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PRACTICAL-ly Software Presents
==============================
ADVANCED CLASS MANAGER
==============================
Version 2.0 - For Windows
A Tool for Preparing for, and Testing on, the
ADVANCED CLASS
FCC EXAMINATION
Copyright ■ 1993
by William R. Wharton, Jr.
All Rights Reserved
FOR IBM/COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS
PRACTICAL-ly Software
20553 Lowfield Drive
Germantown, MD 20874
Technical Support: (301) 972-3954 6-10 p.m. EST
FAX: (301) 916-9298
BBS: (301) 916-9298 24 hours
300/1200/2400/9600/19200 bps
FEATURES:
- Simple, intuitive system for preparing for the Extra Class FCC
License
- Perfect tool for Volunteer Examiners for creating tests
- Manages entire Extra Class question pool
- Begin reviewing at any question
- Review questions sequentially or randomly
- Shuffle answers for each question if desired
- Take a test on Element 4B from randomly chosen questions (within
the guidelines of the FCC testing criteria) either onscreen or
print out the test
- Full set of options for customizing tests, including a Test
Design Screen
- Print complete Element 4B tests, along with answer sheets and
score key
- Save tests to disk for later use
- Study assist screen tells you what areas you need to study after
taking a test
- Pop-up on-screen calculator
- Automatically "remove" a question from the "question card deck"
when answered correctly, if desired
- Manually remove any question from the "deck" at any time
- Reinsert into the "deck" any previously removed question
- Start review all over by putting all "cards" back into the deck
- Show answers always or only after an attempt at the answer has
been made
- Automatically saves option settings, deck, and last question
number to disk to "pick up where you left off"
- Print any part of the question pool
- On-screen cross-reference to the book, Extra Class Radio Amateur
FCC Test Manual, by Martin Schwartz, published by AMECO
Publishing Corp.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. WHAT IS EXTRA CLASS MANAGER? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
3. GETTING STARTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.1 Hardware Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2. Installing Extra CLASS MANAGER To Your Hard Drive . . 2
3.3. Setting up the Windows Application: . . . . . . . . . 2
3.4. About Controlling EXTRA CLASS MANAGER . . . . . . . . 3
3.4.1. Keyboard Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.4.2. Mouse Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. THE TITLE SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. THE MAIN MENU SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.1. Review Questions and Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.2. Testing Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3. Default Option Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.4. Print from Question Pool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5. Quit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6. TESTING MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.1. Loading a test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.1.1. Generate Element 4B Test . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.1.2. Test Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.1.2.1. Test Editor Operation. . . . . . . . . . 7
6.1.3. Load Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.2. Test Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.2.1. Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.2.2. Print. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.2.3. Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. DEFAULT OPTION MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7.1. Pull Cards From Deck When Answered Correctly. . . . . 10
7.2. Display Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.3. Relationship Between Modifying the Deck and
Displaying Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.4. Randomize Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7.5. Randomize Test Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.6. Put One Question Back In Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.7. Remove A Question From Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.8. Put All Questions Back In Deck. . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.9. Done. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8. PRINT FROM QUESTION POOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
9. QUESTION REVIEW SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9.1. Displayed Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9.1.1. Question Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9.1.2. Card Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.1.3. Cards in Deck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.1.4. Pull Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.1.5. Question Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.1.6. Answer Blocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.1.7. Correct Answer Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.2. Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
9.2.1. Answer Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
9.2.2. Next and Back Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
9.2.2.1. Next Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
9.2.2.2. Back Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
9.2.2.3. More on the Next/Back Buttons. . . . . . 17
9.2.3. Random/Sequence Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9.2.4. Calculator Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9.2.5. Reference Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9.2.6. Options Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
9.2.7. Main Menu Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10. EXAMINATION SCREEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.1. Displayed Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
10.1.1. Question Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
10.1.2. Question Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
10.1.3. Score So Far. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
10.1.4. Question Block. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
10.1.5. Answer Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
10.1.6. Correct Answer Block. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
10.2. Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
10.2.1. Answer Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
10.2.2. Next Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
10.2.3. Back Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
10.2.4. Calculator Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
10.2.5. Main Menu Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
10.3. TEST RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
11. FILES ON EXTRA CLASS MANAGER DISTRIBUTION DISKS . . . . . 23
12. FILES THAT EXTRA CLASS MANAGER CREATES. . . . . . . . . . 24
13. WHAT DO YOU GET BY REGISTERING? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
14. HOW TO REGISTER!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
15. TROUBLESHOOTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
16. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
(Version 2.0 for Windows)
A Tool for Preparing for the Extra Class Examination
1. WHAT IS EXTRA CLASS MANAGER?
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is TWO things. 1) It's the most versatile tool
ever written to assist the learning process for anyone preparing
for the Extra Class FCC Examination. And 2), it also provides to
the Volunteer Examiner a completely configurable way to generate
tests to administer to examinees for the Extra Class FCC license.
This program provides a user-friendly Windows environment to manage
the question pool from which tests on Element 4B are taken. Extra
CLASS MANAGER also provides page reference to the book, Amateur
Radio Service Advanced FCC License Study Manual, by Gordon West,
for detailed question explanations.
IMPORTANT!!
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is distributed in shareware form. This means
that you are able to look at the program and see how it functions,
but the FULL FUNCTIONALITY OF THE PROGRAM WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO
YOU UNTIL YOU REGISTER YOUR COPY. Your unregistered copy will allow
you to browse around through the program and see for yourself
exactly what the program can do before you register it. If you
decide that you like EXTRA CLASS MANAGER (and you will!), register
by following the directions in Section 14, and PRACTICAL-ly
Software will provide you with a registration number that will
completely unlock your copy of the program.
2. INTRODUCTION
The question pool which is effective from 1992 through 1994,
consists of 440 questions, and EXTRA CLASS MANAGER manages these
questions as if they were 440 cards, each containing one question.
A deck of question cards really describes how EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
handles the questions, and that terminology will be used frequently
in this manual.
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER lets you go through the deck of question cards
in several ways. When you look at a question, you have the option
of seeing the answer when the question is displayed, or seeing the
answer after you have attempted to answer the question. When you
determine that you know a question sufficiently that you need not
see it again, you can remove that question card from the deck,
either automatically when you correctly answer the question, or
manually at any time. Thus, as you become more and more comfortable
with the questions, the size of the question deck decreases,
letting you concentrate only on the questions with which you still
are not comfortable. When you have worked your way completely
through the question deck in this way, you will have a complete
mastery of the Extra Class question pool.
Page 1
At any time, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER allows you to take a test on
Element 4B, just as you will see when you actually test for your
Extra Class License. As you progress through the test, your score
is constantly shown as you answer each question. When you
consistently make high scores on EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, you can be
assured of a high score on your actual Extra Class License
examination!
