EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -
Number of replies: 76

Based on GIFT_Maker VERSION 2 by Timothy Takemoto, which Tim based on an idea by Olga Forlani elucidated by A.T Wyatt. Here is my contribution, which I call the " EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT ".

This is my BETA version, so please let me know if you find any bugs, or have any comments.

Here's how it works:

QUESTIONS - You can enter True/False questions, Multiple-Choice Single Answer question, Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer, and Short Answer question, all on the same worksheet. You can enter up to 100 questions total at a time (any combination). It will automatically determine the question type during export. Here's how the logic works:

-If the Question field is blank, it skips to the next question.

-If only one answer was filled in, then it must be a True/False question.

-Next, if two or more answers were filled in, then it's either a Multiple-Choice or a Short Answer question.

-Next, if only one grade is positive from the filled in answers, then it must be a Multiple-Choice Single Answer question.

-Next, if more than one grade (but not all the grades) is positive from the filled in answers, then it must be a Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer question.

-Next, if all the grades are positive from the filled in answers, then it must be a Short Answer question.

ANSWERS - You can enter any number of answers (up to maximum of 10) for each individual question. Each question can have a different number of answers. Simply fill in the answer fields you want to use, and leave the other answer fields blank. For True/False type questions, simply enter a T or a t or an F an f in the Answer1 field, and your done. Fill in at least two answer fields for all other question types. (NOTE: You must fill in the answer fields sequentially. The program will assume you stopped entering answers for an individual question, when it comes across the first empty answer field.)

GRADES - You can choose the grade for each individual answer, from a drop-down list. It will change color, based on the grade you pick: RED for negative grades, BLACK for zero grades, BLUE for positive grades, and GREEN for +100% grades.

-You can easily change and re-arrange the grades in the drop-down list, and put the ones you use most commonly, at the top of the list. Simply scroll-right on the worksheet, and you will see the list along the top by column AI.

-There is one option, specifically for Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer questions only. If selected, it will set all the zero grades and the negative grades to -100% during export. (NOTE: The functionality of this question type, allows the student to select ALL answers listed, regardless of how many you want them to pick. Although the question type functions as it should (meaning this issue is not a bug), this provides one possible "workaround" for those of us that consider it to be a problem.)

FEEDBACK - You can enter individual feedback for each answer, or you can leave the feedback field blank. You can enter whatever you want in the feedback field, or choose from a drop-down list. You can easily change and re-arrange the feedbacks in the drop-down list, and put the ones you use most commonly, at the top of the list. Simply scroll-right on the worksheet, and you will see the list along the top by column AD. (NOTE: For True/False type questions, you can enter feedback for the correct answer in the Feedback1 field, and feedback for the incorrect answer in the Feedback2 field.)

-You have the option to insert GENERIC (column specific) feedback, at the beginning of each individual feedback field. You can have it inserted (a) only in individual feedback fields that were left blank, or (b) only in individual feedback fields that were filled-in (non-blank), or (c) both (a) and (b), or (d) not inserted at all. There are 10 different Generic feedbacks, which you can easily change. GenericFeedback1 will be inserted in front of all the Feedback1 fields, and GenericFeedback2 will be inserted in front of all the Feedback2 fields, etc.

-You also have the option to insert GRADE specifc feedback, at the beginning of each individual feedback field. You can have it inserted (a) only in individual feedback fields that were left blank, or (b) only in individual feedback fields that were filled-in (non-blank), or (c) both (a) and (b), or (d) not inserted at all. There are 4 different Grade feedbacks,  which you can easily change. One for negative grades, one for grades equal to zero, one for positive grades, and one for grades equal to +100%.

QUESTION NAME - You can fill the Question Name in manually, or leave it blank. If you leave it blank, it will automatically get filled in with the QUESTION field.

-You have the option of inserting Special Text at the beginning of the Question Name, based on the question type. You can have it inserted (a) only in Question Name fields that were left blank, or (b) only in Question Name fields that were filled-in (non-blank), or (c) both (a) and (b), or (d) not inserted at all. You can easily change this Special Text to anything you want. (NOTE: The main reason for this feature, is to be able to distinguish between Single Answer and Multiple Answer Multiple-Choice question, within Moodle. Without special-text on the front of the Question Name, you cannot differentiate the Multiple Choice questions, without going in to edit them individually.)

