Another service from Omega

Multiple Choice Exam: HELP!!!

First of all (for the time being) the form would only work for people running from an account with access to the /math directory. This means that you must be either a faculty member or a graduate student in the department of Mathematics and Statistics at the State University of New York at Albany. Second, you must have a ".mailcap" file in your HOME directory and this file MUST contain as one of its lines the following magic words:
application/x-exam; /math/ppl/cr569/bin/MakExam %s

If after checking that you have the .mailcap in order you still can't get it to work... Don't worry there are a million and a half possible reasons for that to happen. We have, however, detected a few common ones...

F.A.Q.

I click on SUBMIT and I get a list of funny messages in a separate window, like E112341.tex etc... Is this OK?

That's OK. Now just go to your directory (e.g. /home1/grads/ab1234/exam1) and you will see files like E112341.tex etc.. and a makefile. All you need to do now is to type "make" and go to the printer to collect your exams. It may take a few minutes for the programs to run, so be patient.

I get a *Permission Denied* directory does not exist kinda message. What should I do?

Are you sure that you have created the directory to put the exams in? This is the /home1/grads/ab1234/exam1 in the "e.g." given in the form. Remember that you MUST have write permission in that directory and you should type it with NO SPELLING ERRORS. Also notice that you should not type a final "/"

How can I create my own problems?

All you have to do is to fill up this template with regular LaTeX and save it in one of your directories with a name like "chap2_3:040.tex". The name is to be interpreted as your problem 4 in chapter 2 section 3 of the book you are using... You don't like this convention? Just change it at your own risk!

Yes, but can you show me an example of an already filled up template with a question?

Sure. Look at this one.

Can I have some questions (or the whole exam) with no alternatives?

Yes. Just skip the \begin{choice}... \end{choice} part altogether.

Can I use this system to create exams with no mathematics?

No problem. Just type the statement of your problem, the choices and the answer in the appropriate place of the template and you are done.

Hey, I think this is a great idea. I want to do it for the course XYZ101 in our XYZ department at WX university in our ABC village. Can we share?

talk to me: carlos@math.albany.edu.

I have a question but it is not one of the above. What should I do?

mail me your question to carlos@math.albany.edu.