ExamWritePad

[CHiLL]

The only thing I have just thought of is if you change the EXE name you also have to the change the settings file name accordingly as it’s how .net apps work.

 

 

On your final point, since v3.1 the Ability to specify an Active Directory Group and a series of overrides that will apply when launching EWP. For example, if most students do not require a spellchecker and you have disabled it in the config, you can specify an AD group name and the config option you wish to override spell checking so it is enabled for those candidates within the AD group. (See Config options for further assistance and help on setting this up.)

Great job! That works (though it doesn't appear to like spaces in the group name). I tried with and without encapsulating the setting with quotations "Insert Group Name Here". When changed to InsertGroupNameHere it worked.

 

I've now downloaded and configured v3.2.5.0, so that can be used now with the addition of this ease of enabling/disabling spell check.

 

Thank you.

[ass17]

Great job! That works (though it doesn't appear to like spaces in the group name). I tried with and without encapsulating the setting with quotations "Insert Group Name Here". When changed to InsertGroupNameHere it worked.

 

I've now downloaded and configured v3.2.5.0, so that can be used now with the addition of this ease of enabling/disabling spell check.

 

Thank you.

 

I will check the group name spaces and fix accordingly for v3.5

 

Do you still need the caption window title change or does AD group overriding solve the issue?

[CHiLL]

I will check the group name spaces and fix accordingly for v3.5

 

Do you still need the caption window title change or does AD group overriding solve the issue?

The AD group does exactly what I need, so the window caption isn't necessary.

[ass17]

The AD group does exactly what I need, so the window caption isn't necessary.

 

Ok thanks, I thought so but wanted to double check.

[ass17]

Great job! That works (though it doesn't appear to like spaces in the group name). I tried with and without encapsulating the setting with quotations "Insert Group Name Here". When changed to InsertGroupNameHere it worked.

 

I've now downloaded and configured v3.2.5.0, so that can be used now with the addition of this ease of enabling/disabling spell check.

 

Thank you.

 

I’ve test v3.5 with spaced AD group name in the configGUI and in EWP and it does work OK.

 

Stay tuned for the release of v3.5 as it’s a massive update. It’s currently being tested in a school and no issues so far in the first week. Scheduled release date, as per schedule, 26th Jan.

[browolf]

It would be handy if there could be a test print option on the opening screen. It would save a lot of clicks to just print a standard page to the default printer.

[ass17]

It would be handy if there could be a test print option on the opening screen. It would save a lot of clicks to just print a standard page to the default printer.

 

That’s why there are command line parameters to do that job, see the documentation for help. It will also allow you to printer a whole folder of EWP files to a printer in one go [emoji1303]

[ass17]

If anyone can help indirectly please do so. I’m trying to get more exposure for EWP across the UK and the best way to do that is to engage with an organisation called “The Exams Office”. I’ve tried for several weeks to send them an email to there generic email address and even sent them a tweet but no response.

 

Where you come in is if you know someone in the inside that I could contact direct to promote the product to them and get more schools onboard. I think I’m currently being used buy 200 schools and there are about 6500, so I need bigger exposure.

 

I’ve tried to get an endorsement from the JCQ but they don’t do that kind of thing.

 

Thanks

[RLR]

If anyone can help indirectly please do so. I’m trying to get more exposure for EWP across the UK and the best way to do that is to engage with an organisation called “The Exams Office”. I’ve tried for several weeks to send them an email to there generic email address and even sent them a tweet but no response.

 

Where you come in is if you know someone in the inside that I could contact direct to promote the product to them and get more schools onboard. I think I’m currently being used buy 200 schools and there are about 6500, so I need bigger exposure.

 

I’ve tried to get an endorsement from the JCQ but they don’t do that kind of thing.

 

Thanks

 

My feeling is that they don't want any liability which is why they don't provide any good instructions on how to run a WP exam. They just give some basic details and leave it up the IT team to do the rest and sort out. So if anything goes wrong, it's the IT teams fault and not the exam board. Just my opinion anyway.

 

I hope you're able to get this product used by more schools as it works really well and helps us a lot.

[ass17]

My feeling is that they don't want any liability which is why they don't provide any good instructions on how to run a WP exam. They just give some basic details and leave it up the IT team to do the rest and sort out. So if anything goes wrong, it's the IT teams fault and not the exam board. Just my opinion anyway.

 

I hope you're able to get this product used by more schools as it works really well and helps us a lot.

 

I hope so too, and your answer was kind of how the JCQ responded to me. But the Exams Office could still pass on flyers, let there member know about my product, as you folks know it’s far batter than anything out there. They would be stupid not to tell there members, as it is off benefit to them.

 

Other options, would be educational roadshows, BETT etc but these cost money which a free product cannot sustain..

 

Any other suggestions would be grateful....

Thanks

[browolf]

That’s why there are command line parameters to do that job, see the documentation for help. It will also allow you to printer a whole folder of EWP files to a printer in one go [emoji1303]

 

That doesn't help as software runs in a local user account as the shell on the exam laptops. So no access to command prompt or anywhere to create an alternative icon. We'd have to create another local user for test printing but it makes me nervous to test something on a different account than the pupils would use.

 

Could you do it as a configuration option?

 

 

Whilst I was looking at the documentation file, I couldn't help noticing there's some bits where the options seem illogical or inconsistent.

 

You have autosave 0=off 1=on which makes sense

 

But then you have e.g

disable_datetimeclock, with 0 enable and 1 disable - the options seem the wrong way round, like 0 should be disabled/off

 

I don't know why you need disable in the title when you didn't have disable_autosave

 

enabling a disable is unnecessarily strange. Show/hide a disable action is strange too.

