Grade Server Script
Introduction
This Perl script allows students to check grades for a particular class
remotely over the Web. The script can be linked to a specific Web page
by the use of a URL and appropriate information. The link below
will display the front end to the script. Please use
"demo" as the class number and "111111111" as the student ID.
Grade Server
Use of the Script
The grade server script is fairly easy to use and install. You must have
Perl 4.0 or greater on your system and the script requires cgi-utils in order to run.
Also, you must have access to the cgi-bin directory on you system, or
the similar directory where executable scripts are kept. Download the
script using the link below and install it in that directory. You must
edit the script to work with your system. Decide where you will be
storing data files that contain the grade information. I suggest a
location outside of webspace, i.e., upper level directories that aren't
accessable from the outside. Set the variable $grade_path on line 11 of the script equal to this
path name. You must also edit the first line of the script to reflect
where you have the Perl interpreter installed on you system.
View the script
Setting up Grading Files
Once the script is installed and the path is set, you must create data
files for the script to use. The data files are comma delimited, with
the first column corresponding to the student ID number and the first
row corresponding to the column titles. Here is an example:
Student ID, Test 1, Test 2, Test 3
241512234,45,65,87
234213444,86,45,7
213453573,55,86,23
213412213,76,34,76
Each student entry is contained on one line. Everyting between two
commas is taken to be a separate piece of data. This type of data file
is very easy to create using a spreadsheet and exporting a comma
delimited file. The datafile should not have an extension such as .txt
or .dat, etc. Use a four letter number to identify the data file, this
will be the class number that the gradescript will ask for. The output
of the script will be an HTML table using the column headings to
identify each piece of data for the student.
Linking the Script to Your Pages
Once you've installed the script and set up where you'll be keeping
grading data, you need to create page with a Form to send data to the script.
One easy way to do this is to use the Form that is provided in the link
to the example gradeserver above. In any case, you must use a Form that
has the same variable names as I've used in the example Form. Also, the line
that contains the FORM ACTION must be changed to reflect your website and
path to the script. I suggest copying my Form and just changing the FORM ACTION
link for testing purposes. as you become more familar with script operation you
can adapt the Form to suit your preferences.
Let us know you're using the scripts.
This hypermedia page maintained by Brian Tissue