3. GETTING STARTED
3.1 Hardware Requirements
- Hard drive with about 1.2 megabytes of free disk space available
- DOS 3.3 or higher
- Microsoft Windows 3.0 or 3.1
- EGA or VGA display monitor (color desirable, but not required)
3.2. Installing Extra CLASS MANAGER To Your Hard Drive
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is a Windows application program that is
compatible with Windows 3.0 and 3.1. The installation process is
done at the DOS prompt. The installation steps for each are listed
below.
1. Make a subdirectory on your hard disk where you want to put the
program. (For example, at C:\ type MD XTRAMGR2 to create a
subdirectory called XTRAMGR2 in your root directory.)
2. Change to the directory which you just created by typing CD
XTRAMGR2 (or whatever name you chose to use).
3. Copy all the EXTRA CLASS MANAGER files into the new
subdirectory on your hard disk.
4. Now run Windows.
3.3. Setting up the Windows Application:
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is now installed on your hard disk, and now
you need to set up the program in Windows. This section explains
how to do that.
1. From the Windows Program Manager, select NEW from the FILE
menu.
2. Select PROGRAM ITEM.
3. On the Description line, type the name you want to give the
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER program on your Windows Desktop (e.g.
Page 2
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER).
4. If you are running Windows 3.0, on the Command line, type
C:\XTRAMGR2\XTRAMGR2.EXE. If you have Windows 3.1, you only
need to type XTRAMGR2.
5. If you have Windows 3.1, for Working Directory, type
drive:\XTRAMGR2, where drive is the drive on which you
installed the program.
6. Now click on OK and your installation is complete. The EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER icon will show up on your windows desktop and is
ready for you to use!
NOTE ABOUT PRINTING: All of the functions in EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER that involve printing do so through your computer's
Windows Printer Setup. All print functions do so in a Courier
10 cpi font which is a standard font. If you have any problems
printing, make sure your printer is correctly configured in
Windows.
3.4. About Controlling EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is designed to be used primarily with a mouse,
but to a large extent, it can be controlled by the keyboard, too.
However, some screens in the program need more than just a
keyboard entry, and a mouse is required.
3.4.1. Keyboard Control
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is controlled by using the "control buttons"
on each screen, that is, graphic buttons which are shown on the
screen. In this documentation, these buttons will be shown as
[BUTTON]. Most of the buttons have a letter underlined in the
caption on the button. This indicates the letter on the keyboard
which will activate the button. To use the keyboard "HOT" keys,
press the ALT button at the same time as the underlined letter.
One of the buttons on the screen will usually be highlighted by
a shadow around part of it. If you press ENTER, the highlighted
button will be "pressed". If you want to highlight a different
control button, TAB will switch to the next control. SHIFT TAB
will switch to the previous control button.
Not all control buttons have an underlined character. These
buttons can be "pressed" only by clicking the left mouse button
when the mouse pointer is on the button or by tabbing to them and
then pressing ENTER.
3.4.2. Mouse Control
Using a mouse is the easiest way to use EXTRA CLASS MANAGER. All
you have to do is point to the control button that you want to
press and click. Most buttons that are EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
specific only require one mouse click, but buttons that are
Page 3
more Windows specific, such as when loading and saving files
require a double-click. As a rule, just assume one click is
required; if that doesn't work, use two.
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is very intuitive; you can run the program
successfully with what you know now. However, to take full
advantage of the many features that EXTRA CLASS MANAGER has built
in, come back and finish reading about the details of the program.
You'll find that EXTRA CLASS MANAGER probably does what you want it
to do, and if it does, register your copy to fully enable all the
features of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER.
4. THE TITLE SCREEN
The Title Screen is the first thing that you will see in EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER. When you see this screen, the program is loading
all the data that it needs to begin. This data includes most of
the option settings which EXTRA CLASS MANAGER found when it last
terminated. (This allows you to pick up where you left off when
you come back to EXTRA CLASS MANAGER after leaving the program.
For more information on this, refer to the section on the Main
Menu, section 5.) Loading the data is almost instantaneous, but
the actual speed depends on your computer.
The Registration Block will initially say that it is registered to
UNREGISTERED and a button underneath is labeled [Enter Registration
Number]. This indicates that your copy of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is
still an unregistered shareware version. When you register your
copy, PRACTICAL-ly Software will provide you with a registration
number. To register your shareware copy, press the [Enter
Registration Number] button. You will then have to enter your name
EXACTLY as you were provided with your registration number, along
with the registration number itself. Once you have the data
entered correctly, press the [Enter] button. If you have done
everything correctly, your name will now show in the Registered To:
box. If there's a problem, enter the data again, making sure that
you enter upper case and lower case and all spaces and punctuation
EXACTLY as shown with your registration. If you still have
trouble, call the PRACTICAL-ly Software Technical Support number.
Once you are ready to either look at EXTRA CLASS MANAGER in
unregistered mode, or if you're ready to fully use your registered
copy, press or click [Start] to begin the program.
5. THE MAIN MENU SCREEN
The Main Menu lets you select which activity you want to do,
whether it's reviewing the questions, accessing the test menu,
changing the default options, or printing from the question pool.
The default options can either be changed now or while you are
reviewing questions. However, the option screen is not available
while you are taking a test. (More on that in the Taking a Test
section.) The menu items available to you on the Main Menu Screen
are now described in detail.
Page 4
5.1. Review Questions and Answers
When you select this option, a window and two buttons pop up onto
the screen to allow you to enter which question card you want to
start with. The cards are numbered from 1 to 440. If you are
running the program for the first time, the number will be 1. If
you are not running EXTRA CLASS MANAGER for the first time, the
highlighted number in the box is the number after the last
question you looked at when you last quit the program.
To start with a different question than the one shown in the
block, simply type the number of the question card and select
[Begin], or simply press ENTER.
If you decide that you don't want to review questions yet, select
[Cancel], and choose another option.
NOTE: If you are using an unregistered shareware copy of EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER, you will only be able to look at one question at
a time on the Question Review Screen. You will not be able to
go forward or backward while you are at the review screen.
However, you can look at each question in the question pool by
coming back to the main menu, which will automatically increment
the question number, and then go back to the review screen.
5.2. Testing Menu
This menu contains options available to you that you might want to
either take a test on the computer or to print a test. You can
even save tests to disk for later use! The details of the Testing
Menu are discussed in detail in section 6.
5.3. Default Option Menu
The default option screen will allow you to customize the way you
review the questions. This screen is also available to you at any
time when you are reviewing the questions. However it is not
available during testing. A detailed explanation of the Default
Option Menu is found in section 7.
