The system supervisor, who has the ID code MASTER, is responsible for the following tasks:
The system supervisor, signed in as Master, is the only user who can
create and edit menus.
The Master has a choice of three ways to enter menu
edit mode:
When one of these is done, the system enters
menu edit mode.
The menus are displayed in red instead
of white.
To insert a menu item the popup option list may be requested by clicking
the right mouse button at the point the user wishes to insert the item or
at any point on the window background.
The new item may be inserted either above or below the currently selected
item showing in the menu. Once selected, this form appears:
The fields are as follows:
This is the name of the item that the user sees displayed on the menu. This field can be a maximum of 40 characters.
This selects the type of item that will be inserted. Changing the type also changes the selection of active fields shown to the right of the Type box. The choices are:
This field defines the access attributes that are used to determine if students are able to see the item. By default all available attributes are selected.
This field indicates the path on the file server that the selected
item is to reside in. If the path is left blank at item creation
time, the system will create a path automatically based on some of
the letters in the menu item name. This field is valid for types of
EAASy II, Babilon, and Application.
Care should be taken when composing paths that are not created by
the system automatically. Be sure that the path points to a valid
directory name on the server that you have rights to access.
The command field defines the command name used to start applications for the application type. This field is not valid for any other type of item.
This field contains the submenu tag used to access submenus. If left blank during item creation, the system will select a non-conflicting tag for the submenu you are creating. This field is valid only for the submenu type.
This text will be shown in the caption bar of inserted submenu. By default if nothing is entered in the Title field the text displayed will be the name listed in Menu Item. This field is valid only for the submenu type.
This field contains the internal command name of menu-system internal type commands. This field is only valid for the type internal. The contents of this field may be as follows:
Edit Menu Create/Modify Class Add Student to Class Change Own Password Register a User Delete a User List Users Modify User Broadcast Video Edit Attributes Del Stud from Class Delete Entire Class Summary Report Detailed Report List Classes Import Registration List Class Members
This field contains the address for the desired web site. This field is valid only for the type Internet.
This field contains the name and path for the desired media file. Be aware that
This field is only valid for the type Media.
When you create a submenu, it is created with a tag that
the system uses to refer to that menu. The system will pre-fill
this with a unique tag if you leave it blank when creating it.
However, it is possible to refer to a submenu
from several different places in the menu system. To do this, the
submenu is first created and inserted in the menu system. Then it
can be referred to in another menu by using the same Submenu Tag.
Submenu Tags that are already in the system include:
The Master Id is started in this menu. It includes Menu editing, Class functions, Register Users (instructors), Access to the Instructor Menus, Reports, System administration.
Instructors are started in this menu. This menu includes Register Users (students), Class functions, Change password, Reports, Access to the Student Menus.
Students are started in this menu. It includes Change password, and Babilon by default.
This is a submenu used by Master to register instructors and by instructors to register students. It appears both in the MASTER menu and in the INST menu.
This submenu is used to edit class information. It appears in both the MASTER and INST menus.
The REPORT submenu appears in both the MASTER and INST menus and accesses information about the progress of students.
This submenu contains entries that have a global effect on the operation of the entire system.
When an application item is created two parameters are specified for this. The current directory is set to the directory specified in the path field field. Then the command in the Command string field is executed. The command is the name of a .EXE, .COM, or .BAT file (in that order) specified without an extension and without parameters. The current directory specified in the path field is searched first. Then the PATH variable is used to search for the command file.
To edit attributes, the Master selects
"Edit System Wide Attributes" from the System Administration menu.
The form shown below appears.
There are 16 possible attributes that can be defined. Each of the
attributes are applied on the basis of their position in the attribute
list. The letters are provided to allow a simple means of referring
to the attribute position in the list.
In the example, E stands for attribute position 3. If
the E were changed to another letter such as Z, the Z would stand
for attribute number 3. Menus items that used to have the E attribute
will be shown with the Z attribute.
Menu items, classes, and users are created with all of the attribute positions preset. If a new attribute entry in the Attribute column is created in a formerly blank space, this entry will be added to all existing menu items, classes and users. It is therefore best to have a well developed plan of attributes before creating menu items, classes and users.
The letters or numbers in the Attribute column are selected as mnemonic
aliases for the attribute numbers. A system that uses E for English,
F for French, and S for Spanish is recommended. However, the selection
of letters is arbitrary. Any letters can be used to classify the menu
items.
The description field is a reminder of the classification scheme that
has been selected.
The system of classification that is used for attributes should be
designed and completed as far as possible before the menu items are
created.
Only MASTER may register instructors. Instructors are registered by the MASTER in the same fashion that students are registered by instructors (See Registering users) but with the option to limit the extended permissions that are by default assigned to Instructors.
By un-checking the extended Instructor options the MASTER may restrict the permissions of the Instructor as desired.
Change Plan - Administers the ability of the instructor to change course material using the Planner
Delete Tracker Data -Administers the ability of the instructor to delete the student responses in the Tracker
Student Registration Controls - Administers the ability of the instructor to register, delete or change student information.
Enable Tests in Tracker - Enables or restricts the instructor from changing the lesson mode from Practice to Test
and vice versa.
Observe Online Users - This option is not available in all distributions of the software. It is available only in distributions that include the Real Time Students Manager function.
For all other installations, this option is greyed out and cannot be selected.
Where this function is included, this option defined if the instructor is allowed to
access it and listen to or observe the students in Real time.
To register teachers using import files, see Appendix A.
By using the import registration function, the system allows a
large number of students, teachers and classes to be created with their appropriate
associated details in one step.
The import registration function requires that you prepare a file
of a specific format beforehand. This file may be created using
either a regular text editor, a database package or a specific program
that works with the institutions computer system to create lists
of students and classes. The file format is described in
Appendix A.
When the import registration option is selected, a warning is displayed.
If you choose to continue, a box requesting the name of the import file
is shown.
Once the file has been specified, the system will begin to process
the records in the file. During this processing stage, a window
will appear that indicates the progress of the import.
When the import is complete, the status window will disappear. In
the directory that the file was imported from, there will be a file
named IMPORT.REP that contains a status report of any errors
or warnings that were encountered during the process. It is prudent
to look at this file to ensure that all students were properly created.
For detailed information on using system REFRESH options,
Appendix A should be consulted.
In order to change the background for menu screens for any user, the background must first be initialized by the MASTER.
To set up backgrounds MASTER must select from the menu bar, Edit and then Background Image.
This will bring up a planner screen from which to record a series of I items, each with an imported image. The image imported whether a .BMP or a .JPG must be sized to 320 x 220 pixels in order to be displayed entirely. Other sizes may loose some data at the places where it exceeds these dimensions.
If more then one background is created, a specific image may be selected by simply highlighting the first letter of the file name with the blinking cursor (either by clicking on it with the mouse or by moving the cursor with the direction keys).
The background selected by the Master will be inherited by any instructors created by the master from that point forward.
Next Chapter - The Student Screen
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