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TestWriter Manual by Fred R. Glahe Invisible Hand Software c/o Fred R. Glahe 3870 Cloverleaf Drive Boulder, Colorado 80302 U.S.A. February 9, 1989 Version 2.1A Copyright 1988, Invisible Hand Software All Rights Reserved Permission is granted to distribute exact copies of this Manual TestWriter Manual Copyright (C) 1988 Invisible Hand Software. All rights reserved No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language (natural or computer), in any form or by any means, except as described in the following license without the prior written permission of Invisible Hand Software. You are granted a limited license to use the software described in this manual for evaluation purposes only. Permanent use of TestWriter requires the payment of a registration fee. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of said license, which is described on the next page. Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Invisible Hand Software. Invisible Hand Software may make improvements and/or changes in this manual and/or TestWriter at any time. WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International Corporation. TestWriter and Invisible Hand Software are trademarks of Invisible Hand Software. SINGLE COPY SOFTWARE LICENSE All versions of TestWriter, including version 2.1A, are not public domain software, nor are they free software. TestWriter is copyrighted (C) 1987, 1988 by Invisible Hand Software and Fred R. Glahe. Non-registered users are granted a limited license to use TestWriter on a trial basis for the purpose of determining whether TestWriter is suitable for their needs. Use of TestWriter, except for this limited purpose, requires registration. Use of non-registered copies of TestWriter for any other purpose by any person, business, corporation, educational institution, governmental agency or other entity institution is strictly forbidden. Registration permits a user the license to use TestWriter only on a single computer; a registered user may use the program on a different computer, but may not use the program on more than one computer at the same time. TestWriter is supplied as-is, with no warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and fitness for any purpose. The user assumes all liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of TestWriter. Use of TestWriter constitutes acceptance of these conditions. No user may modify TestWriter in any way, including but not limited to decompiling, disassembling or otherwise reverse engineering the program. All users are granted a limited license to copy TestWriter only for the trial use of others subject to the above limitations, and also the following: TestWriter must be copied in unmodified form, complete with the file containing this license information. The full TestWriter documentation must be included with the copy. No fee, charge or other compensation may be accepted or requested by any licensee other than a nominal fee not exceeding $10.00 to pay for the costs of distribution. TestWriter may not be distributed in conjunction with any other product unless a specific license has been granted. Operators of electronic bulletin board systems (Sysops) may post TestWriter for downloading by their users only as long as the above conditions are met. Distributors of public domain or user supported software may distribute copies of TestWriter subject to the above conditions and the additional condition that they do not charge more than $10.00 per copy. Information on Site and Distribution Licenses and Custom Versions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate Site License This is a license for use of the software within your company, and is not transferable. This allows internal use and copying of the software by as many users/machines as contracted for. An unlimited Site License allows unlimited copying of the software for internal use by your company. Distribution, repackaging, or reselling of the software to third parties is not allowed. Contact Invisible Hand Software for additional information and licensing fees. Distribution License This allows distribution of the software with commercial software and/or textbooks that are published by your company. This license is non-exclusive and non-transferable. Please contact Invisible Hand Software for information regarding a distribution license. This license is not necessary for clubs or users groups distributing the software on a ShareWare basis providing that the entire TestWriter package with accompanying documentation files is included in the distribution and no more than