HTML - When entering Questions, Answers or Feedbacks, you can choose to BOLD any characters you want. HTML tags will be added on either side of the bolded characters. The default is <strong> and </strong>, which will cause those characters to be bolded within Moodle. You  can easily change these tags to any valid combination of HTML tags you want (like color or italics).

-NOTE: You MUST always use the BOLD from the Excel toolbar or right-mouse-click. Any other formating will be ignored.

-It will only add the HTML tags to the QUESTION, the ANSWER, and the FEEDBACK fields. It will ignore BOLDing in the QUESTION NAME and the GRADE fields.

BUTTON - SHEET PROTECTED or PROTECT SHEET - This button by default should say SHEET PROTECTED, meaning some cells are protected and can't be changed. Click it once to UNprotect the sheet, and it should now say PROTECT SHEET. Click it once again to Protect the worksheet.

BUTTON - HIDE/UNHIDE QUESTION NAME COLUMN - If you are leaving all the Question Name fields blank, so they will automatically get filled in with the Question field, then you can click once to Hide the column so you have more room on your screen. Click the button again if you want to UNhide the column.

BUTTON - FREEZE PANES or PANES FROZEN - Click once on the FREEZE PANES button, and the button should now read PANES FROZEN. This will set the screen up so your Question fields don't scroll off the screen when you scroll to the right. Click once again on the button, and it will return to normal.

BUTTON - CLEAR - This will clear ALL the fields on the spreadsheet, and reset all the grades to zero. If you click it accidentally, don't panic because it will ask you 'Are you sure?' before it changes anything.

BUTTON - EXPORT TO GIFT - This will export your spreadsheet into a text file, in the GIFT format. It checks the different question types for some errors, and then it will ask you for a filename and location. When it's done it will give you a brief summary, something like this:

    1-TF 2-MA 4-MC 6-SA   - This says Question#1 is a True/False, Question#2 is a multiple-choice Multiple Answer, Question#4 is a Multiple-Choice single answer, and Question#6 is a Short Answer. Questions #3 and #5 were skipped because their Question field was blank.

    Total of 1 True/False question was exported, Total of 1 Multiple-Choice (Single Answer) question was exported, Total of 1 Multiple-Choice Multiple Answer question was exported, Total of 1 Short Answer question was exported.

    Actual Questions exported: 4 - Total number of questions that were exported.

    Blank Questions skipped: 2 - Total number of questions that were skipped because their Question field was blank.

    Last Question# 6 - This is the last question number in the spreadsheet that had the Question field filled in.

This is my BETA version, so please let me know if you find any bugs, or have any comments.

Average of ratings: Useful (2)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Bill White -
Jeff,

Thanks for the hard work. This is just what I wanted as I am preparing quizzes for my classes now. Though I have already done half of them, I will test this out and let you know how it went.

Cheers,
Bill
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In reply to Bill White

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Bill White -
Jeff,

I did a quick test and it seemed to do what you want it to. Still need to do more but just a quick FYI:
When importing Short Answer Questions you need to set the "Match Grade" field to: Nearest grade if not listed

Will next try importing multiple types of questions at one time. I have only done MC, TF and SA questions individually.

Cheers,
Bill
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In reply to Bill White

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Deleted user -

Bill,

What happened when you had the "Match Grade" field to: Error if grade not listed? I assume you got an error! Can you send me the questions and grades you used for that Short Answer test? GIFT format is fine, or Excel would be better.

If you got an error with the Short Answer, then theoretically you should get the same error for the other question types (assuming you use the same grade that caused the error).

The default list of grades I included in the spreadsheet, SHOULD be the same as the choices in Moodle. I could have made an error when entering them, or perhaps the ones in Moodle are "rounded up or down", so it doesn't see it as a match!! I never actually tested all the variations of the grades, and I can't remember whether I tested it with the Match Grade field set to "Error" or to "Nearest" (I know I only tested one of them, and not the other)... so I guess that's what a beta version is for!!!