5.4. Print from Question Pool
Select this menu item if you want to access any or all of the
question pool to print. Unfortunately, you are restricted from
actually printing from the unregistered version, but you can see
how easy this function is to use. The details of how to use the
Print from Question Pool option are discussed in detail in section
8.
5.5. Quit
Selecting Quit will take you out of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER and put
you back into Windows. This might take a few seconds, because
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER has some housekeeping to do. There are
Page 5
several files that are saved to disk so that when you restart the
program later, you can pick up where you left off. The files that
are saved are listed in section 12, Files That EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
Creates.
6. TESTING MENU
The testing menu is laid out to represent a logical sequence of
events. In other words, when you make a selection, the testing
menu screen will guide you to the next input that you need to make,
if that is the case. The first menu block involves either the
automatic generation or manual creation or the loading from disk of
a test. The center block indicates if there is a test in memory,
and if so, what the name of the test is (which also indicates how
the test was generated), along with the test element (4B). The
third block lets you select what you want to do with the test in
memory: practice it, print it, or save it to disk. Each of these
options will be explained in detail now.
6.1. Loading a test
This block of options lets you tell the program how you want to
load a test into memory.
6.1.1. Generate Element 4B Test
When you select an option to generate an Element 4B test from the
Main Menu, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER generates the test from the
appropriate set of questions. The program doesn't just randomly
pick the questions out of the entire pool, but randomly chooses
one question for each subelement. For instance, 8 questions must
come from the first 117 questions in the pool, that is 8 question
must come from subelement 4BA. EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will randomly
pick 8 of those 117 questions to ask.
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER selects the questions for your test: 40 for
Element 4B. Later, you will have the option for the questions to
be shuffled so they won't be in order, and you can also opt to
have the answers jumbled so you won't get used to D being the
answer to a particular question each time, for instance.
If you let the computer generate a test for you, the Test Name
block will indicate the name "NEW" and the test identification
will be displayed under the name: Element 4B. Now you're ready
to select Practice, Print, or Save. See section 6.2 for a
discussion of those options.
6.1.2. Test Editor
The test editor is a utility to allow you to either create a test
from scratch, or to modify an already existing test. This screen
allows you to have total control over the questions in a test.
The [Test Editor] button is placed in the test generator block on
the Testing Menu because it is not necessary to have created a
Page 6
test before you enter the test editor. The test editor can
create a test from scratch, or it can modify a test that the
computer has already generated. If you already have a test in
memory (a test's name is displayed in the Test Name block), then
the test editor will display the questions which make up the test
already in memory, and you can change the question selections if
you wish.
6.1.2.1. Test Editor Operation
If you have a test in memory, the test editor will initially
display the questions for the test in memory. If there is no
test in memory, no question selections will be highlighted; you
will need to select each question manually.
The screen consists of five columns (subelements), and in each
column are listed the question codes for each subelement. To
select a particular question in a subelement, just click on the
code number. If there are too many questions in a subelement
for them all to be displayed, a scroll bar to the right of the
block will let you see the other questions. The number of
questions that are drawn from each subelement are shown at the
bottom of each column, as well as how many are currently
selected. If a test is already in memory, the question codes
will be highlighted in each subelement. If you want to select
a different question, you must first deselect a question, then
select the new choice. If you try to highlight more questions
than is allowed for a particular subelement, the program will
remind you of the maximum number of questions you can select.
The buttons at the top of the screen will shift the columns to
the left or the right either by one column or by five columns.
The single arrows shift by one, the double arrows shift by five.
(Actually, since there are only 9 subelements, the maximum
column shift is only 4.)
Once you have set up the test to your satisfaction, press the
[Make Test] button at the bottom of the screen. (This function
is available to registered users.) The questions which are
currently selected in the test editor become the questions for
the test in memory. Now when you return to the Testing Menu,
the Status Block will show a Test Name of "MANUAL", since the
test was manually created.
NOTE!! No changes which you make in the Test Editor become
effective until the [Make Test] button is pressed.
If you press [Make Test] without the appropriate number of
questions selected for each subelement, the program will tell
you that the list of questions is incomplete. Complete the
selection process for all subelements, and then click [Make
Test].
The [Clear All Questions] button is self explanatory.
Page 7
6.1.3. Load Test
If any tests have been saved to disk, they can be reloaded into
memory by selecting the [Load Test from Disk] option. All tests
are saved with the filename extension ".tst". See section 6.2.3
for more details. The box on the upper-left of the window will
indicate the filename that you select to retrieve. If the test
you wish to retrieve is located in another directory or on a
different drive, then select the correct path using the
subdirectory and drive selection boxes. Once the filename has
been selected, either press ENTER or click [OK] to load the
test. When the test is loaded, the filename will be displayed
in the File Name box along with the test element designation
underneath.
It should be noted that when a test is saved, any randomization
of the question and answer order is not saved. If you want to
have the questions and/or answers randomized, you will have to
do that just prior to either practicing the test or printing the
test. The randomization procedure is reaccomplished each time
a test is practiced or printed.
Three sample test files should be in your default program
subdirectory for illustration purposes, TEST1.TST, TEST2.TST and
TEST3.TST, which can be loaded.
6.2. Test Actions
Once a test is loaded into memory, you can either practice taking
the test, print the test, or save the test to disk for later. If
you try to select one of these options before a test is loaded (no
test name visible), the program will remind you to load a test
first.
6.2.1. Practice
This is where you actually get to see how well you know the
material. When this button is selected, a pop-up screen will
show you how the program defaults are currently set as far as
randomizing test questions and test answers. You have the chance
at this screen to change the settings for the test that you are
about to practice. Changing these options here will NOT change
the DEFAULT SETTINGS as you have set them on the default option
screen (see section 7), but it does provide a temporary override
of the default options.
When the testing options are set, press [Continue] to practice
the test. You can also press [Cancel] to abort the procedure.
A detailed explanation of the actual practice test is in Section
10, the EXAMINATION SCREEN.
Page 8
6.2.2. Print
If you want the test to be more realistic, print out the test and
take it on paper. Also if you're a Volunteer Examiner, then you
want to be able to generate tests to administer. This function
will print out the test for you. The test which will be printed
out, of course, is the one in memory.. the test whose name is
currently showing in the Test Name window. You have complete
control over which questions are on the test, too, as discussed
in section 6.1.2.
Just as occurs when you select the option to practice a test, a
pop-up screen will show your default randomization options, and
you have the chance to change these options before printing.
Make sure that your printer is ready to print before going on.
When ready to print, select [Continue].
The first printed page is a cover sheet for the test, with spaces
for the examinee's name, the names of the Volunteer Examiners and
the date. The following pages will list the questions and
answers, presented as you selected with the randomization
options. The last page is the answer sheet for the test, along
with a scoring key.
