ExamWritePad

[ass17]

Hi

Firstly, thank you for this great piece of software, our exams and SEND deapartments love it.

 

I know there was some mention of this a while ago but I cannot find the solution. We often have Examwritepad hang on starting up. It may then start after about ten mintues or just hang indefinitiely. Generally we logon as an admin run it and then log off and back on as the exam user and it normally fixes it, although not always. This doesn't happen all of the time and it doesn't happen on every machine and I haven't found a pattern. Does anyone have a long term solution to this please?

 

Thanks

Hi,

 

Not had any reports of this and I would be interested to know, what version this applies to? And also what people have done to fix it?

 

The first thing that screams out to me is programs/policies like applocker or windows defender SmartScreen.

[Carrot63]

Hi

We have had it happen on and off since we first started using it many versions ago. We currently are using 5.1.0.0

 

We are on a CC4 network. I have always thought it is permission related in some way but I have added all the exceptions to program restrictions that we would normally do.

 

I have tried changing the permissions on programdata\examwritepad which I think is related however that does not seem to be a fix all but sometimes seems to fix it on that one occasion.

Thanks

[RLR]

Hi

We have had it happen on and off since we first started using it many versions ago. We currently are using 5.1.0.0

 

We are on a CC4 network. I have always thought it is permission related in some way but I have added all the exceptions to program restrictions that we would normally do.

 

I have tried changing the permissions on programdata\examwritepad which I think is related however that does not seem to be a fix all but sometimes seems to fix it on that one occasion.

Thanks

 

Are you running a login script? I had issues in the past when running a login script that copied the exam write pad files to the local machine. The first user that logs in and "downloads" the files becomes the owner of them so if another exam user logs in they can't make any changes. I now allocate a specific login per machine so this isn't an issue for me now.

[Carrot63]

Are you running a login script? I had issues in the past when running a login script that copied the exam write pad files to the local machine. The first user that logs in and "downloads" the files becomes the owner of them so if another exam user logs in they can't make any changes. I now allocate a specific login per machine so this isn't an issue for me now.

 

Hi

THanks for the suggestion, I do always logon a specific user to a specific machine as that definitely seems to work better. On the whole it works really well it is just there must be something fundamental that I am missing as to why we get this hanging app. I just can't spot what it is.

Thanks

[ass17]

Hi

Thanks for the suggestion, I do always logon a specific user to a specific machine as that definitely seems to work better. On the whole it works really well it is just there must be something fundamental that I am missing as to why we get this hanging app. I just can't spot what it is.

Thanks

If it is specific to the build of EWP and not your environment, you could test the new version to see how it performs before allowing it into full pupil use.

 

What we do here is utilise the start-up scripts to copy EWP to the local PC on start-up (or shutdown if you prefer), then change permission to read-only, so they cannot delete or modify anything. deliver a desktop icon to EWP upon login.

[ass17]

Just to let you all know that I have implemented a mailing list on the EWP website (scroll down the page) https://sheldnet.co.uk/examwritepad/get-in-touch/

 

This is so you can be informed or any important news or new releases by email, rather than just relying on EduGeek or the EWP website.

 

I also now have a twitter account @ExamWritePad so that you can follow anything posted on the website will auto push to twitter.

[Carrot63]

Hi

We don't use any startup scripts for it at present we just install it using PDQ which also ensures that the Visual C++ Runtime is installed and then copies the correct JSON file across and also copies the examwritepad programdata folder across as this was a fix we needed to use originally to prevent the hanging.

Do you have a copy of the startup scripts you use?

THanks

[ass17]

Hi

We don't use any startup scripts for it at present we just install it using PDQ which also ensures that the Visual C++ Runtime is installed and then copies the correct JSON file across and also copies the examwritepad programdata folder across as this was a fix we needed to use originally to prevent the hanging.

Do you have a copy of the startup scripts you use?

THanks

 

This is what we used but nothing stopping you from using it on computer startup and removing the launch EWP bit.

 

https://github.com/sheldog17/Scripting-Snippets/blob/main/ExamWritePad-Launcher.vbs

 

Then all you would need to do is set permissions.

Edited June 10, 2022 by ass17

[ass17]

Now is the time to do it - Ive enterted EWP in the Bett awards 2023, under the "SEND Resources, Products & Services" category.

