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The question file is a text file. It
consists of 80 character lines. It can be produced by any text editor
or by a word processor such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. We find
that edit > select all followed by setting the font to Courier 13, then save
as text with line breaks produces a useable file. An example of a question file
is sample.que. It consists of a heading of
general text, which is repeated verbatim on each exam, followed by a set of
questions.
In
general the first two columns of each question must begin with the letters QQ
and these must be followed by a space. The lines following this are the
question. The beginning of the answers in signaled by a line beginning
with AA followed by a space in the first two columns.
Each question must have 5 answers. These are indicated by space(1)space
answer1 space(2)space answer2 (3) answer3 (4) etc. The space
refers to a simple space, but it is essential. The code looks for space
open_parentheses 1 close_parentheses to find the first answer and then for space
open_parentheses 2 close_parentheses to find the second answer and so on.
The default is for the first answer to be correct.
Thus a simple question and answer from sample.que
is
QQ An apple falls from a tree of
height 3 m, near sea level on Earth.
What is the magnitude of the apple's velocity at the instant it strikes
the ground?
AA (1) 7.7 m/s (2) 9.8 m/s (3) 5.4
m/s (4) 0.8 m/s (5) 6.0 m/s
The space following, AA tells the code that the first answer is correct.
The answers on the student exams will be random permutations of the order
above. The question itself will also be randomly permuted within the set
of questions.
The exam code is a primitive word processor capable of
making superscripts and subscripts from some signals in the text file.
These are described in Word_Proc.html.
Sometimes by design and
frequently by accident, the first answer is not the correct one. In this
case AA space number space gives the correct answer. That is
AA 2 (1) zero degrees Fahrenheit (2)
cold (3) boiling (4) not enough information
given (5) lukewarm
The code "sees" the 2 and
assumes that the second answer is correct.
The two could have been zero through seven. If it were zero, no answer would be
the correct answer, if it were six there would be no way to get a correct
answer (hence the question is thrown out), if it were seven all answers would
be correct.
Frequently a question depends
on the previous question. If the first two characters are
CQ followed by a space, rather than QQ followed
by a space, the question with the CQ will always follow the preceding question
with a QQ. The answers will be permuted as will the location of the QQ
question, but CQ will always follow the QQ. There can be more than one CQ for a
QQ
QQ ....
AA ...
CQ ....
AA ,,,
CQ ...
AA ...
The questions can occur in the form
RQ1 Question 1
AA Answers to question 1
CQ Follow up to question 1
AA Answers to follow up to question 1
RQ1 Question 1A
AA Answers to question 1A
CQ Follow up to question 1A
AA Answers to follow up to question 1A
In this case either question 1 and its follow up will appear in an individual exam or question 1A and its follow up will appear.
The 1 designates the group, there can be 20 groups of questions. If there are two RQ1's and three RQ2's, each exam will have a 50/50 chance of either RQ1 set and a chance in 3 of any one of the RQ2 set.
The questions do not need to be equally weighted. The menu provides an obvious place for changing the weights, and if this is done before the exams are printed, these weights are written in the questions. It is also possible to put the weights in the que file. The question below was produced
18. WEIGHT 3.70
At the instant a traffic light turns green, a car that has been
2
waiting at rest begins to accelerate at a constant rate of 2.5 m/s .
At this same instant a truck, traveling with a constant speed of 15 m/s,
passes the car. How far beyond the light does the car overtake the truck?