The scenarios in this section cover full details of file-related commands.
2.9.1. Files Used by the gradebook Tool
Gradebook files contain the following information:
All of this information is stored in a single gradebook file for each gradebook created by the user.
When the user executes the `New' command in the `File' menu, the system responds by creating a new gradebook and displaying it.
The name of a new gradebook is "unnamed", until the user saves it with a different name. Each successive application of New, with no intervening save, creates a gradebook named "unnamed[N]", for N = 2 to the number of unnamed gradebooks.
A new gradebook has no students, categories, or grades. Section 2.3
When the user selects the `Open' command in the `File menu,
the file choser opens.
The user may type the name of the file to open or select it from the scrollable
list of file names. When the user selects the pulldown arrow in the
`Directory' field, the system displays the directory path.
The user may navigate into a subdirectory by selecting its name in the list and pressing `OK'. The `OK' button is enabled when there are one or more subdirectories in the scrollable list. When the user presses `OK' for a selected directory, the system displays its contents in the scrollable list.
When the user selects a specific file in the list, the system enters its name in the `File' field and enables the `OK' button, if it was not already. When the user presses `OK', the system opens the selected file if it is not already open. Once opened, the system displays the file's initial view, per its most recently saved settings, including in particular the option setting for its initial view window(s).
Double clicking on a gradebook file name or directory name is a shortcut for selecting that name and pressing `OK'.
The user may type the name of a gradebook file or directory in the `File' field. As the user types, the scrollable list is scrolled to the alphabetic position in the list nearest but not after the place where the thus-far typed name appears or would appear in the list. If the user types the complete name of an existing gradebook file or readable directory, the effect is the same as when the user selects the name by clicking in the list. If the user types the name of a non-existent file, the user may press `OK', whereupon the system creates a new file of the entered name. This is effectively a short cut for executing `File->New' followed immediately by `File-Save'.
Since unreadable files, unreadable directories, and non-gradebook files are disabled in the file-open dialog list, the user cannot select one of these. However, the user may type the name of an unreadable file, unreadable directory, or non-gradebook file in the `File' field. If the user does so, the system disables the `OK' button, since these files or directories cannot be opened. If the user continues typing so that the name is not an unreadable gradebook file, unreadable directory, or an existing non- gradebook file, the system re-enables the `OK' button.
When a gradebook is opened from a saved file, the name of the gradebook is synonymous with its root filename. The root filename is the name of the file, less any leading file path and less any filename extension. For example, the name of the gradebook stored in the file "/users/home/chindes/.gradebookTool/308gradebook.cal" is "Departmentgradebook". The gradebook Tool provides no command to change the name of a gradebook independent from its filename. In particular, the only way the user can name an unnamed gradebook is to save it to a file.
The name string is the name of gradebook just opened. The
dialog informs the user that since the gradebook is associated with more than
one host, the user must run the `Admin->Connect' command in order to
select the host to connect to.
Since `New' and `Open' are always enabled, the user may
execute these commands at any time while the gradebook Tool is running. This
means that the user can have an unbounded number of gradebooks open. If taken
to an extreme, this could conceivably cause resource problems in some operating
environments.
2.9.3. Close and Close All
The `Close' and `Close All' commands are enabled in the `File Menu' if there is at least one open gradebook, disabled otherwise. `Close' applies to the current gradebook; `Close All' applies to all open gradebooks.
When the user selects the `Close' command, the system performs the following pre-close steps for the gradebook to be closed, i.e., the current gradebook:
For the first pre-close step, the system checks if the current gradebook has any
unsaved changes.
If the gradebook to be closed has no unsaved changes, the system proceeds to the next pre-close step, without displaying the offer-to-save dialog. gradebooks with no unsaved changes are those that have been saved prior to close, as well as other-user and group gradebooks, since the latter two types of gradebook cannot be changed.
For the second pre-close step, the system checks if there are any pending edits in gradebook-specific, non-modal editing dialogs for the gradebook to be closed. A pending edit is any unconfirmed or unapplied change the user has made in one or more of these dialogs. If the user answers `Yes' in the pending-edits dialog, the system discards any pending edits, cancels all pending dialogs, and removes the dialogs from the screen. When the system responds to the `Yes' response or if the pending-edits dialog was not displayed, the system proceeds to the last pre-close step.
