Publishing Assessments

Back - Security Up - Authoring Offline Next - Database Mgmt

The final step in preparing an assessment for deployment is having the authoring database produce a file of instructions for Test Pilot's web server component. When you click on the database's Export for Web Server button, the infomation in the database is compiled in a special format and put into a file that you will copy to a directory on your web server. This file contains all of the pertinent information entered using the database's authoring controls. This includes:

• your selections of the questions that are to be offered
  
  
• your look and feel control selections
  
  
• your security selections
  
  
• your submission handling selections

File Naming Conventions

All of the information is put into that single file in order to control the behavior of the Test Pilot web server extension. The file should be named using a web compatible filename ending with the extension . tp3 This means the filename should not contain spaces or special characters. If you stick with filenames under 27 characters from the set {a..z, A..Z, 0..9}, you'll avoid problems caused by the idiosyncrasies of the various operating systems on which Test Pilot runs. When properly configured, Test Pilot's web server component will protect this file from prying eyes. Examples of valid filenames include:

• webtest. tp3
  
  
• polysci241. tp3
  
  
• Week1Test. tp3

What Else Goes To the Web Server

Along with the . tp3 file, other files may need to placed on the web server. If you have chosen to use any media files with your questions or have chosen to use shared user or computer lists for access control, these too need to be copied to the server.

For example, suppose you had a question with an image and you entered picture.jpg in the question's media field. The picture.jpg file needs to be copied to the same directory on the web server as the . tp3 file produced when you clicked on the Export for Web Server button.

In summary, the following types of files need to accompany the exported . tp3 file to a directory on the web server:

• media files associated with questions - if you have elected to associate a media file with any question and specified any of those files by simple filename, they must be placed in the same directory as the . tp3 file. If you have specified your media files as URL's, those URL's must point to valid media.
  
  
• media files in question response choices - as it is possible to have media displayed in multiple choice and check all that apply question responses, the same rules as shown above apply. If they were specified as simple filenames, those media files must accompany the . tp3 file to the server.
  
  
• user security lists - if you have selected to enable user list security and have Test Pilot read user access information from a file, the file containing the user list must accompany the . tp3 file to the server. Test Pilot's web server extension, when properly configured, will protect files ending in .tpj It is generally recommended that you should give this user list file a name ending in X.tpj in order to take advantage of this built-in security feature.
  
  
• computer security lists - if you have selected to enable computer list security and have Test Pilot read computer address information from a file, the file containing the list must accompany the . tp3 file to the server. Test Pilot's web server extension, when properly configured, will protect files ending in .tpj It is generally recommended that you should give this computer list file a name ending in X.tpj in order to take advantage of this built-in security feature.

Copying Files to the Web Server

The process of getting the files to your web server will vary with your computing environment. At the very least, your webmaster should provide you with access to a directory where you can copy your files and instructions on how to do it. Once a copy process has been identified, you should no longer require the assistance of technical support.

You should be able to deploy, change and remove assessments entirely at your discretion.

Typical methods of copying the required files to a web server include:

• file server access - many installations allow users to simply connect their computers to a directory on the web server making simple drag copies possible. This is clearly the quickest and easiest method.
  
  
• FTP server access - sometimes the web server is located at a remote location and remote file server access may not be possible. In that case, nearly every web server can also be accessed using the Internet file transfer protocol FTP. Depending upon your FTP client software, the process can be made nearly as easily as a drag copy to a file server.
  
  
• sneaker net - if all else fails, put the files on a floppy and walk to the web server, insert the floppy and copy the files into your directory.

You'll need to contact your web server administrator to determine a process that will work for your environment. Once the files are on the web server, they are ready for access by your users. When properly configured, access is as simply as composing a URL. For example, if the exported filename was test. tp3 and it was place on your server (e.g. server.edu) in your web directory (e.g. /fred/ ), it could be accessed with a web browser at the following URL:

http://server.edu/fred/test. tp3