System Administration

 
Online Administration: Administrative changes can be made online by clicking on the System Administration button from the Home Page.

  • Version 9.9 allows Administrators and other authorized personnel to access the System Administration page. A Username and the password assigned to that person is required to make any changes.

    • Usernames:

      • There can by any number of Usernames.

      • Each Username can have only 1 assigned password.

      • Usernames can only be added and deleted by the System Administrator.

    • Add/Edit Database Passwords

    • To add a new password for a database:

      • Click the Radio Button on the left side.
      • Enter the name of an existing database in the field under Database Name.
      • To add a new password for Full Access to the database, enter the NEW password in the first field to the right under Password.
      • To add a new password for Limited Access to only Records and Reports, enter the NEW password in the second field to the right under Password.
      • Click Submit. Both passwords will be added.
        • To add just one new password, leave the other field blank.

    • To edit or delete passwords:

      • Click the Radio Button on the left side.
      • Enter the name of an existing database in the field under Database Name.
      • To edit existing Full Access passwords, enter an existing password for that database in the first field to the right under Password.
      • A page will appear where you can change or delete passwords.
      • To edit existing Limited Access passwords for Records & Reports, enter an existing password in the second field to the right under Password.
      • A page will appear where you can change or delete passwords.
        • If you enter existing words in both password fields, only the Full Access passwords will be edited.
        • To edit words in the Limited Access area, leave the Full Access field blank.

    • Create New Test or Student Area:

      • 1,2,3

      • Click the radio button on the left.

      • Enter the NEW name for the database in the first field.

      • Enter a NEW password for the database in the second field.

      • Click Submit and the database will be created.

        • The server must have permissions in the folder set for Everyone at Modify or Full Control in order for this feature to work.
        • The default password for Full Access is RoboTutor and for Limited Access it is Training.
        • When you create a database and enter a new password, it is actually entered as a second password. The default password is not deleted.
        • To add additional passwords, go to Add/Edit database passwords.
    • Database Log In Defaults:

      • RoboTutor can have any number of student and Test Areas. As a result, it is necessary to Log In to the database you desire when you click on the Test and Student Administration buttons.

      • The default that appears on the Log In screen is set here. When the program is originally setup, the Log In for Test Administration is Everyone9 and for Student Administration it is Students9.

      • The default can be the name of any database in the students or tests folder under fpdb9.

      • The default can also be left blank so no name appears on the Log In screens.

    • Course Access Codes:
      • Course Access Codes: It is sometimes desirable to limit access to course materials and tests. If a student has been authorized or paid a fee, then he or she can take the course. Course Access Codes makes this possible and easy to do in RoboTutor. It works by first generating Access Codes for every student.

        • Enter the number of codes needed in the # field (unlimited).

        • Student access to the course is limited to a specific number of months after first use. Enter the months in the Mo field.

        • When students Log In by linking to TestCode.asp, they are sent to a specific page where the course or tests are located. Put the address to that page in the URL field.

          • To prevent students from accessing the course materials without first logging-in, special templates are used when creating the course materials.

          • There is a sub-folder located under the courses folder called template. Copy the contents from it to your new folder and create the course.

        • For detailed information on how to use this feature, click HERE.

      • Purge Expired Course Access Codes

        • Course Access Codes are setup for a specific duration of time once they have been accessed.

        • The number that have expired are shown in parentheses.

        • To clean up the database and erase old Course Access Codes, click the Purge Expired Course Access Codes, and they will be deleted.

        • To purge the database of codes that have not yet expired, reset your clock on the server to a specified future date and click the Purge Expired Course Access Codes option.

    • Email ALL test results to

      • This option, when selected, will email a copy of the test results from every test taken using RoboTutor on the server to the address entered.

      • Enter the email address in the field provided

      • Note, only a summary of the email is sent. The test questions and student answers are not included.

    • Reset Total Tests Taken back to 0

      • At the top of the main menu for System Administration is a counter that displays the total number of tests taken since the counter was last reset.

      • The total includes all tests taken by any students using any tests.

