Release Notes
notes on CAPE versions
CAPE version numbers follow these conventions:
- The left-most number designates major versions of the VaNTH paradigm—the
formal representation (GME meta-model) of the courseware authoring language supported by CAPE.
- The next number designates incremental changes to the VaNTH paradigm,
which are typically bundled with changes to the authoring environment.
- A third number designates incremental changes (fixes and enhancements) to the authoring environment
within a given version of the VaNTH paradigm.
Paradigm:
-
All the icons have been redesigned to give the CAPE language a more consistent look.
-
Resource and Resources elements add support for path expressions.
An attribute Expression determines whether path should be evaluated as a
python expression. The default value for the attribute is False.
-
Condition Sets have a new CSRole attribute which controls wether the
Condition Set is interpreted as a Wizard, a Builder or as normally, accordingly
its value can be Design, Build or Normal.
The default value for the attribute is Normal.
-
The Assessment element has a new InstitutionAware attribute which
determines wether the delivery engine should apply institution styling on the assessment
form. The default value for the attribute is False.
-
All assessment elements have the TextAfter attribute from this version on.
-
The Import language element is introduced in this version which enables Python modules
to be imported as Condition Sets without actually using the Condition Set Filters.
This feature enables authors to externally edit Condition Sets and Functions.
-
The Profile language element provides access to persistent data containers
such as the Learner, Assignment, Class or Courseware.
Profiles are like Condition Sets, they can contain the same elements as Condition Cets with the
exception of functions.
Components:
-
The Uploader component adds support for controlling the visibility of the uploaded module.
The visibility could be Public, Institution or Private.
Enhancements:
-
Both the Condition Set Filters and the Expression Evaluator CAPE components report import errors
and create a log file with the detailed message in the Folder of the imported Python module.
Environment:
Installation:
-
A single CAPE Installer supports Python and GME, and well as CAPE itself. The installer
automatically detects Python and GME versions and recommends the required upgrades.
Individual 2.5 and 2.6 projects can be updated to 2.7 when opened in CAPE.
A project updater is provided to update all existing pre 2.5 CAPE projects to Version 2.7.
-
An Installation Guide is now
provided to assist users with the installation.
Paradigm:
-
The Dynamic resource element adds support for data-driven resources.
An attribute Gateway determines whether or not the resource can serve as a gateway for files contained in
ConditionSets or Outcomes.
The default value for the attribute is False.
-
The MultipleChoice assessment item adds an Other choice that can be used to elicit an arbitrary choice response.
-
Assessment and Section models add a File item that can be used to elicit a file upload as a response.
-
Assessment and Section models add an ImageMultipleChoice item that replaces earlier support for
image choices in the MultipleChoice item.
The previously provided support for image choices in the MultipleChoice item is deprecated.
-
The Action and Condition elements, as well as the CondBranch connections of Select elements,
add a Comment attribute that authors can use to document the actions and sequencing adaptations.
Components:
-
The Uploader component adds support for packaging a design for later uploading to an eLMS delivery platform.
The resulting courseware package is provided in a ZIP archive. The Author Interface of eLMS provides a service for
importing such packages.
Enhancements:
-
The CAPE Addon now adds and interconnects an Outcomes element whenever an Assessment element is created in a courseware
model. The Outcomes element is dynamically synchronized with the Assessment definition.
-
The CAPE Addon now automatically creates a prototype for a Function element in a ConditionSet and synchronizes the
element's name and the function's name in the definition.
-
The Content attribute of Dynamic resource elements can now be edited in the TinyMCE external editor by selecting
the element in the TreeBrowser and launching the editor from the Attribute browser without opening the resource or its container in the
model editor. This provides a fast way of editing such attributes, and the context for the editing operation is properly built.
-
The bundled version of GME adds a toolbar that can be used to manage the currently opened model windows in CAPE.
The user can cycle through sets of opened models using the order in which they were opened, a feature similar to the history
features of web browsers. Addition operations provided by the toolbar support closing all opened model windows and colsing all but
the current model window in the model editor.
-
The icons for all Assessment-related elements have been changed to reflect the revisions to the design language in this area.
Also, the icon for the Action element has been changed based on feedback from users.
-
CAPE 2.6 incorporates all of the changes provided in 2.5.2, 2.5.3, and 2.5.4 released as incremental upgrades using the Update facility
introduced in CAPE 2.5.1.