We actually only use True/False & Multiple-Choice. We have never used a Short Answer type, but it wasn't that difficult to incorporate since the format is almost identical to Muliple-Choice. I added a few other "options" as well, which I hope make sense. Some of them we don't actually use, like Generic feedback, but I added it because it lined up with how Tim's GIFT_Maker V2 was doing it.

Keep me informed!

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Bill White -
Jeff,
When I upload the .gft file the error I get is:

"Grades do not match grade options - question skipped"

and then the questions are not added to the database.

I tried to attach the work sheet but it exceded the 100kb limit.

If you send me an email address to send it to I will. Check my profile for my email address.

Bill
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In reply to Bill White

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Deleted user -

Bill

Got the file, and the very first thing that I noticed, is that you changed the default grades from 90% to 99% and 5% to 1%.

With Match Fields set to "Error if grade not listed", you will get an error on import, since 99% and 1% are NOT part of the Moodle standard list (they are not listed as a choice within Moodle).

With Match Fields set to "Match nearest if grade not listed", it will round the 99% probably to 100% (or maybe 90%), and the 1% probably to 0% (or maybe 5%). If you go into Moodle, and edit the imported questions, you will be able to see that it changed the grades.

If you change these grades back to anything that is part of the standard list, then they should import fine.

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Bill White -
Jeff,

You are right. I reset everything back to the default and then recreated a simple quiz and all works OK. Thanks.
I now plan to try to use this and create a quiz of mixed style questions.

Now what happens if the students give a wrong answer but it happens to be the answer that you set to partial credit. Will they get say 5% for their answer even though it is wrong? Yes I know I can put in gibberish but if say by chance they put in the same gibberish they could get partial credit.

Just kind of curious on this point.

Bill
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In reply to Bill White

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Deleted user -
Yes, they will get partial credit for any answer they give that has a grade set to greater than zero. So, for example, if the total points the student can score on the question is 1 (the default), and they choose an answer that was set to 5%, then they would receive 5% of 1 point, or .05 points.

I assume your talking about Short Answer type questions, and basically you only want ONE answer that is correct, and no other answers at all. YOU FOUND A BUG!!! Because I don't use Short Answer type questions, I didn't realize that Short Answer questions can only have one answer (I thought they needed at least two)!!

I'm going away tomorrow for a week, so I won' get around to looking at it, at least until I get back.

My program originally assumed that if you only entered ONE answer, then it must be a True/False type question. I will now have to rethink that logic. I'll probably do something like this:

If there is only one answer, and that answer is either "T" or "F" or "t" or "f", then it must be True/False.
But if there is only one answer, and that answer is NOT either "T" or "F" or "t" or "f", then it must be a Short Answer.

Would that work for you?

The only drawback I can think of, is that you cannot have a Short Answer question with one asnwer where the answer is either "T" or "F" or "t" or "f".

Let me know what you think.
Thanks


Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT,

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
There is a bit of "give" in the detection of grades to allow for rounding errors etc.. The list in the help for that option gives the exact values - the ones that are checked for. They have to match *exactly*.
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Dawn Totzke -
Your tool does weird things on my mac computer.

I am trying to find an easy way to collect and prepare cloze questions to upload into Moodle.

I have in the past, with short answer questions, been able to do all my collecting, editing, arranging, in Excel then add in question names, save as .txt and upload.

Can someone help me tweek this file so that I can do the same with cloze questions?

FYI: I'm a user not a programmer - is there a different place that I should be searching for answers or posting changes I'd like to see as an course creator?
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In reply to Dawn Totzke

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

Dawn,

I wrote the Excel2GIFT macros in Excel 2003 on a Windows XP machine, and am unfamilar with compatibility issues for the Mac, so I unfortunately can't help you with that.

As far as Cloze question types go, I have never used them (nor do I plan to), and don't know anything about formatting them in a text file, so unfortunately (again) I can't help you with that... sorry.