      • To reset the counter, select this option in the System Administration menu and click Submit.

  • Changing System Administration Username and Password:
    • Sign-on the server as Administrator.
    • Go to the rtdb9 folder
    • Open system.mdb in the system sub-folder.
    • Click Tables and open the Access table.
    • Add, modify, or delete usernames and passwords here.
       

    *1 Note, this feature works by copying TestModel9.mdb from the TEMPLATES folder to the TESTS folder and then renaming it. An error can occur if there already exists a file in the TESTS folder by the name of TestModel9.mdb. To avoid this problem, do not use this name. If there is an error, rename or delete TestModel9 from in the TESTS folder.
    *2 Note, this feature works by copying StudentsModel9.mdb from the TEMPLATES folder to the STUDENTS folder and then renaming it. An error can occur if there already exists a file in the STUDENTS folder by the name of StudentsModel9.mdb. To avoid this problem, do not use this name. If there is an error, rename or delete StudentsModel9 from in the STUDENTS folder.
    *3 Permissions: To create new databases, permission must be granted to the rtdb9 folder for "Everyone" to "Modify" the contents. This makes the folder less secure from persons not authorized to be there. If this is a problem for your organization, do not grant any permissions for this folder other than READ and WRITE.  New databases will have to be created by manually on the server by copying them from the templates folder to the test or student folders and then renaming them.

Linking Students to Tests

Students take tests by clicking on a link to one of these 3 files: TestMenu.asp, TakeTest.asp, and TestCode.asp. The one the teacher chooses depends upon specific application needs.  Students can also review test content by playing the Academic Olympics Game with a link to game/G1/StartGame.asp.

  1. If you want to put a DIRECT link from your course materials to a SPECIFIC test, then create a link to TakeTest.asp.

    • TakeTest will only ask for the student's name and password. Then it will take the student to the test specified.
    • The link to TakeTest.asp should ALWAYS be set to open in a NEW window.
    • The names of the student and Test Areas as well as the Test ID are all hidden in the link parameters as shown below.
    • If NO parameters are set as part of the link, then TakeTest will ask for the name of the student and Test Areas as well as the Test ID.
    • Setup and confirmation features:
      • If the test is setup in Advanced Features to allow and confirm new names, then to enter a new name the student must check the "Click here if you are a NEW student" box.
        • Every student or employee must have a unique password, ID or employee number.
      • If the test is setup to allow new names without confirming them or to request no name at all, then the "Click here if you are a NEW student" box does not appear
        • Students or employees can have the same passwords.
    • If these parameters ARE entered with the link to TakeTest, then this page will only ask for the student name and password.
      • It is possible to add parameters for the student name or password so that even these fields do not appear, for example, when doing a survey.
      • Student Area: Since there can by any number of Student Areas, the one the teacher is using for this test must be specified.
      • Test Area: Since there can also be any number of Test Areas, the one the teacher wants these students to access must be specified.
      • Test ID: A Test Area can have any number of tests in it. Each test has a Test ID that identifies the specific test the student is to take.

      This is what the hyperlink to TakeTest.asp should look like:

      http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/taketest.asp?studentarea=Students9&testarea=Everyone9&testpassword=A11

      • If you are linking to the RoboTutor site, you only need to enter the Test ID (shown in green at the very end). The Test ID (test password) is a unique number or name that you assign a test when you create it. If you are on another site, you also need to change the path (blue) and the names of your student and Test Areas (lavender).

        •  
    • If you would like to have your students or employees enter 1 or more Sorting Codes (course number, teacher, age, etc.) when they log into a test, add &code=true to the end of the hyperlink shown above.
      • Sorting Codes can be used in Student Administration to select students for various reports.
      • You can also enter the Sorting Code directly in the command line if you want that code for every student. For example, &code=Jones3 for Mr. Jones' 3rd period. 
        • To add several Sorting Codes from the command line, include a COMMA between them, but NO spaces. For example: &code=Jones,Period3
      • This feature also works with Test Menus and Surveys.
         
      •
  2. If you want your students to see a MENU of all tests in a specific Test Area, then create a link to TestMenu.asp.
     
