Software of the Month Club 1996 December

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software of the Month Club 1996 December / Software of the Month Club 1996 December.iso / pc / dos / sri / edu / qasa / qasa.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-10-14 | 205.9 KB | 5,016 lines

QA Study Aid (QASA) User's Guide Version 5.3 October 14, 1995 _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Hal Endresen Quid Pro Quo Software PO Box 1248 Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-1248 Internet pendehal@ia.net CompuServe 73760,2032 QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide ***** QASA CAN BE REGISTERED ONLINE ***** ***** Registering QASA Online Using CompuServe ***** QASA can now be registered online using CompuServe's shareware registration service. To register single copies of QASA on CompuServe, enter GO SWREG at the CompuServe prompt, and select the option "Register Shareware." You will be presented with the following menu: Register Shareware SEARCH BY: 1 Registration ID 2 Title 3 File Name 4 Author's User ID 5 Author's Name 6 Keywords (Categories) Choose option "1" (Registration ID). When prompted for the ID, enter "502" to register QASA. We will receive a registration notification from CompuServe, and a registered copy of the latest version of QA Study Aid will to you by return mail. The registra- tion fee will be charged to your CompuServe account. If are registering more than one copy or wish a site license, please use the "Register" function in the "Utilities" menu. ***** CREDIT CARD REGISTRATIONS ***** Quid Pro Quo Software accepts VISA and Mastercard. You may register via E-mail by completing the online registration form (/UR command) and either mailing the form or sending it via E- Mail. E-Mail messages are encoded to keep your credit card account number private. This method allows full on-line registra- tion; you will receive your registration number by return E-mail. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide i Table Of Contents ----------------- DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Association of Shareware Professionals . . . . . . . . . . 1 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Removing QA Study Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 View Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A Special Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 QASA Command List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 QA Command List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 /FO - Open A Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 /FS - Save a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 /FR - Restore a Saved Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 /FC - Close Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 /FD - Shell To DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 /FX - Exit to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 /VS - View Sequential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 /VR - View Random . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 /VA - View All Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 /VU - View Unanswered Questions Only . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 /VC - Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide ii /N - Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 /UE - Edit Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 /UC - Invoke QASA Compiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 /UL - List Compiled Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 /UD - Decrypt Score File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 /US - Export Score File Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 /UX - Export Score File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 /UR - Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 /CS - Set Screen Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 /CM - Set Menu Selector Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 /CP - Set Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 /CE - Assign Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Scoring Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Answering Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Creating a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 The QASA Database Compiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Using The QASA Compiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 QASA Language Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Terminators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 The Q= and A= Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The H= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The I= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The P= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 The N= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 The M= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The T= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 The C= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 The S= and R= Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 The F= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 The E= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 The D= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The W= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The L= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The O= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide iii The V= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 The X= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 The K= Keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Appendix A: QASA Compiler Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . 61 Appendix B: Revision Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 LIMITED WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 LICENSE TERMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 APPLICABLE TO ALL USE OR DISTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . 74 APPLICABLE TO TRIAL USE OF EVALUATION VERSION . . . . . 74 APPLICABLE TO USE OF REGISTERED VERSION . . . . . . . . 75 APPLICABLE TO DISTRIBUTED COPIES OF THE INTERPRETER . . 75 LIMITED DISTRIBUTION LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 COPYRIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 PRICING, SITE LICENSING, AND DISTRIBUTION LICENSE . . . . . . 78 UNLIMITED UPGRADE PLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 UPGRADE PURCHASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 DEFINITION OF DISTRIBUTION LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . 79 DEFINITION OF SITE LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 1 DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE ----------------------- Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are required to register and pay for its use. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software, technical support services, or an updated program with printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like the authors of commercial software, and the programs are of comparable quality (in both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!). The main difference is the method of distribution. The author specifically grants you the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy and/or distribute their Shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find and purchase software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system is easier because you can try before you buy. Because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee - if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. The Association of Shareware Professionals ------------------------------------------ The Association of Shareware Professionals is an organization whose purpose is to promote the shareware distribution concept, and to provide a forum for the resolution of disputes between ASP members and their customers. Quid Pro Quo Software is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a share- ware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 2 Credits ------- Microsoft(R), Microsoft Windows(R), MS-DOS, Microsoft C Optimiz- ing Compiler(R), and Microsoft Macro Assembler are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM, OS/2, and PC-DOS are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. dBASE is a registered trademark of Ashton-Tate. RTLink/Plus is a registered trademark of Pocket Soft, Inc. DESQview is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems, Inc. Lotus, Lotus 1-2-3, and 1-2-3 are trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 3 Introduction ------------ QA Study Aid is a general-purpose testing program designed to present questions from a database. The user is then prompted for an answer and graded accordingly. In the context of this document, and within all program and other files included with the QASA package, the word 'database' is used in its generic sense. For our purposes, a database is simply a collection of questions, answers, and options that is created by the user, compiled, and interpreted by the QASA program. Like the more general database programs such as dBASE(R), QA Study Aid uses an indexed database, although the index is an integral part of the database itself and not a separate file. All of the details of the database implementation, such as the index, records, fields, and data types, are handled automatically by the QA Study Aid package. QASA provides two methods of reading the questions from the database: sequential and random. The program defaults to sequen- tial mode. There are also two view modes: 'view all' and 'view unanswered'. The view mode will have a large effect on how QASA presents questions and handles your answers. A menu-driven command interface is provided with pull-down menus. Filenames are selected from a directory by pointing. It is never necessary to type in a filename unless a database is specified on the command line. QASA supports a comprehensive context-sensitive help system accessible via the F1 key. Help is provided by a single file, QASA.HLP. This file may be located in the current directory or in any directory specified in the PATH environment variable. QASA may therefore be placed in the \DOS (or equivalent) directory and accessed from any other directory, provided that PATH environment variable includes "\DOS". If you place QASA in a directory that is not in the PATH string such that it is unable to locate its help file, QASA will, as a last resort, pop up a window and ask you to enter the name of directory containing the help file. If you do not enter a directory name (by pressing RETURN at the prompt), the Help key will be inactive. QASA uses a compiled database. The database compiler is included within QASA to allow you to create and compile your own databas- es. The database compiler is invoked via the "Utilities" menu. The interpreter-only program, QA.EXE, does not include the compiler or any of the other test-creation and management utili- ties provided by QASA.EXE. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 4 Both QASA.EXE and QA.EXE are written in the C language (with some assembly language) and compiled using the Microsoft C Optimizing Compiler Version 8.00 ("Visual C/C++") and the Microsoft Macro Assembler V6.0B. Pocket Soft's .RTLink/Plus overlay linker V7.11 is used to generate the executable files. This package contains the following files: INSTALL.EXE installation program QASA.EXE QASA main program QA.EXE QASA Interpreter QASA.HLP QASA and QA help file QASA.CFG configuration file suitable for VGA monitors QASA.DOC documentation file (this file) DEMO1.BAT batch file for 'view unanswered' demo DEMO1.QA DEMO1 database (compiled) DEMO1.DEF database definition file for DEMO1.QA DEMO2.BAT batch file for 'view all' demo DEMO2.QA DEMO2 database (compiled) DEMO2.DEF database definition file for DEMO2.QA VENDOR.DOC information for disk vendors and BBS sysops FILE_ID.DIZ description for BBS sysops VENDINFO.DIZ description for BBS sysops and distributors The QA Study Aid package is SHAREWARE and is copyrighted by the author. If QASA meets your needs and you continue to use the program, you must register and pay for its use. The SHAREWARE concept allows users to obtain high quality software at bargain prices, and rewards authors for their efforts. Please support this distribution concept by registering your copy. You will find a registration form at the back of this manual (although the /UR command will doubtless be much more convenient).Comments, bug reports, or other information that may help me improve this program are welcome and are encouraged. Only you can tell me what you need! QASA is offered as is. There is no guarantee that it will work on your particular system; however, it has been tested with CGA, MDA, EGA, and VGA monitors on PCs, ATs, 386 and 486 systems, and under DOS, Windows, DESQview, and OS/2 2.0+. Text mode is used; no graphics card is needed. QASA will NOT use either EMS or XMS memory, even if it is present. A minimum of 220K of memory (RAM) is needed by the program; it will tell you if you do not have sufficient memory to execute it. QASA will use all available memory below the 640K conventional-memory boundary if it is re- quired. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 5 All I/O is performed through system calls, with the exception of the screen, which is controlled by direct writes to the screen buffer. Under Microsoft(R) Windows, you must give QASA control of the screen in a QASA.PIF file. Under DESQview, QASA will multi- task in a DESQview window, and does not require any special system resources. QA.EXE will execute properly in a DOS session under OS/2 2.0 and above. Previous versions of QASA.EXE would cause a sharing violation when it enforced its registration policies. This has been corrected. QASA assumes that your screen is set to any text mode (color or monochrome). If not, it will NOT reset the mode. If your screen is in any of the graphics modes when QASA is invoked, you will see garbage. Exit QASA using the /FX command (or press ESC if you are still in the opening screen) and reset the mode manually using the DOS MODE command. When QASA terminates, it will restore the previous contents of your screen. Installation ------------ QA Study Aid is provided with a comprehensive installation program. The installation program requires a fixed disk as the target (where QA Study Aid is to be installed). Once the package has been installed, however, it may be transferred to a floppy diskette. THE SHAREWARE VERSION HAS A 25-QUESTION LIMIT IMPOSED BY THE COMPILER. Your entire database definition file will be parsed, but if it contains more than 25 questions, a limit will be imposed. THE LIMIT IS ELIMINATED BY REGISTERING! INSTALL will search your system for any existing copies of the QA Study Aid package and also to locate a suitable directory in which to place the package. You may install QA Study Aid to any directory on your system, EXCEPT on a network drive. INSTALL will not recognize a network drive. If you already own a registered copy of QA Study Aid, INSTALL will re-register the new version. The installation program also creates a batch file to update any existing databases. These databases must be in the same directory as either QASA.EXE or QA.EXE for INSTALL to locate them. A batch file is used so that large tests may be compiled without the loss of the resources consumed by the installation program. PLEASE EXAMINE THE BATCH FILE TO BE SURE INSTALL HAS PROPERLY IDENTIFIED EACH SOURCE FILE. Until the compiler is actually run, QA Study Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 6 Aid cannot distinguish a test source database from any other type of text file. If you are a registered user, INSTALL will also create the file README.REG. This file contains important information for reg- istered users. If you are not a registered user, INSTALL will not create this file. The configuration file QASA.CFG is supplied with the distribution package. This file is suitable for EGA and VGA color systems. If you cannot read the screen, simply erase the configuration file QASA.CFG, since it is created automatically if it is missing. If you do this, you will get a prompt asking you for the directory containing the configuration file, since QASA will not be able to locate it on the disk. This prompt will appear anytime QASA is unable to find its configuration file. If you move the file, enter the name of the directory containing the file; otherwise, press RETURN without entering a directory to cause QASA to create the file. The default will be suitable for any system, including LCD displays. You will not be required to enter a directory if the configuration file is stored in any directory in the PATH environment variable, or if it is in the current directory. If you wish to execute QA Study Aid from any directory on your system, you must add the directory in which QASA is installed to the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, Remember, this line cannot exceed 127 characters. You will have to reboot your computer after modifying the file. The QA Study Aid package is small enough to be placed on a single 5.25" 360KB diskette (WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION) if desired. If your database is too large to fit on one diskette, you may place it on a second diskette in the B: drive if you have one. To create a database file, you need only a database definition file, which you create with an editor such as EDIT or EDLIN. Once you have created a database, you compile it with QASA. Once compiled, the only files needed to execute the database are the compiled database file (".QA"), QASA.EXE or QA.EXE, QASA.HLP, and QASA.CFG. If space is really at a premium, you may omit the help file QASA.HLP, but the HELP key (F1) will no longer function. If you do this, QASA will complain that it cannot find the help file, and ask you to enter the directory in which it resides. To omit it, simply press ENTER without entering a directory. The QA.EXE program uses the same resource files as QASA.EXE: QASA.HLP and QASA.CFG. If you wish to use a different configura- tion for QA.EXE, you must install it in a different directory or on a different drive. Then, using QASA, create the desired configuration and exit QASA. The resulting QASA.CFG file may then Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 7 be copied to the directory or drive containing the QA.EXE pro- gram. Removing QA Study Aid --------------------- Should you desire to remove the QA Study Aid package from your computer, you may simply delete the files. QASA maintains no data in any operating system files or in any other directories. To remove QASA from your computer, use the following DOS commands. These commands assume that QA Study Aid is installed in the directory C:\QASA. If you have installed it elsewhere, substitute the appropriate directory name. THIS PROCEDURE WILL REMOVE THE PRODUCT FILES AND THE DIRECTORY IN WHICH THEY RESIDE. C: CD \QASA DEL *.