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Brian Turner -

I was excited to use this tool with Office 2011 on the Mac as it marked the return of the Visual Basic to Mac.  The word Export to GIFt tool from New Zealand works beautifully.  When I go to Export, the Excel to Gift exporter  kicks back a runtime  error:

 

The debug window looks like:

debug dialog

I have no VB pogramming skills.  Any thoughts on how to remedy this would be most appreciated.

Many thanks,

Brian Turner

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In reply to Brian Turner

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT - MAC Office 2011

by Brian Turner -

I've played around with this a little bit to get it to work with Mac Office 2011. It's a little cludgy.  Currently you need to change the export type to a UDF-16 (UDF-8 is not an option), and to get it to work, I had to suppress the error warnings on overwriting a file.  Anyone else with VB skills on a mac, is welcome to give this a shot.

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In reply to Brian Turner

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT - MAC Office 2011

by Yulia I -

Why bother with VBA. Try online converter here.

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In reply to Yulia I

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT - MAC Office 2011

by Brian Turner -

I would much prefer not to mess with VBA, but this version from excel:

http://moodle.org/mod/glossary/view.php?id=2741&mode=entry&hook=8061

Allows for the category to be specified, the questions to be named, the number of points for the question specified, the penalty delineated. In short, it means that you don't have to go and edit the questions once they are loaded into Moodle.  Unfortunately the VBA scripts don't work on a Mac.

Your online converter works fine and is a lovely tool, but does not allow this advanced functionality.

 

Regards,

 

Brian

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In reply to Brian Turner

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT - MAC Office 2011

by Yulia I -

could you, please,  specify what functionality is missing in converter?

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In reply to Dawn Totzke

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Joseph Rézeau -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators
Dawn > Can someone help me tweek this file so that I can do the same with cloze questions?

Due to the special nature of cloze questions (which are really a collection of sub-questions), it is quite impossible to create them as GIFT format.sad

Joseph

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In reply to Joseph Rézeau

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Bill White -
Joseph-Due to the special nature of cloze questions (which are really a collection of sub-questions), it is quite impossible to create them as GIFT format.sad

But this is what Jeff's Excel2GIFT tool does. More or less quite well I might add

Bill
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In reply to Bill White

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
????

I haven't looked at the tool but unless it includes a magic wand, GIFT format does not have support for Cloze questions.
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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Bill White -
Then what format is it using? When I import the file I choose GIFT and it works.

So now I am confused??????? sad

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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

Howard wrote "I haven't looked at the tool but unless it includes a magic wand..."

Definitely no magic wands!!!

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In reply to Bill White

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

Bill wrote "But this is what Jeff's Excel2GIFT tool does. More or less quite well I might add."

I actually don't know anything about Cloze type questions since I've never used them, so I'm pretty sure my tool does NOT export this question type. You must be confusing the Cloze type with Multiple-Choice or Short Answer type. But I'm glad that it's working "quite well" for you... thanks!!

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by A. T. Wyatt -
Greetings, Jeff!
I am giving this a shot to make 3 tests this evening! Thank you for creating this tool. It is FAR more sophisticated than the one I made so long ago! smile

I have a request. I find that I wanted to shrink down all the columns quite a lot so I don't have to do so much scrolling when creating the questions. But the buttons need a pretty wide column C. How can I line them up vertically? I couldn't figure out how to move them, even though the sheet was unprotected. (I am using Windows Office 2007, if that makes a difference) Or, even better, what if all the instructions were on a different tab? Then, after a person was familiar with using the tool, the screen would be available for the work at hand, not the instructions.

I am going to try to do this myself, but that would be my feedback for making your tool even better!

Thank you again!
atw


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In reply to A. T. Wyatt

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

A.T.Wyatt wrote "How can I line them up (the buttons) vertically?"

MOVING and DELETING the BUTTONS  -  Assigning SHORTCUT keys

With the sheet unprotected, you should be able to RIGHT-CLICK on the button once, and you should see the little hash marks appear around the button (see attached screen shot).

Once those little hash marks appear, you need to LEFT-CLICK on the hash marks once, and then the little "move me" arrows will appear. You can then click-and-hold the left button, and put it anywhere you want. 

