[LON-CAPA-dev] lonparmset

[Mark Lucas]

Hi-

	Robert and I have been working on lonparmset a little down here at
OU (well, mainly Robert with lots of harassment from me 8) ). We provide a
couple of different options for viewing of parameter lists. It would be
great if people could take a look at it and provide feedback.

	I presume the following will work:

If you have an account on a machine in any of the development clusters
that talks to oucapa1, log into capa1.phy.ohiou.edu as yourself. Select a
dummy course that you have. When you select PARM, you will see the
modified parmset.

	The basic premise is that an instructor will typically want to set
default parameters for a map (in my case, an assignment). Having 3 or 4
columns for all available problems in the map is a bit overwhelming.

	Under this version, you can still select a specific section or
user. You can also select all maps or a specific map. Individual types of
parameters can be selected through checkboxes. Parts can be selected in 
the scrollable list.

	The major change is the addition of 'Select Parameter Level'.

Selecting 'Resource Level [FULL]' will give a display much like before.

Selecting 'Resource Level [BRIEF]' will give a display with only one
       real resource column - 'Any User in Course for Resource'
       (ie., changing the weighting for that particular problem)

Selecting 'Map Level' will give an abbreviated display for each map
      that has been selected. It simply allows one to change the default
      values for that map (essentially part 0).

Selecting 'Course Level' will give an abbreviated display with the
      coursewide defaults.

For any of the last 3 choices, selection of a particular section or a
particular user will display defaults for that particular situation.


	Any feedback is quite welcome!!!

	We have been focusing on trying to get this first level of 
features implemented. We are still trying to figure out how we can make
the selection area more intuitive and simpler to navigate. One thought was
to present an introductory screen which has more instructor-friendly
'presets'. Another is simply rearranging the lists and drop-downs to fit
on the screen better. Designing nice, smooth interfaces is not our 
strength. Is there anyone at MSU who has advice on this?

						Thanks!!!
						   Mark 

PS - Caveat - We have been having some troubles with maps which do not 
have a part 0. Robert has been in touch with Guy, and Robert is going to 
dive back in and work on that. If a map does not have a part 0, the
current implementation picks 'some other part' as the default parameter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Lucas					email: lucasm@ohiou.edu
252D Clippinger Lab  				phone: (740)597-2984
Department of Physics and Astronomy             fax:   (740)593-0433
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701