If the user answers `No' in the pending-edits dialog, the system cancels the close operation without performing the last pre-close step, leaves the gradebook open, and leaves all pending edit dialogs open and unchanged. If the gradebook had been saved as a result of the first pre-close step, it remains saved, i.e., the save operation is not undone.
For the third and final pre-close step, the system checks if the gradebook being closed is currently connected to a central host computer. describes details of the gradebooks list, gradebook-to-window association, and changing the current gradebook. When the close operation has been completed or canceled, the system removes all close-related dialogs from the screen.
When the user selects `Close All' in the `File' menu, the system executes a close operation for all open gradebooks, in the same manner as described above for `Close'. The offer-to-save dialog is displayed in turn, as necessary, prior to closing each gradebook. If the user presses `Cancel' in the offer-to-save dialog for any gradebook, the system cancels the close operation for that gradebook and all remaining open gradebooks. `Cancel' does not affect any already-closed gradebooks for which the user previously answered `Yes' or `No' in the offer-to-save dialog; these gradebooks remain closed. The pending-edits and connected-to-host dialogs are also displayed in turn, as necessary. Since there is no `Cancel' button in the pending-edits or connected-to-host dialogs, the 'Close All' operation proceeds with the next gradebook to be closed, whatever the user's decision is in either of these warning dialogs. A gradebook remains open if the user answers`No' in either the pending-edits or connected-to-host dialog.
2.9.4. Save, Save As, and Save All
A new gradebook is not associated with a file until it is saved for the first
time. For new not-yet-saved gradebooks, the `Save' and `Save
As' commands have exactly the same effect.
As in the file-open dialog, the user may navigate to another directory by
selecting from the `Directory' pulldown list and by selecting
directory names in the scrollable list. To save to a file, the user types its
name in the `File' field. The system enables the `OK' button
when the user begins typing, and it remains enabled unless the user does one of
the following:
When saving a new gradebook onto a new file, it is not possible for the saved-to gradebook to yet be connected to a central host computer, since to make such a connection the gradebook must already have been open. Hence in this case of saving, no copying to a central host is ever performed. Such copying is performed when saving an existing connected gradebook, as described shortly.
When the current gradebook is already associated with a file, the `Save' and `Save As' commands differ. The `Save' command is enabled whenever the current gradebook is associated with a file, and the gradebook has unsaved changes. A gradebook has unsaved changes when the user has performed one or more of the following actions since the file was opened or the last confirmed save operation, whichever has occurred most recently:
When the user selects the enabled `Save' command in the `File' menu, the system saves the scheduled items and settings for the current gradebook on the file associated with the gradebook. All scheduled items and gradebook-specific settings are copied to the host. If a gradebook is associated with a central host but not connected to it, the save operation does perform the copy.
The `Save As' command is enabled in the `File' menu whenever
the current gradebook is not that of another user or group. `Save As'
is enabled whether or not the current gradebook has unsaved changes.
For a gradebook that has an associated file, the purpose of `Save As'
is to save a copy of the gradebook on a file other than the one with which the
gradebook is already associated. To perform the save, the user types the name
of the desired file in the `File' field, or selects the name of an
existing gradebook file in the scrollable list.
When the user selects an enabled name in the list, the system enters the name
in the `File' field.
To save the gradebook onto a new or existing gradebook file, the user presses
`OK'.
If the user presses `OK', the system proceeds with the save, fully
overwriting the previous contents of the file. The states of the original and
saved-to files are as described above for when `Save As' saves to a
new file. The system also changes the name of the current gradebook in the same
way as for `Save As' to a new file. If the user presses
`Cancel' the system does not perform the save, returning to the
`Save As' dialog where the user can enter a different file name. In
either case, the system removes the overwrite warning dialog.
The user may save a new or existing gradebook to a file that is listed in the host connection table (in the `gradebook' column). In such a case, the system does not initiate a connection to the associated host as a result of the save. This is the case even if the option `Auto-connect on file open' is on. This option only applies to `File->Open', not to `Save As'.
The user can type or select the gradebook's current name in the save-as dialog, although this defeats the ostensible purpose of the `Save As' command. If the user does so and presses `OK', the system saves the gradebook onto the file with which is currently associated, in the same manner as if the user had executed the `Save' command.
When the user selects `Save All' in the `File' menu, the system executes a `Save' for all gradebooks with unsaved changes. ), the system cancels the save for that gradebook only.