Hope we get shortlisted!

[TechMonkey]

I have just had to look at a pupil's work that was corrupted. Opening the file in Notepad++ the save file is blank. I can't think of an instance where this would be possible as other files have all the candidate details at the top. Am I missing something or has this been maliciously altered?

[mavhc]

How are files saved, are you using a transaction based approach. First save a new file, then once that's verified delete the old file and rename?

 

If you're overwriting a file instead there's always a chance of losing data.

[robintech]

I have just had to look at a pupil's work that was corrupted. Opening the file in Notepad++ the save file is blank. I can't think of an instance where this would be possible as other files have all the candidate details at the top. Am I missing something or has this been maliciously altered?

 

 

Shouldn't it have the backup as well every x seconds

[TechMonkey]

Shouldn't it have the backup as well every x seconds

 

That is a good call, I'll take a look at where the backup location are.

[ass17]

That is a good call, I'll take a look at where the backup location are.

 

This will be useful for others to see:

http:// https://sheldnet.co.uk/examwritepad/issues/a-student-has-lost-their-work-on-screen-or-they-have-closed-without-saving-or-the-computer-has-crashed-how-do-i-restore-their-work/

Specifically point #3

[ass17]

With the exam season now drawn to a close, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has supported EWP and spread the word out there (please keep on doing so)!

 

I will be making a few announcements in July which will be posted on the website, Twitter (@ExamWritePad) and sent our via our mailing list (please signup if you haven't, no SPAM or marketing I promise!)

 

Have a great holiday period and again, thank you :-)

[ass17]

|------------------------|

|** Download Now **|

|------------------------|

 

What's New/Fixed?

 

• Added: MP3 Player and CD Player are pinnable/unpinnable so they can be moved around the screen instead of just being docked.
  
• Changed: The Symbol Button has been removed and all symbols have been added to the ‘Accent Characters’ Button. Therefore, these symbols have been split up and three new categories have been created: Scientific, Currency and Symbols. Therefore, the ‘Accent Characters’ button has now been renamed to ‘Accents / Symbols’. If there is no symbol within, you can still press F9 to bring up the Windows Character Map to select the symbol font and insert anything that EWP doesn't have available. The main reason for doing this is because EWP uses the ‘PrintFontFamily’ config option, which will print the document in the configured font only. If you inserted symbols from the cymbal font, these would be converted to the ‘PrintFontFamily’ font and therefore look incorrect. To override the ‘PrintFontFamily’ and use the fonts contained in the document when printing, set ‘PrintFontFamily’ to nothing (leave the font box empty). Also with this name change, the config option to disable the button has been renamed from ‘Disable_Ribbon_Btn_CharMap’ to ‘Disable_Ribbon_Btn_AccentsSymbols’.
  
• Fixed: MP3 Player now fits within its sidebar to accommodate smaller screen resolutions.
  
• Fixed: When pressing Print with any sidebar open, the sidebar disappears and you have to press the Print button again to activate it which is cumbersome.
  
• Fixed: Open an ExamText file, then press Print and Close, some values would be highlighted in red even though there were values inside them.
  
• Added: Automatically insert the user's candidate number from a specified Active Directory field/attribute. This will require you to use the ConfigEditorGUI to fill in the following options:
  

AD_Auth_User = {use any AD account, preferably one that has the lowest permissions}

AD_Auth_Pass = {password for above account}

AD_GetCandidateNames = 1

AD_GetCandidateNumberFromADField = {select from ‘Description’ or ‘employeeID’}

AD_LDAPServer = {Server name or IP address}

AD_OU = {distingushedName of the OU you wish to search within} for example: OU=Pupils,DC=example,DC=co,DC=uk

 

• Added: The Ribbon bar will now hide separator/divider bars if no buttons are visible in between, likewise if all the buttons/drop-downs on a tab are disabled, the tab will now be hidden also (The only tabs that can be completely hidden are Insert, View and Narrator).
  
• Fixed: Config option ‘PrintCoversheet’ if set to 0 (disabled), would still show the print coversheet buttons and allow printing.
  