See the Adaptive Learning Technologies web site and the
CAPE Documentation for details.
Environment:
Installation:
-
A single CAPE Installer supports Python and GME, and well as CAPE itself.
The installer automatically detects Python and GME versions and recommends the
required upgrades.
A project updater is provided to update all existing CAPE
projects to Version 2.6.
Individual 2.5 projects can be updated to 2.6 when opened in CAPE.
-
An Installation Guide is now
provided to assist users with the installation.
Components:
-
An Updater component is introduced that supports installing incremental changes to CAPE distributed
through the web.
-
The CAPE Settings component adds support for configuring the new updater.
The available settings support checking for updates at application startup, on a fixed schedule, or on demand.
Enhancements:
-
A project launcher is introduced that appears when CAPE is started from the desktop shortcut,
from the Start Menu, or when a project is closed using the File→Close Project menu item in CAPE.
The launcher supports selecting from recent CAPE projects, opening an existing project,
or creating a new project.
It also provides access to CAPE's online documentation and the ability to quit the CAPE application.
Environment: (unchanged from CAPE 2.5)
Installation:
-
A single CAPE Installer supports Python and GME, and well as CAPE itself.
The installer automatically detects Python and GME versions and recommends any
required upgrades.
Paradigm:
-
The Synchronize element adds support for conditionalization.
An attribute, CondExpression, defines a boolean expression that controls whether or not the courseware
enters the intervention.
The default value for the attribute is True.
-
The former metadata-related elements (MetadataMS, MetadataMM, MetadataOS, and MetadataOM) are replaced by
three new elements Tag, MultiTag, and CompoundTag.
The Tag element is user to specify a single value, captured by its Value attribute.
The MultiTag element is used to specify metadata tags that can have multiple alternative values.
MultiTags use either Tags or CompoundTags to specify the alternatives.
Tags and MultiTags provide a MetadataConstraint attribute
that can specify a validation predicate for the tag's value.
CompoundTag contains Tags, MultiTags, and CompoundTags to support
a set of specifications employed as a unit.
Each of the new elements supports a Description attribute for describing the tag to users.
(See notes under Enhancements below for further details.)
-
Metadata folders, which can contain each of the above new elements, can now recursively contain Metadata folders
to support hierarchically organized systems of description.
-
The Granule element adds a Title attribute.
The value of this attribute is used in the menus of the eLMS courseware delivery interface.
If this attribute is not specified, then the granule's name is used.
The value of the attribute can be adaptive; that is, it follows the same conventions as dynamic HTML content of the granule itself.
The previously deprecated ToolbarVisible attribute of granules is removed.
Components:
-
The Uploader component adds support for SCORM packaging and publishing courseware descriptions to a dissemination portal.
These optional operations are supported by tabs on the restructured dialog.
SCORM packaging creates an archive file that can be imported into a SCORM-compliant delivery platform and assigned to learners.
Publishing to a dissemination portal requires the specification of a set of metadata that the platform uses to create the description of the
courseware.
The courseware itself becomes a resource accessible from the dissemination portal that supports previewing.
-
The Resource Modeler component adds support for an easy to use drag and drop specification of resources from file system folders.
This interface is supported by a tab on the restructured dialog.
The previous interface is retained on the Advanced tab.
Both interfaces support the dynamic folders feature introduced in CAPE 2.4.
-
The CAPE Settings component adds support of specifying external editors to be used with three different kinds
of attributes of CAPE elements: text, HTML, and Python.
With this support, it is possible to use a WYSIWYG editor, like Microsoft FrontPage, for HTML attributes and a syntax-directed editor,
like PythonWin or Komodo, for Python attributes.
New settings on the Messaging tab control whether the CAPE splash screen is shown at startup and whether the
new CAPE Wizard is presented automatically for newly created (or otherwise empty) CAPE projects.
-
The Repository Browser component adds support for keyword and metadata-based searching.
-
The Wizards component adds support for a new default wizard that can be used to create CAPE models from templates.
This new wizard supports all models that must be created in CAPE folders, with the exception of Taxonomy models.
Simple built-in templates are provided, including a new STAR.Legacy template for modules that use anchored instruction.
Future versions of CAPE will support user-defined and repository-based templates.
-
A new Metadata Editor component supports constructing metadata specifications from a templated system of description. We have created such templates
for the standardized IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) and for the metadata required to publish to the dissemination portal.
The new component provides a forms-based interface that in sensitive to the definitions of tags in the system of description.
