Once you have retrieved the items, you can examine those you are interested in viewing.
Examine items from the Search Questions page
Select the items you want to examine by selecting the box for each desired item.
Users can optimize the number of search items per page by selecting a value from the Items Per Page drop-down; this number ranges from 10 to 50 per page. The default number is 20.
The selected number of search items is displayed in the grid below the drop-down.
The search items per page can be changed and viewed at any time for the user's convenience.
The search results are listed on multiple pages according to the selected number of Items Per Page in the drop-down, if the total number of search items resulting from the search criteria exceeds the selected number of items per page.
The user can also directly jump to another page of the search results grid by clicking its corresponding link above the search results grid.
The Selection drop-down in the left of the header row has four selection options: None, Some, Page, and All.
This Selection drop-down is present on pages in which users need to select multiple search items for use such as viewing, modifying, etc.
The Selection drop-down options perform the following functions:
Column Description None All items in the list across all pages of the search results grid are deselected. Page All items on the currently visible page of the search results grid are selected.
If you move to another page of the search results grid, you will see that none of the items on that page are selected, but the items selected on the earlier page are still retained.
Some This selection appears when you manually select a few items from the list by selecting their corresponding check boxes. This selection also appears if you select Page from the drop-down and then increase the Items per page, or if you select All from the drop-down and then deselect any item on the search results page.
It is also possible to select items across multiple pages of the search results grid by simply making the selection on one page and moving on to another - the item selection made on the earlier page is retained even if you move to another page to make additional selections.
All All items in the list across all pages of the search results grid are selected.
Even when moving to any other page of the search results grid, all the items on that new page are also selected.
The selection drop-down remains as All if any of the items are not deselected, and it changes to Some if any of the items on any of the pages of the search results grid are deselected. Furthermore, if the deselection is made on the first page of the search results grid, then all the items on other pages are deselected. However, if you move to another page of the search results grid while the selection drop-down is All and deselect any item, the selection drop-down for that page changes to Some, while all items on the remaining pages remain selected with the selection drop-down selection showing as Page on those pages.
Click the Examine Questions button. The Examine Questions page opens.
The status of the item is indicated in red text above the Question summary. All information about the item, including its metadata and history, are displayed below the item.If another user has the item checked out or they check-out an item while you are viewing the item on the Examine Questions page, a message notifies you that the item is checked out, "<first name> <last name> checked out item 12345 on MMM DD, YYYY at HH:MM." The Return to Author, and Modify buttons, and the Change State button are all disabled as long as the item is checked-out. Project Managers can override the item check-out by clicking the Check-in button.
If the other user checks in the item by changing its state, by Advancing or Returning the item, of if the system automatically checks-in the item, the message at the top of page disappears and all the edit buttons are enabled.
When you are examining an item and another user has checked out the same item for modification, when the person editing saves the changes to the item a new version of the item is created. A near real-time notification appears at the top of the page letting you know the item has been updated. You must click the Refresh the page link to load the latest data.
If the item stem contains a video file, users can use the Click to Play link to launch the video in a new tab. If the you have inserted a Flash video that the video player does not support, a message states, "Can not play this file". You must click the Download File link to view the video outside of ExamDeveloper.
The case details are displayed as a separate section Belongs To Case for items belonging to any case. This case section also displays other items contained in the case.
Click the
Edit Case icon to open the Edit Case pop-up window as shown below. Here you can modify the Exhibit text (as long as the item is editable in the project and not obsolete). You cannot modify the case name, or the Exhibit ID. You also cannot add or remove items present on the case. 
If Restrictions have been applied to Fill in the Blank type items, balance your mouse pointer over the
Information icon and a pop-up Restrictions table lists the restrictions for the answer option.
Question Metadata tab:
The Question Metadata tab on the Examine Questions page displays data about the retrieved item including its Question ID, Blueprint ID, Metadata, References, and Membership. The membership link pop-up displays details about the exam, its sections, enemies etc..
The Membership hyperlink pop-up displays details about the item such as its Enemies, Editable in Projects, Viewable by Projects, and the Exam Forms, Exam Sections, and Collections, the item is a part of.
The individual names for exam forms, exam sections, and collections listed in this window appear as hyperlinks, which upon clicking, open a new window displaying the contents of the clicked items. Thus, clicking on a hyperlink for a collection name listed here opens a new window that lists the items contained in that collection.
Split Screen and/or Pop-up Exhibits information, if any, is also available here as seen below.
If an item has been cloned or is the clone of another item, the information is displayed on the Question Metatdata tab.
The source item lists the Question ID of the item it was cloned to in the Cloned to field.
The cloned item lists the Question ID of the source item in the Cloned from field.
User Tracking tab:
The User Tracking tab on the Examine Questions page displays the list of users who Validated and Reviewed the item. This tab is available only when the Can observers see names of writers, reviewers and validators? is set to Yes in the observer configuration.
