Exam Engine, a Data-Driven Exam Application, Integrates ComponentOne Zip for .NET and ComponentOne Spell for .NET
Exam Engine, created by Platte Canyon Multimedia Software Corporation, enables users to easily create database-driven SCORM-conformant exams without any programming in ASP.NET. Users can easily pull questions randomly by objective, email results to a manager, easily update questions and objectives, plus much more.

The problems organizations face are to train their employees, and test them to determine if they have sufficient knowledge to do their job effectively. Testing often involves certification of the employee in areas such as safety standards. Traditional solutions to this problem include using a dedicated training authoring tool to create each question individually, which requires the “question writer” to be trained in the specific tool. This task can be quite time-consuming. Reusing questions across functional lines, as well as creating randomized exams, is often extremely difficult for these traditional solutions.

The challenge for Platte Canyon was to cost-effectively create, deliver, and maintain dynamic online exams that are database-driven and randomized, while still being able to communicate with Learning Management Systems using the SCORM standard. With Exam Engine, they approached this problem in a different way by utilizing the power of ASP.NET, ComponentOne Zip for .NET, and ComponentOne Spell for .NET controls in its configuration and question editors. The configuration editor uses the ComponentOne Zip control in order to create a SCORM package file, which is a zipped version of the entire virtual directory along with its XML manifest. The Question Editor uses a dedicated editor, which incorporates ComponentOne Spell, enabling users to put questions and objectives directly into a database while incorporating thesaurus and spelling capabilities to allow users to spell-check their questions and look up alternative words. A virtual “exam” directory then reads this database and generates random exams with the desired number of questions per objectives.

“The use of these controls allowed us to add extra functionality and get our product to the marketplace more quickly. The ComponentOne Zip control was very helpful in zipping the manifest and other files, and the ComponentOne Spell control was an excellent enhancement for our Question Editor,” said Jeff Rhodes, Chief Technical Officer at Platte Canyon.

This innovative solution is the first database-driven exam product to create virtual ASP.NET (Web Forms) projects with questions and objectives to be entered and edited by non-programmer subject matter experts. Exam Engine greatly reduces the time and cost to create exams, stores hundreds or even thousands of questions, and makes it much easier for organizations to keep their questions maintained. It has been a commercial product since late 2003, and in the year 2004 it’s already an industry leader.

About Platte Canyon
Platte Canyon’s motto is "Improving the Lives of Training Developers." Their popular Tracker.Net™ is used around the world to manage SCORM-compliant courses while Exam Engine™ allows subject matter experts to create randomized, data-driven, SCORM-compliant exams with no programming. For the developer, Platte Canyon has controls such as Question and Web Player for .NET and add-ons such as Plug-In Pro and TBK Tracker for ToolBook. They also host the annual ToolBook & VBTrain.Net User's Conference.