Subject: [mg128109] Re: Buttons in CDFs Created for Homework Assignments

From: David Reiss <dbreiss at gmail.com>

Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2012 03:24:54 -0400 (EDT)

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CDFs can have different levels of digital signing. The default one
that is available directly through one's Mathematica license has the
restriction that you have encountered -- the inability for the user to
save the CDF. You should contact Wolfram to see about the costs (if
any) with a different level of digital signing that permits saving. I
agree with you that this feature should be included in the default
(lowest) level of digital signing.
--David
On Sep 15, 3:46 am, Gregory Lypny <gregory.ly... at videotron.ca> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm using CDF as the format for a series of undergraduate multiple-choice=
quizzes and graduate assignments that I am developing. Both generate un=
ique homework exercises for each student by drawing random samples from rea=
l-world data sets. I have already used them successfully in an intermedi=
ate undergraduate theory course in financial economics. But something ca=
me up yesterday when I was putting the finishing touches on a prototype for=
multiple-choice quizzes, and I suppose it should have occurred to me befor=
e I even started. I included radio buttons for the answer choices to eac=
h question, knowing that free CDFs cannot export, but thinking that the ans=
wers chosen could be dynamically updated in a table, and students could the=
n use the table to enter their answers into a web form for submission. N=
o problem with this as long as the quiz is completed all at once. But st=
udents are not be able to come back to complete a quiz that they had starte=
d earlier because free CDFs cannot save the interface state and do not allo=
w importing (which, presumably, could be used to create a file to do the sa=
me thing). All this being said, I was wondering if someone on the list m=
ight confirm, and perhaps suggest a workaround if one exists. A volume l=
icense for Player Pro is not an option at my institution.
>
> I think CDFs are neat, but the inability to save states, severely limits =
their usefulness for homework, and I am now wondering whether I might just =
as well use Mathematica to create a workflow to generate a unique PDF for e=
ach student instead of a CDF. Even if a student does not print a PDF, th=
ey can always annotate them, and in that way, save their work.
>
> I guess this is a shout-out to Wolfram to consider expanding the capabili=
ties of free CDFs for these purposes.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gregory