a nominal fee (not to exceed $10) is charged for such distribution. Custom Versions of the Software If you require any modifications or changes to the software, please include detailed information describing all changes you are interested in. Customization fees will be based on the extent of modifications required to the software so that it performs as you describe. Depending on the changes requested, please allow up to four weeks for custom versions of the software. Availability of Source Code It is the policy of Invisible Hand Software not to release source code for its products. WARRANTY Invisible Hand Software makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Invisible Hand Software shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of this program to operate in the manner desired by the user. Invisible Hand Software shall not be liable for any damage to data or property which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of the program. IN NO EVENT WILL Invisible Hand Software BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. TestWriter Order Blank Remit to: Invisible Hand Software Order Form c/o Fred R. Glahe 3870 Cloverleaf Drive Boulder, Colorado 80302 U.S.A. TestWriter version 2.1A We offer special prices/discounts on site licenses, quantity orders, and dealer pricing. We can also provide customized versions for publishers to accompany specific text books. ____ TestWriter Registration ...............@ $ 25.00 ea $______ (includes latest version of the program diskette, with documentation on the disk.) ____ UPGRADE to the newest version .........@ $ 10.00 ea $______ Orders are normally shipped by USPS at no additional charge. For UPS shipment, please add $3.00 $ 3.00 ea $ _____ Total $ ______ Name: ____________________________________________________________ Company: ____________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Day Phone: _________________________ Eve: ___________________________ ------------------------ User comments ------------------------------ I acquired TestWriter v2.1A from [ ] - Friend [ ] - Software distributor [ ] - Computer Club [ ] - Computer Store [ ] - Data Base Service [ ] - Electronic BBS [ ] - Other - Please Specify ________________________________ We would also appreciate any input you would care to give concerning TestWriter. If you have any ideas or comments that would make TestWriter a better program, then please let us know. We value your comments! Comments and/or suggestions: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ TestWriter Manual Introduction This is not intended to be a complete guide to using all the features contained in TestWriter, but rather a quick introduction to its use in preparing an examination from a previously prepared testbank. Testwriter is a full fledged word processor which can be used for preparing a testbank containing examination questions and for almost any other task that word processors can handle. The command structure of TestWriter is very similar to WordStar and a person familiar with WordStar should be able to use TestWriter as a word processor for creating and/or editing questions in a testbank very quickly. A complete summary of all the commands that TestWriter uses are listed and briefly described in this manual. Using TestWriter's Pulldown Menus To activate the pulldown menu windows press the F10 function key and then press the enter key. To see each pulldown menu use the Left and Right arrow keys to move across the screen. Once you are in a pulldown window menu use the Up and Down arrow keys to move the highlighted bar. The highlighted commands can now be activated by pressing the enter key. Alternatively, the command can be activated by pressing the letter that is capitalised on a given line within the pulldown menu. Commands which employ Function keys and the Control key, however, cannot be accessed when the pulldown menu is activated. These commands will only work when the cursor is back in the text window. Using TestWriter to Prepare a Test from a Testbank 1. Place the TestWriter diskette in Drive A and at the A prompt, A>, type TW and then press the enter key. 2. The program will ask for the name of the file you wish to create or edit. Since we will be creating two versions of the same test from the testbank contained on this disk, enter the name TESTONE for the file name of the of the first version of the test we are about to create and press the enter key. The program will now inform you that TESTONE is a new file and ask you if you wish to continue. Since we want to continue press the Y key. 3. Press the F9 function key to activate the second window and call up the testbank. TestWriter will ask for the file name, enter TESTBNK1 and press the enter key. The second window will be created and the file TESTBNK1 will appear. If your testbank files are on another drive, you must also specify the drive and, if needed, the path if they reside on a hard disk. 4. The cursor will now be in the second window and the testbank can be scrolled within the window by using either the Up/Down arrow keys, the Page Up/Page Down keys or the normal WordStar scrolling commands. 