Chris Cera Webct 3.1.3 Spreadsheet Notes 3/14/2001 #Last Updated: Wed Mar 26 14:18:58 EST 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- for the not working thing, the reason why the 2nd lookup fails is b/c of the "", I thought that maybe it was. The fact that it had the "" doubled the magnitude of the issues. This same problem failed even when the columns didn't exist in the main database, so it just PLAIN DOESN'T WORK WITH THE "" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Label - actual name of the field Type - datatype of the field (listed below) Alignment - alignment in the actual html spreadsheet Hidden - hidden from who?, not sure yet Released - if the grade is released in the "My Grades" category Statistics - if statistics will be public Decimals - number of decimal places Account Creation - required/optional are available options here - to specify if it is created by default on new accounts? Field Types E - (webct controlled) Q - was webct controlled, but released by deleting the link A - alphanumeric B - text L - letter grade C - calculated N - numeric S - selection box ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONCLUSIONS, MAJOR LESSONS LEARNED ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Do NOT put double quotes b/w fields with spaces contained in them. 2. Do NOT attempt to add fields listed as TYPE E. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST, MOST OBVIOUS, TEST ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the class_Mar14.txt file is data for that day, well i tried to import this back into webct (ie. inverse function), and only the following fields were resolved: First Name Last Name User ID mid1 mid2 hw1 hw2 hw3a hw3b hw4 hw5 test_selbox test_alphanumeric test_alphanum The column header exactly in class_Mar14.txt was: First Name,Last Name,User ID,mid1,mid2,hw1,hw2,hw3a,hw3b,hw4,hw5,JUNK,hw2 ontime,hw2 late,hw2 rlate,hw3a ontime,hw3a late,hw3a rlate,hw3b ontime,hw3b late,hw3b rlate,hw4 ontime,hw4 late,hw4 rlate,hw5 ontime,hw5 late,test_selbox,test_lettergrade,test_calculated,test_alphanumeric,test_alphanum BUT, the datatypes of the fields were all E, except with these at the end: test_selbox test_letter test_text test_calculated test_alpha test_alphabet S L M C A A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEST IMPORT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions to be answered from test import changes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What do changes do when the field type is E, if the column with the changes? ############################################################################### nothing, webct ignores these columns completely. This may even cause an error where it ignores it b/c it is of type E, but then later tries to add it b/c it was initially ignoring it. Then when adding it, it bombs b/c it already exists so you can't pass through this web page (see import0-2,4). Just simply remove these columns from the importing phase. What happens to the columns, if an imported sheet does not contain a field which already existed in the original database. ############################################################################### nothing happens to the data in that column, it only updates the columns that are in the input. What happens when you create columns by importing them? ############################################################################### you are prompted to either: create ignore select to import as one of the existing columns What are the attributes of the columns, if they are created when imported? ############################################################################### Label - Type - A Alignment - left Hidden - no Released - no Statistics - n/a Decimals - n/a Account Creation - not shown What happens to the rows, if an imported sheet does not contain this field? (ie. What if a student is missing from the input data, during an import?) ############################################################################### nothing happens to the existing data for that student, it is considered just an 'UPDATE' to the grades you are importing. Can students be added just by creating a row for them and importing a sheet? ############################################################################### no, you are informed that the student's data is being ignored though. ############################################################################### Can you change a grade from ' ' (nothing) to 'xx' (something)? yes. ############################################################################### Can you change a grade from 'xxx' (something) to 'xxx' (something)? yes. ############################################################################### Does a ' ' (nothing) replace a something 'xxx' (something)? YES, it does. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEST IMPORT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- r/m many columns from input, JUNK, all time-stamped columns etc added 999 to j.student in mid2 (N type), to see if it changed added 999 to j.student in 'hw2 ontime' (E type), to see if it changed added 75 for mid2 to j.lacovara, which was a valid update to an N type. added student row j.student2 added column, the_test_import j.student hw1 grade changed from 101 to 999, to grade changes removed row urdobso and james, to see if import can be missing data these were redundant rows, initially the james row had data in mid2 (75) I left these rows blank in the spreadsheet so then it would be clear that data was there at one point added 'hw3a ontime' (E type), but no changes were made to it will tell if imports that don't affect unmentioned data, have an effect Errors/Changes with import0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- hw3a does not exist in the database, this was b/c I copied it from the spreadsheet. This was the case E with no changes. It would not let me get past the import hw3a page, it kept on repeating this. Errors/Changes with import1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- past two imports were enormous, with tons of extra columns Errors/Changes with import2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- this page still won't let me get past the importing 'hw3a ontime' problem. I think that the 'space' character is blowing it up. webct spreadsheet doesn't quotes b/w data with spaces (ie. "data with spaces") my previous imports all had this issue removing the "" in the spreadsheet FIXED ALL THE PROBLEMS Errors/Changes with import3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- did not recognize the last column (hw2) this time for some reason. Maybe b/c this column was the last one? REMOVED GARBAGE AT THE END Errors/Changes with import4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- hw2 ontime is recognized now, but new, so back to problems from <= import2. import3 was some kind of fluke. NO IT IS B/C THIS FIELD IS OF TYPE E, SO WHEN IT TRIES TO ADD THIS, IT DIES B/C IT ALREADY EXISTS. ITS JUST THAT THE IMPORT PROGRAM IGNORES IT INITIALLY B/C OF THE DATATYPE Errors/Changes with import5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I removed mid1 grades, and add test_import