May 2005
  • Moving development of the project to unix/linux environment, which will work well for OS X development as well.
  • Because newer versions of the jdk for Macintosh became available with the release of OS X, we can test moving to a newer API. We should also insist that all students use a VM plugin of version 1.4.1 or better and not rely on the older browser or Microsoft VM which is set to be discontinued anyway.
  • Modifying DeepThought to read level problems and exam problems in from editable text files. The exam file will have a 'visible' flag within the file that can be set to true or false which will allow for control over when the files are visible from within the applet.
  • Incorporating the Java-based Apache Ant build tool into the project.
  • GradeGen source code was *misplaced*, but the .class files have now been decompiled and development on the grading program can now resume.
October 2004
  • WebCT html files and Run Local download files have been updated to match the new design layout. When upgrading to the WebCT files, rename the base folder after unzipping the file to match the base name of your current version to avoid having broken links.
  • TIP: The XServe and G4 html files for WebCT have identical layouts, and folder and file names except for the base folder. This means you can maintain server side data collection (and avoid resorting to certificate use) in the event the server you are using is down, by simply using the files for the other server and renaming the base folder of the new file folders to match the base folder of your existing folder. As long as you have a login for the vault on the other server you'll be in business.
  • The G4 is currently in a testing phase for the following items: 1) All applets have been stripped of hard coded url's. The applets are now using a text based properties file for needed url paths. This eliminates the need for multiple jar compilations for each version. 2) All scripts have been updated to incorporate file locking, and to write a reformatted date field to data files.
    G4 updates will be ported to the XServe after testing is complete.
September 2004
  • New web site design.
  • Automated grading program GradeGen added to project and can be downloaded in the vault.
  • The project manual is now html based, and linked to in the vault.