Notice that at the top of each page, an ID number is printed in
the upper right-hand corner. This number is a randomly generated
ID for the purpose of keeping the test questions and answer
sheets together in a test. If you print out several tests, you
shouldn't run the risk of mixing up the answer sheets. The odds
of getting two different tests with the same ID number are low,
but not non-existent.
6.2.3. Save
If there's a test in memory that you want to save to take again
or to save for someone else to use later, for instance, select
the [Save Test] option. A pop-up window will provide you with a
save screen.
The upper-left box shows if you have selected a filename. Until
you select a filename, this block will say "*.tst". The
extension for all test files is ".tst". Furthermore, ".tst" is
the only extension that is allowed. If you enter a filename with
no extension, the program will add it for you. If you add the
".tst" extension, the program recognizes a correct extension. If
you append an extension other than ".tst" the program will change
the extension to ".tst". Underneath the filename block, all test
files in the current subdirectory will be displayed. If you want
to save the test with a filename that already exists, you can
simply click on the filename itself. A message box will ask you
to verify that you want to overwrite the existing file. If you
want to save the test under a new filename, simply type that
filename in the box. Once a filename is entered, the test can be
saved either by pressing ENTER or by clicking on the [OK] button.
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If you want to save the test in a different subdirectory or on a
different drive, you can change the path by selecting the desired
subdirectory and drive. The drive and subdirectory that the test
will be saved to will be highlighted in their respective boxes.
When a test is saved, no question or answer randomization data is
saved. However, when a test is reloaded, you can again have the
questions and answers randomized prior to practicing or printing.
The Save action will not be performed if your copy of the program
is unregistered. Once registered, this function will be
completely enabled.
7. DEFAULT OPTION MENU
The Default Option Menu is available from the Main Menu and from
the Question Review Screen. It is not available while practicing
a test, however. This menu displays, and allows you to change, the
default main options for the program. It also provides three
functions for managing the "cards" in your "deck".
NOTE: This screen lets you set the DEFAULT options for the
program. But each time you either practice a test or print a
test, a window will pop up and offer you the chance to deviate
from the defaults temporarily. Deviating from the defaults when
practicing or printing a test will not change the DEFAULTS,
though.
The Option Screen is controlled by pressing/clicking the control
and radio buttons with the mouse or the hot keys or by tabbing to
the control and then pressing ENTER. If you don't have a mouse,
you will need to use the TAB key to move around the Option Screen.
The radio buttons cannot be tabbed to; however, you can TAB to the
control button beside each radio button.
The radio buttons will indicate which option in each group is
selected. Only one option can be selected at a time. When one is
selected, the other option is deselected.
The options that you select will govern the operation of EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER while you're reviewing questions, but may be
temporarily overridden if you take one of the tests.
These options will also be saved to a file on your disk called
"DEFAULTS.DAT" when you exit the program. EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will
load this file whenever the program is run, allowing you to pick up
where you left off; you will find your options the same as when you
left the program.
7.1. Pull Cards From Deck When Answered Correctly
If you select [Yes], when you answer a question correctly, that
card will be removed from the deck, and you will not be asked that
question again. If you answer a question incorrectly, that card
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will stay in the deck so that you can go over it again. This
allows you to concentrate on the questions that you still haven't
learned. As you answer questions correctly, the deck will begin
to thin out. This is a good strategy to prevent wasting time on
reviewing questions that you have already learned.
NOTE: You can always put a question back into the deck. When
you pull a card from the deck, it isn't lost, it's just flagged
that you've answered it correctly and have chosen not to leave
it in the deck for now. The function to reinsert a card into
the deck is on the Option Screen, and is explained in section
7.6.
If you select [No], answering a question correctly will not pull
the card from the deck. You can review the questions by either
having the answers displayed all the time or by attempting to
correctly answer the questions before the answer is shown, but the
question card deck will not be altered in any way while [No] is
selected.
This option block is tied to the DISPLAY ANSWERS option block,
described next. The relationship between the two option blocks is
described in section 7.3.
7.2. Display Answers
The answer to a question can be shown at the time that the
question is first displayed, or it can be hidden until you attempt
to answer the question.
If you select [Always], the answer to a question will be visible
to you when the question first pops onto the screen. This is good
when you are first going through the questions to learn them.
Selecting [After Attempt] will hide the answer to each question
until after you have pressed one of the answer buttons.
7.3. Relationship Between Modifying the Deck and Displaying
Answers
If you have selected the option to pull a question from the deck
when you answer it correctly, it makes sense that the answer
shouldn't be shown until after you try to answer.
So, if you select the option to Display Answers [Always], the
option to modify the deck will automatically change over to [No].
Likewise, if you select the option to modify the deck [Yes], the
option to display answers will change to [After Attempt].
7.4. Randomize Answers
When you practice taking a test or when you print a test, you have
the option of randomizing the answers. Before you practice or
print a test you are also given an opportunity to temporarily
override this default.
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If you select [No] for this option, the answers that you see on
the review screen will always be in the same A, B, C, D order. By
selecting [Yes], as each question comes up on the screen (except
questions with graphics), the answers will randomly be shuffled so
that you won't necessarily get used to seeing the answer in the
same place every time. This is how the FCC examination will be;
they don't have to always list the answers in the same order.
Don't worry, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER still knows which answer is the
correct one, no matter how they have been rearranged.
7.5. Randomize Test Questions
This option is very similar to the Randomize Answers option, and
it adds another level of reality to the testing environment.
Don't expect to get the questions in the same order as they occur
by subelement when you take your FCC exam. By selecting the
option to randomize the test questions, you set the default
condition to randomize the questions when you either practice a
test or print a test. As was discussed in the last section, you
are given the opportunity before practicing or printing a test to
temporarily override the defaults without changing the defaults.
7.6. Put One Question Back In Deck
If a question has been pulled from the deck and you decide that
you want to put it back into the deck until you learn it better,
it's very easy to do. Press the [Put One Question Back In Deck]
button.
Once you press this command button, a smaller window will pop up
and allow you to enter the question (card) number that you want to
put back into the deck. The number that EXTRA CLASS MANAGER puts
into the box automatically is the number of the next question with
respect to the last question you looked at. Thus, if you were on
question 50 and you selected this option, the number in the box
would be 51. If this isn't the number you want to replace in the
deck, simply type the number of the question that you do want.
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER looks at the card that you have selected. If
that card is already in the deck, then no action will take place.
You will simply be returned to the option screen. If the card
really has been pulled from the deck, it will be replaced, and
when you return to the question screen, you will find that the
card displayed is the one that you just put back into the deck.