 

I'd expect enable/disable to refer to functions that you don't see and show/hide for things you could see. But some visual things are enable disable and some are show/hide

Edited January 14, 2020 by browolf

[Garacesh]

But then you have e.g

disable_datetimeclock, with 0 enable and 1 disable - the options seem the wrong way round, like 0 should be disabled/off

What, you've never worked with Group Policy? Where you enable the disable?

[ass17]

That doesn't help as software runs in a local user account as the shell on the exam laptops. So no access to command prompt or anywhere to create an alternative icon. We'd have to create another local user for test printing but it makes me nervous to test something on a different account than the pupils would use.

 

Could you do it as a configuration option?

 

 

Whilst I was looking at the documentation file, I couldn't help noticing there's some bits where the options seem illogical or inconsistent.

 

You have autosave 0=off 1=on which makes sense

 

But then you have e.g

disable_datetimeclock, with 0 enable and 1 disable - the options seem the wrong way round, like 0 should be disabled/off

 

I don't know why you need disable in the title when you didn't have disable_autosave

 

enabling a disable is unnecessarily strange. Show/hide a disable action is strange too.

 

I'd expect enable/disable to refer to functions that you don't see and show/hide for things you could see. But some visual things are enable disable and some are show/hide

 

Yes I get your point, there are some inconsistencies but when the option starts with the word disable then you would expect 0 as in false and 1 as in true. Some options lend themselves to the way the option name is written. The reason to disable visual elements of EWP is done for those that requested them, the point of EWP is to allow you to take out the bits you don’t want thus leaving the bits you do want.

 

The problem you have got also is that when you tweak names of options then you have to let the user know and create a GUI tool that would look for older config options and replace them with the new ones. Not to mention that not everyone uses a GUI config editor.

 

Where the options are now, they will be staying until at least v4, if I get that far....

 

When v3.5 is released the options are hanging from the current XML based format to JSON format. But both configs will work as a legacy before the XML goes completely.

 

For the time being they will stay as they are until I’m in a position to look at them but as you can imagine they are of low priority.

[ass17]

What, you've never worked with Group Policy? Where you enable the disable?

 

Exactly!! [emoji1787][emoji1787]

 

I’ve being using Microsoft way too much!!

[ass17]

It would be handy if there could be a test print option on the opening screen. It would save a lot of clicks to just print a standard page to the default printer.

 

Going back to the print option on the splash screen, that is interesting.

 

The current flow to print is:

Double-click on examtext file —> click on Print —> click on Print Document.

 

Is this really that long a process???

 

If you incorporated a button on the splash screen then the flow becomes:

Open EWP —> Click print —> select file from dialog window.

 

So as you can see both ways are a three step process..

 

 

Or are you referring to JUST testing the default printer?

Edited January 14, 2020 by ass17

[simpsonj]

Going back to the print option on the splash screen, that is interesting.

 

The current flow to print is:

Double-click on examtext file —> click on Print —> click on Print Document.

 

Is this really that long a process???

 

If you incorporated a button on the splash screen then the flow becomes:

Open EWP —> Click print —> select file from dialog window.

 

So as you can see both ways are a three step process..

 

 

Or are you referring to JUST testing the default printer?

 

I think, and I may be wrong, but the way I was testing it was to:

Open EWP - Click New - Enter all the exam details - Then click print

 

Of course, having a blank / test EWP file would help, but then it's:

Open EWP - Open Test file - Test print - Close Test File - Open New File

 

As others have stated, it's a great product, so thank you! This is very much a minor issue!

[RLR]

Going back to the print option on the splash screen, that is interesting.

 

The current flow to print is:

Double-click on examtext file —> click on Print —> click on Print Document.

 

Is this really that long a process???

 

If you incorporated a button on the splash screen then the flow becomes:

Open EWP —> Click print —> select file from dialog window.

 

So as you can see both ways are a three step process..

 

 

Or are you referring to JUST testing the default printer?

Depends on the setup I guess. Our setup is: Open ExamWritePad to Splash screen > select new exam > enter candidate details and click save button > save file to location > Popup box to confirm file has been saved > file > print.

 

I can see why having a print option on the splash screen would help test printing.

[ass17]

I think I will add in a test print option on the splash screen that will print a generic test page to the default printer only.

 

I will put it in v3.5 which will be out later this month.....

[ass17]

Test default printer button has now been added to the splashscreen.

[ass17]

Just a quick update folks. Version 3.5 has been tested through our mock exams for the last two weeks and I'm pleased to say so far it has stood up to the test. That being said, I'm now in the process of finalising the release and we are on track for a release date of 1st Feb 2020.

[turnerr12]

Hi, is there the facility to have a text to speech reader built into EWP? My SENDCO has been using it for the recent mocks and loved it but has increasing requests for a pupil to be able to write stuff into a Word Processor and then click a button to have it read it back to them. Would this be a big request to have something like this?

[CHiLL]

Hi, is there the facility to have a text to speech reader built into EWP? My SENDCO has been using it for the recent mocks and loved it but has increasing requests for a pupil to be able to write stuff into a Word Processor and then click a button to have it read it back to them. Would this be a big request to have something like this?

I haven't tested it, but we use Claro Read Pro and I believe it would read back a selection made from EWP.

[ass17]

I haven't tested it, but we use Claro Read Pro and I believe it would read back a selection made from EWP.

 

It does yes and I think TextHelp does also.

[turnerr12]

Yes we had (past tense) TextHelp but found an awful lot of problems with it and so have sacked it off. Hence why wanting something within EWP.

[ass17]

Based on how big a text to speech program is and there are no free ones out there of note, I’m not going to be able to do it, time and cost are the big factors.

 

Text to speech software, to me, should be an essential tool of any SEND department. I’d of loved to have added one in but I don’t think I can. I will look into it but I can’t guarantee, so I’ll say no for now but who knows in the future [emoji3]