The Datafile PD-CD 5/DATAFILE_PDCD5.iso/education/a/powercas/StudrecDoc/Block

Text File | 1992-10-21 | 19KB | 389 lines

This is the user manual for !Block. It is based on the Helpreader system
which makes it much easier to use than an ordinary text file. Throughout the
text you will find buttons like this @%start#.  Clicking with SELECT on
these buttons takes you directly to related parts of the manual. To return
to your original position, double-click with ADJUST anywhere in the text.
HelpReader remembers the last 8 positions. Clicking MENU in this window
allows you to choose the topic which interests you and go  straight to it.

                      (@%helpreader# More about Helpreader)
@#purpose

                                   !Block

!Block is able to do the following things:

   (1) Place students in teaching blocks in an optimum fashion, i.e.
      "block" the students (hence the name).
   (2) Allow yu to rectify "failed" blockings by on-screen editing.
   (3) Assign students to tutors in a sensible way.
   (4) Display the numbers of students in teaching groups and tutor groups.
   (5) Display actual lists of the students in all such groups.
   (6) Split a large group into an 'A' and a 'B' group within the same
       block (and also reverse the process if you wish).
   (7) Produce individual timetables for students.
   (8) Transfer each and every kind of displayed output either to a text
       file or directly to the printer.
@#start

                                 Starting up

  (a) If !Block is already running (i.e. if its icon appears on the icon
      bar) simply drag the required database from the directory window and
      "drop" it on the !Block icon.

  (b) If !Block is not running, double-click on its icon in the directory
      window.  Wait for the !Block icon to appear on the icon bar then
      proceed as in (a).

After entering your password in the usual way, you will be presented with a
small window which invites you to select the number of blocks to be used.
This is the number of blocks which !Block will read from the student file.
The number actually looked at when blocking the file may be less than this.

For instance, if you are using !Block to get information about group sizes
or to print timetables, you probably want to read all the blocks in the
database. This value (currently 7) is offered as a default and you need only
click on 'OK'. If doing an actual blocking on a new intake you will only be
concerned with the first five blocks at most; perhaps even the first four.
This is just as well since blocking slows down dramatically as the number
of blocks increases. To block with 5 blocks takes 5 times as long as with 4.
For 6 blocks the time is 6 times as long as for 5, and for 7 blocks the time
is 7 times as long as for 6! If you ARE blocking and happen to enter 6 or 7
at this initial stage it doesn't matter because you will be offered the
choice again when you select 'Block students' from the menu.

Once !Block knows how many blocks you wish to know about it will read the
database and create, in memory, a list of the students in Subfile 0. It is
assumed that only the records in subfile 0 are of interest to the user of
!Block.  The hourglass shows the progress of this read operation. When
completed, the student list, showing names, subjects taken and tutors is
displayed in a window. Saving and printing this list are described below.

@#save
                    Saving and printing displayed data

To save the data displayed in a window in !Block click MENU with the mouse
pointer over the window. The menu displayed varies in complexity from one
window to another, but one entry usually leads to a 'Save' box. In some
cases there will be nothing else except the 'Save' box. The writable icon
in the 'Save' box offers a sensible default file name and simply typing
RETURN or clicking the OK button with SELECT will save the data as a text
file under that name in the 'PrintJobs' subdirectory of the database's
application directory. You may delete the name up to the last full-stop
(but not the full-stop itself), type a new name and save it in 'PrintJobs'
using RETURN or SELECT on OK. You may also delete the entire contents of the
writable icon with CTRL-U then enter a new name and drag the icon, using
SELECT, to any filer window.

The above paragraph describes the standard RISC OS method of saving a file.
If it is already familiar to you it will come as no surprise to learn that
you can drag the file icon straight to the printer icon (if the latter is
displayed on the icon-bar) for immediate printing. Text files saved on disc,
e.g. in 'PrintJobs' can be dragged out of their directories to the printer
icon. Note that there is also an item, 'Show jobs done', on the main menu to
display the 'PrintJobs' directory.

The only case where saving is a little different is in the case of
validation tables @%table#. These MUST be saved to a specific place in the
database application and !Block therefore gives you no choice in the matter,
providing merely the word 'Save' when you open a menu over such a table.


@#edit
                             Editing the list

The first item on the menu varies according to where the mouse pointer is
when you click MENU. If you are pointing at a student's name, or at the
blank space after the name, the entry will say <null> and will probably be
greyed out as well. When you click over a subject or tutor code however,
that code appears in the menu item. A right arrow leads to a writable
sub-menu item into which a different code (or no code at all) may be
entered. On typing RETURN or clicking with SELECT the old code is replaced
by the new. Group totals @%total# are automatically updated, as you will see if
you make such changes with the 'Group sizes' window for subjects or tutors
open.

@#subblock
                             Subject blocking

This entry leads to a sub-menu which gives access to the blocking routine
itself ('Do blocking' @%block#) and to choices which will display various types of
information in separate windows - the Group sizes @%total#, Block weightings @%weight#
and Problem cases @%problem#. The latter will be greyed out if you have just read
the database but not blocked it yet.

@#total
Group sizes

Selecting this menu choice opens another window over the first. The
appearance of the two windows is rather similar but, instead of a list of
student names, it contains a list of subject names. Under the block headings
are the numbers of students in each block, a final column giving the grand
total for each subject. If the file has never been blocked @%block# these numbers
will have little meaning. If the file has been blocked, a zero in a column
probably means that the subject is not available in that block. If a subject
has two teaching groups in the same block, e.g. BL1A and BL1B, their numbers
are added together to give a single number for BL1. The total for each
subject is also given in an extra column headed ALL.

If you point to any of the numbers in the table and click MENU you can
choose to print a list of the students making up the relevant total. This
list will appear in yet another window and takes the same form as the main
file-list which you saw first.

@#weight
Block weightings

This choice displays a window very similar to the one used for the group
sizes @%total# except that the numbers under the block headings are likely to
all be either 0 or 500. A value of 0 means that the relevant subject is
offered in that block, a value of 500 means that it isn't. The blocking
routine @%block# makes use of these weightings and there are occasions when
you may find it advantageous to alter them yourself, e.g. to change the
blocks in which a subject is available.  To do this, point the mouse at the
number you wish to change and click MENU. A short menu appears, the first
item of which indicates the subject and block which you have pointed to.
Moving the pointer over the right-pointing arrow takes you to a writeable
menu item which shows the current weighting. Type in the new value and then
either click SELECT or press RETURN. To allow a block which was previously
unavail