    • TestMenu is designed to automatically create a menu of all tests in a specific Test Area. All the links from this menu are automatically set so students only need to enter their names.
    • The names of the student and Test Areas as well as the title on the menu page are all hidden in the link parameters as shown below.
    • The link to TestMenu.asp should always be set to open in a NEW window.
    • If NO parameters are set as part of the link, then TestMenu will ask for the name of the Student Area, the name of the Test Area, and the title for the test menu.
    • If these parameters ARE entered with the link to TestMenu, then this page will not display and the student will go directly to the menu itself.

    This is what the hyperlink to TestMenu.asp should look like:

    http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/TestMenu.asp?testarea=everyone9&studentarea=students9&testtitle=My Tests

    • If you are linking to the RoboTutor site, you only need to enter a test title (shown in green at the end). If you are on another site, you need to change the path (blue) and the names of your student and Test Areas (lavender).

  1. If you want to use a "test" in a GROUP PRESENTATION or an ANONYMOUS SURVEY, you will probably NOT want the program to ask for a student name and password.

  • To skip the Log In page, the hyperlink should look like the following. Notice it is the same as the above except the text in blue has been added. You can use whatever first name, last name, and student password you prefer. Everyone who takes the test will go in under that name.

http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/taketest.asp?firstname=Student&lastname=Summary&
studentpassword=12345&studentarea=Students9&testarea=Everyone9&testpassword=A11

  • Note: the values in lavender shown above (firstname=Student, lastname=Summary and studentpassword=12345) can be substituted with any other values you prefer as long as they are not used by any existing student.
  • Another option is to have TakeTest list all the tests in a specific Test Area using a drop-down menu in place of the text field that asks for the Test ID.  That way students can simply pick a test. You could have a Test Area with nothing but the tests in a specific subject. To start the game with a drop down menu, replace testpassword={Test ID} with testpassword=testmenu.

http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/taketest.asp?firstname=Student&lastname=Summary&
studentpassword=12345&studentarea=Students9&testarea=Everyone9&testpassword=testmenu

  1. It may be desirable at times to restrict student access to tests and course materials by linking them to TestCode.asp.  An example is where students are paying for the right to take an online course.  To setup RoboTutor for this purpose, follow these steps:

    • From the main menu, click on System Administration. Access is limited to those who know the password to this area.
    • On the next page, scroll down to the Course Access Codes section and enter the number of pass codes you want to generate in the # field.
    • Enter the number of months the pass codes will be usable once they are activated in the Mo. field.
    • Enter the URL where the students will go to see the course materials.
      • To prevent students from later accessing them without logging in, use the special ASP pages located in the courses/template folder.
      • Create a new folder and copy the files in the template folder to your new one. Rename them or create new files as needed. Then use a path to that folder as your URL above.
      • For example, create a folder under courses and name it course1. Copy all the files from the Template folder to course1.
      • The URL you put in the form to create Access Codes would then be courses/course1/CourseMenu.asp.
      • Note, if you click the Test Link button and your address is CORRECT, then you should get the following: Application Error, A Pass Code was not specified. It says this because you should not be able to access these pages without a test code number.
    • Click Submit and a page appears that lists the pass codes generated. Be sure and print it.
    • The next step is to generate the course materials using the files in your new course folder.
      • Open CourseMenu.asp in an HTML editor such as FrontPage.
      • Add or delete menu links as needed.
      • Modify the Final Exam link at the bottom to include your Test Area, Student Area, and the password to the test.
      • Do the same for each of the Section pages.
    • When the course materials are finished and on the network, put a link for your students to TestCode.asp. Give (or sell) to each of your students one of the pass codes.
      This is what the hyperlink to TestCode.asp should look like:
      http://      www.robotutor.com      /RoboTutor9/testcode.asp?studentarea=Students9
       
    • If you are linking to the RoboTutor site, you only need to enter a Student Area name (shown in green). If you are on another site, you need to change the path (blue).
      • Students will be only asked for their pass code.
      • If you do not include the Student Area in the link, then students will also be asked for the name of the Student Area where their name and scores will be stored.
      • Once they enter their name, it is tied to that pass code and all they need to do in the future is enter the pass code to access the course materials.
         