You can also hit DELETE when it has the hash marks around it, and remove the button completely (but it will gone forever)! "Why would I want to delete the button" you might ask? Because, you can also access all the button macros through the file menu along the top... In Excel 2003, you would click TOOLS then MACRO then MACROS. You can then choose the macro you want (say ExportGift), and then click RUN. This way, if your buttons disappeared, because you changed the size of a column (or you deleted it), you can still run the functions.

Also, you can assign a keyboard-shortcut (a combination of key presses) to the macro if you prefer. In Excel 2003, click TOOLS then MACRO then MACROS, and then choose the macro you want to assign the shortcut to (say ExportGift), and then click OPTIONS. You should see an option that says SHORTCUT KEY and then it will say CTRL+ and have an empty box (see screen shot). I like to assign the letter 'q' because CTRL+q doesn't seem to do anything else useful in Excel, but you can put whatever letter you want in the box. Now when you hold down the CTRL button and press 'q', it will run the macro. You can now delete all the buttons, and use these shortcut keys instead.

I appreciate the suggestions and feedback, but I don't think I'm going to change it. I'm NOT an expert programmer by any means, and it took a lot more time to write this than I thought it would! I made it do more than what I actually needed it do for me, because I hoped to make it flexible enough for anybody to use the way they want to use it. I also had to "fit" the buttons on the page somewhere AFTER I had written all my code, so they were really an afterthought, and could be considered as a "lack of planning" on my part.

Hopefully with the above suggestions (moving/deleting buttons and assigning shortcut keys), you can make it work for you the way you want.

Oh yeah, if you are not familar with the FREEZE PANES option, click the button and it will set the sheet up so you can scroll through all your answers and feedback, but still leave your question visible on the left side of the screen.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Jeff

Attachment buttonshortcut.gif
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by A. T. Wyatt -
I will try it out! I mostly just wanted to move the buttons. Thank you for the instructions!

atw
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In reply to A. T. Wyatt

Excel2GIFT version 1.0 (EXCEL to GIFT format export tool)

by Deleted user -

Okay, I made a few changes, and have attached the file as Excel2GIFT version 1.0 ...

BUG FIX - Fixed the bug that would not allow Short Answer type questions with only one answer.

Now, when you enter only one answer in the Answer1 field, it will assume it's either a True/False type question OR a Short Answer type question. If the Answer1 field contains a 'T' or a 't' or an 'F' or an 'f', then it will assume it's a True/False type question. If the Answer1 field contains anything else, other than a 'T' or a 't' or an 'F' or an 'f', then it assumes it's a Short Answer question with only one answer. NOTE: The only drawback to this method, is that you CANNOT have a single-answer Short Answer question with a 'T' or a 't' or an 'F' or an 'f', as the answer.

CHANGES - Removed big ugly buttons from the worksheet, and put them on a toolbar at the top of the screen instead.

I said I probably wasn't going to get rid of the buttons, but it wasn't that difficult to make a toolbar. It also looks better, and makes it easier to resize columns this way.

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Excel2GIFT version 1.0 - toolbar bug

by Deleted user -

Okay, I found a minor problem in my latest release, with the toolbar I created...

The toolbar I created now appears in ALL excel files that I open. I assumed (never assume) that it would only be available specifically in Excel2GIFT, but it now shows up in everything!!!

I do not know how to fix this... anybody that knows how to make a toolbar available only to a specifc file?

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.0 (EXCEL to GIFT format export tool)

by Timothy Takemoto -
"Removed big ugly buttons " smile
This is definately a better, more advanced piece of software. Thank you.
Timothy
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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.0 (EXCEL to GIFT format export tool)

by Bill White -

CHANGES - Removed big ugly buttons from the worksheet, and put them on a toolbar at the top of the screen instead.


When I open up v1.0 I enable macros but I cannot find the toolbar. How do I enable the toolbar? I tried everything I know but I couldn't locate the new toolbar.

Bill

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In reply to Bill White

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.0 (EXCEL to GIFT format export tool)

by Deleted user -

Bill White wrote "When I open up v1.0 I enable macros but I cannot find the toolbar. How do I enable the toolbar? I tried everything I know but I couldn't locate the new toolbar."