• Fixed: Config option ‘PrintCoversheet’ if set to 0 (disabled), would still auto-print the coversheet if either config option ‘PrintCoverSheet_Form2_AfterDocumentPrint’ or ‘PrintCoverSheet_Form4_AfterDocumentPrint’ were set to 1 (enabled).
  
• Fixed: When clicking the ‘New’ button, the labels for ‘last auto-backup’ and ‘last auto-save’ are not reset on the ‘Help’ tab.
  
• Fixed: Narrator voice selection has been disabled when narration has started and is re-enabled once you click on stop or the narration has run its course.
  
• Fixed: Using a colon in the Exam Subject on the Candidate Information Window would cause the auto-backups to fail.
  
• Added: Added new shortcut key combinations for CTRL + [ (decrease font size by 1), CTRL + ] (increase font size by 1), CTRL + E (centre the selected text), CTRL + L (left-align the selected text), CTRL + R (right-align the selected text), CTRL + J (fully justify the selected text). Also, shortcuts for subscript and superscript have been added. CTRL and = will result in subscript and CTRL + SHIFT and = will result in superscript.
  
• Fixed: On the MP3 Player sidebar, double-clicking on the blank list of MP3 files will now prompt you to browse for a folder to select.
  
• Fixed: If you have an MP3Player_PreloadPath specified in your config file, it will now disable the drag/drop on the audio list box and double-click to select a folder function. This is so the user cannot deviate from the predetermined list of files.
  
• Fixed: The ‘FIleExists’ and ‘DirectoryExists’ functions would throw an exception if the path parameter were empty/blank.
  
• Changed: The text info has been removed within the MP3 Player and has been replaced with a help button so that more information can be displayed on how to use the MP3 player.
  
• Added: MP3 Player can now support the following audio formats: AAC, FLAC, M4U, OGG, WAV, and WMA. By default the MP3 Player will only load a folder of MP3 files, therefore to activate other audio formats you need to set the config option ‘MP3Player_AdditionalAudioFormats’ to 1.
  
• Fixed: CD Player sidebar now fits within its sidebar to accommodate smaller screen resolutions.
  
• Added: Greek Polytonic Cosanants/Vowels/Symbols to the Accents/Symbols sidebar.
  
• Added: A help button on the Accents/Symbols sidebar making room to extend the max number of available character buttons from 96 to 104.
  
• Fixed: If your Locale language is not set to the US, for example, it is set to the UK, the ‘ZIra’ narrator voice is now hidden so that you only get the speech voices you have installed for your language.
  
• Fixed: When exporting an Exam to DOCX format, the footer width would not be 100% of the page width, making it appear more enclosed.
  
• Updated: Spire.DOC to version 10.7
  
• Fixed: Accents/Symbols sider now hides all the empty buttons that are not in use for the language you have selected.
  
• FIxed: MP3 audio player tracklist has been condensed down to filename only, so you don't have to scroll across to see the name.
  
• Added: Config option ‘MP3Player_ShowOnStartup’ has been added so that you can display the MP3 audio player on the first run ready to go.
  
• Fixed: ‘Export to DOCX’ feature would result in some instances, where the last paragraph of a double-line spaced document becomes single-line spaced.
  
• Added: Accents/Symbols sidebar now has a large preview panel as you move the mouse over a character or symbol.
  

 

 

Now I'm off to a well earned holiday, flights and security permitting of course!

If you have a major issue, I will respond from Wednesday 20th July onwards..

Edited July 7, 2022 by ass17

[ass17]

Hi all,

 

Hope everyone had an enjoyable summer and the frantic start to the school year is now over and settled. Just to keep you up-to-date with all thing EWP. Development has come to halt for now becuase there is nothing to do, literally. No new features/fixes reported or from me. The current vrsion is very stable, which has only take 6 years! The JCQ/CIE requrements from 2022 Summer will be used again for 2023, so nothing to do there either.

 

Chances are I will get more emails towards december Jan for Mock periods and then again in March/April for the summer exams.

 

If you can help to spread the word and ask your exams officers to recommend EWP to others when they have conferences, days out, remote training etc, that would be great. The EWP community is growing steadily, and because I dont collect usage data, I'm not able to tell exact numbers of schools using it, but at a guess it's over a 1000 now.