5. To select a question from the testbank to be included in the test we are preparing, merely place the cursor anywhere within the question and press the F1 function key. The question and its answer are immediately transferred to the upper window. Select several questions from the testbank in this manner. When you have the desired number of questions. Next press the control key and the K and Q keys -- ^KQ -- to exit the TESTBNK1 file. At this point call up another testbank, for example TESTBNK2. All questions copied into the upper window from the lower window are inserted wherever the cursor is positioned in the upper window. If you are following the instructions carefully, the upper window cursor will be at the end the file. To check to see that this is the case, press Control-Page Up to move the cursor to the upper window. Now return the cursor to the lower window by pressing Control-Page Down and select questions from TESTBNK2 for insertion into TESTONE in the upper window. When you are finished selecting the questions, press ^KQ to exit TESTBNK2 and then the Escape key to close the lower window. 6. We now have an examination in what was previously the blank upper window, but the questions will most likely not be numbered consecutively. We can ask TestWriter to renumber the questions consecutively or we can ask TestWriter to first shuffle the questions in a random manner before renumbering them consecutively. To renumber the questions simply press the F4 function key. The questions, along with their respective answers, are renumbered. We can now create the second version of the same test by randomly shuffling the first version which we have already created. To randomize the questions for the second version press the F5 function key. A second window is created automatically and you will be asked to enter a file name. Enter TESTTWO and you will be told that this is a new file and you will be asked if you wish to continue; answer Y. The questions in the upper window will now be randomly selected for movement to the lower window (leaving TESTONE unchanged in the upper window). After all the questions have been selected, you are asked if you wish to have the questions renumbered. Enter Y for yes. 7. With the second version of the examination now in the lower window and the cursor in version one in the upper window, type the appropriate heading for version one of the examination and then enter ^KD to save the first version of the examination to disk. TestWriter now asks if you want to open another file in the upper window. Since we do not want to do this, press the Escape key to close the upper window. The lower window, containing the second version of the examination, now fills the entire screen. A heading for the second version of the examination can now be typed and after the file is saved, using the ^KD command, the examinations are now ready for printing using either TestWriter or your own word processor. 8. An alternative and faster method of exam preparation is also available. After a testbank is called up in the lower window, press the F6 function key to have TestWriter randomly select the desired number of questions from the testbank. After the questions have been selected, TestWriter will, if desired, renumber the questions. After the test has been prepared in this manner, the lower window is closed by entering ^KQ and then the Escape key. The test is now ready to have a title added and then the file can be saved and printed. 9. Since TestWriter creates a pure ASCII text file, the files that it creates can easily be read and edited by many other word processors. Hence, it is not necessary for the test preparer to have a detailed knowledge of all the commands contained in TestWriter. Examinations created with TestWriter can easily be edited and printed with other word processing programs. The TestWriter printing program prints the examination and also prints the corresponding answer sheets. The answers to the questions, which are visible on screen, are not printed, unless desired, when the exam is printed. 