If you have entered the option screen directly from the main menu
after starting EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, the number shown in the window
when you select this option will be the number following the last
question that you looked at when you last terminated the program.
(EXTRA CLASS MANAGER saves the last question to a data file when
it terminates.)
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7.7. Remove A Question From Deck
When you are reviewing questions, you can select the option to
have the program automatically remove cards from the deck when you
answer a question correctly (discussed previously). Aside from
this automatic function, however, any time you decide that you
would like to pull a particular question from the deck, EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER makes this easy to do by pressing the [Remove a
Question From Deck] button.
When this option is selected, a smaller window pops up so that you
can enter the question number that you would like to pull from the
deck. By default, the number that appears in the window is the
number of the question you last looked at. This even includes if
you have just started the program. (The last question you looked
at was saved to disk when you exited the program and automatically
loaded by EXTRA CLASS MANAGER when you restarted the program.) If
you are starting EXTRA CLASS MANAGER for the first time, and you
have never looked at any questions, the number seen in the box
will be 1.
If you have entered the Option Menu from the Question Review
Screen, when you return to the Question Review Screen, the
question which will be displayed will be the one following the
question you just pulled.
If you tell EXTRA CLASS MANAGER to pull a question from the deck
which has already been pulled, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will simply
return you to the Option Screen without taking any action.
7.8. Put All Questions Back In Deck
If you decide to start all over again, you can use the [Put All
Questions Back In Deck] button. When you select this function, a
WARNING window will ask you if you're REAL sure you want to do
this. If you have pulled, for instance, 400 questions from the
deck, whether it was done automatically by answering them
correctly, or by pulling them manually, or both, you have narrowed
the deck down to only 40 questions left to study. If you select
[Yes] from the warning screen, all 400 of those pulled cards will
go back into the deck, and you will be starting from scratch!
7.9. Done
When you have selected the options you want to use, select [Done].
If you entered the Option Screen from the Main Menu, you will be
returned to the Main Menu. If you entered the Option Screen from
the Question Review Screen, then that is the screen you will be
returned to.
8. PRINT FROM QUESTION POOL
The situation may arise where you just want to print out questions
from the question pool. This option lets you print out questions,
with or without the answers. The screen is simple and easy to use.
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First of all, the question pool identifies questions by their
codes, such as 4BA-3A.1. However, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER manages the
questions by assigning them numbers, 1 through 440. To make it
easy to relate the question codes with the EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
numbers, you can print out a cross reference sheet. Click on the
[Print Cross-Reference Sheets] on the Menu Bar.
Once you decide which questions you want to print out, fill in the
appropriate areas with the EXTRA CLASS MANAGER numbers. You can
enter only 5 ranges of numbers to print out at a time, but it only
takes 1 range to specify question 1-440 and print out the entire
pool! If you only specify 1 number to print and you don't enter
anything in the second box, the second box will automatically be
set to the same question number as box 1. The same is true if you
only enter a number in the second box.
If you enter a number in the second entry box which is smaller than
the first entry box, the program will indicate an error and ask you
to correct the entries.
When you have selected the questions to print, you may opt to have
the answers printed, too. The answers will be printed right after
each question and it's 4 answers.
Now select [Print], and the questions will be printed out. If you
need to print more, you can press the [Clear Entries] button and
all numeric entries will be cleared.
NOTE: The unregistered shareware copy will not allow you to
print. Once you register your copy, this function and all others
will be totally enabled.
9. QUESTION REVIEW SCREEN
This is the screen where you will probably spend most of your time.
The Question Review Screen is very versatile in the way that you
can use it to learn the questions, especially coupled with the
Option Screen which was discussed in the last section.
The Question Review Screen can be controlled by using the "hot"
keys shown on the command buttons, by tabbing to the button and
pressing ENTER, or by using a mouse.
The features of this screen are discussed in detail in the
following sections.
9.1. Displayed Information
The information which is displayed at the top of the Question
Review Screen is discussed in the following sections.
9.1.1. Question Code
Every question is assigned a code by the FCC Question Pool
Committee. As each question is reviewed, the code assigned to
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each question is shown in this box.
RAMGR. Card Number
The "card deck" has 440 cards in it, and EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
numbers these cards 1 through 440. The card number for the
question displayed is shown in the box. The card number will
probably give you a better idea of where you are in the deck than
the Question Code will.
9.1.3. Cards in Deck
This number will be 440 when you run EXTRA CLASS MANAGER for the
first time. It indicates how many cards are left in the deck.
As you learn the questions, you can choose to pull cards from the
deck, so that you only have questions remaining that you still
need to work on. As cards are pulled from the deck, the number
will decrease from 440, showing you how many questions you still
have to work on. To find out how to pull cards from the deck,
either automatically or manually, refer to the Option Screen,
sections 7.1 and 7.7.
9.1.4. Pull Cards
One of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER's more attractive features is that if
you answer a question correctly, it will automatically remove
that question from the deck.. if you have that option selected,
of course. Section 7.1 describes how to turn this option on and
off. The Pull Cards window on the Question Review Screen
indicates whether or not the option to modify the deck when a
question has been answered correctly is selected or not.
You can also change the Pull Cards option from the Question
Review Screen by pressing [Options], accessing the Option Screen
(section 9.2.6).
9.1.5. Question Block
The first large block below the top information line is the
Question Block. It is here that the questions will always be
displayed.
9.1.6. Answer Blocks
Typically there are four answer blocks displayed below the
question block, and the answers shown in the blocks are labeled
A, B, C, and D. These blocks are for display of the possible
answers. To select an answer, you must use the Answer Buttons
described in section 9.2.1.
9.1.7. Correct Answer Block
Whether or not the Correct Answer Block is displayed when the
question is first displayed depends on how you have selected your
options (section 6.2.1).
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If you have selected the option to Display Answers [Always], the
Correct Answer Block will be visible at all times. The Answer
buttons will also be disabled in this case.
On the other hand, if you have opted to have the answers
displayed only after you attempt to answer the question, then the
Answer Block will not be visible when the question is first
displayed and the Answer buttons will be enabled. If you press
any one of the Answer Buttons, the Answer block will pop up and
show the correct answer, and a message of YES! or SORRY. will pop
up over the answer buttons to indicate if your selected answer
was the correct one or not.
9.2. Controls
9.2.1. Answer Buttons
The answer buttons are used to select an answer to the displayed
questions, however, they are not always enabled. You can tell if
the buttons are enabled by the color of the caption print on the
buttons.
If you have selected the option to display the correct answer all
the time (section 7.2), the answer buttons will be disabled. You
can see in this case that the "A", "B", "C", and "D" on the
buttons are not black, but are dimmed, and the correct answer
block is visible, showing the answer to the displayed question.
