eGrade Files Info

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eGrade files
Information about the formats and options for different configuration and definition files in eGrade.

bin/egrade

bin/egrade is a shell script to call java, running eGrade.

egrade file
    #! /bin/sh
    JAVA="/path/to/java"
    CLASSES="/path/to/default/java/classes/rt.jar"
    EGRADE="/path/to/home/dir/of/egrade"
    CP=$EGRADE/lib/egrade.jar:$EGRADE/lib/ia_math.jar:\
        $EGRADE/lib/swingall.jar:$CLASSES
    JOPTS="-noclassgc -mx64m"
    $JAVA $JOPTS -classpath $CP -Dsystem.home=$EGRADE egrade.Main
end egrade file
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config/httpd.conf

config/httpd.conf is the configuration file for the eGrade Web server. Variable/value pairs are tab separated.

httpd.conf file
    memoryPersist   5
    httpdPersist    2
    port    [port#]
    <suffixes>
            [mime types, e.g.]
	    .au     server.resources.Audio
    </suffixes>
    <aliases>
    </aliases>
    <dirs>
    </dirs>
end httpd.conf file
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config/system.conf

config/system.conf is the global configuration file for the eGrade server and the classes and testbanks being used by eGrade. As with other configuration files, variable/value pairs are tab separated.

system.conf file
    SuperUserPassword       [password]
    TimeZone        EST
    MailServer      [mail.server]
    DatabasePersist 10
    TestPersist     20
    SessionPersist  20
    MaxHttpds       20
    <classes>
	    "classname1"   classdir1
	    "classname2"   classdir2
    </classes>
    <tests>
	    "testbankname1"    testbankfile1
	    "testbankname2"    testbankfile2
    </tests>
endsystem.conf file

These are generally self-explanatory; DatabasePersist is the time a gradebook remains in memory to avoid having to reload it for a subsequent instructor, TestPersist is the time a testbank remains in memory to avoid reloading it for subsequent tests, SessionPersist is the time before a user is logged out of a session if they are idle, and MaxHttpds is the maximum number of Http processes that will be started by eGrade. The classes and tests sections define classes and testbanks available to the system. The file and directory names in these sections are given relative to the records and testbanks directories, respectively. Directory names are given without a trailing "/"

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records/[classname]/Class.sys

.../Class.sys is the definition file for a defined eGrade class. If a field is in the file is empty it may (or may not) be omitted. Indented variable/value pairs in the different sections of the file are indented by a tab, and all variable/value pairs are tab-separated.

Class.sys file
    <1>
            pass            6
            quPerPage       -1
            preAuthorize    false
            restrictions    ()
            allowedTime     0.5
            allow           "proctored "
            gradeReporting  0
            staticTopics    false
            testBank.0 "global:Math 116 Integral"
            mailto          addr
            testName        "Math 116 Integral Gateway"
            template        "0 3 1 "
            weighting       "1 1 1"
    </1>
    <tests>
            "name"          filename.qu
    </tests>
    <global>
	    isVisible       true
	    isLocked        false
	    password        [instrPword]
	    email           [instrEmail]
	    lastName        [instrLname]
	    MI              [instrMI]
	    firstName       [instrFname]
    </global>
end Class.sys file

The options between <N> and </N> define definitions for the Nth assignment. In this section, quPerPage gives the number of questions per page (the default is "-1"; this appears to give one question per page), preAuthorize indicates whether a proctor must sign in to allow a proctored test to be started, restrictions gives requirements that must be met before the assignment may be completed, allowedTime is the time in hours allowed for the assignment, allow is the allowed administration modes (proctored=proctored test (mode '1'), unproctored=homework/quiz (mode '2'), etc.), gradeReporting is '0' to show students their final grade and solutions/comments when they finish, '1' to only show final grade, (and '2' to show neither?), staticTopics indicates whether topics should be ordered non-randomly when the test is given, testbank.0 gives the testbank for the assignment, mailto the e-mail address to which pass/fail results should be sent (blank indicates no e-mail should be sent), testName gives the name of the assignment, template gives something or other (and may be omitted), and weighting specifies the weighting of each problem. If omitted, this is one point per problem. Additionally, header (with value "text string") may be used to specify a header to appear on each page, and exitText to specify text appearing on the results page.

The tests section specifies local testbanks defined for the class, and the global section global options for the class. The meaning of the options in these is fairly obvious.

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proctors/[proctorname]

proctors/[proctorname] give the information about proctors. The className field is omitted for global proctors. The email field may be blank. Variables and values are tab separated, and serve a purpose clearly indicated by their names.

proctor file
    className       "Name of Class"
    password        [password]
    email           [email@address]
    lastName        [lastname]
    MI              [middleinitial]
    firstName       [firstname]
end proctor file
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testbanks/[test].qu

testbanks/[test].qu is a file giving a list of all questions available for an assignment. c.f. the testbank section in the eGrade use tutorial page.

testbank.qu file
    qu.1.topic=Polynomials@
    qu.1.1.mode=Formula@
    qu.1.1.question=
    <IMG SRC="../html/tests/ma116_gateway/images/img00001.gif">
    @
    qu.1.1.answer=16@
    qu.1.2.mode=Formula@
    qu.1.2.question=
    <IMG SRC="../html/tests/ma116_gateway/images/img00002.gif">
    @
    qu.1.2.answer=(5/4)x^4 + 3x^2 - 5x@
end testbank.qu file

Another example is this testbank file, which includes examples of each of the different problem types (except imagemaps).

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Last Modified: Tue Oct 24 08:40:47 EDT 2000
Comments to glarose@umich.edu