If the Submit on Behalf of option is selected while creating an item, the name of the user who submitted the item, the name of the person on whose behalf the item is submitted, and the date of submission are mentioned on the History tab in the Examine Questions page.
Comments tab:
The Comments tab on the Examine Questions page holds all the comments users have inserted for the item. It shows the Free Text and External ID of the item.
To add a comment, click the Add Comment link in the Comments tab. Select the Comment flag from the drop-down list and enter the comment in the Enter Text field. Click Save Comment.
If you Upload an Asset into a comment, a message notifies you that the uploaded file has been attached.
History tab:
The History tab on the Examine Questions page displays all versions of the retrieved item.
To see an earlier version of the item, select the version number check box and click View revision(s). You can also select multiple versions of the item and click the View revision(s) button to see the changes between the versions. The Question History page opens. This page displays the item summary and other details of earlier versions of the item. All text changes are also highlighted in red for deletions and in green for additions.
The Question History page gives options to navigate through the versions of the items.
Option | Description |
|---|---|
First | Moves to the earliest revision comparison in the list (e.g., Comparing revisions 1 and 2). |
Previous | Moves to the previous revision comparison in the list (e.g., Currently comparing revisions 2 and 3. Clicking Previous moves back to, "Comparing revisions 1 and 2"). |
Next | Moves to the next revision comparison in the list (e.g., Currently comparing revisions 2 and 3. Clicking Next moves forward to, "Comparing revisions 3 and 4."). |
Last | Moves to the latest revision comparison in the list (e.g., Comparing revisions 3 and 4). |
Jump to
| Select a revision comparison to view. This option only allows to compare a revision number against the previous or next revision in the list. For example, 3 vs 4, 2 vs 3, or 1 vs 2. If you want to compare version 4 vs 1, you must select only version 4 and 1 and then click View revision(s). |
Statistics tab:
The Statistics Tab displays the statistics for the item in each Analysis Set uploaded. The Analysis Group is ungrouped and the Analysis Set is not selected on the Statistics tab if there is no Analysis set preselection configured for the project.
Select an Analysis Set:
- Select the Statistics tab.
- Click the Analysis Set drop-down arrow and select the desired analysis set from the list. The Default analysis set is highlighted in red text.
The default analysis set is displayed. None of the item statistics may be edited from the user interface. All statistics must be added or extracted via spreadsheet import/export.
If the item falls within the criteria set in the project's Statistical Flags, the flags raised are also displayed near the bottom next to Flags.
- You are unable to perform the following actions in the user interface. You are only able to select an analysis group or analysis set and view the statistics that display today.
- Edit the statistics.
- Set an analysis set as the default.
- Save changes to the statistics.
- Edit the statistics.
Advanced Properties tab:
The Advanced Properties tab on the Examine Questions page displays the following item information:
- Title of the exhibit
- Enumerated identifies if the item is included in the number sequence on the Review screen
- Shuffle Response identifies if the item responses are listed in the order they were authored, or in a random order
- The Calculators that have been added to the item are listed
- The minimum and maximum number of responses allowed on the item. These only apply to the MCQ, multiple correct options item type.
- Response Required determines if users must answer an item before navigating away from the item
- Response Confirmation determines if users must confirm their response before navigating away from the item
- No Response Confirmation determines if candidates are prompted if they want to navigate away from the item when no response was provided for the item
On the Examine Questions page you can:
- Return the item to the author:
- Click Return to Author from the Examine Questions page.
In the Return Question pop-up that opens, enter a reason in the Rich Text editor for returning the item.
Cancel button: Discard changes and close the pop-up window to return to the Examine Questions page.
If an item being examined has statistics attached to it, and the user clicks Return To Author, then a pop-up window appears prompting the user to explain the reason for rejecting the item in a Rich Text Editor window. Also, there are two radio buttons:
Retain Statistics: Statistics are retained while returning the item to the author.
Do not retain statistics: Statistics are removed from the item being returned.
Submit button: The item is returned to the author so that he/she incorporates changes as usually specified in the Rich Text Editor window. The item state changes to Returned. The pop-up window closes and the user is returned to the Examine Questions page.
Cancel button: The pop-up window closes while discarding any changes it contains and the user returns to the Examine Questions page for that item.
If you do not enter any reason for returning the item in the Rich Text Editor window and click Submit button, then the following error message is displayed in red text.
If you do not enter any reason for returning the item in the Rich Text Editor window and also do not select any radio button for statistics retention, and click Submit button, then the following error message is displayed.
Enter an appropriate reason for returning the item and also select a radio button for retention or non-retention of statistics before clicking Submit button to avoid the above errors.
Click Submit button to confirm returning the item and return it to the author for changes as specified and return to the Examine Questions page. The Item Status is changed to Returned as shown in red text.
For returned items, the Status text in Question Summary, "Returned By" text in User Tracking, and Return Comment title text for rejected item on the Examine Questions page may appear using different words, depending on the text provided in the Return State Text setting of the Item Bank's configuration.