10. To print the examination using TestWriter, you must have FIRST SAVED the program using the command ^KS (or ^KD) and be in one of the TestWriter windows. Next press F10, F, and P. The print subroutine will ask a series of self-explanatory questions and then print the exam. This program utilizes a printer table TWP.TBL, which must be selected for a given printer at the time of installation, or separately configured using the TWPCONFI.COM program. The printer table TWP.TBL, on this disk, is for an Epson MX series printer. There is another table for a Toshiba 24 pin printer, TOSH.TBL. To use this printer, merely rename TWP.TBL as MX.TBL and then rename TOSH.TBL as TWP.TBL. There are printer drivers included for the IBM Proprinter and the HP Laser printer. NOTE THAT ALL PRINTER COMMANDS LISTED BELOW MAY NOT BE SUPPORTED BY ALL PRINTERS AND THAT EVEN IF A PRINTER HAS A CERTAIN CAPABILITY THE DRIVER FOR THAT PRINTER MAY HAVE TO BE MODIFIED TO ALLOW THAT CAPABILITY. Printer drivers can be modified or easily written using the TWPCONFI.COM program. For instruction on using TWPCONFI.COM read the section of this manual which deals with this topic. 11. Test questions can be added to the testbanks included with TestWriter or entirely new testbanks can be created for use with TestWriter. This can be accomplished by either using TestWriter or your own word processor. If you use the latter, make certain to save all testbanks are saved in ASCII. The format of the testbank questions must follow the format of the testbanks included on the TestWriter distribution disk. Most importantly, questions must be separated by blank lines and the last question must be followed with a blank line. The numbering of questions must start with numbers 1 through 9 in column 5 followed by a period, numbers 10 through 99 in columns 4 and 5 followed by a period, numbers 100 through 999 in columns 3, 4, and 5 followed by a period, etc. Commands Used in TestWriter Function Keys F1 Moves question from lower window to upper window. F2 Marks question wherein cursor is located. F3 Go to a question specified by its number. F4 Renumber sequentially questions in window in which the cursor resides. F5 Randomize the questions in the window in which the cursor resides. F6 Select questions at random from a testbank file. F7 Mark the beginning of a block of text. F8 Mark the end of a block of text. F9 Open second window. F10 Activates pulldown help window system. Cursor Movement Note: The symbol ^ before a key or keys, means that the Control key is simultaneously held down as the other key or keys are struck. Cursor left one character -- Left arrow or ^S Cursor right one character -- Right arrow or ^D Cursor up one line -- Up arrow or ^E Cursor down one line -- Down arrow or ^X Cursor left one word -- ^Left arrow or ^A Cursor right one word -- ^Right arrow or ^F Cursor to beginning of line -- Home or ^QS or ^J Cursor to end of line -- End or ^QD or ^J Cursor to beginning of file -- ^Home or ^QR Cursor to upper window -- ^Page Up Cursor to lower window -- ^Page Down Cursor to beginning of marked text block -- ^QB Cursor to end of marked text block -- ^QK Cursor to marker 0 to 9 -- ^QJ or ^Qn, where n = marker number Setting of Markers in Text (see above for finding markers in text) Set Marker -- ^KM or ^Kn, where n = marker number Cursor Control The shape of the cursor can easily be altered by invoking the command ^OM (Control OM) when in the TestWriter program. This is useful if you do not like the default cursor shape or it is hard to see, as is often the case with a laptop computer. Undo Deletions The Esc key will return deleted text to the screen. The extent to which deleted text can be retrieved depends on the size of the Undo buffer, which can be changed from the default value by pressing ^OS or pressing the F10 key and then the T (Textformat) and the U keys. Scrolling Move text on screen down one line -- ^W Move text on screen up one line -- ^Z Move text on screen up one window -- Page Down or ^C Move text on screen down one window -- Page Up or ^R Continuous up scroll of text on screen -- ^QZ Continuous down scroll of text on screen -- ^QW Basic Editing Commands Delete character above cursor -- Delete or ^G Delete character left of cursor -- Back Space Delete word right of cursor -- ^T Delete word left of cursor -- Alt T Delete line -- ^Y Delete to end of line -- ^QY Insert mode on and off -- ^V Insert line -- ^N Reformat paragraph -- ^B Insert printer form (carriage) feed -- ^PL or dot command.PA Formatting Center line -- ^OC Left margin set -- ^OL Right margin set -- ^OR Tab set -- ^OI Tab clear -- ^ON Set tab size -- ^KT Word wrap on and