Importing a Test

     The “Import test...” item on the File menu lets you import a test from a text file.  You can create the file with any word processor.  Then save the file as “text only.”  The file must be formatted as follows:

     A new question is marked by ^Q on a separate line preceding the text of the question.

     A new answer (to the last question encountered) is marked by ^A on a separate line preceding the text of the answer.

     The correct answer (to the last question encountered) is marked by ^AC on a separate line preceding the text of the answer.

     A solution (to the last question encountered) is marked by ^S on a separate line preceding the text of the solution.

     Do not put any spaces (or anything else) on the line in front of or after these markers.

     This format was adopted so that you could type in anything you want for the question and answer texts, including blank lines.  Blank lines at the top and bottom of the text will be trimmed off.

Specifying question categories

     Just like when you create a test using only Tester, you do not have to specify any categories.  If you do want to use categories, however, you must group the questions within each category together in the text file.  This should not be much of a problem since each category usually contains questions that are either very similar or at least related to each other.

     Begin each group of questions (the questions in the category) with:

     ^C  <name of category>  [<number of questions to be selected for printing>]

     on a separate line.  Do not put any spaces in front of the ^C.  You must put at least one space between the ^C and the category name.  This space will not become part of the category name, however.  You do not have to include the <number of questions to be selected for printing>, but if you do, you must enclose it in square brackets.  If you want to specify a category where the questions should not be scrambled, use ^CN instead of ^C.

     Here is an example of how to define a category called “Shakespeare’s early life” that will have one question randomly selected from it when the test is printed:

     ^C   Shakespeare’s early life   [1]

     This line should then be followed by all the questions in the category, formatted as described above.

Specifying instructions

     A set of instructions is marked by ^I on a separate line preceding the text of the instructions.  Do not put any spaces (or anything else) on the line in front of or after this marker.

     This marker is used for both general and category instructions.  Any instructions that are specified before the first category is specified are saved as general instructions.  Any other instructions are attached to the last category that was specified.  The simplest is to specify the instructions immediately after specifying the category.

Importing pictures along with the text

     The simple way of dealing with pictures (since they are not saved by the word processor when you save the file as “text only”) is to first make a note to yourself wherever a picture is required.  Once you have imported the test, you can go through the questions and add the pictures.  (If you always use the same note, you can use the “Find...” option on the Test menu to search for the note.)

     However, Tester can also import pictures while it is importing the text.  To do this, the picture must be stored in a PICT file.  (Refer to the section on using pictures for more information.)

     The first line of the question must read:  “PICT:  <name of PICT file>”
     (If the picture is successfully imported, this first line will not appear in the question text.)

     The only line of the answer must read:  “PICT:  <name of PICT file>”

     The first line of the solution must read:  “PICT:  <name of PICT file>”
     (If the picture is successfully imported, this first line will not appear in the solution text.)

     The first line of the instructions must read:  “PICT:  <name of PICT file>”
     (If the picture is successfully imported, this first line will not appear in the instruction text.)

     (Don’t include the quotes in any case, and don’t put any spaces in front of “PICT:”)

     While importing the test, Tester will search for the specified file in the same folder as the text file and in all folders within this folder.  (To minimize the amount of time spent searching for each picture, create a folder to contain only the text file and the pictures.)  If Tester can’t find the picture, it will notify you so you can go in and add it after the rest of the test has been imported.

Adding comments to the text file

     If you want to include general comments to yourself about the test, you can type them in at the top of the text file (i.e. before the first question (indicated by ^Q)).  Tester will ignore these comments when you import the test, but they may be very useful to you if you open the text file again later.

     You can also include comments to yourself about each category by typing them in after the category definition line (indicated by ^C) but before the first question in the category (indicated by ^Q).