For example, tags that are specified using controlled vocabularies are supported by pull-down lists of vocabulary elements.
The component also supports user-defined systems of description.
Enhancements:
-
CAPE's component toolbar is now context-sensitive.
Only those toolbar components that are appropriate in the context of the current model window are available.
When no model is open, only the components that are globally available can be selected.
Unavailable components are grayed-out.
-
The new support for metadata description signals the increasing importance of such descriptions and a recognition of inadequacies in the support provided by
previous versions of CAPE.
A reconstituted version of the IEEE LOM has been created using the new metadata elements and is available in the CAPE Repository.
Users wishing to compose their own metadata system of description should use the IEEE LOM as a guide.
-
CAPE now provides its own file type .cape for project files and is launched by its own application CAPE.exe,
rather than by launching the Generic Modeling Environment (GME) application as with previous versions.
The conversion tool provided with this release changes project file extensions from .mga to .cape.
The CAPE installer places a shortcut to the new CAPE application on the desktop.
When launched using this shortcut or via the Start Menu, a new CAPE project is created and the
CAPE Wizard is automatically launched to support creating new models.
A side effect of this change is that CAPE does not support multiple simultaneously opened projects, as does GME.
-
CAPE can now cache authentication credentials for preview, upload, and repository servers between editing sessions.
An option to enable this feature is presented on authentication dialogs when connecting to the servers.
Credentials are stored independently for each server and are encrypted.
The Servers tab on the CAPE Settings component supports clearing cached credentials.
Environment:
Installation:
-
A single CAPE Installer supports Python and GME, and well as CAPE itself.
The installer automatically detects Python and GME versions and recommends the
required upgrades.
A project updater is provided to update all existing CAPE
projects to Version 2.5.
| CAPE 2.4 |
December 5, 2005 |
Paradigm:
-
The Resources model adds Path and Filter attributes to support dynamic resource containers.
The Path attribute relates the Resources model to a particular folder on the local file system.
The Filter attribute allows selecting particular file types from the folder by file extension.
(See notes under Enhancements below for further details.)
-
An Exception connection is added for use with Action, Condition, and Select elements in courseware models.
This connection defines a sequencing path that is followed in the event that the execution of statements (for an Action) or the evaluation of conditional
expressions (Condition and Select) raise an exception at delivery time.
-
The Synchronization connection can now be used to associate Granules and Assessments
with the Synchronize element in courseware models, with the meaning that the courseware delivery is suspended
following the delivery
of the content to the learner. An intervention must be performed through the eLMS Instructor interface to resume a courseware that
has been thus suspended.
-
The Mosaic courseware model can now contain Mosaic courseware models. This nestable containment relationship is added
to support curriculum modeling.
-
The Taxon element of Taxonomy models adds a Description attribute.
-
Assessment models are now permitted to contain Dynamic resources. Note that Dynamic resources remain disallowed within
Section and Item models contained by Assessments.
Components:
-
The Resource Modeler component adds support for dynamic Resources models.
-
The CAPE Settings component adds support for changing the user's password.
Note that if the user's current authentication source is an external source,
like VUnet, then the source will be changed to eLMS.
-
The Repository Browser component adds initial support for collaboration.
An author can define a group of other authors that can exclusively share a top-level element in her or his content area.
These authors can be individually authorized to update the element in the Repository.
A lightweight coordination mechanism is implemented that prevents updates by the members of such a group
when the changes are not based on the current version in the Repository.
Note that the introduction of these features does not change the fundamental nature of the Repository, which
is basically a shareable, web-based model persistence capability.
Repository content is always pulled into the current project, and subsequent changes to the Repository are not
automatically reflected in a copy within the current project.
Enhancements:
-
Dynamic Resources models are added as a convenience to authors. Such models eliminate the need to
explicitly represent the contents of
file system folders and to evolve the models as folder contents change.
The folder contents (potentially filtered by content type) are automatically incorporated into a courseware package when previewing or uploading a courseware model
that incorporates the Resources model, explicitly or by reference.
When adding such a model to the Repository, the contents of the folder are fixed at upload time.
A design-time constraint precludes both defining a Path attribute for a Resources model and explicitly modeling Resource elements within the model.
The designer must choose one approach or the other.
-
The CAPE Debugger now reports exceptions from Action, Condition, and Select elements.
