FLASH CARDS SYSTEM ================== Introduction ============ This Flash Cards system was created to provide memory drill on the contents of a database, to allow people studying for tests to solidify information in their memories. The system permits the creation and modification of databases, keeps track of the number of errors in a test, and allows the user to create a graph of the number of errors made in each run- through of a test. Author ====== The system was written by John Michell, of Startext Computing Services Ltd., 105 Scarboro Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3C 2H2, and used over a period of several months in 1992 as he prepared for the tests leading to Novell's Certified NetWare Engineer (CNE) designation. It was released to the general public on September 9, 1992, by being uploaded to the NOVLIB forum on CompuServe. Disclaimer ========== Though all reasonable care has been exercised in creating this system and the databases that accompany the system or are available as options, the student is wholly responsible for knowing the content of the course being studied. The system is supplied on an "as-is" basis. The author and Startext Computing Services Ltd. disclaim all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author and Startext Computing Services Ltd. assume no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of the Flash Cards system, even when the author and/or Startext Computing Services Ltd. have been informed of the possibility of such damage. In no case shall the liability of the author and/or Startext Computing Services Ltd. exceed the registration fee paid. Shareware ========= The Flash Cards system is "Shareware", and is licensed at no charge to the user for evaluation. The user may share it, but may not alter the program or documentation nor include the Flash Cards system as part of another system. If you find this program useful and continue to use the Flash Cards system after a 21 day trial period, you must make a registration payment to Startext Computing Services Ltd. The registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. Users are encouraged to pass a copy of the Flash Cards system and documentation along to friends and colleagues for evaluation. Please encourage them to register, too. All registered users receive the benefits described under "Benefits of Registration", below. Benefits of Registration ======================== Upon receipt of the registration form and fee, registrants will be included in a mailing list, so that they can be notified of various changes and improvements in the system. For example, while the author has used the system over a period of several months, it is possible that new users may stress the system in new ways, and may run into bugs of which the author is unaware. The author commits to correcting such errors as quickly as possible, and to informing registered users of such corrections. New releases of the system will be issued when substantial new features are available. Registered users will be offered upgrades at discounted rates. Furthermore, the author (and other users of the system) will be developing new databases as they prepare to take tests on additional Novell courses. Registered users will be informed about these new databases too. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FLASH CARDS SYSTEM ========================================= The Files ========= The Flash Cards System consists of the following files: (If you downloaded the system from a bulletin board, you will find they are included in a "Zipped" file, using PKZip Fast! available from PKWARE Inc., 7032 Ardara Avenue, Glendale, WI 53209, and from most bulletin boards). FLASH.XLS --------- The startup file. When you open this file, it loads in the macro sheet and get things rolling. It contains several command buttons which cause marcos to run which provide much of the functionality of the system. FLASH.XLM --------- The macro sheet, containing the coding that makes the system work. NW3SM.XLS --------- The question and answer database for the NetWare v3.11 System Manager test. DB-BLANK.XLS ------------ A skeleton database that will allow the user to create a new database of questions and answers. SCORES.XLS ---------- A worksheet on which you can enter your scores. An embedded chart plots the scores you record so you can see your progress STARTING THE SYSTEM =================== Load Excel, and open the FLASH.XLS worksheet. This worksheet has an Auto_Open reference which causes FLASH.XLM to load into memory. A dialog box appears, asking whether you want to open an existing database or create a new one. Choose Open Existing Database. and an Open Dialog box will appear, from which you should choose the database you want to work with. As the system opens the database worksheet, it sorts the database on the category (fourth column), numbers the rows of the database, and counts the questions in each category. The system then creates a "Flash Card Setup" dialog box with a drop-down list showing the chapter number from the student workbook, the category name, and the number of questions in that category. For example, if you open the 3.11 System Manager Database, the first category you will see is "02. NetWare Basics (46)". Click on the category you want, and choose OK. RUNNING A DRILL =============== The system now creates a drill database by extracting from the database just those questions and answers that are in the desired category, and starts the memory drill on this database. The system randomly selects a question from the drill database, and creates a dialog box called "Flash cards" with the following general content: "[number of questions left] ([category name]): [question]" for example: "46 (02. NetWare Basics): Maximum concurrent TTS transactions". Type your answer in the edit box, and choose OK. [Hint: if you know the answer, and don't want to have the Flash Card Error dialog box show up, just enter "iii" as your answer.] (If you choose Cancel at this point, the test stops.) If your answer exactly matches the answer in the database [or you entered "iii"], the question is deleted from the drill database, and another question is chosen and presented. The convention used in creating answers, is that if there is a list of terms in the answer (such as Ethernet, Token/Ring and Arcnet) they will be listed in alphabetic order with commas between them and no conjuctions. So the answer to "What are the commonly used cabling types" would be "Arcnet, Ethernet, Tokwn/Ring". This convention is deviated from if there is a logical order or time sequence in the answer, so the answer to "What are the steps in installing Netware" would be "Prepare hardware, install operating system, generate workstation shell". The Flash Card Error dialog box =============================== If your answer does not exactly match the answer in the database, a Flash Card Error dialog box is created with the following content: Incorrect Response! Database record #n Question was [question] Your response [response] Correct response [correct response] And five command buttons are shown: OK, Stop Test, Ignore Error, Modify Question, Modify Answer OK button --------- Choosing OK causes the system to leave the question in the drill database, note the number of the question (in the original database) in an list of errors, and choose another question. Stop