  2. If you want your students to PLAY a GAME using the questions from any test, then create a link to game/G1/StartGame.asp.
     
    • The names of the Test Area and Test ID are usually hidden in the link parameters as shown below.
    • No Student Records are saved in the Student Area database, so no reference needs to be put in the code.
    • The link to StartGame.asp should always be set to open in a NEW window.
      • Note, the files for the game are all in the Game folder under the main menu. Your links must therefore include the name of the folder as shown below.
    • If NO parameters are set as part of the link, then StartGame will ask for the Test Area (testarea) and the Test ID (testpassword).
    • If these parameters ARE entered in the parameters with the link to StartGame, then StartGame will only ask for the names of the players.

    This is what the hyperlink to StartGame.asp should look like:

    http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/game/G1/StartGame.asp?start=true&testarea=everyone9
    &    testpassword=    mygame&Help=Answers

    • If you are linking to the RoboTutor site, you only need to enter the name of the Test Area (shown in lavender) and  Test ID (shown in green at the end). If you are on another site, you need to change the path (blue).

    • Another option is to have StartGame list all the tests in a specific Test Area using a drop-down menu in place of the text field that asks for the Test ID.  That way students can simply pick a test. You could have a Test Area with nothing but special game versions of the tests. To start the game with a drop down menu, replace testpassword={Test ID} with testpassword=testmenu.

    http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/game/G1/StartGame.asp?start=true&testarea=everyone9
    &    testpassword=    testmenu& Help=Answers

    • To make a link to a game, go to the Question List page and click the Game link at the bottom of the page. When it opens in your browser, copy the Address and put it anywhere you want a link.
      • To have the game display the CORRECT answer when students miss a question, the path to the game should have Help=Answers at the end. This is the default when you click on the Game link.
      • To have the game display the TUTORIAL answer when student miss a question, change Answers to Tutorial so it looks like this: Help=Tutorial.
      • To have the game display both CORRECT and TUTORIAL answers, use Help=Both
      • To have the game display nothing, use Help=
    • The game by default opens into a new regular window. To open it full screen, add this code to the end of the command line: &Screen=Full

The Student Tests link from the RoboTutor home page uses the default Test Area and default Student Area which are set in System Administration.

Students can also access their personal records and see how they are doing toward reaching the Certification objectives of any program:
  • TakeTest.asp logs in students for taking tests. It also has an "Access My Records" button at the bottom so students can view their personal records.
  • AccessMyRecords.asp lets students view their personal records, but does not log them in for testing.

This is what the hyperlink to AccessMyRecords.asp should look like:

http://www.robotutor.com/RoboTutor9/AccessMyRecords.asp?studentarea=Students9
  • If you are linking to the RoboTutor site, you only need to enter a Student Area name (shown in green). If you are on another site, you need to change the path (blue).
  • Students will be only asked for their name and password.
  • If you do not include the Student Area in the link, then students will also be asked for the name of the Student Area where their name and scores will be stored.
  • Once they enter their name, they go to a page that lets them view the following:
    • The Certificate Program, if it has been setup.
    • All the tests the student has taken and are recorded in that Student Area.
    • Select tests the student taken as specified by a start and end date.
  • The student also has the option to to display every test taken or only the highest scores for each taken taken.
  • RoboTutor is setup by default to automatically register students for associated Certification Programs when they take a test.
    •  For example, if a test is created called Math1 and it is include in a Certification Program called Math Certification, then when any student takes Math1, the program checks to see if that student is registered for Math Certification, and if not, then that student is automatically registered at that time. 
      • In this way, students who take tests that are part of a Certification Program can access their records and see how they are doing in that program even if they have never been formally registered by any teacher.
      • This saves teachers the time of registering students for Certification Programs. But if a test is in multiple programs, it may give students a wrong impression. To avoid this, only use a test in one Certification Program.
    • This feature can be turned off by the System Administrator. To turn it off, open the file email_results.asp in Notepad and search for "Automatically Register." You will see the following:

      '-------------------------------------------------
      '--- Automatically Register Students for Certification Programs
      '--- if they take a test in the program (true or false)
      '-------------------------------------------------
      Const AutoCert = true

      To turn automatic Certification Registration off, change true to false.