ActiveX-based automation of the CAPE modeling environment from the web-based debugger is provided to aid editing of data definitions
and locating the current object in the enactment of the courseware model. The ability to snapshot delivery state data is also provided.
-
Support is introduced for Courseware, Learner, and Class profiles. This support is incorporated into the eLMS_Platform mini-project
available in the CAPE area of the Repository. Profiles are a means of collecting and sharing data beyond the individual courseware delivery
records of learners. Profiles can be used to contain any values that are valid for a CAPE condition set, except for
Derived and Function conditions.
The Courseware profile should be used for data an author might wish to collect across all of the
deliveries of a courseware.
The Learner profile can contain any data about the learner and this data can be used as
a priori
knowledge by another courseware.
The Class profile can be used for data relevant to the entire class.
Characteristics of the eLMS platform transaction machinery recommend against frequent updating of the Courseware and Class profiles
during a courseware's enactment. No such care need be taken with the Learner profile.
Environment:
Installation:
-
A single CAPE Installer supports Python and GME, and well as CAPE itself.
The installer automatically detects Python and GME versions and recommends the
required upgrades.
| CAPE 2.3.1 |
October 3, 2005 |
This is a bug-fix incremental release.
See the Installation description below for installation requirements and procedure.
Components:
-
The Previewer and Uploader components improve support for Unicode content.
External resources were improperly handled when previewing locally.
Global resources are now properly added in situations where no local resources are defined.
-
The CAPE Settings component improves handling of logins to multiple servers. There should be only one
request to authenticate for all of the Preview, Upload, and Repository servers.
-
The ConditionSetFilters component improperly established the scope of
courseware models when exporting. Handling was added for comments and
attributes for nested conditions when importing.
-
The ExpressionEvaluator improperly evaluated certain derived conditions inside composite conditions.
Tuples are now properly presented in the output. ConditionSetRefs were improperly initialized in certain circumstances.
Array conditions with greater than 10 elements were improperly initialized.
-
The RepositoryBrowser component provides numerous bug fixes.
Enhancements:
-
The Python Sandbox execution environment adds support for the Python copy module. This support allows
persistent composite conditions, Structs and Arrays, to be copied and remain persistent.
The Python type built-in function is now emulated to return the type of Struct conditions as dict
and of Array conditions as list rather than their emulation classes.
-
A debugging tool has been added to the courseware delivery interface when previewing courseware.
This tool enables the examination of the contents of all visible Condition Sets and Outcomes in the context of the current courseware element.
In effect, this enables the dynamic state of the courseware to be inspected at any point, or at multiple points, during the preview delivery.
This tool uses the TreeView repository component from the TreeControls mini-project.
Installation:
-
An updater is provided that must be run with CAPE 2.3 installed. New users must first install CAPE 2.3 and then
install the updater.
Paradigm:
-
The MiniProject folder is introduced that can contain the same
kinds of folders as the Root Folder of CAPE projects. A
Description model is introduced that can be contained by MiniProject
folders. Description models can contain only resources and
support providing web-based documentation of the contents of a MiniProject
folder.
These additions were made in support of the new CAPE Repository.
-
Derived conditions can now be contained inside Array and Struct
composite conditions.
-
Several attribute changes have been made to conditions in Condition Sets:
-
All conditions now provide a CondPath attribute that is maintained
automatically by the CAPE Addon component and provides the proper Python form of
reference to a condition.
-
Derived conditions add an EvaluationMode attribute used to control
how the condition is evaluated. The value Initial (default) is used
to specify one-time evaluation the first time the condition is referenced.
The value Dynamic is used to specify that the defining expression should
be evaluated each time the condition is referenced.
-
Various string attributes of conditions now appear with a multi-line attribute
box that can be used with external editors.
-
The Update connection is deprecated.
This connection previously provided a cue to the eLMS delivery engine to persist
changes to a ConditionSet that resulted from Actions and
interactive Granules. ConditionSets are now fully persistent
objects and all changes are detected automatically.
-
The Resource element now supports file-based dynamic content. An
attribute, Dynamic, is added that can be set to True to indicate that the content
is to be dynamically rendered.
-
The Dynamic resource element adds an Assessment attribute that can
be used to indicate that the content is a data-driven assessment. When set
to True, the Content attribute must contain the name of a
Condition Set in the current scope that contains an assessment definition.
-
Courseware models (Courses, Mosaics, Modules, and Phases)
add a Resources aspect and can therefore contain resources.
