Tutorial Gateway Features
Question files are created using an extended version of HTML.
Additional tags have been invented to markup the various parts of
questions in various ways. Of course, normal HTML is available for
every part of a question, so your questions, hints, responses, can
contain embedded graphics, hypertext links, etc.
The basic functionality provided by the gateway allows you,
the tutorial writer, to:
- Provide responses that depend in fairly complex ways on the on
the answer. Your responses may be for "correct" or "incorrect"
answers, or they may depend on the actual values of the responses. In
a multiple-choice question, for example, you may provide a different
response for each possible answer. Default responses are given for
correct and for incorrect answers if you choose not to provide any.
- Provide incremental hints. A question may have several hints
that are revealed one at a time on request from the user.
- Provide the following types of questions:
- Multiple-choice. The possible
answers are presented as normal HTML links, and so any Web browser
will properly display these.
- True-False. The possible answers are
presented as normal hypertext links.
- Single numeric answer (requires forms
support from the browser). Normally, answers are judged correct if
they are "close"; you can supply an optional relative or fixed
tolerance, or a fixed tolerance of 0 to mean that the answer has
to be exactly equal.
- Single algebraic expression answer
(requires forms support from the browser). There are some extensions
to the normal expression syntax, and also many limitations; see the
sections on expression syntax and
checking answers.
- Provide a consistent interface to questions of the same type,
without being overly concerned with some of the details (for example,
you don't have to worry about how to create and handle a form; the
gateway does that for you).
- Maintain all possible responses, hints, etc., in one
source file per question. The gateway filters out those portions that
aren't relevant in a particular situation.
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