You should be able to choose VIEW then choose TOOLBARS. You will see a list of toolbars available,  some with checkmarks beside them, and others with no checkmark beside them.

Near the bottom of the list, there should be a toolbar that says Excel2GIFT. Click on it, to enable it.

If it's not there, let me know!!! In the meantime, you can run all the macros from the TOOLS menu. Choose TOOLS then MACRO then MACROS, then select the macro you need to run and click on RUN.

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In reply to Deleted user

Excel2GIFT version 1.1

by Deleted user -

I've updated/fixed Excel2GIFT again, and have attached the newest version 1.1.

REMOVED MENU BAR - I removed the menu bar completely, because either you couldn't get rid of it, or it wasn't there at all.

ADDED TOOLBAR - I added a Toolbar along the top, that will automatically appear when you open Excel2GIFT, and disappear when you close it. Okay, I didn't really add it... thanks to Paul Robinson for the toolbar subroutines! I just copied the routines that he wrote into this version.

I will read over my documentation, and make any necessary changes to it as well, and post it here soon.

Jeff

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In reply to Deleted user

Excel2GIFT version 1.1 Instructions

by Deleted user -
I've attached the updated instructions (v1.1) for anybody interested, as an .RTF (Rich Text Format) file.
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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1 Instructions

by Tim Allen -

Hi folks, even though this is an old tool, there is still a need for it and I couldn't find any other tools that are not obsolete or have the same level of functionality, so thanks a lot for making it available!

In my testing in Excel 2010 it seems to be working fine, except that it is having a problem with multiple choice single answer questions with negative values.  The latter are ignored and it defaults to a traditional "single answer right-other answers zero marks" question.

Has anyone else who remembers this tool or who has tried it out recently had the same problem?  I am wondering whether I can edit the VBA code to fix this but I have not experience in doing so...  mixed

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In reply to Tim Allen

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1 Instructions

by Tim Allen -

For anyone else who encounters this issue, here is a solution.   Change  line 473 of the ExportGIFT sheet in the macro embedded in this Spreadsheet.  The diff is below:


473c473
<                     grade(x, q) = Chr(9) & "~"
---
>                     grade(x, q) = Chr(9) & "~%" & (grade(x, q) * 100) & "%"



Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1

by Josep M. Fontana -
Hi Jeff,

First of all, thanks for the work you've done on this (and thanks to Tim and others that contributed as well).

I downloaded the excel file you attached and when I open it, I get the following error (roughly translated from Spanish):

"Error number 5 in execution time has occurred. Argument or procedure call not valid"

I use Excel 2003.
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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1

by Ji Ming -

The Excel2Gift is a wonderful tool. It creates the .gift files well when all the test is in English. However, we are trying to create tests in Chinese and Moodle 1.8 will not import GIFT formated in Chinese! Our site in operated in Chinese and we don't know why the Chinese charaters in the GIFT files are stripped, changed or not shown. Any one knows why?

J

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In reply to Ji Ming

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1

by Timothy Takemoto -

Dear Ji Ming
You will probably need to change the encoding of the files to the encoding used by your Moodle installation.

E.g. in Japan, MS Excel uses JSIS encoding but moodle used EUC-JP in the past, and now usually UTF-8 since Moodle 1.6.

You need to open the .gift (is it? I used .gft) file in a multi encoding text editor, and then resave it in the appropriate (UTF-8?) ecoding before importing to Moodle.

Tim

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1

by Manuel de la Torre -

I am using MS Excel 2007 and when I try to open Excel2Gift spreadsheet I am getting a error number 5 on the line:

iHelpIndex = cbWSMenuBar.Controls("Help").Index

Is there a fix for this issue

Thanks.

Met.

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In reply to Manuel de la Torre

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.1

by Roberto Remonato -

Hello Manuel,

Could you solve this issue? I'm having the same problem.

