OCR e-testing Overview

Transcription

1 OCR e-testing Overview Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration 2012/13 January 2013 series Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

2 1 Introduction For the new release of e-testing software for the Principles of Business and Administration series in January 2013 there is the option for centres to simply update the question database (test content) within an existing installation rather than uninstall the existing software and install the new software. This option is only open to centres that have an existing installation of the offline or SNA options from the previous series in January, June or November 2012 and is available because the version of runtime software has not changed since these previous releases. This option is available for this new release but may not be available for future releases and will depend on whether the runtime software or other parts of the installation software have to be updated. The aim of this document is to provide instructions on how to replace the existing question database containing the tests for the January, June or November 2012 series with the new question database containing the tests for the January 2013 series. The instructions will cover both the network (SNA) and offline options. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

3 2 Downloading and Unzipping The self-extracting zip file Principles_of_Business_and_Administration_ _Jan_QDB.exe is available from the e-assessment software section of the Principles of Business and Administration Level 2/3 Awards/Certificate pages of the OCR website. It contains the new question database containing the tests for the January 2013 series. 2.1 Downloading Right click the hyperlinked self-extracting zip file (Principles_of_Business_and_Administration_ _Jan_QDB.exe) and select Save Target As from the context menu to open the Save As dialogue. Browse to the location where you want to save the file to, on a local or network drive and click the Save button. The file will be downloaded to the selected location. Please note that the behaviour of browsers differs so use the appropriate method for your choice of browser to download the file. The size of the file (displayed next to the hyperlinked file) will vary depending on the number of tests contained within the question database. The larger the file size the longer it will take to download. You may wish to consider whether there are any download size limits or if virus checking software could hinder the download at your centre. 2.2 Unzipping Once the file has been downloaded, the contents have to be extracted before the question database can be used. The new question database has been packaged as a self-extracting zip file meaning that you do not need WinZip or other zip software present on the local machine used to extract the contents. Determine where you want to extract the file contents to, either on a local or network drive. Create a folder appropriately named in the location you choose. Browse to the location where the file was downloaded to. Double click the self-extracting zip file to initiate the WinZip Self-Extractor dialogue. Click the Browse button next to the Unzip to folder field to open the Browse for Folder dialogue. Browse to and select the folder created previously and click the OK button to return to the WinZip Self-Extractor dialogue with the folder selected. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

4 Click the Unzip button to start the extraction process. Once complete click the OK button and close the WinZip Self-Extractor window. 2.3 Extracted Files Once extracted the Principles_of_Business_and_Administration_ _Jan_QDB.exe file should contain only one file called BA_QDB.CDB. This file can be used to replace the existing question database containing the tests for the January, June or November 2012 series. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

5 3 Confirm Version of Runtime Software The option of simply updating the question database with the new release of Principles of Business and Administration e-testing software is only possible because the version of runtime software within the installation has not changed since the January 2012 series. As such it is important to confirm that the correct version of runtime software is installed. The runtime software consists of the files that run the test on the client computers and run the SNA dashboard on the designated SNA machine. They can be located in two main areas depending on the delivery options used. 3.1 SNA option For the SNA option the installation image is installed in a share on the file server (desktop or server). The installation image is shown in the screenshot below in a share called BASHARE. It contains a folder called i-assessruntimeutilities and a sub-folder called bin30. It is the files in the bin30 folder that are used to start the test (Examiner.exe) and the SNA dashboard (ExamAdminClient.exe). It is the version of these two files that needs to be checked. Right click on the Examiner.exe and ExamAdminClient.exe files in turn and select properties from the menu. The properties dialogue will be displayed. Click on the version tab which will show the file version. The correct versions are for Examiner.exe and for ExamAdminClient.exe. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

6 If the correct version of the Examiner.exe and ExamAdminClient.exe files are found to be installed then the correct version of the runtime software is installed. The runtime software contained in the bin30 folder, in the server share, is used during the installation of the SNA dashboard on the designated SNA machine and the test software on the client computers. As such if the correct version of the runtime software is present in the bin 30 folder, in the server share, then it is likely that the correct version will be installed on the SNA machine and the client computers. However it is recommended that this is confirmed on at least the SNA machine and one of the client computers. On the SNA machine and client computers the runtime software is installed in the C:\Program files\i-assess\bin30 folder (shown below). Use the same procedure described above to confirm that the version of these two files is correct. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

7 3.2 Offline option For the offline option the runtime software is installed in the C:\Program files\i-assess\bin30 folder (shown above). Use the same procedure described above in section 3.1 to confirm that the version of these two files is correct on all client computers where the Principles of Business and Administration offline e-testing software is installed. If the correct version of the Examiner.exe and ExamAdminClient.exe files are found to be installed then the correct version of the runtime software is installed. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

8 4 Replacement of Existing Question Database Having confirmed the correct version of the runtime software is installed the next step is to replace the existing question database, containing the tests for the January, June or November 2012 series with the new question database containing the tests for the January 2013 series. The location of the existing question database will be dependant on the delivery option used. For a centre using the SNA option the question database will be present in the installation image in the server share only. For a centre using the offline option the question database will be present on each of the client computers or laptops. The existing question database will need to be updated in each of its locations to allow the tests for the January 2013 series to be taken. 4.1 SNA option For the SNA option the existing question database is present in the installation image in the server share at the location \\server\share\questiondatabases\businessadministration\ (please replace \\server\share with the appropriate path at your centre). This is shown below for the share called BASHARE. It contains a folder called QuestionDatabases with a sub-folder called BusinessAdministration. It is this folder that contains the test content for the January, June or November 2012 series. Copy the BA_QDB.CDB file, extracted from the self-extracting zip file in section 2, to the BusinessAdministration folder replacing the existing version of the file. With the question database now updated with the tests for the January 2013 series confirm that the update has worked effectively by running a Sample Navigation or Practice test. 4.2 Offline option For the offline delivery option the question database will be present on each of the client computers in the location C:\Program Files\i-assess\OCR\BA(OFFLINE)\QuestionDatabase. This is shown in the screenshot below. It is this folder that contains the test content for the January, June or November 2012 series. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January

9 Copy the BA_QDB.CDB file, extracted from the self- extracting zip file in section 2, to the QuestionDatabase folder replacing the existing version of the file. With the question database now updated with the tests for the January 2013 release confirm that the update has worked effectively by running a Sample Navigation or Practice test. Repeat the steps to replace the existing question database on all client computers where the Principles of Business and Administration offline e-testing software is installed. Instructions for Updating the Question Database for Principles of Business and Administration January