Components:
-
The Previewer component adds support for complex resource models when
previewing locally.
-
The CAPE Settings component has a re-worked Identity tab that
includes Username and Institution elements. This information is used in
new eLMS-style authentication dialogs. The Project tab has been
eliminated, as CAPE libraries have now been replaced by the CAPE Repository.
The new Messaging tab is used to control both the level of feedback given
by CAPE on error conditions and whether the CAPE Addon component reports its
actions. All feedback is presented in the Console interface element
introduced by GME 5. The Servers tab adds support for the CAPE
Repository. Tooltips are added to all tabs of the component.
-
The ConditionSetFilters component adds new features and improves existing
features. Courseware models can now be exported to Python. The
conditional elements (Condition and Select) and Actions
contained within the courseware model are included in the exported module.
The full context of the courseware model (Condition Sets and Outcomes,
both local and global) is also exported into separate Python modules.
When exporting Condition Sets, Description attributes of
conditions are provided as commentary in the Python module, and special
structured comments capture attribute settings. The exporter automatically
detects order dependencies when generating the Python module. It also
detects dependencies on other Condition Sets and generates import
statements for these dependencies. Order and external dependencies
arising from Derived conditions contained in an Array or Struct
composite condition are not yet handled. The Python importer has
been extended to be much more versatile, and it now allows importing modules
that have been crafted by hand. Only definitions appearing within a module
that are consistent with a CAPE Condition Set are imported.
-
The ExpressionEvaluator now presents its evaluation in a tree view
interface for both courseware models and Condition Sets. Evaluation
errors are now reported directly within the presented evaluation. For
courseware models, a filtering dialog now allows selection of items of interest
for evaluation. The component supports Derived conditions contained
inside Array or Struct composite conditions.
-
An OnlineLearning component is introduced that provides access to
learning materials about CAPE that have been authored with CAPE. An
initial offering, Introducing CAPE, provides the documentation for CAPE
2.3.
-
A RepositoryBrowser component is introduced that supports access to the
new CAPE Repository. The component features drag and drop access between
assets in the Repository and the current CAPE project. The Repository
enables CAPE models and resources to be shared among authors, and it also
supports persistent storage of assets that are private to an author.
Enhancements:
-
Condition Sets defined in courseware models now support a form of lexical
scoping. Condition Sets that provide no visibility restrictions, as
well as all Outcomes models, are automatically visible to all other
Condition Sets within the current courseware model. If the
courseware model is contained within another courseware model, then the same
visibility is true of Condition Sets and Outcomes defined in the
parent model and its parent model ending at the top-level courseware model.
ConditionSetRef references are scoped at the point of occurrence of the
reference, not of the definition.
-
The special form of reference to resources previously required within dynamic
content and Assessments is deprecated. This form of reference,
"@path;", was required in earlier versions of CAPE to support local previewing.
Improvements to the Previewer component largely eliminate the need for
these markings. One isolated case remains—when assessment Sections
and items define resources locally within their Resources aspect. Here,
the markings enable distinguishing resources referenced from
the local model from those of the containing Assessment. Future
versions of CAPE will attempt to fully eliminate these special markings.
-
The content interoperability web services for Javascript, Macromedia Flash (MX:
Actionscript 1 and MX 2004: Actionscipt 2), and Java (Applets and Servlets) are
revised for CAPE 2.3 and are available from the CAPE Repository.
-
The resource models of content elements (Granules, Help, and Assessments) can now
acquire resources from their parent courseware models. This acquisition begins at the top-most courseware model and
continues downwards in the containment hierarchy. Any content element or contained courseware model can override the
resource definitions of their parent container by defining resources with the same names in their local resources model.
Content element references aquire resources at the point of occurence of the reference.
-
CAPE Wizards are no longer required to be dialog-driven.
As an alternative, a wizard's operation can be
based solely on conditions defined in its Condition Set or visible within its context.
Environment:
Installation:
-
A single CAPE Installer now supports Python and GME, and well as CAPE itself.
The installer automatically detects Python and GME versions and recommends the
required upgrades. For users upgrading from CAPE 2.2, an upgrade utility is
bundled with the installer that converts existing projects. For users
upgrading from CAPE 2.3 Alpha, Beta, and Release Candidate versions, this conversion is unnecessary.
Please follow the recommendations and instructions provided by the installer
unless CAPE developers have instructed you to do otherwise.