Test button ---------------- This stops the test. No statistics are presented, and the user is returned to the main screen. Ignore Error button ------------------- This button tells the system to treat your response as correct. Use it if you made a typing error, or if you felt your answer was "close enough". Modify Question --------------- Choosing this button causes the system to show a Change Database dialog box, with the question displayed in the edit box. Change the question as you like, then choose OK. The system changes the question in the original database, and then proceeds as though you had chosen the Ignore Error button. If you choose Cancel from the Modify Question dialog box, you are returned to the Flash Card Error dialog box. Modify Answer ------------- This works like the Modify Question command button, only it is the answer in the database that is changed. The end of the drill ==================== When all the questions have been answered, the System presents a dialog box like the following Section 06: 6 questions, 2 errors (3 total). OK to retest on errors, Cancel to halt. In the case shown, a total of three errors were made, of which one was a repeat error. OK Button --------- This causes the system to create a new drill database comprising only those questions which were incorrectly answered in the previous drill. In the case above, therefore, the records containing the two questions which were answered incorrectly are extracted from the main database to make up the drill database. Cancel Button ------------- This exits the drill routine, and re-displays the main (Flash.xls) worksheet. Updating the scores sheet ========================= Choosing the Update Scores button (or entering Ctrl-U) unhides the Scores.xls worksheet, which contains an area for entering the number of unique errors and the total number of questions in each section. Also, there are cells containing calculations which produce percentage error rates. This part of the system is not significantly automated. It is simply an area in which you can keep track of your scores. An embedded chart will display the results of your drills in bar- chart format. If there are more categories in the database than there are in Scores.xls, you will have to modify the range name definitions to make the chart work. In the next release I will probably include a score sheet with each database -- perhaps actually in the database worksheet. Finding the categories and numbers ---------------------------------- If you feel so inclined, and you are comfortable in working with Excel, you can get the list of categories by unhiding the database you are working with and using Formula Goto to move to the named range "Category_list", where you will see the list of categories. You could copy them, and paste them into the first column of Scores.xls. Similarly, the numbers can be found near a named range called "Category". The range names used in the chart will have to be updated to pick the correct data ranges. CREATING A NEW DATABASE ======================= To create a new database, choose the Make New Database button from the main screen, and follow the instructions. We use a worksheet called DB-BLANK.XLS as a skeleton database, and save it under a new name before proceeding. A dialog box appears stating: "In creating flash cards, just enter the question, answer, and category. Sequence numbers are created when you end modifications. For the category, be sure to give a section number followed by a period." Choose OK. Choose your new database's name from the Flash Cards Setup dialog box that follows, and cancel out of the drill starting dialog box that follows. Choose Modify Database from the Flash.xls screen: you will see the database on the left side of your screen and some additional command buttons on the right side. Here is what they do: Next Q&A -------- Finds the next question and answer locations in the database. (Remember to follow the "no blank lines" rule of Excel databases, by the way. Each question and answer record must be in the row directly below the previous one.) Definition ---------- Displays a What's it Stand For dialog box which prompts "Enter term to be defined." Type the term (don't bother to capitalize, the system will convert it to upper case), and press Enter -- the system will create a question of the form "What does [term] stand for" and select the answer cell on that row for your definition. What does X provide Selecting this button displays a What does it provide dialog box, with the prompt "Enter term to be described." Type the term (you're in charge of capitalization, this time) and press Enter - - the system will create a question of the form "What does [term] provide", and select the answer cell on that row for your response. Composite questions ------------------- Selecting this button takes you to an area on the database where you can create multiple questions of the form What is the [minimum/maximum] RAM that can be used by a [dedicated/non-dedicated] server in NetWare v2.2 Formulas in column 26 combine the terms entered in columns 30 - 34. When you have created all the composite questions you want, select the cells in column 26 that contain the questions you want, then click in the rounded rectangle that says "Select area to be pasted into database and click here." The macro will copy the questions you have created to the end of the database. End Database Changes -------------------- When you are done making changes to the database, selecting this button will sort the database by category, number the questions, hide the database, and return you to the Flash Card Setup dialog box. CREATING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ============================== Just enter the question, answer, and category, when you are creating flash cards. Sequence numbers are created automatically when you end database changes. For the category, be sure to give a two digit section number followed by a period and a space -- that is, when entering a category for Chapter 4, use "04. Software Requirements", because the leading 0 ensures proper ordering of the categories in the Flash Card Setup dialog box drop-down list. Conventions used ---------------- The conventions I have used in creating questions and answers are: Don't put question marks at the end of the question. Don't use "and" in a list of terms in an answer: use "Arcnet, Ethernet, Token/Ring", not "Arcnet, Ethernet, and Token/Ring". Give answers in alphabetical order, unless there is a strong time or priority logic in using another order. Use "FDDI, Token/Ring" if responding to "Name two ring topologies", but use "Prepare Hardware, INSTALL, WSGEN" if responding to "What are the steps in creating a NetWare v2.2 network" Consider splitting a chapter into several segments, so that there are no more than 40 questions in a segment. One useful split is Definitions and Functionality, as in "AppleTalk Definitions" and "AppleTalk Functionality" -- this allows you to get the terms straight before gettting into their meanings. SEND ME YOUR DATABASES ====================== If you have created a database and have passed a test based on your studying of it, send a copy of it to me, and I will include it in the list of offerings. I'll remit 40% of all funds received from the sale of your database to you, and take care of all the administration of the sales.