New Blog Location

Unfortunately, my own school blocks any url hosted at blogspot.com, so I've relocated the blog to http://littlerun.com/gradel/wordpress. As you can see from the url, the new blog is powered by WordPress. I've already migrated the existing blog posts and even added some new content, so feel free to check it out.

0.11.2 Released!

GradeL 0.11.2 has been released. You can grab the source package or the Ubuntu Karmic .deb package from the download page (the .deb file should work on any Debian based distro also). This release includes several bug fixes and a few small feature enhancements and additions, including the new report that displays category averages for each student. For details on these updates and changes please review the ChangeLog.

As you already know, GradeL is a small, open-source project. Please continue to provide feedback and report bugs that you may encounter. While GradeL development is slow, it is still moving forward with your help.

Take care!

Displaying Student Averages for Categories

The latest feature addition currently in the works for GradeL is a report that displays the category averages for all students in a grid format. See the screenshot below:



Eventually, this report will also display the overall grade and allow printing. Stay tuned...

GradeL Wiki Update

The GradeL wiki hosted at SourceForge is being converted from the old Wikispaces to MediaWiki. While this transition is taking place, the content will not be available. Hopefully, it will be completed soon. The new link for the wiki is http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/gradel.

Another bug!

Well, as has become a tradition with GradeL releases, right after I get a new release out I discover another bug. This one will be obvious to anyone that uses GradeL to track student attendance. The column headers will appear two pixels higher than they should. Users who download the source package could patch the problem by editing line 919 of frmGradeL.class. The line should read:

temppb.Y = MAIN_Y + 1

instead of:

temppb.Y = 26

Of course, the fix will be included in the next release, which will now be sooner than expected.

Take care!

GradeL 0.11.1 released.

The bug in the 0.11.0 packages is fixed and the new 0.11.1 packages are available from SourceForge here.

Problem with 0.11.0 packages

Apparently, there is an important file missing in both the .deb and source packages that I uploaded to SourceForge back in February. A user reported an error when trying to create a "Marking Period Student Progress" report from the report menu. A GUI form file named StudentReportForm.form was mistakenly left out of the packages and prevents the report from being generated. A fix is in the works and will be available soon.

Keep the bug reports coming!

GradeL 0.11.0 Released.

Version 0.11.0 is a significant update to GradeL. This release includes buig fixes and improved functionality. Please see the ChangeLog for details and download the latest release. As always, please report any bugs.

Have a nice weekend!

Period & Exam Weights

The interface that I originally chose for editing period and exam weights was not great. I have updated the dialog so that it's function is more natural and easy to navigate. The grid will size itself to the appropriate number of semesters and marking periods and then the use need only enter values between zero and one into the appropriate cells.



The new interface will be included in the next release.

Take care!

GradeL Wiki

I decided to take advantage of the wiki services available to SourceForge projects. I plan to use the project wiki as the location for GradeL documentation. If you use GradeL, then you know that documentation has not been a priority. I hope to improve this as the project moves forward.

The url for the wiki is http://gradel.wiki.sourceforge.net. If you would like to contribute content, please contact me.

Flexible Grading Scale

I have been adding subtle improvements to GradeL recently. One that I think deserves mentioning at this point is the new flexible grading scale. In the past, GradeL had a fixed scale that required users to have 13 grades (A+...E), because that is the grading scale that I have to use. However, I realize that other users may have different requirements. So, when the next release is made public, users will be able to adjust the number of grades and the minimum percent to achieve that grade.

Here is a shot of the new dialog:



The spin control allows the user to change the number of grade needed and the grid will automatically resize when the number is changed.

Murphy's Law and a new GradeL release.

With a name like Murphy, there was bound to be a problem. Version 0.10.0 had a huge bug that prevented users from changing the grading mode from points to weighted categories in the Class Setup form. It appears that this is a left over from 0.9.1, although it was never reported.

It is possible that issue is caused by a change in some Gambas event handling in versions 2.9 and later. Currently, I'm developing on the latest stable Gambas release, 2.10.2. Anyway, for more info on GradeL 0.10.1, please see the ChangeLog and feel free to download the app.

Take care!

GradeL 0.10.0 Released.

I released a new version of GradeL today. Version 0.10.0 does not add any major features, but it should be more stable and allow users to work more efficiently. Check out the ChangeLog for more details. You can download the source or a .deb from SourceForge.

As usual, please report any bugs you may encounter!

Development Continues

Although this new school year has not provided me with a lot of time to work on GradeL, I have been making some progress. The current development version does run on the latest Gambas 2.10.2.

I have reverted back to a single file interface. My implementation of multiple windows for multiple files was buggy and difficult to maintain. I have added better support for recent files in the File Menu, which makes switching between class files quite easy and fast.

I'm also spending some time cleaning up my code so that it is easier to maintain. I hope that this process will result in a more stable piece of software. As soon as I feel that it's ready to go, I release the next version. Stay tuned.

If you'd like to try out the latest development snapshot, you can download it here.

GradeL and Gambas 2.9

Currently, GradeL will not run properly with the new Gambas 2.9 release. There were changes made to the way that Gambas handles window events including, opening and closing, which cause GradeL to crash. GradeL runs properly on Gambas 2.7, which is the version available in the Ubuntu 8.10 repositories. Until a fix is completed, please stick with the older version of Gambas if you wish to run GradeL.

GradeL 0.9.1 Released.