Teachers can access Student Records & Reports by clicking on the Administration button at the bottom of the Log In page.

  • Click Administration from TakeTest.asp
    • A page will open that requests the Password to the Records and Reports Menu of the Test Area that the Log In page is trying to access. This Password may be the same or different from the one used to open the Test Area in the regular program.
    • Enter the Password and the Records and Reports Menu will open.
    • The Teacher does not have access to any other features in the program from this menu.
  • To put a button directly to Records & Reports from any other web page, use this code:

http://www.robotutor.com/robotutor9/admin/default.asp?TestDB=Everyone9&StudentDB=Students9
&Source=../tests_table.asp&TestID=?

  • TestDB is the name of the Test Area. Change the part in Red to the correct name.
  • StudentDB is the same of the Student Area. Change the part in Red to the correct name.
  • Source is the page to which you want the Teacher to return when leaving the Records and Reports section. It is most likely the page on which the button will be placed.
    • If left blank (Source=) then the default is TakeTest.asp so students can Log In for a test.
      • TestID then should be included and provide the ID for a specific test in this Test Area.
        • If a Source is provided, then leave TestID blank.
  • Change the URL in blue to the address of your website.

Browsers:

PC Users:

  • RoboTutor has been optimally designed to use Internet Explorer 6.0+. We recommend you download the latest upgrade of Internet Explorer. As far as we have tested, the program will run in IE 4.5+.
  • RoboTutor runs quite well in Netscape 6.2+. There are some known problems with sound and form fields in all versions of Netscape.  As far as we have tested, it will run in Netscape 4.7+. Older versions have many more display problems. If you must use Netscape, download the latest version.
  • There are some specialty versions of both IE and Netscape in which RoboTutor will not run. The program has been tested in the Lennox browser and seems to work well. It has not been tested with other browsers.
  • The following Internet Options should be set:
    • JavaScript must be enabled (IE: Tools > Internet Options > Advanced; Netscape: Edit > Preferences > Advanced).
    • AutoComplete for forms should be TURNED OFF (IE: Tools > Internet Options > Content). Click the AutoComplete button and uncheck the Forms tab.
  • Do NOT use the Back button on the browser menu bar to return to pages previously displayed. Use the Cancel button on the page to return to the previous page. The Back button will almost always produce error message in Netscape and sometimes produces them in Internet Explorer.

Apple Mac:

  • RoboTutor runs well on the Mac with operating systems 8 and 9, which we have tested.
  • Flash and Shockwave should be downloaded and installed from Macromedia.
  • Internet Explorer (versions 6.0+) work well with RoboTutor on the Mac. Versions 5 and below may freeze up when doing Tutorials. We recommend you download the latest upgrade to Version 6+ of Internet Explorer.
  • Netscape (versions 6.2+) work well with RoboTutor on the Mac. You can download the latest from the Netscape site.
  • The following settings work best with Macs:
    • Java must be ENABLED in Edit > Preferences > Java
    • Forms should be DISABLED in Edit > Preferences > Forms
    • If problems remain, try deleting all existing cookies.
  • Do NOT use the Back button on the browser menu bar to return to pages previously displayed. Use the Cancel button on the page to return to the previous page. The Back button will almost always produce error message in Netscape and sometimes produces them in Internet Explorer.

Operating Systems:

  • The program is designed to optimally run in all versions of Microsoft Windows.
  • The program runs well on the Macintosh with Versions 6+ of both Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers.
    • There are some known problems when using IE 5.1 and lower as described above.
  • The program works with Lennox but has not been tested extensively.
  • The program will not work in DOS and has not been tested using other operating systems.

