Easy-To-Make Errors

in Question Files

I have listed some errors below that are easy to make, but frustrating to figure out. I know, because I made them and got frustrated trying to figure them out - and I wrote the applet!

Problem:

I get an error message that says something like "Text font expected at Courier" or "Text style expected at BOLD". These are valid values! What's going on?

Solution:

It is easy to forget that a format string has the form {$type=value text} where there must be one-or-more spaces between "value" and "text" (in order for the applet to separate them). Especially in nested formats, like:

{$FONT=Courier{STYLE=BOLD stuff to print}}

you can forget this. The previous line would generate an error, since there is no space between "Courier" and "{". It needs to be written as:

{$FONT=Courier {STYLE=BOLD stuff to print}}

Problem:

I get an error message telling me that my multiple-choice question doesn't have enough answer choices - but there are choices A-E in the file! Or, some of the choice buttons are disabled, but the choices that correspond to them are displayed just fine.

Solution:

Look at the start of the answer choice carefully. Acceptable formats are "A. " through "E. " or "A: " through "E: ". Notice that there is a space between the "." or ":" and the first letter of the answer choice. Also, I once had a problem where I had inadvertently put "E ." (space between "E" and ".") and the answer choice was displayed but not recognized as an independent choice, and the "E" button was disabled.

last update Aug 1, 1998 by JL Stanbrough (jstanbro@venus.net)