If you have selected the option to display answers only after you
attempt to answer the question (section 7.2), the answer buttons
will be enabled and the "A", "B", "C", and "D" on the buttons
will be black. Since you are going to try to answer the
question, the answer block will not be visible until after you
select one of the answer buttons.
9.2.2. Next and Back Buttons
9.2.2.1. Next Button
When you were at the Main Menu, you chose which question you
wanted to begin with in your review. The [Next] button lets you
move on from the displayed question to the next question even if
you don't want to try to answer the question displayed.
If you have pulled cards from the deck, then the card that EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER will retrieve next will be the next card in the
deck. For example, if you are currently looking at question 50
and you have already pulled questions 51 and 52, when you select
[Next], question 53 will be displayed.
The [Next] button can also function differently. As long as the
[Back] button is displayed beside the [Next] button, pressing
[Next] will move sequentially through the deck as just
described. However, if you don't want to review the questions
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in order, you can review them randomly (see section 9.2.3). In
random mode, the [Back] button will not be shown on the screen,
and the [Next] button will be the only control for moving to a
different question. In this case, pressing [Next] will have
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER pick a card randomly from those cards still
in the deck. You can see, by watching the Card Number Block at
the top of the screen, how you really are randomly jumping
around in the deck!
If you are reviewing the questions sequentially, and you reach
the last card in the deck, the [Next] button will be disabled.
You can tell this by the [Next] on the button changing from
black to gray. As soon as you go back to a different card, the
button will become enabled once again. If you are reviewing the
questions randomly, the [Next] key will disable when there is
only one card left in the deck.
9.2.2.2. Back Button
When you are reviewing questions sequentially, the [Back] button
will be visible beside the [Next] button. Pressing [Back] will
bring up the first question found in the deck which is before
the card that you're currently looking at. This means that if
cards just in front of the current card have been pulled, EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER will show you the first question (toward the front
of the deck) that it finds that hasn't been pulled.
If there are no cards in front of the one you're looking at, for
example, if you are looking at question 1, the [Back] button
will be disabled. As soon as you go to a card that is not at
the very front of the deck, the [Back] button will be enabled
again.
Like the [Next] button, you can use the [Back] button to flip
through the cards in reverse order without having to try to
answer the questions.
9.2.2.3. More on the Next/Back Buttons
Pressing the [Next] or [Back] button also causes EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER to do some housekeeping. Specifically, if you have
selected the option to Pull Cards when you correctly answer a
question (you can tell by looking at the Status Line at the top
of the screen), and you do correctly answer the question, the
card will be pulled from the deck when you press the [Next] or
[Back] button. So if you have answered a question correctly and
decide that you don't want it pulled from the deck yet, before
you press [Next] or [Back], you can press the [Option] button
(section 9.2.6) and change the Pull Cards From Deck When
Answered Correctly option to [No] (section 7.1). When you
return to the Question Review Screen, you can press [Next] or
[Back], and the card will not be pulled from the deck. (If you
want the Pull Card option turned back on, go back to the option
screen and change it back.)
Page 17
9.2.3. Random/Sequence Buttons
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER lets you decide how to study. If you want to
progress through the questions in sequential order, you can do
that. If you would like to go through them in random order, you
can do that, too.
Below the [Next] and [Back] buttons, you will see a button
labeled [Rnd]. Pressing this button will switch EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER from sequential mode to random mode and the [Back] button
will disappear. The [Back] button disappears because there is no
forward or backward anymore, just the random selection of cards
from the deck. If you want to go back to a previous question,
you will need to exit to the Main Menu, reselect Review Questions
and Answers and then select the question you want to look at.
There is another way. Switch from random mode to sequential mode
and then use [Next] or [Back] to get to the question that you
want to see. The only hangup here is that if the question is a
long way off in the deck from where you are, it might take
awhile!
The option to pull cards on correct answers still functions in
random mode.
If you are in random mode and you want to get back to sequential
mode, just press the [Seq] button, and the [Back] button will
come back onto the screen, indicating that you're back in
sequential mode.
9.2.4. Calculator Button
Tab to, click on, or press [Calc], and a calculator will pop up
onto the lower right of the screen to help you with those
questions where you need to use one, or even if you just need to
balance your checkbook while you're studying questions!
The calculator, like the rest of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, can be
controlled by the mouse or the keyboard. If you use the keypad
on your computer, make sure that your NUMLOCK is on. The ENTER
key on your keypad can be used for " = " as well as by using the
" = " itself.
When you are finished with the calculator, use the [Exit] button
to close the calculator and go back to the Question Review
Screen.
9.2.5. Reference Button
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is a tool to help you prepare for the Extra
Class FCC License. However, it currently provides no
explanations as to why a particular answer is right and the rest
are wrong. Martin Schwartz has done an excellent job of that in
his book Extra Class Radio Amateur FCC Test Manual, published by
AMECO Publishing Corp.
Page 18
As you use EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, if you aren't sure why a
particular answer is the right one, press the [Ref]erence button,
and the button itself will show you what page to look on in the
book to find the explanation for that question.
The [Ref] button will change back to say [Ref] either by pressing
the button while the number is showing, or simply by pressing
another button.
9.2.6. Options Button
If you want to change your options while you are reviewing
questions, select [Option]. You will be taken to the main Option
Screen, where you can make changes as described in section 7.
When you're done on the Option Screen, press [Done] and you will
be returned to the Question Review Screen, with the appropriate
functions modified in accordance with the options you selected.
9.2.7. Main Menu Button
When you are ready to exit the Question Review Screen, press
[Main Menu]. EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will remember which question
you are looking at when you leave the Question Review Screen and
even save it to disk when you completely exit EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER. When you restart EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, the question
number that will pop into the screen will be the first question
in the deck following the one that you left off with. Even if
you decide to take a test, when you want to come back to the
Question Review Screen, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will remember your
place!
10. EXAMINATION SCREEN
The Examination Screen is very similar to the Question Review
Screen, but one of the main differences is that EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
will not allow access to the Option Screen during a test. The
Option button which you find on the Question Review Screen is not
even on the Examination Screen. The reason is that EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER sets the options for a genuine test environment. (EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER will let you review the questions any way you want
to, but when it comes to trying out a test, you have to follow the
rules!)
The options that are set when you take a test are as follows:
1. The option to pull cards from the deck during a test is
disabled.
2. The answers will only be shown to you after you try to
correctly answer the questions.
You do have the option just before taking a practice test to select
whether or not the questions and the answers are randomized. For
more information, refer to section 6.2.1.
