[An Andrew ToolKit view (a drawing) was included here, but could not be displayed.] NEOS on Athena Student Guide Dorothy L. Bowe 3 September 1991 Version 2 Copyright c 1991 Massachusetts Institute of Technology .bp 0 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright c 1990, 1991 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of MIT not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. MIT makes no representations about the suitability or merchantability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. TRADEMARK NOTICES Project Athena, Athena, Athena Dashboard, Athena MUSE, Discuss, Hesiod, Kerberos, Moira, X Window System, and Zephyr are trademarks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). No commercial use of these trademarks may be made without prior written permission of MIT. REVISION HISTORY Version 2 (3 Sep 91, Dorothy L. Bowe): Revised draft for Athena 7.3; Kevin Cunningham converted document to EZ format. Version 1 (Dorothy L. Bowe): Original draft. .bp 1 .rm CT .ds LB Athena: September 1991 .ds CB % .ds RB NEOS on Athena (Student Guide) Introduction What is NEOS? The Networked Education Online System (NEOS) is a set of programs for classroom oriented file exchange. NEOS is intended to mimic operations normally performed with paper in and out of class. There are files which represent assignments handed in, annotated assignments handed back, and handouts produced by the teacher for reference. Finally, there are files submitted for exchange, as one might trade papers for peer review. There are two interfaces to NEOS: one command-line oriented and one based on the Andrew toolkit using the Andrew EZ editor. Both versions use the same underlying software and perform the exact same function, so choosing between them can be a matter of preference, or can depend on the type of "document" a user will turn in. NEOS consists of programs for students to run, and other programs for graders to run: ----------------------------------------------------------- Command Function ----------------------------------------------------------- Students: eos an editor with full multi-media functionality for turning in, picking up, and exchanging papers turnin a command line interface for turning in assignments pickup a command line interface for picking up annotated assignments ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Command Function ----------------------------------------------------------- Graders: grade an editor with the full multi-media fuctionality for grading and annotating in a window environment collect a command line interface for collecting assignments turnin a command line interface for submitting handouts return a command line interface for returning assignments uncollect a command line interface for uncollecting assignments you did not mean to take for grading fxpurge a command line interface for removing assignments from the NEOS server which are no longer needed. ----------------------------------------------------------- Before You Begin The programs eos and grade are window applications built upon the Andrew toolkit. Before you attempt to use these programs, you should read the document Essential EZ on Athena, available from MIT Graphic Arts Copy Centers, W20-028 and 11-004. Command Line and Windowing Environments NEOS allows you the flexibility of working in either a windowing environment or on the command line. The window applications are built upon the Andrew toolkit and offer all of the multi-media capabilities of EZ, a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. For more information on EZ see Essential EZ on Athena. Configuring to Use NEOS Only courses which have made arrangements with Athena will be able to use the NEOS applications. Faculty members interested in using these programs for their classes should contact the Faculty Liaison Office at x3-0115 or send mail to f_l@athena. Setting the Path As of Athena Release 7.2 (January, 1991), all of the NEOS programs are available to you without attaching any lockers. If you used the command line versions, turnin and pickup, in the past, you no longer need to add /mit/eos/vaxbin or /mit/eos/rtbin to your path, and you should remove any references to these directories in your startup files. Selecting a Course In order to use the NEOS applications, you must specify the course number for which you are handing in assignments. If you will always be working in same course, you can set the environment variable COURSE by adding the following line to your ~/.environment file in your home directory: setenv COURSE course-number where course-number is the number assigned to your course and recitation section; get this number from your TA. If you prefer, or if you are taking more than one course using NEOS, you can also specify a course number on the command line using the -course option (-course can be abbreviated -c) of eos, turnin, and pickup: athena% eos -course 21.007 or athena% turnin -c 21.007 eos allows you to change the course after starting the program by selecting the Change Course option on the first pop up menu card. (For more information on using menu cards, see the Essential EZ On Athena document.) If you have not set the course by one of these three means and try to hand in a paper, pickup handouts, or exchange papers, eos will prompt you for the course number. Using the Window Version of NEOS Using the ez features of eos The program eos offers the full editing capabilities of the ez editor. Many of the editing functions can be found on the menu cards which pop up when you press the middle mouse button in the eos window. For more information on the editing capabilities of eos and ez, see the Essential EZ On Athena document. Starting eos To start eos, move the cursor into an xterm window and type the following to your athena% prompt: athena% eos filename where filename is the name of the file you wish to edit. Like other Andrew programs, eos creates its own window when started, with the contents of the file filename displayed. If you specify more than one filename, each will be started in a separate buffer. (For more information on buffers see the ez help on ez-buffers.) If