Creating Composite Source Files

Main|Educator|Create Composite Source File - from a Single Source File or

Main|Educator|Create Composite Source File - from Two Source Files

One of Educator's most powerful features is the ability to create new source (.FLU) files one or more existing source files. From the Educator menu, select Create Composite Source File - from Two Source Files when combining pairs from two files or Create Composite Source File - from a Single Source File is you are only using pairs from the current file. See the Tips On Composite File Creation for some thoughts on the effective use of this tool, including how to create files containing contents from more than two source files.

The Primary File will be the file that was open when you selected one of the two Create Composite Source File options from the Educator menu. If you selected the 'from Two Source Files' option, a Select Secondary Source File dialog will appear, allowing the choice of the Secondary File. Once the Primary and, if applicable, Secondary files have been selected, a dialog containing one or two input panels and one output panel will appear.

Note: When using Primary and/or Secondary source files which reference graphics or multimedia files, be sure that they are referenced using the full file path OR that you are using a common pair of directories set in Options|Directories to hold your graphics and multimedia files. This will ensure that your newly created .FLU file can find all of its associated support files.

The example below shows the Primary File input panel - an identical panel for the Secondary File will appear beneath it if two source files are being used as inputs.

Input Panels

Starting from the top left, both Input Panels contain the following data and controls:

File Name - File name of the Primary or Secondary input file.

Add _ Random Pairs - Enter a number less than the total number of Q&A pairs passing the current filter setting and click the Add button. Educator will randomly select that number of Q&A pairs from the input file and add them to the Output Panel.

Set Filter - Opens the Filter dialog, allowing you to specify what types of Q&A pairs from the input file will be available for selection in the Input Panel. See Filter Settings for more detail on this operation.

Add Selected Pairs - Adds the Q&A pairs selected in the Input Panel's display grid to the Output Panel.

Note : Select Q&A pairs by clicking on them in the grid. Select multiple Q&A pairs by clicking and dragging downward with the mouse.

Add All Pairs - Adds all Q&A pairs passing the current filter setting to the Output Panel.

One Line Display - When checked, forces only a single line per Q&A pair - otherwise the full text of the Q and A of the pair is displayed.

Output Panel

Starting from the top left, the Output Panel contains the following controls and data:

Save Output As - Saves the Q&A pairs in the Output Panel to a new .FLU file.

Close - Closes the Composite File dialog after checking whether to abandon any unsaved contents in the Output Panel.

Move Up - Moves the Q&A pair selected in the display grid up one position in the order.

Move Down - Moves the Q&A pair selected in the display grid down one position in the order.

Delete - Deletes the Q&A pair selected in the display grid.

One Line Display - When checked, forces only a single line per Q&A pair - otherwise the full text of the Q and A of the pair is displayed.

Note : Select single Q&A pairs by clicking on them in the grid.

Allow Duplicate Pairs - When checked, allows duplicate Q&A pairs to exist in the Output Panel. If unchecked, duplicates are excluded based on a case-insensitive match of the Question text - i.e. a Q&A pair with the same Question text but different Answer text would not be added to the Output Panel.

Note : In cases where all Question have identical text (such as when each Question is a graphics file without associated text), you will have to select this box in order to be able to transfer these Questions into the Output grid. Otherwise Educator will exclude them as duplicates.

Use Primary/Secondary Intro - If the Primary and/or Secondary file has an associated introduction (.INT) file, its corresponding check box is enabled. Select an enabled check box to optionally include the selected .INT file as the introduction for the output .FLU file.

Convert Standard To FIB/Convert Standard To MC/Convert Standard To FIB/MC Mix - If one of these check boxes is selected, all standard Q&A pairs in the output grid will be converted to simple fill-in-the-blank Q&A pairs, single-choice MC Q&A pairs or a mix of the two - making the output file directly usable for creating .FLT test files.

Using FIBs is not recommended for converting Q&A pairs where the answers are LONG text strings. It is unlikely that the user will be able to type the answer EXACTLY to match the long string. This feature works best for things like vocabulary words, state capitals, multiplication tables and other short answer Q&A pairs. If you do have longer text strings in some of the answers, use the Convert Standard To MC option.

Number of MC Answers - The selected radio button in this grouping determines how many multiple choice answers will be used when converting a Q&A pair from standard to multiple choice.

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