Version 1.0 GRW 27-Sep-2008
xmark is a tcl-tk (not web) application that allows tutors to assess student submissions, awarding marks in specified categories and pasting comments into the student's work.
The student's submission will have passed through several processes, including listing, compilation and testing against (often many) standard tests. The resulting composite report file is called a run journal.
Where applicable, objective assessment will already have occurred, and the tutor's task is to confirm gross test failures, provide comments on the quality of the work, and award marks in specified subjective categories.
Log into your CSE account at a CSE lab computer or VLab on your own computer.
~class/bin/classrun -mark
The class account class will need to have registered you as a marker for the course before you can successfully start the application.
or the shortcut command
class classrun -markreplacing class by course code or course name e.g.
Select an assignment (Assign button, top right). If notes have been provided, the Notes button will be active. Press it to view a window containing the notes in text format.
Pick an assignment and then press Select Group. If there are more than 25 groups the groups are shown on submenus. On selecting a group any submissions to be marked are listed briefly, with student ID (or group ID for group submissions), abbreviated name and performance mark if automarking applies to this assignment. If a total mark has been calculated it will appear, too.
Double click on an entry to view it.
The run journal has several sections. Not every assignment will have all of these.
Comments are usually pasted into the student listing, but can be placed elsewhere in the journal as well.
Click on the place where you want the comment to appear. The comment edit window appears. The left hand pane is editable, with auto-wrap. The right-hand window lists standard comments, including any you think may be of use to other markers. The arrow keys allow transfers between the boxes. The Paste key saves the comment in the run journal, the one with the save icon also copies to the standard comment list.
To change any comment click anywhere inside its bounding box. Use Delete to remove it entirely.
You can't delete or edit standard comments, even those you have created. If you transfer left, edit and transfer right, a new copy is created. The class account owner can edit the file directly.
Enter a search string (fixed string or limited regexp) in the box at the bottom of the window, press Search. The other buttons do what you'd expect.
All parts of the journal are searched, including meta-tags.
Although you can't change the result listing itself, you can override the Pass/Fail classification in the performance analysis table. Click on the PASSed or FAILed tag. A window appears, allowing you to change the assessment and navigate between tests. Note that you can change the assessment to PASSed, FAILed or UNRESOLVed (which has the same effect as a pass). You can't award a specific mark to the test. Each test failure deducts a fixed amount from the performance mark.
As you change each test the performance mark and total assignment marks are recalculated.
In cases where all or most tests are failed and the markers' notes allow it, the performance mark can be edited directly. Click on the mark and enter a new one. The original value is retained in a nearby note.
If you subsequently change a test result the performance mark is recalculated from scratch, overwriting any direct change.
Click the Assess button at the top of the window. Enter a mark for each category. The file can't be fully saved until all marks are entered.
To paste a comment into this part of the journal, click the Paste button next to the mark you wish to comment on.
The Save button moves the journal to the repository where the student can retrieve it, and adds the total mark to an sms update file.
You can also save a file without committing it by selecting another from the student list. The original is marked as pending on the list with a <-P indicator. When you re-select the journal later, it will pick up the pending one (but beware if the journal is regenerated because of, say, a late submission. In general, commit the marking when it looks OK.
The tears button allows you to edit the submission and then re-run autoesting.
or you can type this command on an xterm
~give/stable/bin/tears class assignment groupID studentID
Use this feature only if applicable to the assignment