no filename is given, eos will start with an empty window, waiting for further commands. At the top of the window are six buttons: Pick Up, Turn In, Handouts, Exchange, Guide, and Help. To select one of these functions, move the cursor into the appropriate button and click with the left mouse button. (See Figure 1) [An Andrew ToolKit view (a raster image) was included here, but could not be displayed.]Figure 1: Main Eos Window The buttons have the following meanings: ------------------------------------------------------ Button Function ------------------------------------------------------ Pick Up Pick up any assignments which have been graded by your instructor. Turn In Turn in an assignment for grading. Handouts Get class handouts. Exchange Exchange papers with others in the course. Guide View the On Line Style Guide. * Help Start up the Andrew help browser. ------------------------------------------------------ * This feature was written for a specific class; unless your faculty member has instructed you to use it, it is probably not applicable. Turning in a Paper To turn in a paper, start eos and select the Turn In button. If eos does not know which course you are using (see section 2.2), it will ask you in a dialog box to type the course number. A new window will then be created, entitled "Turn In". (See Figure 2) The course you are using is shown after the title. [An Andrew ToolKit view (a raster image) was included here, but could not be displayed.]Figure 2: Turn In Window The new window is split into several areas. Below the title is a switch that allows you to specify whether you want turn in either the contents of the buffer or a file. By clicking anywhere in the area of the switch you can toggle which source should be used for turnin. Below the switch are two text areas, where the details of the paper should be filled in. In the case of turning in a file which already exists, the filename should be entered in the first text area. When turning in the edit buffer contents, enter an appropriate name - something that represents the contents of the paper. There is also a place to enter the assignment number. If you do not specify an assignment number, eos will not allow you to turn in a paper. You should find out from your TA what number to use for a given assignment. After entering all necessary information, select the OK button to turn in the assignment or the CANCEL button to abort the turn in operation. If any errors occur during the turn in, a dialog box will appear informing you of what went wrong. You must select the CONTINUE button in the dialog window to acknowledge the error. Picking Up a Graded Paper To pick up a paper which has been graded, cd to a directory where you can save the returned paper and start eos. This can be (but does not have to be) the same directory that contains the original version of you paper. eos will create a unique name for the returned version when it places it into your directory. If you try to pick up a paper and do not have write permission in the current directory you will get the following error message: Permission denied while receiving filename. Pick Up aborted. When the window has appeared, select the Pick Up button at the top of the window. If eos does not know which course you are using (see section 2.2), it will ask you in a dialog box to type the course number. A new window will then be created, entitled "Pick Up". (See Figure 3) The course you are using is shown after the title. [An Andrew ToolKit view (a raster image) was included here, but could not be displayed.]Figure 3: Pickup Window Then eos will check to see if you have any assignments waiting to be collected. If not, the following message will be displayed: Reading course... No assignments have been returned. Press CONTINUE to close window. Clicking on the CONTINUE button in that window will remove the "Pick Up" window. If there are assignments available, eos will display a message informing you how many there are and begin collecting them. As each assignment is picked up, its name will be displayed in the Pick Up window. The files will be saved into the current directory and a copy placed into the main edit window for you to view and/or edit. If you pick up more than one paper, each will be saved into separate buffers, similar to emacs buffers. (For more information on buffers, see ez-buffers in the Andrew help.) If you pick up an assignment that has the same name as a file which already exists in the current directory, eos will create a unique name for the new assignment. For example, if you pick up the assignment assign1.c, eos will create a file with a name resembling assign1_1.c. When all the assignments have been collected, a message will be displayed in the Pick Up window informing you the operation has finished. Clicking on the CONTINUE button at that point will remove the Pick Up window. Your graded paper may contain annotations which appear as icons resembling a notebook page. (See Figure 4) [An Andrew ToolKit view (a raster image) was included here, but could not be displayed.]Figure 4: Edit Window with Annotation To view the comments, click the left mouse button on the icon and it will expand, revealing the text inside. To close the window, click the left mouse button on the top border of the annotation window and it will return to icon form. Alternatively, you can select the menu option Open Notes on the Page menu card to open all the annotations in the buffer and Close Notes to close them all. (If you press the middle mouse button and do not get the full set of popup menus, click the left mouse button anywhere in the eos window and try to pop up the menus again.) Handouts To pick up course handouts, first make sure that you start eos from a directory in which you can save files. After you select the Handouts button, a new window entitled "Handouts" will be created, (See Figure 5) containing a list of all the handouts available for the course. [An Andrew ToolKit view (a raster image) was included here, but could not be displayed.]Figure 5: Handout Window On the side of the window are three buttons: EDIT, KEEP, and HIDE. The EDIT and KEEP buttons