GradeL 0.9.1 has been released. This release includes bug fixes and minor improvements. I have included a .deb package as well. Please try it out and report problems. You can download the release or get more info in the website.

Take care.

Compiling and Installation Problems

Apparently, when I completed the conversion to Gambas2 from Gambas1 I neglected to pay close attention to the compile and installation scripts I provided with the source package. They contain bugs. The next release of GradeL will include the correct scripts, but in the meantime, I have included them here:

compile.sh:


#!/bin/sh

# This shell script compiles and archives GradeL using Gambas2.
# The result is the binary archive gradel, which can be run
# by typing ./gradel from the source directory or installed
# using sudo sh ./install.sh.

echo ""
echo "GradeL Compile Script"
echo "----------------------------------------"
echo "Checking for compiled components..."

if [ -d .gambas ]
then
echo "Removing old files..."
cd .gambas
rm *
cd ..
rmdir .gambas
fi

if [ -f gradel ]
then
rm gradel
fi

echo ""
echo "Compiling GradeL with gbc2 -p -a ..."

# It is important to include the -p and -a flags
gbc2 -p -a

echo "Creating executable archive \"gradel\" with gba2 ..."
gba2

# Rename executable archive
mv gradel-0.9.1.gambas gradel

echo "Done!"
echo ""
echo "To run gradel type: ./gradel"
echo "or"
echo "sudo \"sh ./install.sh\" to install on Ubuntu."
echo ""

install.sh:

#!/bin/sh

# This shell script installs GradeL to the system.
# Be sure to run compile.sh first.
# Gradel can be removed from the system with uninstall.sh.

echo ""
echo "GradeL Install Script"
echo "------------------------------------------------"

# GradeL binary installs in the /usr/bin directory
echo " Copying GradeL program to /usr/bin"
cp gradel /usr/bin

# Gradel icon installs in /usr/share/gradel directory
if [ -d /usr/share/gradel ]
then
echo " Copying GradeL icon to /usr/share/gradel"
cp images/gradel.png /usr/share/gradel
else
mkdir /usr/share/gradel
echo " Copying GradeL icon to /usr/share/gradel"
cp images/gradel.png /usr/share/gradel
fi

# INSTALL, README, ChangeLog and COPYING install in /usr/share/doc/gradel
if [ -d /usr/share/doc/gradel ]
then
echo " Copying INSTALL, README, COPYING, and ChangeLog to /usr/share/doc/gradel"
cp COPYING /usr/share/doc/gradel
cp INSTALL /usr/share/doc/gradel
cp README /usr/share/doc/gradel
cp ChangeLog /usr/share/doc/gradel
else
mkdir /usr/share/doc/gradel
echo " Copying INSTALL, README, COPYING, and ChangeLog to /usr/share/doc/gradel"
cp COPYING /usr/share/doc/gradel
cp INSTALL /usr/share/doc/gradel
cp README /usr/share/doc/gradel
cp ChangeLog /usr/share/doc/gradel
fi

# Done

echo "Done! To run type gradel. Enjoy the program."
echo ""

uninstall.sh:

#!/bin/sh

# This shell script removes GradeL to the system.

echo ""
echo "GradeL Uninstall Script"
echo "------------------------------------------------"

# Remove binary
echo " Removing binary."
if [ -f /usr/bin/gradel ]
then
rm /usr/bin/gradel
fi

# Remove icon
echo " Removing icon."
if [ -s /usr/share/gradel ]
then
rm /usr/share/gradel/*.*
#rm /usr/share/gradel/*
rmdir /usr/share/gradel
fi

# Remove docs
echo " Removing documents."
if [ -s /usr/share/doc/gradel ]
then
#rm /usr/share/doc/gradel/*.*
rm /usr/share/doc/gradel/*
rmdir /usr/share/doc/gradel
fi

# Done
echo " GradeL has been removed from your system."
echo ""

Keep the bug reports and questions coming!

Homepage now up to date!

It has taken me six days since releasing GradeL 0.9.0 to get the homepage at gradel.sf.net updated. Since I last used the shell service provided by SourceForge they have changed the way I access my web files. In the past I just used gFTP with SSH2 and I was able to connect. Now that's not enough. The server now requires SSH key authentication, which took me a while to configure.

SourceForge provides documentation, which explains things pretty well, but I was still hitting a road block. The step I had been missing was uploading my public key to the server. The documentation seemed to say that I would have to upload several files, but in the end I was only required to paste the contents of my id_dsa.pub file to my account page.

During this process, I also learned to use Nautilus to browse the remote server just as I do my local drive, which I find very cool. Anyway, I'm mainly writing this entry to remind myself of the process and also to assist others like me who have trouble reading something right under their nose!

Take care.

GradeL goes Gambas2 with 0.9.0 release!

Just uploaded release 0.9.0 of GradeL to the SourceForge site. In addition to changes that I've made over the last few months, this version is targeted at Gambas2. It has been successfully tested on Gambas2 2.4.1 on an Ubuntu Gutsy box. If you need Gambas2 packages for Gutsy, check out packages available here.

A .deb package of GradeL 0.9.0 may follow. Stay tuned!

For now, feel free to download the source here.

Take care!

Development Continues

Although this is a busy time of year, development of GradeL is still slowly proceding. Currently, I have added the ability to export the current marking period data to a tab-seperated file appropriate for importing into a spreadsheet program.

The program now also trims long student names so that they do not overrun the adjacent columns.