ExamWritePad

[ass17]

What’s New/Fixed?

• ADDED: Full drag-drop support has been added. Just drag an ExamText file into the window and it will open.

 

• ADDED: Full spell-checking options have been added to the override options section in the ConfigEditorGUI.

 

• CHANGED: The message box window was set to a font that was not consistent with the rest of EWP.

 

• UPDATED: Spire Doc (used to convert ExamText files to DOCX files) has been updated to v9.9.7

 

• FIXED: A basic debug log file would be created even though ‘DebugApplication’ was set to 0. If ‘DebugApplication’ is set to 0, all basic messages are now written to the application event log which can be filtered based on event ID 17181. This will then allow you to save the filtered log file to a CSV in order to send it to EWP with your support request.

 

• ADDED: Added a button to the ‘Extra Time Sidebar’ to start the extra time now without the need for a countdown.

 

• CHANGED: EWP now uses the DateTime assembly versioning for its build numbers instead of the classic Major,Minor,Build,Revision versioning. Therefore, checking the current version against the online version has been changed from an integer to a long variable.

 

• ADDED: EWP will now detect if C++ 2013 Runtime is installed upon launching. If not installed, EWP will prompt with a message on how to install it.

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Download Links in the Signature below or go to: https://bit.ly/ExamWritePad-Download

Edited December 11, 2021 by ass17

[jamesrhart]

Hi, are there any plans to somehow integrate immersive reader into exam writepad?

[ass17]

Hi, are there any plans to somehow integrate immersive reader into exam writepad?

 

Would love to but Microsoft haven’t released any way of using it in code. Can only be used in Office apps, OneNote and Edge.

[jamesrhart]

I thought as much, we're finding potential students with it being their normal way of working.

[ass17]

I thought as much, we're finding potential students with it being their normal way of working.

 

I only have the narrator built-in to EWP which is similar to an immersive reader. This is about as good as it gets without paying mega bucks for a third party one. Given that EWP will always be free, I can’t see it happening anytime soon unless an investor comes along [emoji16]

[jamesrhart]

It's really appreciated with the product, the work you do on it and the fact it's free, it really saves our bacon. Maybe it's worth contacting Mike Tholfson at Microsoft and see if there is a way of integrating for free at some point in the future, he's a big advocate of the immersive tech etc.

[ass17]

Hi all,

Urgent update if you are taking spanish written mocks. The accented characters for Spanish appear as Russian. Please update your version of EWP asap to fix this issue.

 

v22.1.11.1608

 

For security reasons, I have now included below the ZIP/MSI file hashes, so you can check for any forms of tampering, thus giving you peace of mind.

ZIP (Portable)

https://bit.ly/ExamWritePad

SHA-1: 7E1AAEF53020BDF84AA571619785EE63E1F77C69

MD5: F9130C0B81F1386A222046DF6B1509C2

 

MSI Installer

https://bit.ly/ExamWritePad-MSI

SHA-1: 41895C49A63D8D5D189E7F3771FC51EE9792DE53

MD5: B8C394F2F992B5D8445E14F10A4C9ACC

 

MSI Installer (No Icons)

https://bit.ly/ExamWritePad-MSI-NoIcons

SHA-1: 80FC78896770DCBCC44CF509F7D66C6B73D63321

MD5: EE1137591F2CC15650EB969AEBD093D1

[robintech]

Got an odd bug the Autosave prompt kept coming up saying it couldn't find the home drive but the drive was accessible through File-SaveAs . Was on WiFi which further complicates things but others seemed ok

Have 30 laptops using examwritepad today and only happened on one.

 

4.8.0.0

 

 

"Setting_Name": "AutoBackup", "Setting_Value": "1" "Setting_Name": "AutoBackupInterval", "Setting_Value": "60000" "Setting_Name": "AutoSave", "Setting_Value": "1" "Setting_Name": "DefaultOpenPath", "Setting_Value": "%HomeDrive%" "Setting_Name": "DefaultSavePath", "Setting_Value": "%HomeDrive%" "Setting_Name": "DefaultBackupPath", "Setting_Value": "c:\\Exams" "Setting_Name": "AutoSaveInterval", "Setting_Value": "60000"

[ass17]

Got an odd bug the Autosave prompt kept coming up saying it couldn't find the home drive but the drive was accessible through File-SaveAs . Was on WiFi which further complicates things but others seemed ok

Have 30 laptops using examwritepad today and only happened on one.

 

4.8.0.0

 

 

"Setting_Name": "AutoBackup", "Setting_Value": "1" "Setting_Name": "AutoBackupInterval", "Setting_Value": "60000" "Setting_Name": "AutoSave", "Setting_Value": "1" "Setting_Name": "DefaultOpenPath", "Setting_Value": "%HomeDrive%" "Setting_Name": "DefaultSavePath", "Setting_Value": "%HomeDrive%" "Setting_Name": "DefaultBackupPath", "Setting_Value": "c:\\Exams" "Setting_Name": "AutoSaveInterval", "Setting_Value": "60000"

 

This is a strange one and may just be a one off especially if other laptops are ok.