Paradigm:
- The External atom of CAPE sequencing models is deprecated and an External resource
type is introduced that can be used anywhere a resource is needed.
These changes mark the final stage of our transition to
resources as the exclusive means of identifying the set of static or dynamic
content elements needed to deliver
a courseware element to a learner. The External
resource is defined by URL, instead of binding to some file on the
author's local file system or in the CAPE repository.
Authors should use External resources with care, since it is uncertain
that such
resources will continue to be available during the lifetime
of a courseware or will remain unchanged during that lifetime.
Also, content accessed in this way will appear within the eLMS delivery
interface just as any other learning content, and as such must be "well-behaved"
with respect to the interface.
-
The Filter attribute of ConditionSets and Conditions is
deprecated.
These attributes were part of initial support for retrieving ConditionSets
from eLMS delivery records, and the need for them has been superseded by the
delivery record data mining capabilities of the eLMS Instructor interface.
Enhancements:
- The Expression Evaluator component now presents its report in a
tree view when evaluating ConditionSets. The report dialog can include static and nested conditions, as well as derived conditions,
by selection. The
dialog is modeless and resizable, allowing authors to inspect and
modify derived conditions and functions while viewing condition values.
- The CAPE Model Checker is extended to look for naming choices that can
lead to ambiguity when selecting information from delivery records. The
following elements of CAPE models are checked for unique names at any given
scope: Mosaics, Modules, Phases, ConditionSets, ConditionSetRefs, Assessments and AssessRefs. A warning is generated at preview or
upload time if the check fails.
Failure of the unique
name check for assessment constituents is changed from a fatal error to a
warning. This change reflects situations where conditionalization can be
used to select among multiple constituents with the same name.
-
The Dynamic library has
added a function for generating the HTML tags for Flash movies. It is
highly recommended that authors use this function, especially when creating
Flash movies that use eLMS Web Services for delivery-time interoperation.
The flash generator function can also pass static or dynamic values to
the Flash movie using the FlashVars approach. It provides an
example of meta-generation: a CAPE function dynamically generating Javascript server-side
that in turn dynamically generates HTML client-side.
The Dynamic library has also modified versions of the centered,
sideBySide, and overUnder generator functions that are now less "greedy"
in their vertical extent. Previously, these generators used
height="100%" on the tables that they generated. Now each has a height
parameter whose default value is None. If this parameter is not
explicitly set by
the caller, then no "height" attribute is set on the generated
<table>. To make the functions
behave as before, the author can pass "100%" for the height
parameter.
Use the Refresh capability of the Cape Settings
component (described below) to apply these changes.
-
Content previewing of Help and
HelpRefs now observes specifications of the target window size.
-
A new library called Python
is provided to support advanced uses of the programming extensions to CAPE.
This library initially provides exception handling services for courseware
models.
CAPE's Python extensions
support programming in virtually all aspects of courseware models.
Advanced uses of these capabilities can present challenges to exhaustive
testing as the means of ensuring correctness. The Python Library's
exception support extends normal programming uses of exception handling
(inside functions, for example) to courseware models themselves. This
capability can aid
testing during development and enable the detection of and response to aberrant conditions
during delivery.
-
The CAPEAddon agent now
automatically generates a temporary resource for new Help elements.
-
The Project tab of the CAPE Settings component adds the ability
to refresh libraries to pick up changes provided by a particular
release of CAPE. Select a library from the Current list and
then press the Refresh button.
-
The CAPE Settings component has a new tab called Version
that reports the current CAPE version and
-
provides access to this page where
the availability of new updates can be checked.
-
provides access to the new
CAPE Issue
Tracking site.
- A support page
has been added to the CAPE documentation site describing the use of eLMS Web
Services from Flash, Javascript, and Java applets and servlets. Wrappers
and libraries are downloadable from the page.
-
CAPE wizards are now defined
directly within CAPE ConditionSets.
This support supercedes the
previous framework and is part of the migration to repository-based reuse of
CAPE projects. Wizards are executed by opening the defining
ConditionSet and invoking the CapeWizards component. All the
capabilities of ConditionSets are available when defining CAPE wizards,
including the use subtypes and instances to support inheritance.
- Delivery previewing now supports starting from an arbitrary point in a
courseware model.