The following is a summary of the enabled/disabled states of the save commands:
None of the save operations affects the state of pending edit dialogs. Unconfirmed or unapplied edits are not saved, and the states of all dialogs associated with a gradebook are unchanged by a save of the gradebook.
As described above, the system attempts to disallow saving to an unwritable gradebook file. However, if the user changes the permissions of a gradebook file externally, before or during gradebook Tool execution, it is possible for the user to execute a `Save' or `Save As' to an unwritable file. If this error is reported for a file during a `Save All' sequence, the system continues with the `Save All' after the user dismisses the error message. The system then performs all processing that results from changed, added, or deleted settings values. If this processing would require further user confirmation, the system proceeds as if the confirmation is affirmative (`OK' or `Yes').
Changes to custom lists, filters, options, and windowing mode may result in
changes to the appearance of scheduled items in display windows, but not in the
items themselves. Changes to page setup and print settings take effect only
when the user executes the `Page Setup' and `Print' commands.
2.9.5. Page Setup and Print
Printing from the gradebook Tool is based strictly on the content visible in active gradebook Tool windows. Window content appears on the printed page exactly as it appears on the screen. "Exactly" means the content of the printed page is the same in appearance and absolute size as it appears on the screen. Scrolling tables and other scrollable components of the display are not expanded in the printed output. The printed content excludes the window banner, any bordering other than a single black line, and any content that is not visible within the window frame on the screen. This means there is no page numbering, header, footer, or other page labeling.
The user can select to print the current window only, all windows of the current gradebook, or all active windows. Per an active window is any that appears in the `View->Windows' submenu. Iconified (i.e., minimized) windows are considered active. The successive print order multiple of windows is based on the top-to-bottom order of windows in the `View->Windows' submenu.
The user may select the number of copies of each window to print, the default being 1. The `Collated' checkbox is enabled if the user selects more than 1 copy. If `Collated' is off (the default), the system prints all copies of the same window in immediate succession, before printing the next window. If the user turns `Collated' on, the system prints one copy of each window in succession before beginning the next copy of the each window.
When the user presses `OK' in the print dialog, the system proceeds with the printing. If a window fits on a single page based on the page setup parameters, the system prints the window centered on the page. The system does not print more than one window per page, even if more than one window could fit on a single page. If a window is too large to fit on one page, the system prints as much per page as possible, printing the multiple pages of the same window in row-wise order. The multiple pages of a single window are all left and top justified to the defined margins, not centered as for single-page windows.
There may well be additional functionality for page set up and printing in
specific operating environments. This includes the ability to set other
printer parameters, preview printed pages, and define other forms of page
layout. Implementors must provide all such available functionality.
Implementors are required to provide only generic page layout functionality,
not content-specific layout. Contentwise, layout is at most one window per
page, as described above.
2.9.6. Exit
When the user selects the `Exit' command in the `File' menu, the system begins the exiting process by executing the `Close All' command. The associated processing for `Close All' ensues, including any necessary user interaction through the warning dialogs. This is described in Section 2.9.3. If the user responds at any point such that the `Close All' is canceled for all remaining gradebooks, the `Exit' operation is also thereby canceled.
Once the `Close All' has run to completion, the system checks if there
are unsaved session-wide settings. If so, the system displays the dialog shown
in Figure 304.
2.9.7. External Changes to gradebook Tool Files
As explained in the preceding scenarios of this section, both the gradebook Tool
and gradebook Tool Administration program normally attempt to disallow opening
and saving to ineligible files. However, if a user changes or deletes files
when the gradebook Tool or gradebook Tool Administration are running, normal
operation may be disrupted.
2.9.8. Operating Environment Conventions
Different operating environments may have conventions for many aspects of file handling. There may be conventions for file naming, including characters allowed in file names, the length of file names, and the designation of a users "home" directory. There may be varying functionality for file-selection dialogs, filespace navigation, and other basic features of file management. Environments may also have conventions for the location of installed files and directories, such as a user's gradebook Tool directory.
Implementors may follow required or appropriate conventions, but must implement the features described in these requirements insofar as is possible. In particular, the feature of the user being able to type a file name in the file-open dialog must be retained, even if it is not standard in a particular operating environment. Also, the user must be able to change the location of the gradebook Tool user directory, even if the operating environment recommends the placement of such directories in a particular location.