It’s one of those things difficult to diagnose if you can’t replicate it.

[box_l]

Hi,

 

Thank you again for this very useful software!

 

We have recently had issues with ExamWritePad "locking up".

This is due to the students inserting several largish images in the document, and then the auto-save function taking to long time to save the file.

 

In the testing we noticed that if we insert a 2Mb file into the document, the save file becomes just over 4Mb.

A 4Mb image generates a 8Mb file.

We consistently get files that are approximately double the embedded image sizes.

Is this expected behaviour?

 

The "lock up" issue happens most obviously on the largest files so we are keen to keep the files as small as possible.

 

We have also been asked if the image chooser file dialogue can just see all image types rather than having to choose jpeg or png etc.

 

Thanks again

 

Box_l

[ass17]

Hi,

 

Thank you again for this very useful software!

 

We have recently had issues with ExamWritePad "locking up".

This is due to the students inserting several largish images in the document, and then the auto-save function taking to long time to save the file.

 

In the testing we noticed that if we insert a 2Mb file into the document, the save file becomes just over 4Mb.

A 4Mb image generates a 8Mb file.

We consistently get files that are approximately double the embedded image sizes.

Is this expected behaviour?

 

The "lock up" issue happens most obviously on the largest files so we are keen to keep the files as small as possible.

 

We have also been asked if the image chooser file dialogue can just see all image types rather than having to choose jpeg or png etc.

 

Thanks again

 

Box_l

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll take a look into this, but at the moment all I can say is that this is expected behaviour for RTF formats as they will store the image in bitmap format, hence the larger file size. Therefore a limitation I cannot get past unless I could link to the file but that would mean the image files would always need to follow the EWP file, therefore not really an option.

 

The dialog box I will look into if it’s a built in call to the TextControl component then again I’m limited but I need to take a look to see if there is any wiggle room to play about with this.

 

Thanks

[RLR]

Trying to export an examwritepad file to word using the built in export to word function but getting this error:

 

 

Currently using the latest version of ExamWritePad. Does office need to be installed on the machine to export it? Currently have Office LTSC Profession Plus 2021 installed.

[RLR]

Sorted it. It was because I only copied the new exe file over when I updated to the new version and didn't copy the other folders. At least I know now to copy everything over when updating!

[ass17]

Sorted it. It was because I only copied the new exe file over when I updated to the new version and didn't copy the other folders. At least I know now to copy everything over when updating!

 

Yep the key bits are the EXE and Assemblies folder.

[box_l]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll take a look into this, but at the moment all I can say is that this is expected behaviour for RTF formats as they will store the image in bitmap format, hence the larger file size. Therefore a limitation I cannot get past unless I could link to the file but that would mean the image files would always need to follow the EWP file, therefore not really an option.

 

The dialog box I will look into if it’s a built in call to the TextControl component then again I’m limited but I need to take a look to see if there is any wiggle room to play about with this.

 

Thanks

 

Cheers,

 

I did look at the image options and saw the "link image" option but I am sure this would lead to missing images when the documents are copied to an alternate location, so not really a solution.

 

Is the info below the RTF behaviour you mention?

 

RTF supports inclusion of JPEG, PNG, Enhanced Metafile (EMF), Windows Metafile (WMF), Apple PICT, Windows device-dependent bitmap, Windows device-independent bitmap and OS/2 Metafile picture types in hexadecimal (the default) or binary format in a RTF file. Not all of these picture types are supported in all RTF readers, however. When a RTF document is opened in software that does not support the picture type of an inserted picture, the picture is not displayed. RTF writers usually either convert an inserted picture in an unsupported picture type to one in a supported picture type, or do not include picture at all.

 

For better compatibility with Microsoft products, some RTF writers include the same picture in two different picture types in one RTF file: one supported picture type to display, and one uncompressed WMF copy of the original picture to improve compatibility with some Microsoft applications like Wordpad.[48]

 

This method increases the RTF file size dramatically. The RTF specification does not require this method, and several implementations do not include the WMF copy (e.g. Abiword or Ted).

 

For Microsoft Word, it is also possible to set a specific registry value ("ExportPictureWithMetafile=0") to prevent Word from saving the WMF copy.

 

I wonder if there is a way to not include the WMF? Maybe that would help with the file size? Might introduce other issues though.

 

Thanks again.

[ass17]

Cheers,

 

I did look at the image options and saw the "link image" option but I am sure this would lead to missing images when the documents are copied to an alternate location, so not really a solution.

 

Is the info below the RTF behaviour you mention?

 

 

 

I wonder if there is a way to not include the WMF? Maybe that would help with the file size? Might introduce other issues though.

 

Thanks again.

 

It is the behaviour yes, and biggest issue is that I would love to use a container format like docx etc, but it’s all down to the restrictions with the free components I use.

 

But as always I will see what I can do :-)

[ass17]

I’ve taken a look at the code and it seems that TextControl do not store the WMF metafile copy of images in RTF files, therefore I can’t do much about it sorry.

