Difference between revisions of "Talk:Custom Point Labeler Applet"
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| − | [[Category:Flash Applets]] |
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| − | <h2>About the Custom Point Labeler Applet for WeBWorK</h2> |
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| − | <p style="background-color:#93BED2;border:black solid 1px;padding:3px;">This applet and WeBWorK problem are based |
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| − | upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE-0941388.</p> |
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| − | <p style="background-color:#ffccff;border:black solid 1px;padding:3px;">Click here to see a problem like this in |
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| − | action (you may login as a guest): |
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| − | [https://testcourses.webwork.maa.org/webwork2/FlashAppletDemos/variousAppletProblems/28/ | Example WeBWorK |
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| − | problem]</p> |
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| − | [[where to find WeBWorK problems like this | Where to find more problems like this]] |
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| − | <p>The Custom Point Labeler Flash applet provides a graphical user interface which allows students to answer |
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| − | questions by clicking on a graph to label points on the graph. Using the buttons on the interface, students can |
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| − | place points with different text labels on the graph, and once points are added to the graph they can be moved or |
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| − | deleted. The applet has been designed to be easily repurposed for a variety of problems, by editing only the PG |
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| − | file for the WeBWorK problem.</p> |
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| − | <p>As an example, a WeBWorK problem can be written where the graph of a function is displayed, and the student is |
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| − | asked to label local and absolute extrema.</p> |
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| − | <!-- (screencap) --> |
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| − | <div style="text-align:center;"> |
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| − | [[File:CustomPointLabeler.jpg]] |
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| − | </div> |
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| − | <p>To be as versatile as possible, the applet is designed only as a user interface tool. It does not do any |
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| − | computation of derivatives or other properties. Instead, the author must decide what function to display and what |
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| − | types of points should be labeled, as well as explicitly set the coordinates for the points which constitute a |
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| − | correct answer.</p> |
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| − | The applet is only capable of plotting graphs of functions, but several functions with different domains can be |
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| − | plotted, allowing for other types of curves to be created. |
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| − | <p>Including the Flash applet in the WeBWorK problem is done in a way similar to other problems documented on this |
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| − | Wiki. For example see [[SolidsWW_Flash_Applet_Sample_Problem_1]]</p> |
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| − | <h2>Customizing the WeBWorK problem</h2> |
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| − | <p>For the sake of completeness, we include at the bottom of this page the full working PG code for a problem |
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| − | implementing this applet, but here we will only comment on the problem setup section of the code. This section |
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| − | contains all of the parameters that can be altered to suit your needs as you author new WeBWorK problems using |
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| − | this applet. </p> |
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| − | The parameters for customizing the problem are set in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML XML] format. No XML code |
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| − | needs to be written from scratch. Instead, the author simply needs to adjust the parameters within the example XML |
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| − | code, or follow a similar format to create new types of point labels. |
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| − | After the tagging, description, and initialization sections of the problem, the problem is set up in a section |
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| − | following the comment line: |
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| − | <br /> |
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| − | <code>############# Problem configuration XML #############</code> |
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| − | <br /> |
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| − | Below is an explanation of the configuration XML for an example problem, where the student is asked to label |
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| − | different types of points on a function graph. To customize the problem, follow the same basic pattern. In XML |
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| − | terminology: some parameters are set as XML elements, others are set as attributes for empty-element XML tags. |
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| − | The XML object is set as one long string variable in PG code. Instead of quotes, the string is enclosed in the |
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| − | equivalent brackets <code>qq{</code> and <code>}</code>. After the opening <code><XML><.code> tag, the |
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| − | customization parameters are set as follows. |
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| − | <h3>Plot window, labels, and grid</h3> |
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| − | The plot window, label and grid spacing parameters are defined |
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| − | Set up the plot window by adjusting the minimum and maximum x and y coordinates within the following tag: |
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| − | <code><window xMin="-1.5" xMax="4.5" yMin="-4" yMax="3"/> |
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| − | The spacing of numerical labels along the axes: |
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| − | <code> |
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| − | <labelSpaceX>1</labelSpaceX> |
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| − | <labelSpaceY>1</labelSpaceY> |
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| − | </code> |
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| − | The spacing of grid lines: |
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| − | <code> |
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| − | <gridSpaceX>1</gridSpaceX> |
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| − | <gridSpaceY>1</gridSpaceY> |
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| − | </code> |
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| − | The width and height of the graphing board within the applet, in pixels: |
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| − | <code> |
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| − | <boardWidth>400</boardWidth> |
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| − | <boardHeight>300</boardHeight> |
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| − | </code> |
