OpenQP

Introduction

OpenQP generates Question Papers by selecting questions from a collection of questions stored in a Database. The questions are stored as text (with embedded LaTex commands for equations, images etc.) in a postgres RDBMS, that can be accessed from remote computers. Some of the features of the system are:

• Capable of handling large number of courses.

• Renders mathematical equations properly (uses LaTex).

• Support for multiple languages. English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Arabic and Urdu are currently implemented.

Generate Question Paper Online

Creating Courses

A GUI program is provided for Creating/Editing/Deleting Courses. The following details need to be provided while creating a new course.

• Course code
• Course name
• Question paper model
• Type setting language

Download admin.py. To view a screenshot of the GUI Click Here.

• The configuration file config.txt is read by all the programs to obtain the Server information.

Adding Questions to a Course

There are two methods available for populating a course with questions.

• Bulk uploading: Enter all the questions to an Excel (.xlsx) file and upload it to the database using uploadXL.py.

• Add/Modify one by one: Choose any existing question for editing or add a new question, using the program qbc.py.

The system uses LaTex for typesetting and it is necessary to make sure that the entered text does not contain any special characters that are interpreted as LaTex commands. For example characters like &, %, _ etc. should be entered as \&, \% and _. Make sure that you View the questions in the PDF format before uploading.

Bulk Uploading of Questions from a spreadsheet (.xlsx) file.

• Download the Python program uploadXL.py To view a screenshot of the GUI Click Here

• Open the .xlsx file
• Select the typesetting language- View questions in PDF format (for checking any LaTex errors)
• Connect to a remote Course (name is same as the filename, without .xlsx the extension). You need to provide the password. Upload, Clear and Display options work only after successfully connecting to the course.
• Upload the Questions to the remote course (course should be empty, otherwise make it empty using the Clear Remote Course button)

• You may list the contents of the Remote Course, either in the order they are entered or sorted by the Module number and Question type.

• Sample file Y2024AC_TES2CJ101.xlsx

The Excel file must be prepared carefully, the points to note are:

• The coursecode is same as that of the filename, without the .xlsx extension. For example Y2024AC_TES2CJ101
• There must be exactly 9 columns in the spreadsheet. Do not type anything beyond that.
• The sheet name should be Sheet1 (the default value, do not change it)
• The first row should be exactly like the one in the sample file.
• The Bloom’s Levels should be specified as Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate or Create.
• The course outcome fields should be CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4, CO5, CO6 or CO7.
• At present, it is not compulsory to fill the column named atext.
• If you include figures by using the \includegraphics command, the corresponding image file should be in the same directory.

Edit/Add individual questions

Download the GUI program qbc.py. To view a screenshot of the GUI Click Here.

The steps to be followed are:

• Connect to the Database. This will bring a list of courses available.
• Type some characters of your coursecode to filter the list, for example ‘phy’ will restrict the list to the physics courses.
• Select a course from the pull down menu.
• Select a Module and question Type (A,B or C)
• Select an existing Question or create a new one
• Enter the Author information
• Select the Bloom’s level and Course Outcome from pulldown menus.
• Enter the question text ( copy & paste from otherr documents or by typing)
• Add any Hints about the answer, to help in evaluating the answer papers(optional).
• Press View Question to view as PDF. This ensures the LaTex compatibility.
• Update the question (write it to the remote database)
• After entering several questions, press List CurrentModule to generate a PDF rendering of the currently selected Module.

If you include figures by using the ‘\includegraphics’ command, the image file should be in the same directory.

Generating Question Papers

A GUI program is available for generating the question papers.

• qpgen.py. Requires qpmodule.py in the same Folder

The following details, to appear on the generated question paper are added:

• Year
• Month
• QP code
• QP number

To view a screenshot of the GUI Click Here

Installation, postgres RDBMS

• The postgres RDBMS should be configured for remote login, using TCP/IP protocol. The two files mentioned below need to be edited to enable TCP/IP connectivity.

A database and a user to own it are areated. Two users named ‘dummy’ and ‘reader’ are are created. These steps are carried out by the ‘psql’ client program, after logging into the server machine.

After completing these steps the program

• initQbank.py is ran to initialize the database. This could be done from anywhere.

• Complete Installation Instructions given in the file install.txt

Program Design

The backbone of the system is a Postgres RDBMS. A table named coursedetails stores the information about all the available courses. Each record of this table represents a course. Each Course has a Table to store the questions and related information. Name of the table is same as the course code. There is a corresponding ‘user’for every course, having access rights to it.

About

This software is distributed under GNU General Public License version 3

Authors :

• Ajith Kumar B P (bpajith at gmail dot com)
• T K Muraleedharan (muraleedharantk at kannuruniv dot ac dot in)