 

As always, if you need advice on using EWP or suggest features or report issues, feel from too via here or the ExamWritePad.com website

 

Thanks

[Steve21]

Hi all,

 

Hope everyone had an enjoyable summer and the frantic start to the school year is now over and settled. Just to keep you up-to-date with all thing EWP. Development has come to halt for now becuase there is nothing to do, literally. No new features/fixes reported or from me. The current vrsion is very stable, which has only take 6 years! The JCQ/CIE requrements from 2022 Summer will be used again for 2023, so nothing to do there either.

 

Chances are I will get more emails towards december Jan for Mock periods and then again in March/April for the summer exams.

 

If you can help to spread the word and ask your exams officers to recommend EWP to others when they have conferences, days out, remote training etc, that would be great. The EWP community is growing steadily, and because I dont collect usage data, I'm not able to tell exact numbers of schools using it, but at a guess it's over a 1000 now.

 

As always, if you need advice on using EWP or suggest features or report issues, feel from too via here or the ExamWritePad.com website

 

Thanks

 

You jinxed it

 

Just doing a new install at a school and trying the config editor (previously always did manual xml)

 

If you click on an option, and then use the keys to move up down to another option and then save it it saves to the wrong option

 

For example click in ad_auth_pass

 

Press down twice to go to ad_getcandidatenames

 

Change this to 1, hit save and it changes the ad_auth_pass

 

Works on all other boxes too Seems you’re referencing mouse clicks somewhere rather than selected boxes

 

Steve

[ass17]

Got it thanks and fixed it, Will release it very soon.

 

You jinxed it

 

Just doing a new install at a school and trying the config editor (previously always did manual xml)

 

If you click on an option, and then use the keys to move up down to another option and then save it it saves to the wrong option

 

For example click in ad_auth_pass

 

Press down twice to go to ad_getcandidatenames

 

Change this to 1, hit save and it changes the ad_auth_pass

 

Works on all other boxes too Seems you’re referencing mouse clicks somewhere rather than selected boxes

 

Steve

Edited October 20, 2022 by ass17

[titch]

Feature request:

 

We use canon/papercut and when we print to the MFDs the files queue with the cover sheet after the exam so when released we have to move the cover sheet by hand. No Biggie but it would save us all some confusion and faffing.

 

Thanks

[rodsco]

We are experimenting with Windows 11 built in dictation with EWP 22.10.14.1834 but cannot get the Windows dictation option to switch on (Windows + H).

 

It looks like that whenever EWP is running the Windows key gets disabled. Does anyone know if this is expected behavior, and can it be changed/enabled?

[ass17]

Feature request:

 

We use canon/papercut and when we print to the MFDs the files queue with the cover sheet after the exam so when released we have to move the cover sheet by hand. No Biggie but it would save us all some confusion and faffing.

 

Thanks

 

Hi, Please can you describe in detail because I'm not sure what you are trying to suggest, thanks

[ass17]

We are experimenting with Windows 11 built in dictation with EWP 22.10.14.1834 but cannot get the Windows dictation option to switch on (Windows + H).

 

It looks like that whenever EWP is running the Windows key gets disabled. Does anyone know if this is expected behavior, and can it be changed/enabled?

Yes, EWP does indeed control the Windows key. There is currently no way to disable it or just allow a specific set of key combos. Its something I could do for the next build of EWP.

[RLR]

Feature request:

 

We use canon/papercut and when we print to the MFDs the files queue with the cover sheet after the exam so when released we have to move the cover sheet by hand. No Biggie but it would save us all some confusion and faffing.

 

Thanks

 

Not sure what's being asked but sounds like you don't want cover sheets? There is a config setting called "PrintCoverSheet" that you can disable that might solve your problem?

[titch]

Hi, Please can you describe in detail because I'm not sure what you are trying to suggest, thanks

Sorry if I wasn't clear. We do want cover sheets but they way they get stacked up in our print queue the cover sheet comes out after the exam paper. So say we hit print on 20 exams we need to find the cover sheet and bring it to the top of the pile.

 

Now this obviously isn't a game changer but in high pressure/low time situations like exams it can be stressful trying to sort them out.

 

We use papercut and canon MFDs and when you view the queues the paper is printed seconds before the cover sheet so therefor it comes out after the paper. Does this make more sense?

 

Thanks