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The obvious changes which were made to the Question Review Screen
to create the Examination Screen are:
1. The "card" number is no longer displayed.
2. The Pull Card status window is no longer shown.
3. The Random/Sequence button is removed.
4. The Option button has been removed.
5. The REF button has been removed.
Other changes will be discussed in detail when the Examination
Screen is explained in the following sections.
NOTE: If you are using an unregistered shareware version of
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, you will only be able to advance through the
first three questions on practice exams. This is to let you see
how the program works and decide if it will help you practice for
the Extra Class Examination. Because you aren't allowed to
answer all the questions on a practice test, you cannot see the
Test Results Screen that is discussed in section 10.3. As soon
as you register your copy of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, your
registration number will completely unlock all the features in
the program for you.
10.1. Displayed Information
10.1.1. Question Code
The Question Code block is the same as the Question Review
Screen; it shows the code for the question that is displayed on
the screen.
10.1.2. Question Number
The Element 4B examination has 40 questions. The Question Number
box shows you the question number as it would appear on a test.
It has no reference to the "card number" in the deck, or to the
Question Code. The first question shown will be question 1, and
the last one will be 40.
10.1.3. Score So Far
This is where you find out how you're doing as you take the test.
It calculates your score as you go, based on the number of
questions that you have correctly answered so far. For instance,
if you correctly answer 4 of the first 5 questions correctly,
your Score So Far would be 80(%). If you go on to answer all of
the remaining questions correctly, that means that you answered
39 out of 40 correctly, and your score would be 98 (actually
97.5).
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When you answer the last question, the score block will say FINAL
SCORE:, showing how well you did.
10.1.4. Question Block
The Question Block is the same as discussed for the Question
Review Screen. You will see the test questions displayed here.
10.1.5. Answer Blocks
The answer blocks are the same as on the Question Review Screen.
10.1.6. Correct Answer Block
This block which shows the correct answer is identical to that
found on the Question Review Screen. The only difference is that
while you are taking a test, you don't have the option of
displaying the answer all the time. The answer is only shown to
you after you answer the question.
In connection with the correct answer, after you answer a
question by selecting one of the answer buttons, "A", "B", "C",
or "D", a box will pop up over the answer buttons saying either
YES! if you answered correctly, or SORRY! if you answered
incorrectly.
10.2. Controls
There aren't as many controls available to you while your taking
the test because, well, you're taking a test! As discussed
before, you can either press/select the controls (buttons) by
either tabbing to them, and then pressing ENTER, by using the
"hot" keys, or by using a mouse. The controls that you have
available during an examination are discussed below.
10.2.1. Answer Buttons
The answer buttons are used to select the answer for each
question. The characters, "A", "B", "C", and "D", will be black
(enabled) on questions that you have not yet answered. When you
press an answer button, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER's response is to
cover the buttons with a message telling you if you answered the
question correctly or not. When you proceed to the next
question, the characters will again be enabled. But if you back
up to the question that you just answered, you will find that the
characters are now gray, indicating that the answer buttons are
disabled. Sorry, you're only allowed one attempt to answer each
question. You are allowed to browse backward and forward through
the test, but once you answer a question, either right or wrong,
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER won't allow you to answer the question again.
If you do browse forward and backward through the questions (and
you can answer the questions in any order that you prefer), the
Page 21
condition of the answer buttons (enabled or disabled/black or
gray) is your indication of whether or not you have answered that
question; if the buttons are black, that's a question that you
still haven't answered. After you answer the last question, you
will know it because your score will be indicated as a FINAL
SCORE.
10.2.2. Next Button
After you answer a question, press [Next] to go to the next one.
You can use [Next] to skip a question if you want to; but you
will have to come back to it before you will get a final score.
The [Next] button is disabled on the last question of the test.
10.2.3. Back Button
You can go back and look at questions you have either answered or
skipped by pressing the [Back] button. You will have to answer
all the questions before you get a final score. Remember, if the
answer buttons are black, that's a question that you still
haven't answered. The [Back] button will be disabled anytime you
are on question 1.
10.2.4. Calculator Button
You are probably going to need the calculator during the test,
and you're allowed to use one when you actually take your test.
Press the [Calc] button at any time, and the calculator will pop
up onto the screen just like on the Question Review Screen. For
more details on using the calculator, refer to section 9.2.4.
10.2.5. Main Menu Button
When you are finished with the test, or if you just want to exit
the Examination Screen, press the [Main Menu] button, and you
will be returned to the Main Menu.
If you exit the Examination Screen, you can come back to the same
test, but you'll have to start over.
10.3. TEST RESULTS
After you answer the last question on a practice test, not only is
your score shown as the Final Score, but a control button appears
just to the right of the score box, labeled [Test Info]. Press
this button to get the results of your test.
A window will pop-up on the screen that tells you the number of
questions you missed and whether you passed or failed the test.
It will also show you each subelement in which you missed each
question, along with the question numbers that you need to study
for each subelement. If you want to print this information out,
just press the [Print] button.
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Once the test is completed, you can go back through the questions,
and the correct answers will be shown to you.
11. FILES ON EXTRA CLASS MANAGER DISTRIBUTION DISKS
The EXTRA CLASS MANAGER program consists of 32 files which are
listed here to ensure that you have all the files needed for proper
operation of the program.
README.1ST *VBRUN200.DLL PIC1.BMP PIC9.BMP
AVEXTRA.TXT THREED.VBX PIC2.BMP PIC10.BMP
XTRAMGR2.DOC REGISTER.FRM PIC3.BMP PIC11.BMP
XTRAMGR2.WPF XREF4B1.TXT PIC4.BMP PIC12.BMP
XTRAMGR2.EXE XREF4B2.TXT PIC5.BMP PIC13.BMP
XTRAMGR2.DAT TEST1.TST PIC6.BMP PIC14.BMP
CUSTOM4B.DAT TEST2.TST PIC7.BMP
GRAFXREF.DAT TEST3.TST PIC8.BMP
* Not included in zip file distributed to BBS networks. This file
is usually available on most local BBS's. If you cannot find the
file on a local BBS, PRACTICAL-ly Software maintains a copy on its
24 hour BBS at 301-916-9298.
README.1ST - Information on how to get started.
AVEXTRA.TXT - ANSI character file that is attached to the ZIP file
which contains information on EXTRA CLASS MANAGER. This file can
be viewed again from DOS by typing "TYPE AVEXTRA.TXT".
XTRAMGR2.DOC - This documentation file in ASCII format.
XTRAMGR2.WPF - This documentation file in Word Perfect 5.1 format.
XTRAMGR2.EXE - The main EXTRA CLASS MANAGER program.