off -- ^OW Auto Indenting on and off -- ^QI File/Block Operations Mark beginning of a block of text -- F7 or ^KB Mark end of a beginning of text -- F8 or ^KK Hide or Display a block of marked text -- ^KH Copy block -- ^KC Delete block -- ^KY moVe block -- ^KV Write block to file -- ^KW Read file into text -- ^KR Printer Controls Alternate pitch (12 char./inch) -- ^PA Standard pitch (10 char./inch) -- ^PN Boldface begin/end -- ^PB Double strike begin/end -- ^PD Overprint next character -- ^PH Subscript begin/end -- ^PV Superscript begin/end -- ^PT Underline begin/end -- ^PS Insert printer form feed -- ^PL or the dot command .PA Dot Commands A dot command is a printer command that is entered into the TestWriter file by typing a period (which is called a dot) in the first column, followed immediately be two letters in either lower or upper case. The two letter code may be followed by numbers or words. For some dot commands, e.g., the one for a page break, there is no text after the command. If the dot command is to tell the printer to print a header at the top of each page, then the command is followed by the text that is to be in the header. A number (n) after a dot command can specify top or bottom margins on a page or page number. Once a dot command is entered into a document it stays in effect until it is turned off or altered. Most dot commands usually are placed at the beginning of the file. Before and after each dot command, press the enter key. .PA Starts new page immediately after command. .PL n Specifies number of lines on page. Default = 66 lines for an eleven inch page (6 lines per inch). .HE text Prints one line of text as heading on every page until .HE is used again without text or with different text. The default is no text. .FO text Prints one line of text as a footer on every page until .FO is used again without text or with different text. .OP Omits page numbers. Default is consecutive page numbers printed at lower left of page. .PN n Sets page number at n and numbers subsequent page numbers consecutively. .. text Places non-printing comment in file Pull-Down Menu Windows Many of the commands used in TestWriter can be accessed by using the pull-down menu windows which are activated by pressing F10 and then first letter of the name of the window, e.g., B for the Block move command menu window. The Block Command Menu Window ╔═════════════════════╗ ║Begin F7 or ^KB ║ ║End F8 or ^KK ║ ║Copy ^KC ║ ║Move ^KV ║ ║Read ^KR ║ ║Write ^KW ║ ║Delete ^KY ║ ║Hide/show ^KH ║ ╚═════════════════════╝ The Search Command Menu Widow ╔═════════════════╗ ║Find ^QF ║ ║find/Replace ^QA ║ ║Next ^L ║ ╚═════════════════╝ The Go to Command Menu Window ╔════════════════╗ ║Top of file ^QR ║ ║End of file ^QC ║ ║Begin block ^QB ║ ║end blocK ^QK ║ ║Line ^ON ║ ║Column ^OI ║ ║Go marker ^Qn ║ ║Set marker ^Kn ║ ║Question F3 ║ ╚════════════════╝ The Text format Command Menu Window ╔══════════════════════════╗ ║Insert ON ^V ║ ║Word wrap ON ^OW ║ ║Auto indent OFF ^QI ║ ║Left margin: 1 ^OL ║ ║Right margin: 65 ^OR ║ ║Tab size: 6 ^KT ║ ║Undo limit: 20 ^OS ║ ║Save settings ║ ╚══════════════════════════╝ The Window Command Menu Widow ╔══════════════════╗ ║Select ^KG ║ ║Open ^KO or F9 ║ ║Close ^KQ ║ ╚══════════════════╝ The File Command Menu Window ╔════════════════════╗ ║Quit + open ^KQ ║ ║save + Open ^KD ║ ║save + Continue ^KS ║ ║save + eXit ^KX ║ ║Directory ║ ║File comment ║ ║Logged dir ║ ║Print ║ ║Copy ║ ║Rename ║ ║Erase ║ ╚════════════════════╝ The Exam format Window Menu ╔══════════════════════════╗ ║Insert ON ^V ║ ║Word wrap ON ^OW ║ ║Auto indent OFF ^QI ║ ║Left margin: 1 ^OL ║ ║Right margin: 65 ^OR ║ ║Tab size: 6 ^KT ║ ║Undo limit: 20 ^OS ║ ║Save settings ║ ╚══════════════════════════╝ Using TWPCONFI.EXE to Create a Printer Driver At the DOS prompt type TWPCONFI and press Enter. The program will ask: Do you wish to use an existing driver? (Y/N) If you wish to modify an existing driver press Y. If you wish to create a new driver press N. For this example press N. The following screen will now appear: ************************************************************** TestWriter Printer Configuration Program Version 2.10 Description : <INIT>: <FINI>: ============================================================== Please enter code to change (Normal Character or <###> form): <INIT>, <FINI>, <DESC>, /DISP, /SAVE, and /QUIT are also valid. *************************************************************** To describe or name the printer driver type <DESC> and press Enter. Type the descriptive name of your driver, for example, Example Printer Driver and press Enter. You will now be asked if the description