operate on specific handouts; you must select which handouts you are referring to before clicking on one of the buttons. To select one handout, move the cursor to the text which describes it and click with the left mouse button. The text for that handout will then be displayed in bold, indicating it has been selected. To select more than one handout, click with the right mouse button on each. If you do select more than one handout, each will be displayed in a separate ez buffer; see the Andrew help file on ez-buffers for more information. Here is what the buttons do: ------------------------------------------------------------ Button Purpose ------------------------------------------------------------ EDIT A copy of the handout will be saved into the current directory, its name altered if necessary, to ensure it does not overwrite any existing files and then the file is placed into the main editing window, for you to edit. KEEP A copy of the selected handout is saved into the current directory. The handout is given a name to ensure it will not overwrite any files currently existing in the directory, while still preserving any filename extensions, e.g. the .c extension. The name given to the handout will be displayed at the bottom of the handouts window. HIDE This will close the handouts window. ------------------------------------------------------------ To print handouts directly from the handouts window, select the Print selected paper(s) menu option on the menu card. This operates on however many handouts you have selected, sending each to the printer. The printer name is taken from the environment variable PRINTER, or can be set using the Set Printer option on the menu card. Exchanging Papers To exchange papers with other classmates, select the Exchange button at the top of the eos window. A new window entitled "Exchange" will appear, with the course number shown after the title. (See Figure 6) All papers shown in this window are available for reading by anyone in the class. [An Andrew ToolKit view (a raster image) was included here, but could not be displayed.]Figure 6: Exchange Window This window has the same format as the Handouts window, with the addition of a SUBMIT button which allows you to submit a file for public viewing. Selecting this button will result in eos first asking you what you wish to submit, either an existing file or the contents of the current edit buffer. If you choose to turn in a file, you will immediately be prompted for the name of the file you are submitting. Then eos will then try to submit the paper. Once a paper has been submitted, you can use the Update List function, found on the first pop up menu card to see it in the list. When viewing exchange papers, there is another option added to the menu card: Remove selected papers(s). You can use this to delete papers which you have submitted. If you try to delete papers which are not owned by you, you will be informed that you are not the owner and the paper will not be removed. Help Selecting the Help button will cause the Andrew Help browser to appear, initially displaying the help pages on eos. To make this window disappear, select the Quit option on the first menu card. Using the Command Line version - turnin and pickup Using turnin for Assignments The turnin command can be used to turn in assignments or papers for exchange. The format of the command is: athena% turnin [options] [assignment number] file [...] The notation, [...] means that you can turn in more than one file for a particular assignment - but they will all have the same assignment number! For example, the following command turns in both test.c and main.c as assignment 5: athena% turnin -course 1.00 5 test.c main.c To set the course number for turnin, you can use the COURSE environment variable or the -course option. For example, to turn in the paper essay.tex to course 21.780 you could do either of the following: athena% setenv COURSE 21.780 athena% turnin essay.tex or athena% turnin -course 21.780 essay.tex To specify the assignment number add it to the command line after all options but before the filename: athena% turnin -course 21.780 5 essay.tex This hands in essay.tex for assignment 5 of course 21.780. Note: If you forget to specify an assignment number, the default will be assignment 1. You will see a warning message specifying this. Using Pickup The pickup command allows you to retrieve assignments which have been graded. Like turnin, pickup recognizes either the COURSE environment variable or the -course command line option. The format of this command is athena% pickup [options] [+n] [-n] [assignment number] [filename...] For example, to pickup graded files for assignment 3 for course 1.00, you could use the following command: athena% pickup -course 1.00 3 To list the papers which are available for pickup without actually retrieving them, use the -list option: athena% pickup -list 4 This lists all the papers graded for assignment 4 in the course determined by the COURSE environment variable. Any option which does not begin with a hyphen or a digit is a filename, so you should use file names which do not begin with a digit. If no filenames are specified on the command line, all files will be retrieved. Using the +n and -n options, you may specify a range of dates on the papers you wish to pickup. For more information on these and other command line options, type man pickup at the athena% prompt. Using Pickup For Handouts You can also retrieve course handouts using the pickup command by specifying the -handout option. For example, to pick up the handouts for course 1.12, you could use the following command: athena% pickup -handout -course 1.12 which will place copies of all the available handouts into the current directory. The list option can be used in conjunction with the -handout option to list available handouts. Where to Go for Help Man pages are available for all the NEOS applications described in this document. To access the man pages type the following commands at the athena% prompt: man turnin (or eos, etc.) When all else fails, help is available from the Faculty Liaison Office at x3-0115 or send mail to f_l@athena.