XTRAMGR2.DAT - is a random access file that contains the question
pool and all the information related to each question that EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER needs. It is a read-only file.
CUSTOM4B.DAT - is an ASCII file which contains data necessary for
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER to manage its internal databases. It is a
read-only file.
GRAFXREF.DAT - is a file containing cross-reference graphic data
which the program requires. It is a read-only file.
VBRUN200.DLL - is a dynamically-linked library, written by
Microsoft for Visual Basic created .EXE files, which enables EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER to link to Windows. It can be in the same directory
as the EXTRA CLASS MANAGER program files, but preferably in the
WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. The latter will make it available to
any Visual Basic for Windows Applications you may get. See section
16, Acknowledgements for restrictions on the distribution of this
file.
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THREED.VBX - enables three dimensional controls and labels, etc. in
the program. This can either be placed in the subdirectory with
the EXTRA CLASS MANAGER files or in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM
subdirectory. The file was developed by Sheridan Software Systems,
Inc. of Melville, NY. and is distributed with the Microsoft Visual
Basic Professional Development Software. This file should not be
distributed by itself. It should be distributed only with the zip
file created by PRACTICAL-ly Software.
REGISTER.FRM - is an ASCII text file which EXTRA CLASS MANAGER
reads to print out the registration form. It may also be printed
by typing "PRINT REGISTER.FRM", but doing so will also print the
quotes (") which delimit each line. It is a read-only file.
XREF4B1.TXT - is page 1 of an ASCII file which relates the Official
Question Codes to EXTRA CLASS MANAGER's question numbering system.
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will print this form from within the program on
the Print From Question Pool Screen. This file can also be printed
from DOS by typing "PRINT XREF4B1.TXT". It is a read-only file.
XREF4B2.TXT - is the same as XREF4B1.TXT, except that it is the
second page of the cross-reference list. It is a read-only file.
TEST1.TST to TEST3.TST - Sample test files which can be loaded into
the program.
PIC1.BMP to PIC14.BMP - Bitmap graphics that the program uses for
those questions which require graphics.
12. FILES THAT EXTRA CLASS MANAGER CREATES
After EXTRA CLASS MANAGER has been run once and then exited, three
files are created: DEFAULTS.DAT, DECK.DAT, and CROSDECK.DAT.
These files together keep track of all the parameters necessary to
let you pick up where you left off when you restart EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER each time. The program loads them when the Title Screen
comes up.
DEFAULTS.DAT: Stores the values of Option Screen variables.
DECK.DAT: This is a sequential file which lists the questions that
are in the deck. Do not attempt to modify this file. It is
synchronized with the data in the CROSDECK.DAT file, and changing
it will certainly cause EXTRA CLASS MANAGER to malfunction sooner
or later (probably sooner!).
CROSDECK.DAT: This sequential file holds the contents of two
arrays in EXTRA CLASS MANAGER which it uses to cross reference the
deck.
13. WHAT DO YOU GET BY REGISTERING?
When you register, you provide to PRACTICAL-ly Software the name
under which you want to register the program. PRACTICAL-ly
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Software will then issue to you a registration number which will
completely unlock your program. So you get a great program for a
very reasonable price!
You get free technical support (between 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. EST).
You get free limited upgrades. As PRACTICAL-ly Software makes
improvements to EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, the upgraded programs will be
maintained on the PRACTICAL-ly Software BBS. This version of EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER is 2.0. Any bug fixes and minor improvements will be
designated as versions 2.x. Your registration number will "turn
on" these new versions of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, too. Major program
revisions will be available to registered users at a reduced cost.
14. HOW TO REGISTER!!
You have no doubt noticed that the unregistered shareware version
of EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is limited in its functionality. The reason
is that EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is the product of over a year of
serious programming effort, and it is not free. Shareware only
works when those who try the software and then use it pay for the
program. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is honest. As
a result, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER is distributed in a form that lets
prospective users look at the program and determine if it fits
their needs. If it does, they can register their copy and receive
a registration number which will totally unlock every feature in
the program. Program registration is also very reasonable. The
cost is kept low to encourage people to register their copies.
Once you look at EXTRA CLASS MANAGER, there can be no doubt that
the program is worth the cost... if it fills your needs.
There are three ways to register:
1. By mailing a check or money order along with the
registration form. Go into the Main Menu in EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER and click onto Program Info on the menu bar, and
then select [Print Registration Form].
If you register by mail, your registration number will be
sent to you by mail, or if you specify on the registration
form, we'll send it by fax. Or if you're in a hurry, give
us a telephone number, and we'll call you.
2. By faxing the registration form to PRACTICAL-ly Software
with the appropriate credit card information filled out. As
soon as we can process your order, we will send your
registration number back to you by fax, or by mail if you
prefer, or by phone. You specify which.
3. By logging onto the PRACTICAL-ly Software Bulletin Board
Service (BBS) with your computer and using the credit card
registration door. Follow the directions in the
registration door. After your order is processed,
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PRACTICAL-ly Software will either leave your registration
number in a private message to you on the BBS, fax it to
you, or mail it to you, or call you by phone. Your choice.
15. TROUBLESHOOTING
This manual has made numerous references to the fact that EXTRA
CLASS MANAGER saves various kinds of data to the disk to allow the
program to "pick up where it left off". This is a very handy
feature to have in this sort of program, but if those files should
become corrupted in some way, EXTRA CLASS MANAGER will likely
malfunction in some way or another.
This can easily be corrected in one of two ways.
1. First and easiest is to enter the Option Menu as soon as you
start the program and press the [Put All Questions Back In
Deck] button. This will reinitialize all the arrays which
reference and cross-reference the question card deck.
or
2. Go into DOS into the subdirectory that you have EXTRA CLASS
MANAGER in. Delete DEFAULT.DAT, DECK.DAT, and CROSDECK.DAT.
When you start EXTRA CLASS MANAGER now, the program will
reinitialize all of its archival files when it sees that they
aren't on the disk.
16. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER was written with Microsoft's Visual Basic 2.0
Professional.
The VBRUN200.DLL file, a dynamically-linked library which is
included with the EXTRA CLASS MANAGER package, is a product of
Microsoft which allows XTRAMGR2.EXE to run under Windows without
Visual Basic. Microsoft requires no license or payment for the use
of this run-time file. However, Microsoft specifies that
VBRUN200.DLL can only be distributed with Visual Basic .EXE files;
it cannot be distributed by itself.
The THREED.VBX file enables three-dimensional objects in Visual
Basic Professional applications. This program is written by
Sheridan Software Systems, Inc., of Melville, NY. This file
requires no payment or license, but should only be distributed with
EXTRA CLASS MANAGER software as distributed by PRACTICAL-ly
Software.