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| − | <h3>The functions to plot</h3> |
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| − | You can plot more than one function within the graphing board. Define each by first specifying, using XML elements |
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| − | and attributes, the algebraic function followed by the domain for that function. For example, a piecewise function |
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| − | can be defined as follows: |
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| − | <code> |
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| − | <func>x^2</func> |
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| − | <domain xMin="-1" xMax="1"/> |
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| − | <func>(x^4-4*x^3+8)/5</func> |
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| − | <domain xMin="1" xMax="4"/> |
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| − | </code> |
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| − | Similarly, you could draw a circle by specifying the separate functions defining its top and bottom halves, with |
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| − | the same domain. |
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| − | <h3>The types of labels and their correct placements</h3> |
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| − | The student will be asked to label points of various types. The number of buttons, what the buttons say, and the |
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| − | text for the labels is all determined by the XML. The buttons will be stacked in the order in which they are |
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| − | defined in the XML. All the data for each label type is set within a separate <code>labeltype</code> XML element. |
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| − | For multiple types of labels, simply define several label types in succession. For example, to require students to |
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| − | label critical points on the graph, we create a new label type. We must specify several things: |
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| − | <ol> |
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| − | <li>The abbreviated text that will appear on the label, for example <span style="color:#008800">"crit. |
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| − | pt."</span></li>, |
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| − | <li>The longer text that will appear on the associated button, for example <span style="color:#008800">"label |
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| − | critical points"</span></li>, |
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| − | <li>The name of the type of point, for use in sentences in the grading feedback, for example <span |
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| − | style="color:#008800">"critical point"</span></li>, |
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| − | <li>The plural of this name (which must be explicitly entered, due to irregular ways of pluralizing English |
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| − | words), for example <span style="color:#008800">"critical points"</span>, |
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| − | <li>A list of the correct points that the student should label, specified in individual <code>correctPoint</code> |
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| − | XML elements, and</li> |
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| − | <li>the error tolerance, in pixels, to allow in the placement of points.</li> |
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| − | </ol> |
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| − | All of this information is combined in one <code>labelType</code> XML element. For example, in the example |
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| − | problem, the student must label critical points, whose correct placement are at the points (0,1.6) and (3,-3.8). |
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| − | The XML which sets this up is as follows: |
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| − | <code> |
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| − | <labelType pointLabelString="crit. pt." buttonString="label critical points" name="critical point" |
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| − | plural="critical points"> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="0" y="1.6"/> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="3" y="-3.8"/> |
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| − | <pixelTolerance>12</pixelTolerance> |
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| − | </labelType> |
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| − | </code> |
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| − | Look at the full PG source code below to see how repeated XML elements in this format define several types of |
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| − | points that must be labeled in a single problem. |
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| − | <h2>Full PG source code</h2> |
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| − | Below is the full PG source code for an example problem, where the student is asked to shade the portion of a |
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| − | graph where the derivative is positive. |
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| − | <!-- include full source ---> |
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| − | <code> |
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| − | ##DESCRIPTION |
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| − | ## Integration with substitution |
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| − | ##ENDDESCRIPTION |
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| − | ##KEYWORDS('critical points', 'critical', 'extrema', 'Flash applets','NSF-0941388') |
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| − | ## DBsubject('Calculus') |
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| − | ## DBchapter('Differentiation') |
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| − | ## DBsection('Curve Sketching') |
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| − | ## Date('8/27/2011') |
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| − | ## Author('Dan Gries') |
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| − | ## Institution('Hopkins School') |
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| − | ## TitleText1('') |
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| − | ## EditionText1('2012') |
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| − | ## AuthorText1('') |
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| − | ## Section1('') |
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| − | ## Problem1('') |
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| − | ######################################################################## |
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| − | DOCUMENT(); |
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| − | loadMacros( |
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| − | "PGstandard.pl", |
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| − | "MathObjects.pl", |
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| − | "AppletObjects.pl" |
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| − | ); |
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| − | TEXT(beginproblem()); |
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| − | $showPartialCorrectAnswers = 1; |
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| − | Context("Numeric"); |
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| − | $ans = Compute("1"); |
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| − | $success = 1; |
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| − | ############# Problem configuration XML ####################### |
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| − | $configXML = qq{ |
