The eqexam Package

part of the

2013/07/11

What's New

  • (05/17/12) Calculate problem range between two markers (See section 18.16 of the manual). Added additional options to the \fillin command, section 8.11; see parbox and hiddenbox.
  • (09/01/11) This latest version of eqexam (download eqexam_pack.zip). The demo files for the new features are at the AcroTeX Blog
  • (08/06/11) This latest version of eqexam features the fortextbook option, an option designed to support authors of (U.S.) textbooks. fortextbook.pdf is the demo file and documentation on the new eqexam package. This new version allows eqexam to be incorporated into another document more easily. In particular, a textbook author can use eqexam to write textbook problems. eqexam supports all the usual features a modern textbook requires (at least in the U.S.). If you are interested, read the document give me your feedback/feature requests via email (dpstory at uakron dot edu). There is a series of blog articles on this new feature, the articles are listed using the fortextbook tag. Follow the thread on the AcroTeX Blog.
  • (02/21/10) AeB Exam Builder utility is now in beta testing. AeB Exam Builder is an application designed to process one or more eqexam files by converting them to PDF files. Used for converting a whole collection of tests, quizzes, homeworks, or other assignments. The AeB Exam Builder can automatically create up to four different output files:
    • problems only,
    • problems with solutions at end,
    • problems with solutions after, and
    • solutions only.
    The AeB Exam Builder also supports the production of multiple versions (or renditions) from the same source file.
All articles on the eqexam package may be found at the AcroTeX Blog web site: http://www.acrotex.net/blog/?tag=eqexam-package

Description of the package
eqexam is a LaTeX package for writing exams, tests, quizzes, homework assignments, etc. It is a stand alone package, yet is tightly integrated with The AcroTeX eDucation Bundle, so much so, it is also part of The AcroTeX eDucation Bundle distribution. Highlights of this package are as follows:

  1. Can create exams (tests, quizzes, homework assignments) for paper, with points in the left or right margins (or both), totals for each page optionally shown at the bottom corner of each page. Questions can be objective, fill-in, true/false, or multiple choice.
  2. Solutions can optionally be included in the source file, and by changing options, can be displayed (for an answer key), in a couple of different ways.
  3. Can create mutli-part exams, as I often do for final exams, these multiple exams are meant to be graded individually.
  4. The one thing that distinguishes this package from the other exam package is its support for PDF, and this is where The AcroTeX eDucation Bundle comes in. When you have said Bundle installed, and you select any of several options (pdf, links, online or email), a variety of things can happen. For example, in the case of the online or email options, white space for solutions is converted into multiline text field, spaces to fill in answers are converted to text fields,multiple choice questions are converted into radio button fields, etc. When the email option is used, a "Submit" button is automatically created at the top of the first page of the test. The student can take the test online (perhaps in a testing lab) then submit responses to the instructor. The email that is generated to the instructor attaches the FDF file of form data, so the instructor gets a copy of all responses. She/He can then open the file and view the responses of the student.
  5. (08/06/11) v3.0 of eqexam has a major option, fortextbook, designed to support (U.S.) textbook authors. Documentation for this option is found in the doc/fortextbook folder.
Please contact me at dpstory@uakron.edu should you encounter any problems, or have suggestions (features) to make.

Demo Files

  • test01.pdf: A routine example of the eqexam package, a test! This test was compiled with the online option, which makes the exam interactive.
  • The TeX/LaTeX Survey: This is an ongoing survey of your TeX/LaTeX usage. If you haven't filled in the survey, please do, if you are so inclined. The file demonatrates the ability of the eqexam package to create surveys, questionaires, etc. Here are the most recent results, tex_survey_responses.pdf, as of 01/18/10 in the form of a PDF Portfolio, download to your own computer and view in Adobe Reader 9.0 (or later).

The Package files
Place the following files, the components of the eqexam package in a folder where LaTeX looks for package files:

  • eqexam.zip: This .zip files contains all packages, documentation, installation files, and source files for the example files.
  • Examples of the eqexam package now has its own page. There, you can view and download selected demo files.
  • eqexam_pack.zip The package files and documentation, without example files.

The Documentation

Important: eqexam is a stand alone package, but if you want to use the pdf, links, online or email options, you need the AcroTeX Bundle, the latest version. (Exerquiz dated 2005/1/23 v6.03 or later). Download acrotex_pack.zip here, or go to the AcroTeX home page

Publications on the Web
I've recently published two articles in the PracTeX Journal about eqexam and the TeX/LaTeX online survey. The titles of the articles are

History

  • (04/17/05) Uploaded v1.4. Added an environment for creating multiple choice questions with multiple selections.
  • (02/07/05) Uploaded v1.3, the H and h options now work with the splitsolution environment, not that anyone would ever use either of these two options. The fix include a minor change to Exerquiz, so if you want to use any of the online options, you'll have to download acrotex.zip and reinstall.
  • (2/04/05) First upload of eqexam (v1.2)

Regards,

dpstory@uakron.edu

Now I simply must get back to my retirement!