Display Settings:

  • The way a page appears on the monitor can be customized by the user.  To view RoboTutor the way it was designed, we recommend the following:
    • Set the monitor Screen Size to 800 by 600
      • Windows: Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Settings > 800 x 600
    • Set the browser text size:
      • Internet Explorer: View > Text Size > Medium
      • Netscape: View > Text Size > 100%

Security:

  • Time-Outs: The program has a time-out of 60 minutes built into it for security purposes. If there is no input over a 60 minute period while in the testing or administration sections of the software, then it will automatically time-out. The teacher or student will need to Log In again to use the software.
  • How Many: There can be any number of student or test databases. It is common for every teacher to have his or her own test database. Databases can have any number of passwords. Contact your server administrator to create new Test Areas or change passwords.
  • Operating System: RoboTutor is designed to be used on the web. It can, however, be installed on any computer that has Windows 2000, Windows XP, or NT operating systems. For specific instructions and licensing, contact Support@RoboTutor.com.
  • Passwords: All passwords can be optionally set in the "Access" table of the Student, Test, and System databases.
    • To manually change them, open the database in Microsoft Access, click on the "Access" table, and add, edit, or delete the passwords.
    • To change the Test and Student Areas under program control over the web, see System Administration.
    • There can be any number of passwords for a database.
    • A password should consist of one word, characters only, and no spaces.

Maximum Student and Test Area Size:

  • There are physical limits to use of a Microsoft Access database to keep student and test records. Access is restricted by size to a maximum of 2 gigabytes and no more then 2.1 billion records. The max record set size is 1 gig.
  • We tested RoboTutor to see how big it would get when we added large numbers of students. After using a program to enter 4,000 students who took an average of 30 tests each,
    we found the database size to be 285 million bytes. The number of records was 435,000. This suggests the upper limit on the number of students in a single Student Area
    is around 12,000 students if they take an average of 30 tests each.
  • This means the practical size of a student database should not exceed 10,000 students if the students are taking an average of about 30 tests each. The number of student records permissible will vary with the number and size of tests taken.
  • The key is that the size of any single database should never exceed 1 gigabyte. For safety sake, no any single student database should probably be more than 7 hundred million bytes.
    •
  • Test Areas never get anything near this size, so they are not a concern.
  • If a database exceeds the upper limit in size, the database will crash, and it is not repairable.

Changing Animations that Display when Setting Up Results Pages:
  • The animations that display by default are stored in the media folder.
  • Animations that display when passing a test are pass1.gif to pass6.gif
  • Animations that display when failing a test are fail1.gif to fail6.gif
  • To have different animations display, copy the animation to the media folder. Then rename it as pass1.gif or fail1.gif etc.

Changing Animation, Header, Certificate, Sound, and Background Options:
  • The graphics that display are by default stored in folders as shown below:
    • animate: ANIMATED gifs
    • backgrounds:  BACKGROUND graphics
    • certificates: CERTIFICATE graphics
    • headers: HEADER graphics
    • sound: MIDI and WAV sound files
  • To add a graphic to the displays:
    • Copy the graphic to the appropriate folder.
    • Open default.htm in FrontPage or other HTML editor.
    • Add a row or rows to the table where you want the graphics placed.
    • Enter the path using the name of the new graphic.
    • To link the graphic so it will display, select anther graphic, look at the HTML code to see how it was linked, then copy that code to the new graphic.

Changing Databases Destinations:
  • To change the path to the folders where the databases are located, open a file called database_location.asp in Notepad.
  • You will see the following:

' ' The name of the temp database
Const cDBTest="Temp"

' The name of the system database
Const cDBSystem="System"

' Test Area location
const cTestLocation="/rtdb9/tests/"

' Student Area location
const cStudentLocation="/rtdb9/students/"

' Temp database location
const cTempLocation="/rtdb9/system/"

' System database location
const cSystemLocation="/rtdb9/system/"

' Model databases location
const cModelLocation="/rtdb9/templates/"

' Students database model name
const cStModel="StudentsModel9"

' Tests database model name
const cTestModel="TestModel9"

  • To change the path to your folders, change the text in red.
  • Note, the path begins at the root of the web, directly off wwwroot.