ExamSim 1.0 This is the README for the ExamSim 1.0 package. Table of Contents: ------------------- 1. What is ExamSim? 2. System Requirements 2.1 Requirements for Linux 2.2 Requirements for Windows 3. How to install ExamSim 3.1 Examsim Installation for Linux 3.2 Examsim Installation for Windows 4. Usage -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is ExamSim? -------------------- ExamSim is an exam simulator which provides two practice exams for the LPIC1 certification (LPI101 and LPI102). Each practice exam consists of about 45 questions similar to the original questions of the LPI exams. There are about 300 questions for every exam which are chosen randomly for each practice exam. I.e. if you start an new exam, you will get different questions every time. There are different exam modes to choose. In "Training Mode" you can select an answer button if you want to see the correct answers or you can choose to disable the timer if you want to pratice the exam without timeout restrictions. In "Exam Mode" you work similar to the original conditions, without answer button and with a running timer. In other words, ExamSim is a program to practice your skills for the LPIC exams. Passing ExamSim exams is no guarantee to pass the original exam but if you work with ExamSim for a while and you passed all tests there, it is very unlikely that you will run into problems with the original exams. 2. System Requirements ----------------------- The main goal in the development of ExamSim was to offer a program running under Linux. It would be ridiculous to exercice Linux exams using Windows. Thus the program has been developed using Linux. Currently there are two major alternatives to write a graphical program for Linux, using the qt-library (like KDE does) or using the Gtk-libraries (like Gnome does). I decided to use the Gtk-libraries because they are completely free and they are available for Linux and Windows. After having finished the program, I ported it to Windows and it worked well. Thus there are two versions of the program, one for Linux and another for Windows. 2.1 Requirements for Linux: --------------------------- To run the program under Linux, you should have the Gtk+ runtime environment installed. This should be no problem if you use a quite modern distribution. I tested the program with RedHat9.0, Mandrake9.2, Slackware9.1, Suse8.2, Suse9.0, and Debian 3.0 without any problems. Debian users should ensure to have a working pengo installation. Debian offers to have the pengo fonts managed by defoma. This is necessary to work with ExamSim. If you don't have an existing file "/etc/pango/pengox.aliases", you should run the following command: dpkg-reconfigure libpango1.0-common and answer yes to the question if defoma should manage pango fonts. 2.2 Requirements for Windows: ----------------------------- ExamSim runs under any Win32 version (Win95, Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP). ExamSim requires an installed and working Gtk+ runtime environment (see installation instructions below) and about 2 MB of free disk space. 3. How to install ExamSim -------------------------- Both versions of ExamSim come as self extracting archieves. That means, ExamSim is installable calling just one command and following the instructions on the screen. Using Linux there even are no instructions; the program is installed to the standard locations of the linux filesystem. 3.1 Examsim Installation for Linux ----------------------------------- To install ExamSim you need root privileges. Installation is easy. Just execute the file examsim-linux-1.0-setup The questions will be installed to /usr/local/lib/examsim/exams The binary will be installed to /usr/local/bin/examsim The configuration file will be installed to /etc/examsim.conf This README will be installed to /usr/share/doc/examsim If you receive the file examsim-linux-1.0-setup via mail you have to set the mode to ensure this file is executable: chmod +x examsim.setup Then you can execute it: ./examsim-linux-1.0-setup To start the program after the installation simply type examsim 3.2 Examsim Installation for Windows ------------------------------------- To install ExamSim for Windows, you need administrator privileges. Installation should be straight forward. Before you install ExamSim, you need the GTK Runtime Environment installed. The ExamSim setup script will stop if it can't find the GTK Runtime Environment. To install the GTK Runtime Environment just execute the file GTK-Runtime-Environment-2.2.4-3.exe To install ExamSim, just execute the file ExamSim-Win32-1.0-setup.exe To start the programm after the installation, use the new menu item of the start menu of Windows. 4. Usage --------- Once installed the program successfully it can be started by any user. On Linux, it is started by typing the command "examsim" on Windows you can use the appropriate menu entry. The usage of the program is simple. There is a menu which contains just one important entry: Exam. This submenu contains several entries: - Open Exam To load a previously saved exam (this entry is only available if there is no currently active exam). - Save Exam To save a currently running exam. It allows to save an exam for later continuation. This entry is only available if there is a currently active exam which can be saved. - Start Practice Exam LPI101 - Start Practice Exam LPI102 Both menu entries start the apropriate exam simulation. This is most likely the menu item you will use for the first time. - Quit As you might have guessed this entry quits the program. To start an exam, choose one of the existing choices. This results in a start page for the exam. Here you can select some options and then start the exam. Available options are - Exam Mode There are two modes, "Training Mode" and "Exam Mode". In Training Mode you will have an answer button to view the correct answers and there is no running timer by default. In Exam Mode, there is no answer button and the timer runs if you don't disable it. - Exam Options Here you can fine tune your settings. You can disable the timer in Exam Mode or enable it in Training Mode. And you can disable the answer button in Training Mode. There is no way to enable the answer button in Exam Mode. - Examinee Name Here you can enter your name. This is only used to create a filename to save a running exam. After setting all options, you can start the exam using the "Start Exam" button. During the running exam, there are several questions to be answered. Each question can be marked for a later review. There are three types of questions: - Multiple Choice Single Answer There is just one correct answer. If you check one answer, all other answers are deselected automatically. - Multiple Choice Multiple Answer There are various correct answers. You have to check all right answers. - Fill In The Blank Answers have to be written in a text entry field. On the bottom, there are buttons to navigate through the exam. You can walk through all questions using the "Previous Item" and "Next Item" button. If you want to end the exam, use the "Grade Exam" button. After having answered all questions or navigated to the last question, there is a "Review Screen" button. This leads you to a page where you can choose to review the questions again. You can - Review only marked items Only questions marked for review are displayed. - Review only unanswered questions Only currently unanswered questions are displayed. - Review marked and unanswered items This displays all questions which are unanswered or marked for review. - Review all items This starts the complete exam again. This review allows to change any answer of the exam once again. You can navigate through the exam as you did in the first place. Again it ends with the review screen where you can choose a new criteria to review. After having finished the review, you can grade the exam using the "Grade Exam" button. This will lead you to the result page where you will find a statistic about how many questions were answered correctly, how many were wrong, and whether you passed or failed. To review the exam there are two buttons on the bottom: - Review All Displays the complete exam again. You will see the correct answers in green, the wrong answers in red, and your choice. - Review Errors Displays only the wrongly answered questions. This review is a "read only" review, you can't change any answer, it is made just to see which of your answers were correct and which not. Every question provides a "Show Answer" button to read an explanation which answer was correct. There is a "Back to Grade Exam" button to return to the result page where you will find an "End Exam" button to return to the main menu where you can start a new exam or quit the program. Have fun.