is acceptable. If it is, press Y, if not press N. Suppose you want to use ^PS (as in WordStar) to initiate and terminate underlining. Control S in decimal is 19 (Since S is the 19th letter in the alphabet. Control A is 1, control B is 2, etc.), therefore type <19> and press enter. The screen will now appear as: ************************************************************** TestWriter Printer Configuration Program Version 2.10 Description :Example Printer Driver <INIT>: <FINI>: ============================================================== <19>[beg]: <19>[end]: Begin: *************************************************************** TWPCONFI will now ask for the control codes needed for a specific printer to initiate underlining. If we are constructing a driver for an Epson MX80 printer we would type <27>-1 and press Enter. Alternatively we could type <27><45>1, since <45> is the decimal equivalent for the - (dash or minus) symbol on the keyboard. <27> is the decimal equivalent for Escape, while 1 is a number greater than 0. The program next asks if what you have typed is acceptable. If it is, type Y and if not, N. After typing Y, the screen will look as follows: *************************************************************** TestWriter Printer Configuration Program Version 2.10 Description :Example Printer Driver <INIT>: <FINI>: =============================================================== <19>[beg]:<27>-1 <19>[end]: End: **************************************************************** Finally we need to enter the command which will turn off the underlining. Type <27>-0 and press enter. If you have done this correctly press Y. The command sequence for ^PS will now appear at the top of the screen and the screen will now look as follows: *************************************************************** TestWriter Printer Configuration Program Version 2.10 Description :Example Printer Driver <INIT>: <FINI>: <19>[beg]:<27>-1 <19>[end]:<27>-0 =============================================================== Please enter code to change (Normal Character or <###> form): <INIT>, <FINI>, <DESC>, /DISP, /SAVE, and /QUIT are also valid. *************************************************************** Some printer commands begin and end together, for example, the overstrike command ^PH which causes the symbol following ^PH to printed in the same space as the symbol which follows it. For a Toshiba 321/SL printer the overstrike command is Escape N, or <27>N. To create this printer command for a Toshiba 321/SL type <8> (for ^PH in TestWriter) and begin the command sequence by typing <27>N and pressing Enter and then Y. To end the command sequence we simply repeat the sequence use to begin the command, namely, <27>N and press Enter and then Y. Your screen should now look as follows: *************************************************************** TestWriter Printer Configuration Program Version 2.10 Description :Example Test Driver <INIT>: <FINI>: <8>[beg]:<27>N <8>[end]:<27>N <19>[beg]:<27>-1 <19>[end]:<27>-0 ============================================================== Please enter code to change (Normal Character or <###> form): <INIT>, <FINI>, <DESC>, /DISP, /SAVE, and /QUIT are also valid. ************************************************************** When the top of the screen is full with the description of command sequences and we wish to view additional sequences, the display command is used. Type /DISP and then press Enter. You will then be asked: Please enter starting point for display: To display all printer commands after ^PS you would type <20> and then press enter. Different printer manufacturers use different printer commands to control their printers. To construct a printer driver for a particular printer, you need the manual for that printer. After you have constructed the desired command sequences for your printer driver, the driver must be saved to disk. To do this type /SAVE and press enter. You will be asked to name the driver. All drivers must have the TBL extension to work with TestWriter. Give the driver a name that you will recognize and be able to identify later. If you have an Epson FX80 printer you might name it FX80.TBL. After, and only after, you have saved your printer driver you may quit the TWPCONFI program by typing /QUIT and pressing Enter and then Y. Before you can use your printer driver with TestWriter it is first necessary to rename it to TWP.TBL. The best way to do this is at the DOS prompt type: >copy FX80.TBL TWP.TBL and press Enter. This will copy your driver into a file with the required name and will retain your driver under its old name.