QuestionGenerator

This command line tool generates random numbering system (radix) questions for quizzes or exams. The question languages supported are Finnish and English.

The questions are either simple radix conversion questions, for example:

Convert the value 107 to radix: hexadecimal. Consider the values to be signed bytes, with eight bits. Include in the answer the prefix for the radix (0x, 0b) asked, if it is not decimal, e.g. 0x2C or 0b00010110. Otherwise, use only the digits of the requested numbering system, no spaces or other punctuations!

Or simple arithmetic add operations:

What is the result of the calculation as decimal number: 32 + 0x29 Consider the values to be unsigned eight bits.

Both question types use eight bit integer values. Add questions use only positive (unsigned) eight bit values.

Generated questions with correct answers and default grading are saved into a Moodle quiz XML file. The file can then be imported to Moodle question bank.

Building

The tool depends on Swift argument parser, as can be seen from the Package.swift file.

From the terminal, build the tool:

swift build -c release

Or open the Package.swift file from Xcode.

Running

Run the tool from Xcode, first editing the Product scheme having suitable arguments the tool requires (see below).

Or run the tool from command line, with suitable argument values, e.g.:

./.build/release/QuestionGenerator test.xml 20 en --verbose

First argument is required, the rest being optional with default values:

1. The output XML file name. If the file exists, it is overwritten.
2. Number of each question type to generate. Value 20 generates 20 conversion and 20 addition questions.
3. Language of the questions, "fi" for Finnish, "en" for English.
4. --verbose flag prints progress information. If not provided the tool prints nothing when all goes OK.

Run the command with -hflag to see the instructions:

> ./.build/release/QuestionGenerator -h
OVERVIEW: A utility to generate both number conversion and basic math questions for Moodle quizzes.

USAGE: question-generator <output-file> [<number-of-questions>] [<language>] [--verbose]

ARGUMENTS:
  <output-file>           Output file name.
  <number-of-questions>   Number of questions to generate for each question type (default: 10)
  <language>              Language to generate, either fi or en. (default: fi)

OPTIONS:
  --verbose               Include extra information in the console output.
  --version               Show the version.
  -h, --help              Show help information.

Contributing

If you find any issues or places for improvement, you may either:

• Report an issue using GitHub issues for this project, or
• Fork the repository, clone it, create a branch for your fix or enhancement, push it to your fork and then create a pull request to this repository. Consider adding any suitable unit tests in the Tests folder.

License

MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Who did this

(c) Antti Juustila, 2022. All Rights Reserved. INTERACT Research Group, University of Oulu, Finland