When invoking the
Previewer component with a deliverable element (Granule, GrauleRef,
Assessment, AssessRef) selected in a courseware model, a delivery preview is
commenced starting at the selected element. If the selected element is a
contained courseware model (such as a Phase), the preview starts at the first
deliverable element in that model. Naturally, no dynamic state
(Assessment outcomes and modified ConditionSets) developed earlier during a normal
delivery of the courseware will be available at the starting point.
The local previewing of Granules, Assessments, and
Help elements is
still supported, but is now performed by opening these elements and then
invoking the Previewer component.
This is a maintenance release, although there are a couple of significant functionality improvements. The following fixes/enhancements are incorporated.
Fixes:
-
The CAPE Addon reported attribute errors multiple times when a modeling element is serving as a type.
Enhancements:
-
The CAPE Wizard framework is restored and a new registration service is provided by the
Cape Settings component on its new Wizards tab.
CAPE wizards can now be located independently and must be registered using Cape Settings before they are available for execution using the
CAPE Wizards component.
-
A new library called eLMS is provided for accessing platform services dynamically from eLMS.
The framework provides for profiles and services for Learner, Courseware, and
Class. The initial library implementation provides Learner identification
services, and the implementation of additional framework elements will follow.
| CAPE 2.1 |
February 24, 2004 |
CAPE 2.1 provides small changes to the VaNTH paradigm.
Paradigm:
-
Due to an issue with the GME meta-interpreter, the aspect of CAPE courseware models that addresses delivery sequencing was improperly identified as 'Aspect', rather than 'Sequencing'.
-
Help references can now specify the size of the help window opened when the learner accesses the referenced help resource.
Size attributes (Width and Height) were formerly only provided for the Help modeling element.
| CAPE 2.0.1 |
January 19, 2004 |
This is a maintenance release, although there are several functionality improvements. The following fixes/enhancements are incorporated.
Fixes:
-
Problems switching servers between previewing and uploading that required the user to exit and re-enter GME.
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The CapeAddon had problems that prevented the creation of certain root folders and instances of model types.
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CAPE's evaluation capabilities had a problem that affected globally available conditions being referenced inside functions.
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The Powerpoint Converter tool in the ResourceModeler component had problems with unicode characters and MS-specific character codes
in the content generated by Powerpoint.
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Help resources and their references could not be locally previewed.
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The comparisons of file extensions to selected 'Content Types' in the ResourceModeler component were case sensitive.
Enhancements:
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The Powerpoint Converter now supports generating content that is compatible with
Apple's Mac OS X Safari 1.2 browser.
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The Powerpoint Converter has added the capability to wrap slides and notes together into a single page.
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The ResourceModeler component has added the capability to synchronize resources between the user's file system and CAPE resource models.
The new 'Synchronize' option replaces the former 'Update' option that merely adjusted file paths for existing resources in a CAPE resource model.
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The ConditionSetFilters component now allows regular Python modules to be imported into a ConditionSet. Only the elements of the Python module that are
compatible with a ConditionSet definition are imported. Exported ConditionSets no longer generate the hooks formerly required for re-importing.
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The CAPE model checker now performs additional checks to see if courseware sequencing models can "dead-end" prematurely,
suggesting a potential modeling error.
A warning is generated if content elements (Granules, Assessments, and their references) have inbound sequencing edges, but do not have outbound
sequencing edges. This check is only performed if the courseware model (Course, Mosaic, Module, Phase) containing such elements employs Exits.
Additionally, Conditions are now always checked to see if there are both 'TrueCond' and 'FalseCond' outbound edges, and Selects are always checked to
see if they have 'Else' outbound edges. A warning is generated if either check fails.
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When uploading courseware for preview or delivery CAPE attempts to minimize the upload size by comparing the required
resources with those already available in the most recent courseware version on the selected server (if any). Only resources that are different are uploaded.
The CapeSettings component now allows a choice of consistency checking method to be made in supporting this optimization.
The available methods are 'SHA Fingerprint' (default) or 'File Timestamp Only'. The method can be selected on the CapeSettings 'Servers' tab.
SHA fingerprints are the more reliable method of detecting whether a resource is different, and in most cases this approach should be used.
However, computing fingerprints for each resource requires time. In cases where a courseware requires a large number of file-based resources,
SHA fingerprints as the consistency checking method can slow preview and upload service times. In these cases, file timestamps provide a
reasonable alternative. If you choose the 'File Timestamp Only' setting to speed up your preview/upload operations, you should be aware that
replacing a newer resource file with an older resource file on your filesystem will result in the newer file being retained in
the courseware version on the selected server.
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