exe
Class XMLquestionCollection

java.lang.Object
  exe.questionCollection
      exe.XMLquestionCollection

public class XMLquestionCollection
extends questionCollection

This class stores a collection of XML questions to be displayed along with GAIGS snapshots. It inherits the functionality of the original questionCollection class but is used to store questions in the new GAIGS XML format.

An XMLquestionCollection object contains a reference to the PrintWriter output stream to which it is to write question information and maintains a Vector of the questions that have been added to the collection. Using an XMLquestionCollection in a script-producing program provides a simple mechanism for managing questions and properly inserting them into the showfile.

In order to use the XML question support provided by XMLquestionCollection, a script-producing program must import the package exe. Note that an XMLquestionCollection only allows the insertion of questions of the types XMLfibQuestion, XMLmcQuestion, XMLmsQuestion, and XMLtfQuestion. Therefore, this class is intended for use with programs that produce scripts in the new GAIGS XML format.

Constructor Summary

XMLquestionCollection(java.io.PrintWriter out)
Constructs a new XMLquestionCollection by specifying the PrintWriter output stream to which this collection should write its information.

XMLquestionCollection(java.io.PrintWriter out, int numq)
Constructs a new XMLquestionCollection by specifying the PrintWriter output stream to which this collection should write its information and the maximum number of questions that can be added to this collection.

XMLquestionCollection(java.io.PrintWriter out, int numq, int nump)
Deprecated. Replaced by #XMLquestionCollection(PrintWriter, int)). Due to changes in how XMLquestionCollection handles probabilistic questioning, tne nump parameter is no longer necessary and is simply ignored.

Method Summary

boolean	addQuestion(question q) Adds a question to this XMLquestionCollection.
boolean	addQuestion(question q, boolean always) Adds a question to this XMLquestionCollection and gives the user the option to ignore the probability functions to ensure that the question will be added.
void	writeQuestionsAtEOSF() Writes out the information for each question stored in this collection in the new GAIGS XML format.

Methods inherited from class exe.questionCollection

adjustProbability, animalInsertQuestion, animalInsertQuestion, animalWriteQuestionsAtEOSF, incPos, insertQuestion, insertQuestion

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

XMLquestionCollection

public XMLquestionCollection(java.io.PrintWriter out)

Constructs a new XMLquestionCollection by specifying the PrintWriter output stream to which this collection should write its information.

This constructor creates an XMLquestionCollection that does not use any of the new probability functions. Therefore, this constructor can be used by script-producing programs that use different methods to determine when questions should be added to the showfile.

Parameters:

out - Indicates the PrintWriter output stream to which this XMLquestionCollection should write its information.

XMLquestionCollection

public XMLquestionCollection(java.io.PrintWriter out,
                             int numq)

Constructs a new XMLquestionCollection by specifying the PrintWriter output stream to which this collection should write its information and the maximum number of questions that can be added to this collection.

Invoking this constructor creates an XMLquestionCollection that uses the value passed to numq to determine the probability actually asking a question when addQuestion is called.

Parameters:

out - Specifies the PrintWriter output stream to which this XMLquestionCollection should write its information.

numq - Indicates the maximum number of questions that can be added to this XMLquestionCollection. This value is used to determine the probability of actually asking thisquestion.

XMLquestionCollection

public XMLquestionCollection(java.io.PrintWriter out,
                             int numq,
                             int nump)

Deprecated. Replaced by #XMLquestionCollection(PrintWriter, int)). Due to changes in how XMLquestionCollection handles probabilistic questioning, tne nump parameter is no longer necessary and is simply ignored.

Constructs a new XMLquestionCollection by specifying the PrintWriter output stream to which this collection should write its information, the maximum number of questions that can be added to this collection, and the number of possibilities to add questions to this collection.

Calling this constructor creates an XMLquestionCollection that uses the value passed to numq to determine the probability of adding a question when addQuestion is called and uses the value passed to nump to evenly distribute the questions throughout the showfile's snapshots.

Parameters:

out - Indicates the PrintWriter output stream to which this XMLquestionCollection should write its information.

numq - Indicates the maximum number of questions that can be added to this XMLquestionCollection. This value is used to determine the probability of actually asking thisquestion.

nump - Specifies the number of opportunities to add a question to this XMLquestionCollection. This number is used to evenly distribute questions throughout the showfile. NO LONGER RELEVANT & NOW IGNORED

Method Detail

addQuestion

public boolean addQuestion(question q)

Adds a question to this XMLquestionCollection.

Overrides:

addQuestion in class questionCollection

Parameters:

q - Indicates the question that should be added to this collection. Note that only XMLfibQuestion, XMLmcQuestion, XMLmsQuestion, and XMLtfQuestion objects can be added to an XMLquestionCollection; any other type of object will never be added to this collection.

Returns:

Gives a value of true if the specified question was added to this collection; otherwise, false is returned.

addQuestion

public boolean addQuestion(question q,
                           boolean always)

Adds a question to this XMLquestionCollection and gives the user the option to ignore the probability functions to ensure that the question will be added.

Overrides:

addQuestion in class questionCollection

Parameters:

q - Indicates the question that should be added to this collection. Note that only XMLfibQuestion, XMLmcQuestion, XMLmsQuestion, and XMLtfQuestion objects can be added to an XMLquestionCollection; any other type of object will never be added to this collection.

always - Specifies if the probability functions should be used to determine whether the question is added or ignored. A value of true bypasses the probability functions and causes the question to be added as long as the maximum number of questions has not already been reached. A value of false makes this method function identically to addQuestion(question).

Returns:

Yields a value of true if the given question was added to this collection; otherwise returns false.

writeQuestionsAtEOSF

public void writeQuestionsAtEOSF()

Writes out the information for each question stored in this collection in the new GAIGS XML format. All that must be done after calling this method is to print the tag to the output stream and call its close() method to finish producing the showfile. Printing the questions to the end of the showfile with this method allows the questions to be properly inserted into the animation at the snapshots in which their references appear.

If no limit on the number of questions asked has been set, all questions in the collection are written out. If a limit has been set, first all questions marked as must be asked are written out (but not more than the limit). Then other questions are written out probablistically, up to the limit (for both types of questions). This ensures that exactly the limit number of questions will be asked, as long, of course, that there are at least that many questions in the collection.

Overrides:

writeQuestionsAtEOSF in class questionCollection