publishing on demand experiment

publishing on demand experiment

[Hans Hagen]

Hi, 

Some of you may know that at pragma we have been experimenting with
publishing on demand for some years now. For this purpose we have build a
database with a substantial number of dutch school examns. From this
database we generate documents both for testing and for challenging purposes. 

Although we are handicapped by being not on the internet by leased line [we
have a 64 kbit isdn line] we want to put some of this on our server for
testing purposes. The last couple of days i converted the visual basic
progs that a friend wrote for handling email requeste into perl and i want
to test it. 

Currently this data is encoded in tex, but a next step will be to act on
xml. So, in fact this is the first [public] step in bringing xml support
into context. For that purpose we will convert the database into xml. 

Parts of the styles used will become part of some examination styles. Most
of what you see is already available in context now, like selective
paragraph processing, numbering lines, etc. In the database no text is
entered more than once and refs to pages and lines and so are generated
runtime. 

For historic reasons [it started that way] the multiple choice examns are
kind of interactive in the sense that you can click on answers and go
forward or get feedback. 

The method is as follows: 

-  the user composes a document [offline or online] 
-  the selection is sent to our www server
-  the server mails it to a dedicated account
-  our local company server fetches these mails 
-  based on the profile a collection of documents is produced
-  these are mailed back to the user

The selection takes place in a pdf document [in this case]. The selection
is stored in fields that will be send to the generator. 

You can find such a document at 

www.pragma-ade.com/pragma-tmp/examens/ex-fi-en.pdf 

This will only be there for a short period since i will upload complete
versions [we're talking about some 200 meg in total] later.  

This test document is in dutch but deals with english examns. A few
translations: 

  Examen     : Exams
  Antwoorden : Antwoorden
  Vragen     : Questions 

At a question, you can select a question [or text with associated
questions] using the top middle button: 

  selecteer vraag 

the buttom middle button brings you to the list with selected items, and at
the last page: 

  verzend selectie

sends the selection to the server. [technically you can also save a
selection and send it as mail attachment]

At the bottom of the last page screen [selection page] there is a reference
field. Before you submit a request, you must send me an email address and a
reference you want to use. That way we can make sure no body will use this
as spam. 

The document still has some flaws, so don't redistribute it.       

When everything goes well, you will recieve some 5 files with questions,
answers, forms etc back. 

Depending on how on-line we are, this service is relatively fast or slow. 

Hans
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                                                  Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE
                      Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
 tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
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