* [ENTER] (Respond 'Y' to 'Are you sure?') CD .. RD QASA If you have a registered version, you should copy the files to a floppy diskette. If you accidentally delete a registered version, we will provide a new registration number at no charge if you decide to reinstall the product on your computer. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 8 View Modes ---------- QASA (and QA) can both be operated in one of two view modes: 'view all' (/VA command) and 'view unanswered' (/VU command). 'View unanswered' is the default. In 'view unanswered' mode, QASA will only present questions that have not yet been answered. This is true regardless of the presentation sequence (sequential or random). In this mode, it would be appropriate to activate the display of incorrect answers so that a student could be told the correct answer for reinforce- ment, since the student will not have the ability to change the answer. Also, in 'view unanswered' mode, when all questions have been answered, there are no more questions to present, so QASA will end the test automatically and write the score record to the score file. 'View all' mode provides the student with the ability to review all of his or her answers before ending the quiz. The only time the quiz will end automatically is if the test is timed and the time runs out. Otherwise, the questions will be presented in the order given by the presentation sequence (random or sequential). In 'view all' mode, however, questions are presented whether or not they have been answered. If the question has already been answered, then the previous answer is shown (NOTE: The maximum length of the stored answer is seven characters by default, and can be increased up to 40 characters with the X= database op- tion). If, in 'view all' mode, you backspace over a previous answer to erase it, then the question will be scored as unanswered (the number of questions answered in the scoring window will decrease by one). If you change the answer, the new answer will be scored immediately, although you will not be shown the results of the scoring. In general, in 'view all' mode, no information is displayed that could lead the student to deduce the correct answer, as the student is able to review and/or change the answers. The excep- tion to this is If the display of correct answers is enabled (D= option omitted in the database). In this case, the correct answer will be displayed, BUT THAT QUESTION WILL BE LOCKED OUT. Once the student has been shown the correct answer, or the scoring window provides information that could tell the student if the answer was correct or not, then the student will not be able to access that question again during the test session. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 9 The student is free to switch between presentation modes. How- ever, the previous will still hold true. If any information is displayed that provides an indication of whether or not the answer is correct, then the question will be locked out of the presentation sequence. As the test writer, if it is your intention to permit students to review and change their answers, then you should include the D= option in the database (disable display of correct answers). This will allow the student to switch between modes without having questions locked out. In 'view all' mode, the student must manually end the test when he or she is finished reviewing the answers. This is done with either the /FC (File/Close) or /FX (File/eXit) commands. The score file record will be written at that time. Compatibility ------------- The database files used by QASA 5.3 are fully source-compatible with all previous versions, but are not binary-compatible. All that is required is that you recompile your database files with Version 5.3 of QASA. To do so, examine the batch file UPDATE.BAT created by the installation program (created only is existing database files are found), insure the named database definition files are correct, and execute it. If you have databases that INSTALL did not find, you must recompile them manually with the QASA program. QASA WILL NOT WORK WITH THE HERCULES GRAPHICS ADAPTER. A Special Note -------------- Special mention is made here of a particular characteristic of QASA. The program, to enforce its registration policies, will, at certain times, modify its own executable image on disk. This is brought to your attention as this behavior may trigger some virus-protection programs. Please do not be concerned if this occurs; this is normal behavior. You must allow QASA to modify itself or it will not execute. QASA must be able to locate its own .EXE file. Under MS-DOS 3.0 and above and OS/2 2.0 and above, you should experience no problems, even if you rename the file. However, under MS-DOS 2.x, if you rename the program, you must specify the new program Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 10 pathname using an environment variable. For example, suppose that QASA.EXE is in the directory C:\BIN, and you rename it to QUIZ.EXE. You must then issue the command SET QASA=C:\BIN\QUIZ.EXE You may place this command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you wish. You MUST specify the COMPLETE pathname, including the .EXE extension. You cannot, however, change the name of the help file QASA.HLP. The easiest way to change the program name is to use a batch file. For example, to change the name to QUIZ, create QUIZ.BAT as follows: COPY CON: QUIZ.BAT <ENTER> QASA %1 <ENTER> ^Z <ENTER> (^Z means hold down Ctrl and press 'Z') The '%1' will still enable you to specify the name of a database to load automatically upon startup by typing: QUIZ sample IMPORTANT --------- QASA.EXE selects a serial number and combines this with certain system information the FIRST time it is executed (INSTALL will do this for you). This becomes your serial number, and this number MUST be supplied to register the program (the /UR command prints the registration form with the serial number on it). ONCE THE SERIAL NUMBER HAS BEEN ASSIGNED BY QASA, DO NOT MODIFY OR OVER- WRITE THE QASA.EXE FILE OR YOUR REGISTRATION NUMBER WILL NOT WORK. If you accidentally overwrite a registered program file, you will have to send for a new registration number (although once you have paid the registration fee, new registration numbers are supplied free of charge if they are needed). It is a good idea to make a backup copy after you have executed it the first time, and again after registering your copy. Once you have registered and entered your registration number, the serial number will change; for this reason, it is important that you include the most recent serial number in all correspondence. This applies ONLY to the file QASA.EXE. QASA also requires that the time and date provided by the MS-DOS operating system be correct, since it uses this information in the score file. Each time QASA is started, the current time and date are checked; if either is invalid, QASA will abort after displaying a message requesting you to set the system date and time to the proper values. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 11 QASA NEVER modifies any file other than its own executable image on disk, the score file (if defined in the database), the saved database file(s) (".SAV") if this feature is used, the database listing file(s) (".LST"), the exported score file(s) (".PRN"), and the configuration file. It will also create a ".QA" file each time you compile a new quiz. You need not be concerned about modifications to your database source files or any other files on your system. User Interface -------------- The following applies to both QASA.EXE and QA.EXE. Commands are entered into QASA via a pull-down two-level menu system. The uppermost screen region is the menu system. Each word group on the menu line is the title block of a pull-down menu. Whenever one of the titles is selected, the menu expands to display any options available under it. Under most conditions, QASA will be prompting for an answer to a question. Some means must therefore be provided to break out and into the menu system so that an option can be selected or a command given. There are two ways of doing this: via an ALT key sequence or by pressing the menu selector character, the forward slash ('/'). Note that this character may be changed using the /CM (Configuration/Menu Selector) command. This document will, however, assume that you have NOT altered the default. If an ALT sequence is used, it is only necessary to press one or two ALT keys to select any command option. A top-level selector is specified by ALT-shifting the highlighted letter. For example, the "Mode / Sequential" command is executed with ALT-M/ALT-S. To do this, hold down the ALT key and press 'M' and then 'S'. If you use the '/' menu selector character, the word MENU will first appear at the right of the menu line to indicate that you are in the menu system. At this point, any combination of high- lighted and underscored letters (as defined by the screen colors you choose) and cursor keys can be used to select a menu title block. Note that F1 will always get help no matter where you may be, in or out of the menu system. The only exception to this is for error messages ("Problem"), for which you may not obtain help. Once the desired option has been selected, RETURN executes it. Note that neither the slash nor the RETURN are necessary when using ALT-key sequences. Versions 3.0 of QASA and above provide the ability for you to specify a database file on the command line. If you do so, you Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 12 will still see the opening screen, but as soon as you press a key, the database will be loaded and the first question will be displayed. If the database specifies a time limit, the timer will be started immediately. If the database you specify cannot be found, then an error message will be displayed, and you must select the database normally using the /FO command. For example, the DOS command C>QASA sample will load the sample database and display the first question. Note that you do not have to specify the ".QA" extension. If you do specify an extension, it MUST be ".QA"; QASA will force this extension for all database files. QASA's menu system commands are listed on the following page. QASA Command List ----------------- /FO Open a database /FS Save a database for later resumption /FR Restore a previously-saved database /FC Close database /FD shell to DOS /FX eXit to DOS /VS set presentation order to Sequential view /VR set presentation order to Random view /VA view All questions (review/change answers) /VU view Unanswered questions only (default) /VC Clear score and start quiz over /N enter name /UE Edit quiz /UC Compile quiz /UL List compiled quiz /UD Decode score file (to plain text) /US export score file Summary /UX eXport score file /UR Registration form /CC set screen Colors /CS set menu Selector character /CP set Password /CE assign Editor Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 13 QA Command List --------------- /FL Load a database /FC Continue with a previously-saved database /FS Save a database for later resumption /FQ Quit database /FX eXit to DOS The Command Line ---------------- QASA and QA do not require any command-line parameters or argu- ments. They will, however, allow you to specify the name of a database file on the command line so that the program may be invoked from a batch file. You can also specify the default view modes (sequential/random and all/unanswered). If you specify the name of a database file on the command line, you do not have to enter the extension. QASA will change the extension as required, and add one if it is omitted. For example, to start QASA using a sample database provided, you simply type QASA DEMO1 <ENTER> or QA DEMO1 <ENTER> The opening screen will be displayed normally, but once you press ENTER, the database file DEMO1 will be automatically loaded. To tell QASA (or QA) which view mode to start with, use the /V command option. The 'V' must be followed by one or two letters, as follows: /V ('s' OR 'r') ('a' OR 'u') There may not be any spaces between any of the letters. The letters are as follows: a view All u view Unanswered s view Sequentially r view Randomly Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 14 These options can be given in any order. The following are all valid. /Va Select 'view all', accept default for ordering /Vsu Select 'view unanswered' and 'sequential order' /vUr Select 'view unanswered' and 'random order' /FO - Open A Database --------------------- When you issue this command, QASA or QA will display the name of the directory you started the program from; e.g., the current working directory. If your database files are located in this directory, simply press RETURN to accept the default name. If your database files are located in another directory, you may edit the directory name. QASA/QA will remember the new directory name and present it as the default the next time you use this command. When specifying the directory, you may select a different disk drive followed by the path name to the database files in conven- tional DOS form: D:\DIR\DIR... If you clear the name of the directory by using the backspace key or by using the HOME key followed by Ctrl-End, QASA/QA will automatically insert the name of the current working directory after you press RETURN. Note that you will not see this occur as the window will be closed as soon as you press RETURN. However, the directory shown the next time you invoke the /FL command will be the current working directory again. If you enter a drive or directory that does not exist, you will receive an error message and you must enter the command again to specify the proper directory. If you enter the drive identifier of a floppy disk drive, and the drive door is open, you will receive an error, and you will be given the opportunity to close the drive door and retry the command. Note: Certain DOS configurations can cause apparent errors that QASA or QA cannot detect. If, for example, you have installed a 'foreign' disk drive using the command "DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS <parameters>" and reassigned the name of a diskette drive using the DRIVPARM command in your CONFIG.SYS file (MS-DOS and PC-DOS 3.30 and later only), and you enter the original drive letter, QASA and QA will appear to hang. Actually, what is happening is that DOS wants you insert the diskette for the drive Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 15 you have reassigned it to, although you will not see the message DOS normally displays. All that is neces- sary is for you to press the RETURN key. Once you have entered the name of the directory containing your database files, QASA/QA will pop up a window to allow you to select from the compiled database files available in that direc- tory. If there are no database files in the directory, QASA/QA will display "[ empty ]". QASA/QA will NOT display any files other than compiled database files. To select a compiled database file, move the selection bar to it using the cursor keys, PgUp and PgDn, or Home and End. Each of these permits traveling up and down the scrollable list in larger increments. Alternatively, you may also press a letter key that corresponds to the first character of the database filename; QASA/QA will find the first file beginning with that letter. Successive depressions of the same key will step to each database name that begins with that letter. The search stops at the last file that begins with that letter. The search always proceeds down the list; to restart the search, press HOME to move the selector back to the first file in the list. Once you have pointed to the file you desire, press RETURN. The compiled database file will be opened. If the optional score logging has been enabled in the database, QASA/QA will request that you enter your name for the score file (you may not proceed until you have done so, although you may abort the command at this point by pressing ESC). The first question will then appear on the screen, along with the number of questions in the database in the scoring window. The name of the database will also be shown in the center of the top border of the question window if it has been specified in the database. If no title was specified, then the window title will default to "Question". Note: When you open a database file that specifies a score file name, and that score file already exists, QASA and QA will check to insure that the encryption modes are compatible. If not, they will display an error message and override the encryption setting in the database file you opened. For example, if you create two separate databases, both of which specify the same name for the score file, but only one has score file encryption enabled, you will receive an error when you load the second database, no matter which one you load first. The order will affect only the encryption of the score file, which is deter- mined by the first database loaded. If you always use a different score file for each database, or are consis- Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 16 tent with score file encryption, you should experience no problems. Note that QASA and QA will still function properly, however. Each time you open a database file with score file logging enabled, QASA/QA will request your name, even if you have already entered it. This is to allow other users to open the same data- base without using the same name for all users. If score file logging is not enabled, QASA/QA doesn't force you to enter your name. You may do this