[pgrant]

Hi,

We have been investigating all our devices saving the backups to a single network share using the option “DefaultBackupPath” with value like \\server100\ExamBackup$, rather than keeping them locally on the devices.

 

However, in testing we have found that this would mean that the candidates would be able to see each other’s work by using the "Restore Previous" button when the software starts. We are happy to disable the "Restore Previous" button meaning that an admin would need to get the files out of the share if they are needed, I but cannot find a setting that will do this.

 

There is "PreviousVersionsRecoveryMinutesDisplay” but this can only have a minimum value of 1 although you can enter and save 0 which appears to do the job we need but next time you go back to "PreviousVersionsRecoveryMinutesDisplay” there is a validation error and the value is reset back to 60. So this appears to work to a fashion but I would say this was unsupported.

 

The final idea I had was to use a path in “DefaultBackupPath” which contained an environmental variable like \\server100\ExamBackup$\%COMPUTERNAME% so that the file was saved in a different folder for each computer within the share.

 

Any ideas of a supported way of saving previous versions to a network share but not have the previous versions of files visible to the candidates?

[CHiLL]

Hi,

We have been investigating all our devices saving the backups to a single network share using the option “DefaultBackupPath” with value like \\server100\ExamBackup$, rather than keeping them locally on the devices.

 

However, in testing we have found that this would mean that the candidates would be able to see each other’s work by using the "Restore Previous" button when the software starts. We are happy to disable the "Restore Previous" button meaning that an admin would need to get the files out of the share if they are needed, I but cannot find a setting that will do this.

 

There is "PreviousVersionsRecoveryMinutesDisplay” but this can only have a minimum value of 1 although you can enter and save 0 which appears to do the job we need but next time you go back to "PreviousVersionsRecoveryMinutesDisplay” there is a validation error and the value is reset back to 60. So this appears to work to a fashion but I would say this was unsupported.

 

The final idea I had was to use a path in “DefaultBackupPath” which contained an environmental variable like \\server100\ExamBackup$\%COMPUTERNAME% so that the file was saved in a different folder for each computer within the share.

 

Any ideas of a supported way of saving previous versions to a network share but not have the previous versions of files visible to the candidates?

Can you use locked down domain accounts specifically for exams (such as Exam01, Exam02, etc) and each have it's own home drive? You can then specify the backup path to be in the home drive, instead of stored locally (this is how we do it).

Edited January 26, 2022 by CHiLL

[ass17]

Hi,

We have been investigating all our devices saving the backups to a single network share using the option “DefaultBackupPath” with value like \\server100\ExamBackup$, rather than keeping them locally on the devices.

 

However, in testing we have found that this would mean that the candidates would be able to see each other’s work by using the "Restore Previous" button when the software starts. We are happy to disable the "Restore Previous" button meaning that an admin would need to get the files out of the share if they are needed, I but cannot find a setting that will do this.

 

There is "PreviousVersionsRecoveryMinutesDisplay” but this can only have a minimum value of 1 although you can enter and save 0 which appears to do the job we need but next time you go back to "PreviousVersionsRecoveryMinutesDisplay” there is a validation error and the value is reset back to 60. So this appears to work to a fashion but I would say this was unsupported.

 

The final idea I had was to use a path in “DefaultBackupPath” which contained an environmental variable like \\server100\ExamBackup$\%COMPUTERNAME% so that the file was saved in a different folder for each computer within the share.

 

Any ideas of a supported way of saving previous versions to a network share but not have the previous versions of files visible to the candidates?

 

Thanks for the query,

 

The default backup path was only really built for local backups because of the need to be visible to the single computer.

 

Something I’ve not really thought about but longer term I could provide an option to disable restoring from the EWP GUI. Easily done.

 

I will have a think….

[ass17]

Can you use locked down accounts specifically for exams (such as Exam01, Exam02, etc) and each have it's own home drive? You can then specify the backup path to be in the home drive, instead of stored locally (this is how we do it).

 

This is also an option to point the save and backup location to the exact same network location.

[pgrant]

We have 1 user account that is used on multiple devices and the students save to a pen drive but we think we have a work around.

 

I believe if we use the option Disable_SplashScreen with Disable_Ribbon_Btn_PreviousHistory there is no way for the exams user to access the previous versions from the software.

[ass17]

We have 1 user account that is used on multiple devices and the students save to a pen drive but we think we have a work around.

 

I believe if we use the option Disable_SplashScreen with Disable_Ribbon_Btn_PreviousHistory there is no way for the exams user to access the previous versions from the software.

 

I think just using the Disable_Ribbon_Btn_PreviousHistory should do the trick. But I will check if the restore option still appears on the splash screen or not

[RLR]

How long do the backup files last? Do they automatically get deleted after a certain time period? Do they get deleted when a new exam starts?

[ass17]

How long do the backup files last? Do they automatically get deleted after a certain time period? Do they get deleted when a new exam starts?

 

By default, only the the last 60mins worth of backups, from the time EWP is launched, are available to the user to restore from.

 

All backups will also stay on the computer for life unless you set a config option to auto delete backups older than 24 hours.