name="baz" display\_name="The Baz"\>Baz content goes here\</drag-and-drop-v2\>
> \</vertical\>
> \`\`\`
> 
> \### 2. Pointer syntax (three files)
> \`\`\`xml
> 
> \<vertical url\_name="foo"\>
> \<problem url\_name="bar" /\>
> \<drag-and-drop-v2 url\_name="baz" /\>
> \</vertical\>
> 
> 
> \<problem url\_name="bar" display\_name="The Bar"\>Bar content goes here\</problem\>
> 
> 
> \<drag-and-drop-v2 url\_name="baz" display\_name="The Baz"\>Baz content goes here\</drag-and-drop-v2\>
> \`\`\`
> 
> \## Current behavior
> 
> Pointer syntax still imports fine for blocks which are built-in to edx-platform and have XmlMixin. CMS still exports using pointer syntax for these blocks as well.
> 
> BUG: Pointer syntax will \_not\_ import for blocks which are external to edx-platform and do not have XmlMixin. CMS exports these using inline syntax.
> 
> \## Open questions
> 
> \* Why did this behavior change? Perhaps, we used to mix XmlMixin into every block, and at some point that accidentally changed?
> \* What is the latest release that pointer syntax worked on?
> \* Kyle tried drag-and-drop-v2 in Redwood with pointer syntax, and it did not work.
> \* Kyle hears that a major Open edX running Quince uses exports with pointer syntax. Need to investigate. If true, this would imply that the breakage happened between Quince and Redwood.  
> \* When we fix this, should we backport the fix to any of those old releases?
> 
> \## Related
> 
> Completing his issue will restore pointer syntax importing on master and in Teak:
> \* https://github.com/openedx/XBlock/issues/823