anyway with QASA if you wish, using the /N (Name) command, and QASA will politely display it when it dis- plays your final score. If the database you open has a time limit associated with it, the time remaining will be displayed in the status window under the heading 'Time Left', and the clock will start. The time is counted down to zero, and always shows the time you have remain- ing before QASA/QA stops you and calculates your final score. If the database does not specify a time limit, the 'Time Left' field will not be displayed. If you allow the time to count down to zero, it will change to 'Time Out'. Note: If you press the help key while a timed database is loaded, the time display will not be updated until you exit the help system. QASA/QA will, however, internally track the remaining time. You may NOT extend the time by using help. To permit QASA/QA to utilize relatively large databases (~40,000 questions and their answers in a 640K system), QASA and QA load an index into memory rather than the database file itself. The database index is created by QASA in the form of a header in the database file itself. Note that this is also true of the help file to minimize the memory used by QASA and QA. The database file (.QA) should never be changed directly, as it is encrypted to prevent users from copying the file to the screen or a printer and thereby viewing the answers. If you wish to create a new database or alter an existing one, you must edit the database definition file (.DEF) and recompile it using QASA. QASA will create a (.QA) file from your (.DEF) file. QASA will not permit you to use the .QA extension on a definition file, so you cannot accidentally overwrite a compiled database. You must create the database definition file and compile it before QASA or QA can be used. Instructions for doing this are in a later section of this guide. Note that this package contains compiled databases that you may use to test and evaluate QASA and QA. These files are called DEMOx.QA. The database definition Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 17 files they were created from are also included, and are called DEMOx.DEF, where 'x' is the demo number. /FS - Save a Database --------------------- This command will save the present state of a database so that you may return and continue with it later. IT WILL NOT WORK IF THE DATABASE HAS A TIME LIMIT ASSOCIATED WITH IT. If you issue this command on a database that has no time limit, the state of the database will be saved in a file in the current directory with the same base name as the database, but with an extension of ".SAV". You may have different .SAV files in differ- ent directories for the same database if you wish. Note: If you issue this command or the /FO (File/Load Data- base) command, any existing .SAV file for that database will be erased from the current working directory of the disk, and you will not be able to resume it. The /FO command, by definition, specifies that you wish to restart the database from the beginning. Once you issue the /FS command, the database will be saved and you will be returned to the main screen so that you may execute another command. /FR - Restore a Saved Database ------------------------------ This command will allow you to restore a database that was previously saved using the /FS (File/Save Database) command. It works exactly like the /FO (File/Open) command, except that the list of files displayed will have an extension of ".SAV" instead of ".QA". If no database file has been saved, "[ empty ]" will be displayed. When this command is used, the previous state of the database is restored. The question that was on the screen will be redis- played, and the scoring window will reflect the previous state of the database. Note that once you have completed a quiz or test database, any .SAV file in the directory from which the database was originally loaded will be erased. You cannot, therefore, resume a completed database. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 18 /FC - Close Database -------------------- This command will close the current database and update the score file if one is specified. /FD - Shell To DOS ------------------ This command may be used to invoke a secondary copy of the DOS command processor COMMAND.COM (or whatever file is specified by the "SHELL=" environment variable). QASA will remain loaded. Note that this command will NOT work if a database is currently open (the open database could consume all available memory, so you will always receive an error message). This command is not avail- able in QA.EXE. Once DOS has been invoked, you may execute any commands you wish, although you will have less memory available. When you wish to return to QASA, type 'EXIT' at the DOS prompt. The previous state of QASA will be restored to the screen. /FX - Exit to DOS ----------------- Use this command to quit a QASA/QA session and return to DOS. If you have loaded a database but have not answered all questions, the score file will be updated with your current score and a notation that you quit QASA/QA. You cannot exit QASA/QA, clear the database, or reload the current or new database without updating your score file. This prevents extending time limits and/or starting a quiz over again without any knowledge by the administrator that such an event occurred. Also, when you quit a QASA/QA session using this command, any saved database file of the same name is erased from disk, pre- venting resumption if the database had been previously saved. As a general rule, whenever your final score is displayed (and optionally, the score file is updated), or whenever you load a database using the /FL (File/Load Database) command, any associ- ated .SAV file will be erased. Note: Pressing Control-C or Control-Break is interpreted the same as /FX without the RETURN. Simply press RETURN to update the score file and return to DOS. This is so that these break sequences cannot be used to break out of the program without writing a score file record. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 19 /VS - View Sequential --------------------- The sequential view option tells QASA/QA that you wish to answer the questions in the same order as they appear in the database file (this is the default). When selected, the new mode will appear in the scoring window. This option does NOT cause QASA to start reading from the beginning of the file; it simply changes the method used to determine the next question. Sequential mode reads the questions from the database in a circular fashion. This allows switching between view modes. Note that this command may be locked out by an option given in the database definition file. If this is the case, the command will simply be ignored. No warning will be given indicating that the command is locked out. /VR - View Random ----------------- The random view option is used when you want QASA to choose the questions at random. The random number sequence is different each time the program is run. In this mode, QASA will select the next question at random. Note that this command may be locked out by an option given in the database definition file. If this is the case, the command will simply be ignored. No warning will be given indicating that the command is locked out. /VA - View All Questions ------------------------ In this presentation mode, QASA will display ALL questions, whether you have answered them or not (see the discussion of view modes on page 7). If a question has already been answered, your answer will reappear. This mode allows you to review your answers and make any changes you wish. In this mode, QASA will NOT end the quiz session when all ques- tions have been answered. You must close the database to receive your final score and have your score record written to disk. One of the features of QASA is its ability to display the correct answer to a question you have answered incorrectly. This feature is enabled or disabled by the test writer. If it is enabled, such that correct answers are displayed, QASA will NOT allow you to review or change your answer, since you now know the correct one. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 20 None of the presentation modes will allow you to access a ques- tion once you have seen the answer. /VU - View Unanswered Questions Only ------------------------------------ This is the default presentation mode. In this view mode, QASA will show you only questions that have not been answered (see the discussion on view modes on page 7). If you answer a question and you wish to change your answer, you may switch to 'View All' mode described above. If you have been shown the answer, however, you cannot change your answer. When all of the questions have been answered, QASA will end the session automatically and write a score record to disk. /VC - Clear ----------- Use the Clear option to reset your score back to zero and to reset the question index back to the beginning of the file. The question index is cleared only by using this command or by loading a new database. If you use this command, a record will be written to the score file indicating that the database was started over. Note that this command may be locked out by an option given in the database definition file. If this is the case, the command will simply be ignored. No warning will be given indicating that the command is locked out. /N - Name --------- This command is used to enter your name, which is placed into the score file and also displayed when the quiz session is completed or otherwise terminated. When this command is given, a data entry window will pop up and prompt for your name and/or any other identifying information. You may enter up to 35 characters. If a database is loaded that specifies a score file, this command will not work. In this case, you will be prompted to enter your name when the database is loaded; you may not change it until the database has been completed or aborted. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 21 /UE - Edit Database ------------------- This command will operate only if you have assigned an editor using the /CE (Configure/Editor) command. When you issue this command, QASA or QA will display the name of the directory you started the program from; e.g., the current working directory. If your database definition files are located in this directory, simply press RETURN to accept the default name. If your database definition files are located in another directory, you may edit the directory name. QASA/QA will remember the new directory name and present it as the default the next time you use this command. When specifying the directory, you may select a different disk drive followed by the path name to the database files in conven- tional DOS form: D:\DIR\DIR..... If you clear the name of the directory by using the backspace key or by using the HOME key followed by Ctrl-End, QASA/QA will automatically insert the name of the current working directory after you press RETURN. Note that you will not see this occur as the window will be closed as soon as you press RETURN. However, the directory shown the next time you invoke the /FL command will be the current working directory again. If you enter a drive or directory that does not exist, you will receive an error message and you must enter the command again to specify the proper directory. If you enter the drive identifier of a floppy disk drive, and the drive door is open, you will receive an error, and you will be given the opportunity to close the drive door and retry the command. Once you have entered the name of the directory containing your database definition files, QASA will pop up a window to allow you to select from the database definition files available in that directory. If there are no database definition files in the directory, QASA will display "[ empty ]". QASA will NOT display any files other than database definition files. To select a database definition file, move the selection bar to it using the cursor keys, PgUp and PgDn, or Home and End. Each of these permits traveling up and down the scrollable list in larger increments. Alternatively, you may also press a letter key that corresponds to the first character of the filename; QASA will find the first file beginning with that letter. Successive depressions of the same key will step to each database name that Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 22 begins with that letter. The search stops at the last file that begins with that letter. The search always proceeds down the list; to restart the search, press HOME to move the selector back to the first file in the list. Once you have pointed to the file you desire, press RETURN. The full pathname of the database definition file you have selected will be passed to your editor, and the editor will be started. QASA will remain in memory. When you exit your editor, QASA will resume. You may then compile your database and test it. If you need to make corrections, simply call up your editor again with this command to make the necessary changes. /UC - Invoke QASA Compiler --------------------------- This command (QASA only) is used to compile a database definition file into a compiled database file that may be executed by QASA. This command is password-protected, and cannot be executed while a database is loaded even if you know the password. See the section entitled "Using the QASA Compiler" on page 40 for a full explanation on invoking and using the compiler. /UL - List Compiled Quiz ------------------------ This command (QASA only) enables you to make a hard copy of a compiled database for archival and/or reference purposes. All of the information in the database definition file is included in the listing. The command is password-protected. The listing will begin a header that specifies the selected options and parameters, and then follow with each question and answer in the database. Information associated with each question is included with the question. The listing file will always have exactly the same name as the compiled database, except it will have an extension of .LST. Since the name is identical, the path is also, so the listing file will always be placed in the same directory as the compiled database definition file. You should be aware that listing files can become quite large - they will usually be about the same size as your database definition file. The listing file does not contain paging information - it is a continuous file. If you have selected a random subset, the listing will show which questions were selected (IF you specify that the selection be made at compile time). The following is a partial example from Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 23 the supplied sample database. It has been edited slightly to fit in this User's Guide. ----------------------------------------------------------------- QA Study Aid V5.30 Database Listing Copyright 1988 Quid Pro Quo Software. All Rights Reserved. ************** Database Parameters ****************** Database Name: QA Study Aid Sample Database Database File: D:\QASA\V530\SAMPLE.QA Score Filename: SAMPLE.SCR Score File Options: Include Answers Total Questions: 20 out of 26 (randomly selected at run time) Total Weight: 37 Time Limit: 00:10:00 (HH:MM:SS) Mode Lock: None Clear Command: Enabled Answer Display: Enabled Source Lines: 636 Letter Grades: 13 95.00 = "A+" 80.00 = "B" 70.00 = "C" 63.00 = "D" 90.00 = "A" 75.00 = "B-" 67.00 = "C-" 60.00 = "D-" 85.00 = "A-" 73.00 = "C+" 65.00 = "D+" 59.99 = "F" 83.00 = "B+" Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 24 *********************** Question 1 ********************** Source Line: 172 Presentation: Enabled Punctuation: Remove Point Weight: 3 (percentage determined dynamically) --------------------- Question Text --------------------- 1. Fill-in: QASA requires a minimum of _____ bytes of memory. ---------------------- Answer List ---------------------- QASA requires at least 256K of memory. 256000 256K 256KB 256 K 256 KB *********************** Question 2 ********************** Source Line: 195 Presentation: Enabled Punctuation: Remove Point Weight: 1 (percentage determined dynamically) --------------------- Question Text --------------------- 2. Multiple-choice: How many questions and answers can typically be put in a QASA database, assuming your computer has 512K bytes of free memory when QASA is started? A. 1000 B. Limited by disk space C. 40,000 D. All of the above E. None of the above ---------------------- Answer List ----------------------- C. 40,000. Each question requires 10 bytes of memory. C 40K 40000 ... and so on. The end of the listing is marked by the line ************************** End **************************** Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 25 /UD - Decrypt Score File ------------------------ This command (QASA only) is used to decrypt a score file. The command is password-protected. It will pop up a directory window so that you may enter the directory containing the score file to decrypt, or you may accept the directory shown by pressing ENTER. Once you have selected the directory, a file-selection window will be displayed so that you may select the score file to decrypt. Once you select a score file, the file will be converted to plain ASCII text. If the file is not encrypted, you will receive an error message. THE DECRYPTED SCORE FILE REPLACES THE ORIGINAL FILE. All score files are named using the base score file name defined in the database definition file, with an extension of ".SCR". /US - Export Score File Summary ------------------------------- This command (QASA only) is used to export the contents of summary fields in the score file to a file whose format is acceptable to the vast majority of database and spreadsheet programs. This command is password-protected. By using this command, you may import all scores for an entire class into a spreadsheet, for example, and use the spreadsheet to calculate bell curves, normalize the scores or convert them to another form. You could average the scores for several QASA quiz sessions. You may also use a database program to maintain a history by student of all quizzes and their scores. This command will pop up a directory window so that you may enter the directory containing the score file to export, or you may accept the directory shown by pressing ENTER. Once you have selected the directory, a file-selection window will be displayed so that you may select the score file to export. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 26 QASA will then locate and export certain fields in the score file, creating one line for each record in the score file, as follows: Student,Database,Score,Grade,Termination,Time,Administrator where: Student is the student's name in quotes Database is the name of the database in quotes Score is the final score Grade is the letter grade in quotes Termination is the termination explanation in quotes Time is the elapsed time in seconds Administrator is the name of the test administrator for this student Note that QASA will also export a header line, which you may delete from the spreadsheet or database if you wish. The follow- ing is an example of an exported score file containing two records. Note that the two header lines are actually exported as one line. "Student","Database","Score","Grade","Termination","Time", "Administrator" "John Public","Pop Quiz",79.23,"C+","Time Out",720,"A. Teacher" "Jane Doe","Math Quiz",94.00,"A","Completed",298,"A. Teacher" If you are exporting the score file for use with Lotus(r) 1-2-3, you would use the /FI (File/Import) command. Be sure to select the "Numbers" option. /UX - Export Score File ----------------------- This command (QASA only) is used to export the entire contents of the score file in a form that can be imported into spreadsheet and/or database programs. The data obtained from this export can be used for statistical analysis of problem subject areas, analysis of teacher effectiveness by subject area or as a whole, and a myriad of other uses. Since spreadsheet and database programs have a finite limit on the number of columns (spreadsheets) or fields per record (data- bases), this command analyzes the contents of the score file and arranges the record for each student into a single column. All data that pertains to a particular student will be contained in Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 27 its own column. The underlying assumption is that there will be fewer student records than there will be questions, which are placed in rows. Since the score file may contain records for different tests, each of which may have a different number of questions, the number of rows in the exported data will be equal to the number of questions in the student record with the most questions. This means that there may be cells in some student records for which no question exists if the row number exceeds the number of questions in that test. These cells are always filled with zero. For any particular question, an entry may contain one of four numeric values that describe how the question was answered. These 'answer codes' are as follows. 0 the question does not exist 1 the student did not answer the question 2 the question was answered INCORRECTLY 3 the question was answered CORRECTLY Similarly, since QASA can capture the literal text typed in by the test taker, these fields will be exported if ANY score file record contains literal answers. The literal answer strings will follow the questions, row-by-row, doubling the number of rows in the resulting export file. If the score file field does not have a literal answer associated with it, or if answer was left blank, then the literal field for that question will be an empty string; e.g., "". The first ten rows in the export file will contain the summary data in the same order as that exported by the Export Score File Summary command described above. Rows 11 and higher contain the answer data for each question in the test. Note that the default length of a literal answer string is five characters. You can increase this using the X= option in the database. /UR - Registration Form ------------------------ WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE THIS COMMAND TO REGISTER QASA! This command (QASA only) will print a registration form to make it as easy as possible for you to register your copy of QA Study Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 28 Aid. It is only a form and cannot force you to register. You can also use CompuServe to register single copies. You may print the form to any device or any file. The device must be able to interpret carriage return, line feed, backspace, form feed, and normal text. The registration form will prompt your for the necessary informa- tion. In addition, it will determine a number of items concerning your system configuration for support purposes. If any of the configuration items is incorrect, please make the necessary corrections. For example, QASA will not detect an LCD screen - only color or monochrome. The will calculate and display the registration fee based upon the number of copies you wish to register and the options you select. The form will require that you complete certain fields before it will write the form to the output device you select. For example, you must enter your name and address, since we must have this information to mail your registration number. CREATING CODED E-MAIL This is a method of registration that allows you to send us an order that includes your credit card information, yet still keep your order and your credit card information confidential. The message can be read only by Quid Pro Quo Software. All of the data in your order is encrypted in such a way that it can be sent as a mail message through any electronic mail service. The only requirement is that the mail service be able to accept a message as an uploaded file. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SEND AN E-MAIL ORDER BY TYPING THE MESSAGE FROM A PRINTED PAGE! To create the message file, select "Create Coded E-Mail", and then enter a filename as the output device. QASA will generate an encrypted message and write to the file you specify. Send this message to Quid Pro Quo Software via electronic mail. ***** IMPORTANT ***** YOU CANNOT EXPECT THE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM TO WITHSTAND A DELIB- ERATE ATTEMPT TO DECODE IT. THE ALGORITHM IS NOT SECURE. IF YOU WISH TO HAVE MORE SECURITY, YOU SHOULD NOT USE EMAIL FOR CREDIT CARD REGISTRATION. QUID PRO QUO SOFTWARE ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBIL- ITY FOR THE SECURITY OF ANY INFORMATION SENT OVER ANY TYPE OF EMAIL SYSTEM. If you order QA Study Aid using an email service, we will reply to you using the reply address through the same email service if Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 29 possible. If we cannot respond through the same mail service, we will send your registration number by mail. /CS - Set Screen Colors ----------------------- This command (QASA only) is used to modify the screen colors. A color map of all possible color is displayed, along with a simulated menu window. A title bar at the top of the screen specifies which portion of the screen you are modifying. All color selections are performed by using the cursor keys to point to the desired color. The PgUp and PgDn keys are used to alter the title bar, thereby changing the item whose color is to be modified. The simulated menu will change with each color change so that you may see the effect of the changes. Once you have set the colors as you wish, press ENTER to save the new colors in the configuration file, or ESCape to cancel the changes. For the full effect of the changes to be seen, you must quit QASA and then restart it so that it will redraw all screens using the new color set. /CM - Set Menu Selector Character --------------------------------- QASA and QA use a specific character to call up (out of an answer prompt if displayed) the menu system. This character defaults to the forward slash ('/'), but you may change it to any character you wish in the printable ASCII range of '!' through '~', inclu- sive. Once you change it, it is saved in the configuration file and will therefore be set each time you start QASA or QA. If you change your mind, you can reset the character or press ESCape to cancel the command. The current menu selector character is always displayed at the bottom of the question/answer window ('/' for Menus). This command is not available with QA.EXE. /CP - Set Password ------------------ This command (QASA only) is used to set or change the password that allows access to the compiler, score file decoder, and the score file export commands. It cannot be used if QASA is execut- ing under OS/2. You must do this while running under MS-DOS or PC-DOS or by using the 'load specific DOS version' feature of OS/2 2.0. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 30 QASA is distributed with no password. Anyone may therefore use the password-protected commands until and unless a password is entered using this command. When this command is selected, if there is a password, you will be asked to enter it. You cannot change a password unless you know the current password. The password may be any series of characters in the range of space through a tilde ('~'), inclu- sive, and may contain up to 19 characters. If there is no current password, you will not be asked to enter it. Once you have entered the current password, if any, you will be asked to enter the new password. Once you have done this, you will be prompted to confirm it. If the two passwords match, the new password will be encrypted and stored. Any attempt to identi- fy or modify the password will render QASA useless; it will no longer execute. Note that once a valid password has been entered, QASA is 'un- locked', and you will not be required to enter the password again for any function (until you quit and restart the program). /CE - Assign Editor ------------------- This command (QASA only) allows you to assign your favorite editor to QASA for use by the /UE (Utilities/Edit) command. Since QA Study Aid uses a plain text file, it does not include its own editor. An editor is likely to be a matter of strong personal preference. For this reason, QASA allows you to assign your own editor. Once assigned, you may use the /UE command to edit your database definition file, then return to QASA to compile and test your database. QASA effectively integrates your editor choice into its user interface. To be most useful when used with QASA, your editor should be able to accept the name of the file to edit as a parameter on the command line. If it cannot do so, then you will have to manually select the database file to edit once your editor has been started. Like batch (.BAT) files, QASA allows you to specify the name of the database definition file using a special marker: "%name%" (without the quotes). When you start the editor with the /UE command, QASA will display a list of your database definition files (.DEF). The file you select will be passed to your editor Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 31 in place of the special marker. For example, let's say your editor is named EDITOR.COM, can accept filenames on its command line, and requires two other arguments, "/This" and "/That", to be configured the way you like it. You could use any one of the following lines to assign your editor for use with QASA. EDITOR.COM /This /That %name% C:\UTILS\EDITOR.COM %name% /This /That EDITOR %name% /This /That The third form will likely be the most familiar to you, since it is almost identical to the way the command would be issued on the command line. This form will work fine with QASA, but it will cause DOS to search the PATH to find EDITOR.COM. The second form is the most efficient, since it tells DOS exactly where the editor is, thereby avoiding the PATH search and allowing faster loading. In all cases, "%name%" will be replaced by the name of the database definition file you select with the /UE command. Scoring Window -------------- The scoring window always shows the current state of both you and QASA/QA. The scoring window is blank until a database is loaded, so you may easily ascertain if a database is loaded or not. The items that may appear in the scoring window are described below. Time Left This shows the time remaining to answer all questions in a database that has a time lim- it. If the database does not have a time limit, this field will not be displayed. If the database has a time limit associated with it, you will see this time counting down to zero. At zero, it will change to 'Time Out'. Mode This is the current question-indexing mode, and will be "Random" or "Sequential". QASA always starts up in sequential mode. The mode may be specified in the database. This field also shows if the 'view all' mode is active by appending '/All' to the sequence string, as 'Sequential/All' or 'Random/All'. If the '/All' suffix is not displayed, then the presentation mode is 'view unanswered'. Questions This specifies the total number of questions in the database. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 32 Answered This indicates the number of questions that you have answered. When it equals the number of questions in the database, your final score will be displayed. Correct This is the number of questions that you have answered correctly. Score Your score is a simple ratio of the number of possible points to the number you have been awarded, and is displayed in percent. Grade If optional letter-grade equivalencies have been assigned in the database, and the grade display has not been turned OFF, then this will show the current grade that has been achieved relative to the score. The database may be configured so that the grade is not displayed at all until a certain score has been achieved; once this base score is achieved, the grade will be updated along with the score. If the grade display has been turned off, or if there are no grade equiva- lencies in the database, then this field will not be shown. Answering Questions ------------------- QASA/QA do not require you to answer questions in the order they are presented (as defined by the mode). QASA/QA will determine the next question using the mode you select (or the mode that been forced in the database), but once the question is displayed, you may elect to skip it (intending to come back to it later) and let QASA/QA present the next one. QASA/QA will remember that the question was skipped and display it again at some later time, depending upon the mode you have selected. Skipping a question is done simply by pressing ENTER when QASA/QA prompts for an answer. The question will not be scored, but QASA/QA will present it again after you have answered all of the remaining questions (sequential mode) or at any time (random mode). You may not omit a question, but you may essentially scan through the questions and answer them in the order you choose. QASA/QA will always display the number of percentage points you will be awarded, if you answer correctly, at the right of the answer window. The number of points displayed is the ratio of the total weight of all questions in the database (or of all ques- Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 33 tions in a subset of the database) to the weight of the question in points relative to 100%, as defined in the compiled database. If you answer incorrectly, you are awarded zero points. You may also enter a command any time you are being prompted for an answer. Creating a Database ------------------- The database is the heart of QASA. QASA receives virtually all of the information it needs to present and score your answers from the database. The database is created from a plain ASCII, or 'flat' file, and then compiled using the database compiler within QASA. The input given to QASA is called the database definition file; the output of QASA is the compiled database. QASA creates and destroys one intermediate file (with an extension of ".$$$") as it compiles the database definition file. QASA will require free disk space approximately equal to twice the size of the database definition file. QASA supports a large number of options that may be used to control the quiz session. Each option is specified using a command keyword followed by zero or more lines of text. It is important to remember that keywords must be on a line by them- selves with NO OTHER TEXT. If you use a word processor program to create the database definition file, be sure to use its 'non-document' mode to insure that it won't put in any formatting codes. A plain ASCII text editor is recommended (EDLIN, or preferably EDIT, which are included with DOS, are two such editors). To enable QASA to handle all of the common question formats except 'essay' questions, a very general database arrangement is used. QASA expects each question to be followed by the correct answer, which it uses to check the answer typed in by the user. QASA can handle multiple-choice, true/false, and fill-in-the- blank questions with equal ease. The database must contain one instance of each of two keywords for each question in the database. These keywords are, exactly, in quotes: Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 34 "Q=" "A=" As you might expect, these stand for "question" and "answer". The question MUST precede the answer. QASA will complain about any irregularities it finds in the database when it constructs the compiled database file. The following is a simple example of a question and answer as they might appear in the database definition file. It is a multiple-choice question. The following text is entered into the database definition file: Q= Multiple-choice: What is the capital of Pennsylvania? A. Philadelphia B. Washington, D.C. C. Harrisburg D. None of the above A= C QASA/QA will display the question beginning on the line immedi- ately following the 'Q=' line. The end of the question is marked by the 'A='. All lines between these markers form the question, which QASA will display exactly as it appears in the database. You may, therefore, format your questions any way that you wish. QASA does absolutely no interpretation of the text you enter for a question. QASA will impose NO restrictions other than the number of rows and columns; you may use up to 15 lines of 76 characters. If the question contains more than 15 lines, the extra lines will be discarded and you will receive an error message. Blank lines between the end of the actual question and the 'A=' line are effectively discarded and do not count against the 15 lines allowed. The question above, therefore, consists of seven lines, not eight. Note that the 'Multiple-choice' prompt is actually a part of the database - NOT hard-coded into QASA. You may include this as part of your database or omit it if you wish. Similarly, you may number your questions any way you wish, or not at all. QASA/QA, however, will consider them to be numbered sequentially beginning with one as the first question in the database when it creates a score file entry. The answer follows beginning on the line immediately after the 'A='. In this example, it is 'C'. All this means is that QASA Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 35 will score as correct any response to the question that is exactly 'C' OR 'c' - case is not significant. QASA/QA does some preformatting of these strings prior to the comparison, however. Both the answer in the database and the answer typed in when the database is executed are processed the same way: 1. All surrounding whitespace, including newlines, is removed. This means that C and C are equivalent and are themselves equivalent to the 'C' in the example above. 