Returned items are listed on the History tab of the Examine Questions page. The State is listed as Returned.
A comment is added to the Comments tab for returned items. The text that was entered in the Return Question pop-up box is listed as the comment.
- Click Return to Author from the Examine Questions page.
Modify the item:
Please refer to Modifying an Item.
Examine R-Type Item:
The Examine Questions page for an R-Type item has two views: one for Options and another for Stems. The common area of view near the top, displays the Lead-In, Item Type, and Status. The various tabs related to items are also visible near the bottom along with the drop-down to select and set the Status of the item.
The view with the Options tab is visible by default. Here, the various Answer Options with their Labels are visible as can be seen below.
Click the Stems tab to display the Stem view of the page. This tab displays the various Question Stems and their correct Answer Options with Labels. Each Stem has a Stem Question ID, which is displayed above each Stem.
Clone an Item
Click the Clone button. A confirmation pop-up window appears with check boxes for Statistics, Blueprint, Metadata,or Comments (excluding External ID) which must be selected in order to transfer information related to these parameters from the original item to the cloned item.
You must decide what to do with the original item when you make a clone of it. You can can make the original item obsolete, or keep the original item active in the item bank and you will have two active versions of the item.
Click OK to save the changes, or Cancel to discard them and return to the Examine Questions page.
The cloned item is added to the project in a Draft state.
Please note that the original item and its clone become Enemies, and the enemies of the original item also become the enemies of the cloned item.
If an item belongs to a case, the original item still belongs to the case but the cloned item does not belong to the case.
Users are prevented from cloning an item that is currently checked out to another user if you attempt to make the original item obsolete. A red message box notifies you that the item is checked out to another user. You cannot change the state of the original item to obsolete if another user has the item checked out.
Manually Check-out an Item
Project Managers can manually check-out an item to prevent other users from editing the item. When Project Managers check-out an item, it is checked out for 99 years or until the item is manually checked-in, or until there is a change in state for the item. Items that are manually checked-out remain checked out even if the user logs out of ExamDeveloper.
- Open the item on the Examine Questions page you wish to manually check-out. (If the item is checked-out by another user you must check-in the item first and then check-out the item.)
- Click the Check-out button.
- The Check-out button changes to Check-in. There is no messaging that you have the item checked-out, the button changing to Check-in is your only indicator that you have the item checked-out.
The item remains checked-out for 99 years unless one of the following actions occur:- A Project Manager clicks the Check-in button
- A Project Manager changes the state of the item
- A Project Manager modifies the item and Submits the item on the Modify Question page
When reviewers view the item on the Review Questions page that the Project Manager has checked out, a message notifies the reviewer that the item is checked out. The Advance, Return, and Modify buttons are all disabled while the item is checked out by another user. If the Project Manager checks-in the item while the reviewer is viewing the item, the message disappears.
Reviewers can manually check-out and item for 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month, depending upon how the review workflow is configured. See the Review Workflow topic for details.
For items that have been manually checked-out and the items are due to be automatically checked-in tomorrow (for example, 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month is about to expire), an email notification job runs.
- An email is sent to the users who checked-out the item.
- One email is sent for each project that contains items about to be checked-in.
- The email includes the following information:
Item bank
Project
Specific items to be checked-in
- If you wish to edit the item, click the Modify button. The Modify Question page opens and a message notifies you that you checked out the item and provides the date and timestamp for the check-out. See Modify an Item topic for details on modifying items.
Manually Check-in an Item
Project Managers can manually check-in not only items they have checked-out, but they can also check-in items that other users have checked-out, thus overriding the check-out from other users. To check-in more than one item at a time, see the Item Check-out Dashboard topic.
- Open the item on the Examine Questions page you wish to manually check-in.
- The behavior for checking in an item you checked out vs. one checked out by another user is slightly different.
If the item is checked-out by another user, the message at the top of the page states who has the item checked out plus the date and time stamp. Click the Check-in button.
The item is checked-in, the message disappears, and the button changes to Check-out.
- If you want to check-in an item you checked out, click the Check-in button. The item is checked-in and the button changes to Check-out.
Print the Item
- Click Print button near the top, next to Clone.
- The pop-up window displays the item report with print options.
- Choose the required options and take the print out of the item by clicking the Print button.
Change the status of the item
- At the bottom of the page, select the new status of the item from the Question State drop-down list.
Click Change State.
When you try and change a Point and Click item from a Draft to Review, Validate, or Completed state, the state does not change and an error stating shapes and/or label definitions are missing if the Point and Click item is missing Shapes or Shape Labels. You must fix the problem and then change the state.
When Yes is selected for Require reviewers to classify unclassified Questions to level setting on the Review Workflow page and an item with one of the Review States at Unclassified Blueprint or Blueprint level lower than the one specified in the drop-down setting on that page is opened on the Examine Questions page, then the following error message is displayed. The State of such items cannot be changed to anything other than one of the available Review States or to the Obsolete state.