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| − | <XML> |
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| − | <window xMin="-1.5" xMax="4.5" yMin="-4" yMax="3"/> |
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| − | <labelSpaceX>1</labelSpaceX> |
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| − | <labelSpaceY>1</labelSpaceY> |
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| − | <gridSpaceX>1</gridSpaceX> |
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| − | <gridSpaceY>1</gridSpaceY> |
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| − | <boardWidth>400</boardWidth> |
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| − | <boardHeight>300</boardHeight> |
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| − | <func>x^2</func> |
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| − | <domain xMin="-1" xMax="1"/> |
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| − | <func>(x^4-4*x^3+8)/5</func> |
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| − | <domain xMin="1" xMax="4"/> |
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| − | <labelType pointLabelString="crit. pt." buttonString="label critical points" name="critical point" |
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| − | plural="critical points"> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="0" y="1.6"/> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="3" y="-3.8"/> |
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| − | <pixelTolerance>12</pixelTolerance> |
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| − | </labelType> |
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| − | <labelType pointLabelString="local min" buttonString="label local minima" name="local minimum" plural="local |
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| − | minima"> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="3" y="-3.8"/> |
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| − | <pixelTolerance>12</pixelTolerance> |
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| − | </labelType> |
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| − | <labelType pointLabelString="local max" buttonString="label local maxima" name="local maximum" plural="local |
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| − | maxima"> |
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| − | <pixelTolerance>12</pixelTolerance> |
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| − | </labelType> |
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| − | <labelType pointLabelString="abs. max" buttonString="label absolute maximum" name="absolute maximum" |
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| − | plural="absolute maxima"> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="-1" y="2.6"/> |
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| − | <pixelTolerance>12</pixelTolerance> |
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| − | </labelType> |
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| − | <labelType pointLabelString="abs. min" buttonString="label absolute minimum" name="absolute minimum" |
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| − | plural="absolute minima"> |
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| − | <correctPoint x="3" y="-3.8"/> |
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| − | <pixelTolerance>12</pixelTolerance> |
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| − | </labelType> |
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| − | </XML> |
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| − | }; |
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| − | ############################################################### |
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| − | ################################### |
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| − | # Create link to applet |
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| − | ################################### |
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| − | $appletName = "LabelingPoints_custom10"; |
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| − | $applet = FlashApplet( |
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| − | codebase => findAppletCodebase("$appletName.swf"), |
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| − | appletName => $appletName, |
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| − | appletId => $appletName, |
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| − | setStateAlias => 'setXML', |
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| − | getStateAlias => 'getXML', |
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| − | setConfigAlias => 'setConfig', |
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| − | getConfigAlias => 'getConfig', |
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| − | #initializeActionAlias => 'setXML', |
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| − | maxInitializationAttempts => 5, # number of attempts to initialize applet |
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| − | #submitActionAlias => 'getXML', |
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| − | answerBoxAlias => 'answerBox', |
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| − | height => '460', |
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| − | width => '860', |
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| − | bgcolor => '#ffffff', |
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| − | debugMode => 0, |
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| − | submitActionScript => |
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| − | qq{getQE("answerBox").value=getApplet("$appletName").getAnswer() }, |
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| − | ); |
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| − | ################################### |
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| − | # Configure applet |
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| − | ################################### |
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| − | $applet->configuration($configXML); |
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| − | #passing empty XML for initial state: |
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| − | $applet->initialState(qq{<XML> </XML>}); |
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| − | TEXT( MODES(TeX=>'object code', HTML=>$applet->insertAll( |
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| − | debug=>0, |
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| − | includeAnswerBox=>1, |
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| − | # reinitialize_button=>$permissionLevel>=10, |
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| − | ))); |
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| − | BEGIN_TEXT |
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| − | $BR |
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| − | $BR |
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| − | Use the buttons shown to label all of the points of each type on the graph of the function shown above (for some |
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| − | types, there may be no such points). Click the 'submit answers' button below when done. |
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| − | END_TEXT |
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| − | Context()->normalStrings; |
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| − | ############################################################## |
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| − | # |
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| − | # Answers |
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| − | # |
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| − | ## answer evaluators |
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| − | NAMED_ANS('answerBox'=>$ans->cmp()); |
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| − | ENDDOCUMENT(); |
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| − | </code> |
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