2. All whitespace (blanks and tabs) between words is col- lapsed to a single space: "Washington, D.C." and "Washington, D.C." are equivalent. 3. All characters are folded to uppercase; 'Yes' and 'yes' are therefore equivalent. 4. Punctuation is optionally removed. Punctuation is removed as if it did not exist. When P= precedes a question, then "Washington, D.C." and "Washington DC" are equivalent. Note that punctuation is REMOVED, not replaced with space characters. This also means that "Washington,D.C." becomes "WashingtonDC" when punctuation is removed. If you plan on removing punctuation, be sure you include answers in the answer list as they would appear when they are typed in, using only punctuation as delimiters (no spaces). These steps insure that a response will not be scored as incor- rect due to the position or character case of any part of the response in either your answer or that in the database. Note that these same rules are also applied to the 'Q=' and 'A=' markers. They may, therefore, appear anywhere on the line. You cannot, however, insert anything between 'Q' and '=', nor can you put anything else on the line with the command keyword. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 36 In the example above, one correct answer was specified. The only answer that could be scored as correct is 'C' (and 'c', of course). Note that we could just as well have used numbers as selectors and given '3' as the answer. QASA makes no attempt to interpret this information; it simply looks for an exact match based on the criteria outlined above. This next example will demonstrate a true/false question. Q= Answer true or false: QASA understands the information in the database. A= False Note the (valid) position of the 'A='. This time we have indented the question using tabs. When QASA compiles the question, it expands the tabs automatically (using 8-column tab stops) to maintain the alignment as it is in the database definition file. We also have three blank lines after the 'Q='; this serves to shift the question down toward the center of the question window to make it look nicer. This example is not good practice (although it will be compiled correctly), since the 'A=' would be easy to miss if the database were edited, and the indentation is inconsistent. It does, however, have a more serious drawback: to get the question right, you must type in 'false' - all 5 characters - and 'false' is one word I just cannot type (it always comes out 'flase')! For a true/false question, one would be likely to respond with 'T', 'F', 'yes', 'y', 'no', 'n', or possibly '1' and '0'. To accommodate these options, QASA allows more than one correct answer. In fact, every nonblank line following 'A=' is treated as a correct answer. The second example above, then, would be more appropriately given by Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 37 Q= Answer true or false: QASA understands the information in the database. A= False F No N 0 This permits any of the five answers to be regarded as correct. If you give an incorrect response to a question (e.g., one that is not among the list of correct answers), QASA will display the correct answer for you, as well as omit one or more points from your score. When QASA/QA displays the correct answer, it uses the first one given in the answer list. What this means is that QASA/QA will display Incorrect. The correct answer is False Press any key to continue. which is more professional than 'N', for example. This feature adds a lot of versatility to QASA and QA. Since QASA/QA is intended to be a study aid as well as a general- purpose testing program, it provides reinforcement of incorrect answers by permitting a more complete correct answer. To demon- strate this, we'll use a third example; this time, a fill-in-the- blank question: Q= The speed of light is ______ km/sec. A= Light travels at 300,000 km/sec. 300000 300,000 300K Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 38 In this example, an incorrect response will elicit Incorrect. The correct answer is Light travels at 300,000 km/sec. Press any key to continue. Of course, this is also a correct answer in itself, but not a likely one. If you do enter it, it will be scored as correct. You would, however, be required to include the comma, the slash between 'km' and 'sec', and the period. There are three more plausible correct answers that QASA would consider to be correct. Any one of them is sufficient to credit the answer as correct. Note that the display of the correct answer may be disabled beginning with Version 3.0 of QASA. This is done by issuing the 'D=' (Display Off) command in the database. This a global command and will turn off the display of all answers, no matter where you place the command in the database definition file. Macros ------ When creating a large database definition file, it is annoying to have to type the four or more common answers to a true/false question. To make this easier, QASA supports simple macros. A macro is a block of text that is inserted in place of a macro identifier. We may therefore create a macro for 'true' and a macro for 'false', and use the macro identifier instead of typing all four answer lines. These macros would look something like the following example. M= $TRUE$ true t yes y M= $FALSE$ false f no n Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 39 Q= Answer true or false: QASA understands the information in the database. A= $FALSE$ The "M=" is the macro keyword, and tells QASA that the following lines form a macro definition. The first line following the macro keyword is the macro identifier. You may use ANY character string as a macro identifier, provided it does not contain blanks or tabs. The dollar signs are not necessary, but serve nicely to identify $FALSE$ as a macro invocation. When QASA reads the identifier, it will substitute all lines following the macro identifier up to the first blank line or keyword, whichever is found first. Note that QASA will display "false" as the correct answer if the question is answered incorrectly, as it is the first answer in the answer list formed by expanding the macro. The above is a short introduction to creating a database defini- tion file. The following section describes the QASA compiler in detail. The QASA Database Compiler --------------------------- The QASA compiler is used whenever a database is first created or it is changed. AFTER YOU REGISTER QASA, YOU MUST ALSO RECOMPILE YOUR DATABASES. A password (if entered using the /UP command) is required to gain access to it. Once the database definition file has been created, it is compiled with QASA, and the compiled database file (which has an extension of .QA) is used with the QASA program. This offers several advantages, among them: 1. The database is encrypted. A user of QASA or QA cannot look in the file using any viewing, listing, or debug- ging program and see the questions and answers. The QASA/QA interpreter knows the encryption method and decrypts the database as it reads it. 2. The author of the database definition file may specify a number of options to control the quiz session. These options cannot be seen or modified by anyone using QASA or QA. 3. Since the database has been preprocessed by QASA, loading and display of questions is fast and error- Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 40 free. It is not necessary for QASA or QA to perform any formatting at run time. Using The QASA Compiler ------------------------ When you issue the /UC command, QASA will prompt for a password (if one has been defined), and will then display a window showing the current directory. If your database definition files are in another directory, you may edit the directory here using the standard DOS directory naming conventions. Once you accept the directory by pressing ENTER, a file-selection window will be displayed, listing all of the database definition files in that directory (e.g., all files with an extension of ".DEF"). QASA requires you to use an extension of ".DEF" for the database definition file. Select the file you wish to compile and press ENTER. QASA will compile the database and then present a screen showing the results of the compilation. QASA will not make any changes to the database definition file (your 'source' file). It will create a compiled database file of the same base name, but with an extension of .QA. If the database definition file is named QUIZ.DEF, then the compiled database will have a name of QUIZ.QA. If the compiled database file already exists, it is overwritten by QASA, and the original contents will be lost. QASA will NOT warn you of this. When QASA is finished, it will display the results of the compi- lation, including the options you selected in the definition file. The output below was produced by compiling the sample database SAMPLE.DEF (the screen window has been reduced horizon- tally to fit on the page). Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 41 +--------------------- Compilation Results --------------------- | Database Name: QA Study Aid Sample Database | Input File: D:\QASA\V530\SAMPLE.DEF | Output File: D:\QPQ\V530\SAMPLE.QA | Score Filename: SAMPLE.SCR | Score Options: Plain Text,Literal Answers,Record Administrator | Time Limit: 00:10:00 Total Weight: 37 | Clear Command: Enabled Mode Lock: (none) | Letter Grades: 13 Answer Display: Enabled | Source Lines: 636 Total Questions: 20 of 26 | Macro List: With Help Text: 2 | $TRUE$ | $FALSE$ | Press Any Key To Continue +--------------------------------------------------------------- QASA Language Syntax --------------------- QASA, being a true compiler, requires that you follow certain syntactical rules when creating a database definition file. The syntax was made as simple and forgiving as possible to minimize the learning time. The QASA language is line-oriented, meaning that QASA views its input in terms of whole lines. You may not, therefore, put two keyword markers on the same line, for example. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 42 The following is a short summary of the keywords that QASA uses. Q= Question text A= Answer list H= explanatory Help follows P= remove Punctuation from the next answer N= quiz Name M= Macro definition T= Time limit C= Clear not allowed S= lock in Sequential mode R= lock in Random mode F= output score Filename E= Encrypt score file W= assign Weighting G= assign letter-Grade equivalencies D= disable Display of incorrect answers L= Limit the number of questions to a subset O= omit the subset at compile time as opposed to run time V= View literal answers I= Ignore character X= set eXport length Each of these keywords is described in the following paragraphs. QASA scans and discards all text in the database definition file that is not part of a keyword interpretation. This means that you may insert comments almost anywhere, without using special comment delimiters or markers. Since QASA is line-oriented, you may not, of course, place a comment on the same line with any keyword or its associated text. Comments are otherwise unre- stricted. The sample database definition file SAMPLE.DEF provides many examples of the use of comments. Terminators ----------- Every QASA command keyword (e.g., "Q=", "A=", etc.) has a termi- nation, which tells the compiler when the end of the keyword interpretation has been reached. For all QASA keywords, with the single exception of the Q= keyword, the termination is the same: a blank line, another keyword, or end-of-file. In this context, a blank line is any line that contains zero or more space or tab characters only. For the Q= keyword, a blank line is NOT a termi- nation; only the 'A=' keyword terminates a question. This is to allow blank lines in the question text. You must be careful not to place comment lines between the Q= and A= keywords, since these will be regarded as part of the question and displayed on the QASA or QA screen. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 43 The Q= and A= Keywords ---------------------- As mentioned previously, Q= and A= are the keywords for 'ques- tion' and 'answer', respectively. The syntax is as follows: Q= <question text> <question text> <blank line(s)> .... <question text> <blank line(s)> A= <displayed answer> .... <termination> A question may not have more than 15 lines of text associated with it, and you are limited to 76 characters per line. Within this rectangular boundary, you are unrestricted. If you exceed the allowed number of lines or if a line contains more than 76 characters (after tab and macro expansion), QASA will display an error message. You are permitted any number of answer lines, limited only by the amount of memory available in the PC running QASA or QA. If the PC has 128K bytes or more of available memory (free memory above QASA, DOS, and all TSRs), you are essentially unrestricted. The H= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to assist the student in mastering the subject material by providing more detailed help when an answer is incorrect. For example, if a question is created in a way that some mathematical identity or formula must be known to the student in order to arrive at the correct answer, that identity or formula could be placed in the help section. If the student answers incorrectly, then the incorrect answer prompt will appear as follows. +-------- Incorrect. The correct answer is -------+ | | | The first line of the answer list | | | | Press F1 for information | Any key to Continue | +-------------------------------------------------+ Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 44 Note the prompt "Press F1 for information". This prompt will appear only on questions that have help text associated with them, and ONLY if the correct answer display has NOT been dis- abled with the D= keyword. THE H= KEYWORD MUST FOLLOW THE A= KEYWORD. Explanatory help becomes part of the question and answer. For example, consider the following question and answer. Q= Fill-in: In a right triangle, if the two sides intersecting at the right angle have lengths 3 and 4, the length of the hypotenuse is __. A= 5 The same question appears below with explanatory help. Q= Fill-in: In a right triangle, if the two sides intersecting at the right angle have lengths 3 and 4, the length of the hypotenuse is __. A= 5 H= The Pythagorean Theorem states that the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Therefore, (3*3)+(4*4)=25, the square root of which is 5. Like answer text, explanatory help text is terminated either by another keyword or by a blank line. One can easily avoid blank lines in an answer list, but blank lines may be needed in explan- atory help text. This is the purpose of the I= keyword described in the next section. The I= Keyword -------------- This keyword means "Ignore" and appears as follows. I= c where 'c' is a printable, non-space character called the 'ignore character'. If this keyword is not issued, the ignore character Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 45 does not exist. You may intentionally turn the ignore character off by placing a blank line after I=. as follows. I= * The ignore character is now an asterisk. I= The ignore character is now disabled. The ignore character is valid only when it is the FIRST CHARACTER on any given line. It serves to make a line non-blank, but does not otherwise exist. For example, to place the text I= * H= The ignore character is disabled by placing a blank line after the I= keyword, as follows: I= (text required here or I= will be interpreted as a keyword!) * The ignore character is now disabled. I= In the above example, the line beginning with the asterisk is shortened by one by removing the asterisk. However, before its removal, it caused the line to be interpreted as part of the explanatory help and not as a blank line, which is how it will appear when displayed. Note that the asterisk was assigned as the ignore character and then disable after the explanatory help. It is not necessary to disable the ignore character, but you must remember that it will be ignored (removed) if it appears as the first character of a line. The P= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to simplify the answer list for answers that contain unimportant punctuation. For example, if the correct answer to a question is "Washington, D.C.", you may not want a student scored as incorrect if he or she were to answer with "Washington DC". The P= keyword prevents this situation. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 46 The P= keyword applies ONLY to the next answer list following the keyword. Once the next answer is compiled, punctuation is once again significant. Also, the P= keyword causes punctuation to be stripped from all answer lines beginning with the SECOND answer line. This is so that the correct answer can be displayed with all punctuation intact if the question is answered incorrectly. To elaborate on the "Washington, D.C." example, you could use: P= Q= What is the capitol of the United States? A= Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Note that the FIRST answer line will be left intact, but all punctuation will be removed from the second line when it is compiled. Also, when the user enters an answer in response to the question, all punctuation will be removed from the answer before it is compared to the answer list. Therefore, any answer that contains "Washington DC" will be scored as correct: "Washington, DC", "Washington D.C.", and so on. It is NOT necessary to include the punctuation in the second answer line above. This keyword is also useful for numbers; e.g., it removes any distinction between "1,000" and "1000", and between "$50" and "50". In some cases you will have to exercise caution, as in "$50.00", where "5000" would be scored as correct, even though it is not at all what was intended. The N= Keyword -------------- The N= keyword is used to specify the quiz name. The name must appear on the line following the keyword, and may be up to 60 characters in length. When the database is loaded into QASA or QA, this name appears in the top border of the center (question) window. For example, to name a quiz on American history as such, you would use N= American History Quiz Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 47 The M= Keyword -------------- The M= keyword is the macro definition keyword, and indicates to QASA that the following lines are a macro definition. The macro definition takes the following form: M= <macro identifier> <first macro line> <second macro line> .............. <Nth macro line> <termination> Macros are expanded only within question and answer text, so you may not use a macro to specify a score file name, for example. To build a macro for 'TRUE' from two other macros, you could use: M= $T$ True T M= $Y$ Yes Y M= $TRUE$ $T$ $Y$ We have defined three macros, "$T$", "$Y$", and "$TRUE$". If QASA encounters $TRUE$ in a question or answer, it will replace it with: True T Yes Y because "True" and "T" are expansions of $T$ and "Yes" and "Y" are expansions of $Y$. Note that blank lines are unnecessary between the macro definitions, since each is terminated by the M= keyword of the following macro. Macro invocations MUST be surrounded by whitespace. For example, many multiple-choice questions use the blanket selectors "none of Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 48 the above" and "all of the above". You could therefore use the following macros: M= $NONE$ None of the above. M= $ALL$ All of the above. and write a multiple-choice question as: Q= Multiple-choice: In what year did Christopher Columbus land in the New World? 1. 1592 2. 1492 3. 1066 4. $NONE$ 5. $ALL$ A= 2. 1492 2 1492 QASA will expand this to: Q= Multiple-choice: In what year did Christopher Columbus land in the New World? 1. 1592 2. 1492 3. 1066 4. None of the above. 5. All of the above. A= 2. 1492 2 1492 Remember that the QASA compiler is line-oriented, however. If you put the following in the database definition file: Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 49 M= $NW$ New World Q= Multiple-choice: In what year did Christopher Columbus land in the $NW$? 1. 1592 2. 1492 3. 1066 4. None of the above. 5. All of the above. QASA will NOT expand it because there is no whitespace between $NW$ and the '?'. If, however, you use M= $NW$ New World Q= Multiple-choice: In what year did Christopher Columbus land in the $NW$ ? 1. 1592 2. 1492 3. 1066 4. None of the above. 5. All of the above. QASA will expand it to Q= Multiple-choice: In what year did Christopher Columbus land in the New World ? 1. 1592 2. 1492 3. 1066 4. None of the above. 5. All of the above. because the macro expansion includes the newline. You should not, therefore, attempt to use a macro in the middle of a block of text. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 50 Although QASA contains a two-pass compiler, macros must be defined before they can be used. If you place a macro definition in the middle of the database definition file and use the macro identifier before and after it, then the identifiers that appear before the macro definition will NOT be expanded. Define all of your macros before entering the first question. As shown in the examples above, macros are expanded recursively, so if you place the macro identifier in any of the macro defini- tion lines, you will create a self-referential macro. QASA will detect this condition no matter how deeply nested the reference may be. A self-referential macro will cause a fatal compiler error. Recursive macros are allowed so that you may build complex macros from simple ones if you wish. An obvious self-referential macro is shown below: M= $MACRONAME$ macro text line 1 macro text line 2 $MACRONAME$ When QASA encounters the second "$MACRONAME$", it would attempt to expand it using the current definition of $MACRONAME$, which would in turn cause it to encounter $MACRONAME$ again, and so on, until the program runs out of memory. QASA will detect this condition and generate an error message. Not all self-referential macros are obvious, however. Note that you can create a self-referential macro using two macros, as shown below: M= $MACRO 1$ text text $MACRO 2$ M= $MACRO 2$ text text $MACRO 1$ In this case, both macros refer to the other when expanded, creating a circular reference. This will also cause a fatal compiler error. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 51 The T= Keyword -------------- This is the time limit keyword. Include it in the database definition file to specify a time limit. If you omit it, there is no time limit. The syntax is as follows: T= HH:MM:SS where HH is hours, MM is minutes, and SS is seconds. If the time limit is less than an hour, you may omit the hours field; simi- larly, if the time limit is less than a minute, you may omit the hours and minutes fields. The sample database definition file contains a 10-minute timeout, given by T= 10:00 Note: If you specify a time limit for a database, the /FS (File/Save Database) command will be disabled. A user attempting to use this command will receive an error message, and the command will be ignored. The C= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to disable the Clear command. An individual taking a quiz with QASA can use the Clear command to reset the score and essentially do the quiz twice. The author of the database definition file may prevent this by entering C= in the database definition file. When this is done, QASA will ignore the Clear command completely. Note that if the Clear command is allowed, by omission of the C= keyword, and the score file is enabled with the F= keyword (described later), then a score record will be written to the score file indicating that the user cleared the score and re- started the quiz. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 52 The S= and R= Keywords ---------------------- These are the mode lock keywords, where S= stands for "sequen- tial" and R= stands for "random". These keywords are mutually exclusive; a database definition may not contain both keywords. If it does, an error will be generated by QASA. These keywords are used to lock QASA and QA in the mode specified by the keyword. If you do not give either keyword, then the user of QASA (only) is free to use the Mode command to change modes. For example, to lock QASA in sequential mode, use the following: S= and to lock QASA in random mode: R= There are no other arguments. The lock remains in effect until another database is loaded (which may also be locked). The F= Keyword -------------- The F= keyword controls logging of score information to a disk file. Logging is enabled by specifying a filename with the F= keyword, and disabled if you omit the keyword. The filename you specify may be any valid DOS pathname, up to 64 characters in length. All scoring records are appended to the file if it already exists, or the file will be created automati- cally if it does not exist. QASA and QA will, however, force the filename to have an extension of ".SCR". The score logging file may exist on a file server of a networked system if desired. However, QASA AND QA SUPPORT FILE SHARING. You must have SHARE.EXE installed for file sharing to be effective. Both QASA and QA will detect the presence or absence of SHARE.EXE and warn you if it is needed. If QASA or QA is unable to obtain a lock on the file, a warning will be displayed and the file will be saved on a local disk. IN NO CASE WILL A SCORE BE DISCARDED. All score log records are plain ASCII (except when encryption is selected). An example is reproduced below. It is compressed slightly to fit on the page. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 53 Student Name: John Q. Public Database Name: QA Study Aid Sample Database Final Score: 88.89% Grade: A- Termination: TIME LIMIT Started: Saturday, May 7, 1995, 6:53:45 pm Completed: Saturday, May 7, 1995, 6:55:00 pm Elapsed Time: 00:01:15 Database File: D:\QASA\V530\SAMPLE.QA Total Questions: 20 of 25 (randomly selected at run time) Possible Points: 27 Points Awarded: 24 Answers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 --------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 0001-0010 11.11 3.70 3.70 3.70 3.70 7.41 --- 7.41 --- Entered: 128k c 2 2 c y n y c 0011-0020 3.70 3.70 7.41 3.70 7.41 --- 3.70 7.41 Entered: 3 7 n d n c 3 n 0021-0030 3.70 3.70 3.70 Entered: 2 2 2 ***************************************************************** The '***..***' forms a separator between individual records. The first block contains summary information regarding the quiz session. The quiz taker's name is listed along with the name of the database (given by the N= keyword), the final score, the letter-grade equivalent (or "n/a" if none were assigned), and the reason the score record was written to the score file. In this example, it is given as 'TIME LIMIT'. This means that the quiz taker used up the time allotted by the T= keyword. The possible reasons for termination are: Completed The user answered all questions (and option- ally, within the time allotted by the T= keyword). TIME LIMIT The user exceeded the time allotted by the T= keyword. This reason can only be produced if a time limit was given. ABORTED This indicates that the user quit the QASA or QA session before answering all questions using the /FX command or by pressing Control- C or Control-Break. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 54 CLEARED The Clear command (/MC) was used to clear the score and restart the quiz. This reason can- not be produced if the C= keyword is used to disable the Clear command. RELOADED The user reloaded the database, or loaded a different database, or continued a previous- ly-saved database before all questions were answered. The final score is always the ratio of the number of possible points to the total number of points awarded by answering cor- rectly. Questions that were not answered are scored as incorrect (zero points awarded). The score file record also specifies the time the database was loaded (thereby starting the timer, if a time limit was given), the time the quiz was completed or stopped (for any of the reasons given above), and the elapsed time. The third block of the record gives the name of the compiled database file, the number of questions in the file, and the number of possible points with the number of points awarded. Because QASA supports weighting, the number of possible points may be entirely different from the number of questions. The last block is the answer matrix. This shows the results of each question in the database, ten questions per line. Each question may have one of four possible outcomes: 1. The question was answered, and answered correctly. The point matrix will show the number of points awarded as a ratio of the number of possible points, relative to 100. 2. The question was answered, but answered incorrectly. The point matrix will show that no points were awarded with '---'. 3. The question was not answered, either by skipping over it or by exceeding the allotted time. The point matrix will show this with '???'. No points were awarded. 4. The point matrix entry for the question is completely blank, which means that it was omitted from a subset generated from the full database. In this case, the question was not considered at all, in any calcula- tions. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 55 In the example score record shown, you can see that questions 8, 10, and 18 were answered incorrectly, questions 7, 13, 16, and 23 were not answered (most likely due to the time limit given as the reason), and the remaining 15 questions were answered correctly. The point breakdown will be described in the section on weight- ing. Because this database included the V= keyword (View literal answers), the answers that the student entered are included in the answer matrix as "Entered:". By default, the first five characters of each answer are written to the score file (leading whitespace is removed). This information may be used to perform statistical analysis on problem subject areas. For example, if question 6 is answered incorrectly in 90% of the tests, then the phrasing of the question is suspect or the subject area needs review. You can increase the length of the answers written to the score file using the X= keyword. If the default length of five is increased, then the length of each line in the answer matrix will increase accordingly. For example, with the answer length of five, the matrix will require 70 characters (5 answer plus one space) times 10 questions per line, plus question numbers. Since you can increase the answer length to 40 characters, you can potentially make each line up to 420 characters long. Why would you want to do this? Because the entire answer in the score file is exported using the /UX command. The E= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to instruct QASA that the score file is to be encrypted. This prevents a user from completing a quiz session and then editing the score file manually to increase the score. When this keyword is used, the score file will not be human- readable, and must be converted back to plain text. This is done using the /UD (Utilities/Decrypt score file) command. This command, which is password-protected, will restore the score file to plain text using the same file name. If the score file is, or has already been converted to plain text, /UD will not reprocess it. If you enter the E= keyword anywhere in the database definition file, QASA will set a global flag that encrypts the entire score file. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 56 The D= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to disable the display of the correct answer if a question is answered incorrectly. If omitted, QASA or QA will display Incorrect. The correct answer is (Correct Answer) Press any key to continue The syntax of the D= keyword is as follows: D= If you enter the D= keyword anywhere in the database definition file, QASA will set a global flag that disables this display. QASA/QA will go on to the next question as though the answer was correct. Note that if this option is given, the scoring window will not display the number of questions answered correctly or any other scoring information. The W= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to assign weights to each question. The weighting system you use is entirely arbitrary and up to you. QASA imposes only the restriction that you use integer weights, and that you use numbers between 0 and 16383, inclusive. The syntax of the W= keyword is as follows: W= <weight> When QASA encounters this keyword, it reads the weight and assigns it to all the questions that follow it. If QASA encoun- ters the W= keyword again, it will change the weight to the new weight, and assign the new weight to all following questions. As each question is processed by the QASA compiler, QASA keeps track of the total weight. When QASA scores a question, it determines the point score to be the ratio of the total weight to that of the question in percent. This point score is added to the running score shown in the scoring window, and also appears in the point matrix in the score file (actually, the point score is recalcu- lated after each question from the weights to avoid rounding errors). Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 57 If you do not specify a weight anywhere in the database defini- tion file, all questions will be weighted as one point by de- fault. Note that this arrangement allows you total flexibility in setting up a weighting system. You do not have to weight each question as a fraction of 100, for example. QASA does this for you. The sample database weights each 'fill-in' question as three points, each true/false as 2 points, and each multiple-choice question as one point. There is one 'fill-in' question, 7 'true- false' questions, and 12 'multiple-choice' questions. The points are calculated as follows: fill-in 1 times 3 points = 3 points true/false 7 times 2 points = 14 points multiple-choice 12 times 1 point = 12 points ------------------------------------- Totals: 20 questions 29 points There are therefore 29 possible points (as shown in the score file). A 'fill-in' question is worth 3/29 points or 10.34 points relative to 100. A 'true/false' question is worth 2/29 points or 6.90 points relative to 100, and a 'multiple-choice' question 1/29 or 3.45 points relative to 100. In the example score record, the user was awarded a total of 21 out of 29 possible points, for a score of 21/29 or 72.41%. Adding all of the points shown in the point matrix will produce the same result (there may be a slight difference due to rounding, which is done only when the scores are displayed). QASA also allows you to assign a weight of zero to one or any number of questions. These questions will not affect the score, as the score for any question is the ratio of the total weight of all questions to the weight of the question being scored. If you assign a weight of zero to all questions, the score will always be zero. The L= Keyword -------------- The Limit keyword command allows you to specify to the QASA compiler that it is to create a subset of the database. The syntax is as follows: L= <number of questions> Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 58 The sample database contains 25 questions, and also contains the L= keyword to limit the database to 20 of the possible 25 ques- tions. The QASA compiler chooses the 20 questions at random. When a subset database is created and executed, there are two possible times when the subset selection may be made: (1) when the database is compiled, in which case the compiler makes the choices, and (2) at run-time, when the database is loaded, in which case it is the QASA or QA interpreter that selects the subset. If QASA is being used by a single individual, it makes little difference when the selections are made. In a classroom environ- ment, however, the difference is substantial. In a classroom environment, or any environment where more than one person is taking a quiz using QASA (or QA), a database where the subset is chosen at compile time will result in each person being asked exactly the same set of questions. This is useful for generating a random class quiz, for example. However, if the choice is deferred until run time, then each person will be asked the same number of questions, but each person will be taking a quiz that may be entirely different from all the others. If the database contains questions of varying difficulty, some will be given 'easy' questions, while others may receive 'hard' ones. The choice of when to generate the random subset is performed by the O= keyword described below. The O= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to define when the random subset of the database defined by the L= keyword is generated. If the L= keyword is not specified, this keyword will have no effect. It may be given before or after the L= keyword. If specified, O= means Omit immediately; in other words, omit the questions that are not a part of the random subset at compile time. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 59 The V= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to specify that the text the user entered when taking the quiz is to be stored in the score file in the answer matrix. The text will be stripped of leading whitespace, but will not otherwise be pre-processed before storage in the score file. The information can, therefore, be used to resolve disputes or to collect statistical information concerning the answers most students give for a particular question. On page 55 is an example of an answer matrix which includes literal answers. Note that literal answers are always carried internally so that answers may be reviewed in 'view all' mode, This option deter- mines only if the are written to the score file (and therefore, if they are exported using the /UX command). The X= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to increase the length of the literal answers retained internally and exported. It takes at least one number (n1) as an argument; a second number (n2) is optional. The syntax is as follows: X= n1[,n2] where [] indicates optional arguments. The first number is the maximum length of the literal answers that will be carried internally - in other words, the maximum number of characters that can be presented for review in 'view all' mode. If set to 7, for example, an answer of 'Washington, D.C.' would be recalled for review as 'Washing'. When scored again following the review, it would be scored as incorrect. To avoid this problem, the default internal answer length is set to 40 characters. You can save memory by decreasing this if you do not need this many characters. The optional second argument is the length of the literal answer that will be written to the score file (the default is five). If omitted, then its value will be same as the first. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 60 The K= Keyword -------------- This keyword is used to instruct QASA and QA to prompt for the name of the administrator. This may be the person administering the test, the teacher's name, or the name of any person you wish to associate with each test session for each student. The name of the administrator will be recorded in the score file and in the exported data file. If no score file is specified, this keyword has no effect. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 61 Appendix A: QASA Compiler Error Messages ---------------------------------------- Illegal definition filename: <filename> This error is generated if you supply a database definition file with an extension of .QA. Cannot find database definition file <filename> This error indicates that QASA was not able to open the database definition file you specified. Unable to create temporary file <filename> This error indicates that QASA was not able to create its intermediate temporary file. File <def file> : Line <line> : Answer omitted You specified a question without an accompanying answer, or your syntax is such that QASA could not determine where the answer is. File <def file> : Line <line> : Question omitted You specified an answer without a preceding question, or your syntax was such that QASA could not locate the ques- tion. File <def file> : Line <line> : Macro name missing You specified a macro definition (M=), but the next line is blank. File <def file> : Line <line> : Weight definition missing You specified weighting (W=), but the next line is blank. File <def file> : Line <line> : Invalid weight You specified a weight that was outside the range 1..32767 or entered non-numeric characters. File <def file> : Line <line> : Title missing You specified the name keyword N=, but the next line is blank. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 62 File <def file> : Line <line> : Title too long - truncated The name you entered after the N= keyword is longer than 60 characters. File <def file> : Line <line> : Time limit definition missing You specified the time limit keyword T=, but the next line is blank. File <def file> : Line <line> : Invalid time limit The time limit you specified following the T= keyword is not in the form HH:MM:SS. File <def file> : Line <line> : Mode lock already set You specified S= and R= in the same definition file. QASA is complaining about the second occurrence. File <def file> : Line <line> : Filename missing You specified an output score file with the F= keyword, but the next line is blank. File <def file> : Line <line> : Illegal filename You specified a filename after the F= keyword that has invalid characters or longer than 64 characters. File <def file> : Line <line> : Question line exceeds <nn> characters You entered a line in a question block that will not fit into QASA's window. File <def file> : Line <line> : Question exceeds <nn> lines You entered a question that has too many lines. File <def file> : Line <line> : Answer line exceeds <nn> charac- ters You entered an answer line that will not fit into QASA's answer window. Cannot create database output file <filename> QASA was unable to create the compiled database output file. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 63 Cannot open temporary file <filename> QASA was unable to create its temporary file. File <def file> : Line <line> : Macro <name> is self-referential The macro specified is self-referential. This may be a direct self-referencing macro or it may occur as a result of a complex series of recursive, circular macro expansions. Sample limit excessive - corrected The number entered as the argument to the L= keyword exceeds the number of questions in the database. This is a warning to tell you that the sample size has been reduced to the number of questions in the database. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 64 Appendix B: Revision Information -------------------------------- Version 5.3 October 14, 1995 Added the 'view all' review mode and added the commands /VU and /VA. Changed the 'Mode' menu to the 'View' menu. Changed the 'File' menu options to follow CUA guidelines. The database operations are now 'open' and 'close' instead of 'load' and 'quit'. Replaced the test indexing mechanism. The index will now be loaded into memory until memory is full. Any additional index information will overflow to a swap file on disk. In addition, the size of each index entry is now variable to accommodate the X= keyword. Replaced the SAMPLE database with DEMO1 and DEMO2, which show operation in 'view unanswered' and 'view all' modes, respectively. The demos can be invoked with the batch files DEMO1.BAT and DEMO2.BAT. Added the 'File', 'View', and 'Name' menus to the QA.EXE program. Fixed a bug that suppressed the menus in QA.EXE if a quiz name is specified on the command line. Added the /Vxx command-line options to select the operating mode on startup. Modified the user interface so that questions can always be answered or skipped with the ENTER key. The ESCape key is no longer required, although it will still function. Also changed the selector for additional help on answers to the F1 (help) key. Fixed a bug in the registration form that allowed credit card information to be added without specifying the correct credit card. Imposed the 25-question limit n the compiler for unregis- tered versions (ref: ASP bylaws modified PoNC (Policy on No Crippling)). Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 65 Version 5.2 July 31, 1995 Added the ability to export the entire score file after an X-Y transformation of the score file data. Removed the requirement of decoding the score file before exporting it. An encoded score file can be exported and it will remain encoded. Added progress indicators to the export and compile func- tions. Version 5.1 June 30, 1995 Corrected a bug in the memory allocation strategy that prevented more than 1532 questions from being loaded. A swap file is now used if the test is larger than 1500 questions. Significant price reductions. Version 5.0 September 6,1994 Corrected a serious bug that occurred when a random subset was selected at run-time and the presentation mode was set to random. At the end of the subset, QASA would hang, look- ing for another question to present. Thank you for reporting the error. Added an installation program that locates any existing copy of QA Study Aid and transfers the registration data to the new version. Added the /CE (Configure/Editor) and /UE (Utilities/Edit) commands to support an integrated editor. Created separate configuration menu group. Added the ability to record the name of the administrator (the person administering the test, or the teacher, as appropriate) in the score file and in the exported data file. This feature is controlled by the K= keyword. Added the explanatory help text feature which allows de- tailed help to be optionally displayed if a student answers a question incorrectly. This feature is controlled by the H= keyword. The text that a student enters for each question may now be saved in the answer matrix in the score file. This data can Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 66 be used for statistical analysis or for resolving disputes. The V= keyword controls this feature. Blank lines may now be entered where blank lines are nor- mally interpreted as terminators using the ignore character. The ignore character is assigned by the I= keyword. Added credit card information to the registration form. Added the encrypted E-mail registration capability. Added registration information to the QA interpreter. The interpreter can now detect if QASA has been registered. Both QASA and QA will display registration information on startup ("Registration Reminder Screen"). Formalized a distribution policy for the QA interpreter. Added the Unlimited Upgrade option plan for no-charge up- grades. Version 4.1 January 17, 1993 Beginning with Version 4.1, QASA can be registered online via CompuServe. GO SWREG and register ID # 502. Modified the registration screen so that if 200 or more copies are specified, a site license is automatically grant- ed. Version 4.0 December 1, 1992 Version 4.0 incorporates many of the changes and improve- ments that have been suggested by various users of QA Study Aid. Two significant features have been added in this ver- sion: (1) A separate program, QA.EXE, is included with the QA Study Aid package. This program is essentially the QASA.EXE program without the quiz creation capabili- ties. It has only a single menu for simple operation. Its purpose is to enable you to give tests and quizzes without confusing the test takers with the many options available with QASA.EXE. QA.EXE is not serialized and does not attempt to modify itself at any time; this permits it to be executed in a DOS screen under OS/2 2.0. Also, if the name of a quiz is specified on the command line (or in a batch file), then QA.EXE will automati- Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 67 cally terminate, returning control to DOS when the quiz is completed (or terminated for any reason). This feature permits one to complete a quiz session without using any commands or menu functions at all. (2) QASA.EXE is now able to generate a subset of a data- base. For example, if you create a database containing 50 questions, you can specify that QASA generate a database containing only 25 questions, chosen at ran- dom. You may select the size of the subset to be any- thing from 1 up to the full size of the database. Further, the random selection of questions may be specified to occur at one of two times: during the compilation process, or when the database is loaded. Making the selection at compile time allows each stu- dent to receive the same database. If the selection is deferred until run time, then each student will receive a unique and different subset of the database. Each student will, however, be given the same number of questions to answer. Two new command keywords, "L=" and "O=", are used to control the creation of database subsets. The naming conventions have been changed in version 4.0. Specifically, the ampersand ('&') has been removed from all filenames, as some operating systems (DEC's VMS and IBM's OS/2 are two) cannot tolerate this character within a file- name. CompuServe cannot tolerate an ampersand either. Also, the filenames have been shortened to six characters instead of the eight allowed by DOS, again to accommodate other operating systems. These changes insure that QA Study Aid will have the same filename from all sources. Version 3.91 April 26, 1992 Added the /UR (Utilities/print Registration form) command. This command prompts for all of the information needed to register QA Study Aid, and prints a form ready to mail, complete with computations showing pricing. This feature also determines many of the more important features of your computer system so that this information is available should you require assistance. Added the file VENDOR.DOC for vendors and BBS Sysops. Version 3.90 September 1, 1991 Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 68 Fixed a major bug that caused questions to be skipped in both sequential and random modes. All questions are now properly presented in either mode. Thanks to a concerned user in Pennsylvania for reporting this error. Integrated all auxiliary programs into the main program file. There is now only one program. Access to the compiler and other functions related to the score file is now by password access. Added a secure password function. QASA is distributed with- out a password. To enable password protection, you must enter a password. Added the ability to export certain fields of the score file in a form suitable for importing into other spreadsheet and database programs. Added the ability to associate "letter grades" to scores. Letter grades consist of any string up to five characters in length. This permits the use of an A..F grading system, or the GPA grading system used in colleges and universities; e.g., 4.0 and down, or even "PASS/FAIL". There is no defined limit on the number of associations between scores and letter grades. Added the ability to exclude all punctuation from an answer list and from the user's response. This allows the answer list to be shorter, and permits numbers with commas to be scored correctly if the commas are omitted. Added code to detect self-referential macros, now matter how deeply recursive the nesting may be. QASA can no longer crash if self-referential macros are inadvertently speci- fied. Added a test to lock out the /N (Name) command once a data- base with score file logging has been loaded and a name has been entered. This prevents a user from changing his or her name if the score is low. Added the "Utilities" menu that provides access to the pass- word-setting function, the compiler, score file utilities, menu selector character, and color selection, as follows: o The /UM command sets the menu selector character. o The /US command sets the screen colors. o The /UP command sets the password. o The /UC command executes the compiler. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 69 o The /UD command is used to convert an encrypted score file to plain text. o The /UE command is used to export a score file in a format suitable for use with other database and spreadsheet programs. Recompiled QASA using the large data model. In a system with 512K bytes of memory available after booting, QASA can now accommodate some 40,000 questions and their answers. Inter- nal overlays are used to keep the size of executable memory image to a minimum. QASA is now "DESQview aware" and will properly execute within a DESQview window. Added a command to "shell" to DOS for access to an editor or other program from within QASA. The /FS (File/Save Database) command no longer causes an immediate exit to DOS. You may therefore save a database in progress and then load another one. Version 3.80 August 4, 1990 Changed Mode/Random from /MA to /MR. Eliminated the screen control menu. Left-justified the mode in the status window. Added a check to insure that the screen is free before updating the time left. Recompiled with aggressive optimizations using the new version (V6.0) of the Microsoft C Optimizing Compiler. The .EXE file size has been significantly reduced. Version 3.70 December 30, 1989 Fixed a major bug that caused all screen attributes to be set to zero if the configuration file was missing. Since the configuration file is not distributed with QA Study Aid, the effect was to present a blank screen. Although commands could be entered and the screen colors set, all of this had to be done with a blank screen. Also fixed a bug in the answer screen that would not allow an altered menu-select character to be used to escape into the menu system. This bug was reported by a concerned user; our thanks go out to him. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 70 Version 3.60 December 10, 1989 A potential problem was found and corrected with the calcu- lation of weights. This problem would be encountered only if the total weight exceeded 32767, which is the maximum weight permitted. The /FS (File/Save Database) and /FC (File/Continue Data- base) commands were added. This combination allows the user of QASA to save the current state of a test or quiz database and return to it later. The database will be restored to its previous state. These commands will not work if the database has a time limit associated with it. The "E=" option has been added to the database compiler Q&AC.EXE. This option specifies that the score file is to be encrypted so that a user cannot complete a test or quiz, and then edit the resulting score in the score file. A new utility, Q&AD.EXE, restores the score file to plain ASCII text. A configuration file was added. This file must be located in the same directory as the help file Q&ASA.HLP, and the same rules that govern its access apply to the configuration file. The configuration file is named Q&ASA.CFG. It is not included in the distribution, since QASA will automatically create it the first time it is executed. A new command, /FE, allows the screen colors to be changed. The new values are saved in the configuration file. A new command, /FM, allows the menu selector character to be altered. This defaults to the forward slash character ('/'), but may now be changed to any other character in the print- able ASCII range of '!' through '~', inclusive. Once chang- ed, the new selector character is saved in the configuration file so the effect of the change will be permanent unless changed again. The weighting system was altered to permit questions to have a weight of zero. If desired, all questions may be weighted as zero, but this will cause all scores to be zero also. Version 3.50 August 10, 1989 The menu was modified to eliminate the /FD and /FS commands, which were replaced with the single command /FL (File/Load Database). The directory defaults to the current working directory. The directory may be changed if desired. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 71 Major internal enhancements were made to the video system. QASA will now detect the type of display adapter in use, and will operate properly with 132-column and 43- and 50-line modes. The screen update rate has been increased. The /S? commands are necessary only in extreme cases where snow is a severe problem (these commands have been retained, however). QASA will now autoselect the screen update method. The registration functions have been entirely replaced. The new registration system now sets the executable file to read-only to prevent inadvertent overwriting of the execut- able image. The serial number now provides certain essential information about the system QASA is running on. QASA will detect certain changes to itself and refuse to execute if it is modified. A demonstration mode has been added (although the program is not distributed as a demo; it is a full- featured program with no crippling of any function). QASA now intercepts the Control-C and Control-Break keys and will perform a graceful exit with proper updating of the score file. Hardware error detection and handling of criti- cal errors has been improved, and now offers the options of Retry or Cancel (Cancel aborts only the command that experi- enced the error, not the program as a whole). The Help key (F1) is now active in the opening screen. You may obtain an overview of the operation of QASA at the opening screen, or exit the program by pressing ESCape. Several new categories have been added to the help file for registering and for reporting problems. Version 3.1 July 31, 1989 Made some minor corrections and additions to this manual, and corrected a minor bug related to locating the executable file on disk. Version 3.0 May 1, 1989 Corrected a bug in the random mode termination function, and enhanced the random mode search speed. Version 2.1 would continue to ask questions after they had been answered, allowing a user to gain a score exceeding 100%. Also en- hanced the registration function. o Added the 'D=' command to Q&AC and Q&ASA to allow the database author to disable display of the correct answer if the user answers incorrectly. o Added the ability to specify and execute a database from the DOS command line. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 72 Version 2.1 July 31, 1988 Minor enhancements to help system. Version 2.0 March 22, 1988 Major enhancements to allow QASA to be used in a formal classroom environment. Among the changes are the following: o Optional logging of scoring information to a disk file. o Compiled database eliminates run-time interpreter errors and permits the database to be encrypted. o Display of the database name as the window title. o Faster response when loading questions. o Greatly improved help system allows selection and viewing of any help category at any time. o Optional locking of selected mode and lockout of cer- tain commands. o Ability to assign a weight to each question and have this weight determine the number of points awarded for a correct answer to a question. o Ability to specify a time limit to answer all ques- tions. o Elimination of all index files. Version 1.0 January 7, 1988 Initial public release. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 73 LIMITED WARRANTY ---------------- The evaluation ("shareware") version of QA Study Aid is provided for evaluation only, on an "as is" basis. The registered version is provided with a 30-day money-back guarantee, provided all materials are returned, and if you purchased a site/distribution license, no copies of QA.EXE have been distributed. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, QUID PRO QUO SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NEITHER QUID PRO QUO SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE, EVEN IF QUID PRO QUO SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL QUID PRO QUO SOFTWARE'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Iowa and shall inure to the benefit of Quid Pro Quo Software and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Linn County, Iowa. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdic- tion of said courts. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 74 LICENSE TERMS ------------- LICENSE TERMS APPLICABLE TO ALL USE OR DISTRIBUTION --------------------------------------------------- The QA Study Aid package and all associated software and documen- tation are copyrighted products of Quid Pro Quo Software and are protected by United States copyright law and also by interna- tional treaty provisions. All rights not expressly granted here are reserved to Quid Pro Software. The use or distribution of these products is expressly prohibited, except as authorized by the terms of this agreement. You may not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except as provided in this agreement. U.S. Government Restricted Rights: Use, duplication, or disclo- sure by the U.S. Government of the computer software and documen- tation in this package shall be subject to restrictions as set forth in subdivision (b)(3)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-7013 (DFARS 52.227-7013). Manufacturer is Quid Pro Quo Software, P.O. Box 1248, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-1248 USA. LICENSE TERMS APPLICABLE TO TRIAL USE OF EVALUATION VERSION ----------------------------------------------------------- Quid Pro Quo Software grants you a limited license to use this software for evaluation purposes for a period not to exceed thirty days. During this evaluation period, you may make full use of the QA Study Aid package. You may NOT distribute any part of the pack- age. You may distribute the complete package provided it has not been altered in any way. You have the ability to evaluate all of the features of QA Study Aid, but the compiler imposes a 25- question limit on the number of questions in a compiled database. Your source definition file is never altered in any way. If you continue using this software after the thirty-day evalua- tion period, or wish to distribute tests and/or quizzes created with the QASA compiler, you MUST make the prescribed registration payment to Quid Pro Quo Software. The registration form is computer-generated by the QASA.EXE program. If you do not have the program file, you may complete and mail the registration form from the manual (QASA.DOC). Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 75 LICENSE TERMS APPLICABLE TO USE OF REGISTERED VERSION ----------------------------------------------------- The software and the disks on which it is contained are licensed on a non-exclusive basis to you, the purchaser, for your own use. You are not obtaining title to the software or any copyright rights. If you have purchased a license to distribute the QA.EXE inter- preter by purchasing a site/distribution license, you may also create tests and/or quizzes and distribute them and the QA.EXE interpreter with your product(s). The distribution license also allows you to distribute the QASA.CFG and QASA.HLP files with the QA.EXE interpreter. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU PERMITTED TO DISTRIBUTE TO ANYONE THE REGISTERED VERSION OF THE COMPILER QASA.EXE. You may use the licensed software on a single personal computer system, and make as many copies as needed for backup and archival purposes. If you need to use these products on more than one computer, or if you wish to distribute tests and/or quizzes, please fill in the appropriate quantity on the electronic regis- tration form in QASA.EXE. LICENSE TERMS APPLICABLE TO DISTRIBUTED COPIES OF THE INTERPRETER ----------------------------------------------------------------- The QA Study Aid Interpreter consists of the files QA.EXE, QASA.HLP, and QASA.CFG. If you have purchased a site/distribution license (granted through the purchase of 500 or more licensed copies of QA Study Aid), you are entitled to distribute these files along with any tests or quizzes you have created using the QA Study Aid package. Any such distribution is solely between you and the receiver of the distributed files, and do not involve QA Study Aid or Quid Pro Quo Software in any way. Support for the QA Study Aid Inter- preter is your responsibility, NOT the responsibility of Quid Pro Quo Software. LIMITED DISTRIBUTION LICENSE ---------------------------- Permission is granted to individuals charging no fees, and to BBSs, User Groups, Mail-Order Disk Vendors, CD-ROM publishers, and BBS File-Distribution Networks regardless of fees, to dis- tribute the QA Study Aid package, provided they convey a complete and unaltered copy of the shareware version of this product, and provided they claim no ownership of these products. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 76 Permission to distribute these products is not transferable, assignable, saleable, or franchisable. Each vendor wishing to distribute these products must independently satisfy the terms of this limited distribution license. Quid Pro Quo Software may revoke any permissions granted here, by notifying you in writing. COPYRIGHT --------- This program is copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 by Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software. All rights reserved worldwide. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 77 REGISTRATION ------------ QA Study Aid is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with others, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and provides an incentive for programmers to contin- ue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using QA Study Aid and continue to it after a reasonable trial period (30 days), you must make a registration payment to Quid Pro Quo Software. The registration fee will license each purchased copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, PROVIDED there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it is also being used at another - just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. You are encouraged to pass a copy of QA Study Aid along to anyone else for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find the program useful and continue using it. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of the QA Study Aid system if the registration form specifies any version prior to the latest version, and all registered users will be notified of upgrades and improvements. As a registered user, you are also entitled to free replacement of the program should a maintenance release be made within a period of one year following your original registration. Commercial or governmental users of QA Study Aid must register and pay for their copies of QA Study Aid within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. REGISTRATION ELIMINATES THE 25-QUESTION LIMITATION. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 78 PRICING, SITE LICENSING, AND DISTRIBUTION LICENSE ------------------------------------------------- QA Study Aid has a standard price of $20.00 in US dollars. Quantity discounts apply per the following schedule. One copy No discount 2-4 copies 12.5% discount 5-19 copies 25% discount 20-49 copies 60% discount 50-199 copies 70% discount 200+ copies 87.5% discount ($500 maximum; site li- cense and interpreter distribution rights) Any purchase of two hundred copies entitles the purchaser to a site license and interpreter distribution rights. UNLIMITED UPGRADE PLAN ---------------------- The Unlimited Upgrade Plan allows you to purchase, for a single one-time fee, the QA Study Aid program and all future releases, enhancements, and bug fixes. It also entitles you to conversions (ports) from the MS-DOS operating system to any other operating system (such as Windows(R) or OS/2(R)) as they may become avail- able. The Unlimited Upgrade Plan shall be administered by the installation program, and will require that you have available a copy of your registered version with the Unlimited Upgrade Plan option. Each upgrade will confer the Unlimited Upgrade Plan rights and privileges to the upgraded program. THE UNLIMITED UPGRADE PLAN DOES NOT INCLUDE DISKETTES OR POSTAGE EXCEPT AS REQUIRED FOR PORTS TO OPERATING SYSTEMS THAT CANNOT USE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE THROUGH SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS. The Unlimited Upgrade Plan expects that you will obtain upgraded versions through Shareware distribution channels such as BBS systems, CompuServe, diskette vendors, and so forth. The INSTALL program will perform the necessary registration of the upgrade. The price of the Unlimited Upgrade Plan is equal to one half the purchase price of the QA Study Aid package, in the same quanti- ties as initially purchased. If your purchase of QA Study Aid is $100, then the Unlimited Upgrade Plan for the number of copies purchased is $50. The Unlimited Upgrade Plan can be purchased separately. Contact Quid Pro Quo Software directly for separate purchases. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 79 UPGRADE PURCHASES ----------------- If you have not purchased the Unlimited Upgrade Plan, you may purchase each upgrade at a 50% discount. The discount is applied after all other discounts have been applied. Diskettes and postage are included. DEFINITION OF DISTRIBUTION LICENSE ---------------------------------- A distribution license grants the purchaser the right to dis- tribute the files QA.EXE, QASA.HLP, and QASA.CFG, collectively referred to as the INTERPRETER. The files may not be modified (QASA.CFG may be customized as desired prior to distribution). These files may be packaged and sold by you, PROVIDED you agree to the following terms: 1. ALL PRODUCT SUPPORT FOR DISTRIBUTED COPIES OF THE INTERPRETER IS PROVIDED BY YOU. 2. YOU MAY NOT CLAIM OR IMPLY AUTHORSHIP OR OWNERSHIP OF ANY KIND OF THE INTERPRETER. 3. THE INTERPRETER MAY NOT BE MODIFIED EXCEPT AS STATED ABOVE. DEFINITION OF SITE LICENSE -------------------------- A site license entitles the purchaser to install QA Study Aid on an unlimited number of computers located at, AND PHYSICALLY ACCESSIBLE FROM, a single postal address. A site may consist of several buildings separated by roadways or other construction. A SITE LICENSE DOES NOT GRANT THE PURCHASER RIGHTS TO INSTALL QA STUDY AID ON COMPUTERS THAT MAY ACCESSED VIA WIDE-AREA OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF NETWORKING THAT PERMITS USE OF THE PROGRAM FROM OUTSIDE THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA DEFINED BY THE POSTAL ADDRESS. Multiple-site and nationwide licenses are available on a case-by- case basis. Please contact Quid Pro Quo Software for details. Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software QA Study Aid V5.3 User's Guide 80 QA STUDY AID V5.3 REGISTRATION FORM Name_____________________________________________________________ Title ___________________________________________________________ Company _________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________ City __________________________________ State ______ Zip ________ Country _______________________________ Phone ___________________ VISA __ Card Number __________________________________ Mastercard __ Expiration Date ___________ SERIAL NUMBER FROM OPENING SCREEN _______________________________ Display System __________________________________________________ DOS Version _____________________________________________________ PC Make/Model/CPU _______________________________________________ Fixed Disk Type/Capacity ________________________________________ Floppy Disks ____________________________________________________ System RAM ______________________________________________________ To register, send this form with payment in US dollars to Quid Pro Quo Software at the address shown below. One copy No discount 2-4 copies 12.5% discount 5-19 copies 25% discount 20-49 copies 60% discount 50-199 copies 70% discount 200+ copies 87.5% discount ($500 maximum) NUMBER OF COPIES DESIRED ___________________ Times per-copy price of $20.00 ___________________ Less discount ___________________ SUBTOTAL ___________________ Unlimited Upgrade Plan (add 50% of SUBTOTAL) ___________________ Upgrade Only (subtract 50% of SUBTOTAL) ___________________ TOTAL ___________________ Quid Pro Quo Software PO Box 1248 Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-1248 USA Copyright 1988-1995 Harold J. Endresen, Quid Pro Quo Software