Thank you

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Excel2GIFT version 1.0 (EXCEL to GIFT format export tool)

by Rick Bruderick -
Wow, it seems I'm joining this conversation a few years too late, but I'm brand new to Moodle.
I'm very grateful for the work you've done on this, Jeff and Timothy.
Is there anything I can do to control the JUMPs?
Thank you!
Rick
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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Damien Riley -

I downloaded it and it looks like a good invention.  Question:  I'm a noob with Moodle, but have been using it for about a year now in a limited way.

Can your software create simple answer sheets for my students to enter their MC answers?  ie;

MC.jpg

I alter a GIFT file in notepad and then import it to MOODLE each time I make a new test.  The GIFT file coding looks like this the way my "answer-only" tests are:

// question: 1  name: 1
::1::[html]


{
 ~-
 ~-
 =-
 ~-
}

// question: 2  name: 2
::2::[html]


{
 ~-
 ~-
 ~-
 =-
}

It would seem upon first glance that your excel generator:

#1) Randomizes the right answer (I am working from an existing paper test that has static: "#1 B is correct, #2 D is correct"

and

#2) Requires input for each answer choice, and all I want to have is the option to click on A, B, C or D.

Last question:  If this excel generator won't work for what I'm doing do you know of a way to create answer sheets for Moodle like this without having to use Notepad and enter that funky code for each letter answer?

For more explanation of what I use Moodle for, you can check out a previous post I have on Moodle: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/user.php?id=271773&course=1

Thanks so much, any advice would be welcomed.

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In reply to Damien Riley

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

Damien Riley wrote "It would seem upon first glance that your excel generator: #1) Randomizes the right answer (I am working from an existing paper test that has static: "#1 B is correct, #2 D is correct"   and    #2) Requires input for each answer choice, and all I want to have is the option to click on A, B, C or D.

Hi Damien

To answer your questions:

 No, my program does not randomize the answers when it generates the GIFT file. Whatever answer you choose to select with a Grade = 100%, should show up in the proper place.

 Yes, my program does require an entry for Answers. It counts the number of answers with "something" entered, and looks for the first "empty" answer so it can determine how many answers the question should have. There is a workaround though... for each answer that you want to be valid, enter an apostrophe(') and then then dash(-). When you hit enter, the apostrophe will disappear, and you will end up with a simple "-" character in the answer field. I tried to put in an "invisible" shift+spacebar character, but it would not import properly into Moodle. So hopefully the little "-" is okay.

 My program also requires a Question... if there is no Question, then it will not export that particular question. You can enter an "invisible" question as follows... an apostrophe(') and then a SHIFT+SPACEBAR, and you will have an "invisible" QUESTION.

 I recommend you also enter consecutive numbers into the QUESTION NAME field. This field can be left blank, but it will make it easier to check/troubleshoot within Moodle if you assign something to it. I suggest you put a "1" for Question Name #1, and a "2" for Question Name #2, and so on.

 I also would UNcheck all the options along the top, in column F.

 Once you have setup your Question/Answer/Grade template, just save it, and you shouldn't have to make any changes ever again!

 You also need to make sure that you have SHUFFLE ANSWERS = NO and SHUFFLE QUESTIONS = NO in Moodle, before you import the questions.

 With the above steps, you should not have to edit the GIFT file at all.

 And make sure you have the newest version (1.1) of Excel2GIFT, which is posted on the forum.

Exported GIFT Screen Shot

 

Moodle screenshot after import:

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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

Damien,

I also just noticed that you put a "number" in for the QUESTION. This will work fine, instead of my "invisible" question. And if you do it this way, you do NOT need to enter anything in the QUESTION NAME field, because it will automatically copy the QUESTION field into the QUESTION NAME field for you.

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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Damien Riley -

Thanks a million!  I appreciae the work you've done.  I will let you know how those suggestions work out.

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In reply to Damien Riley

EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

If anybody has questions about this program, please email me directly (click on my name, up in the top left corner of this post).

I have had to unfortunately unsubscribe from the Quiz Forum, because it's taking up too much of my time... just reading all the posts can eat up a lot of your day!!

So once again, if you have a question, click on my name, and send me an email directly.

THanks

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In reply to Damien Riley

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Timothy Takemoto -
My old version randomized the position of the correct answer.
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In reply to Timothy Takemoto

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Deleted user -

Timothy Takemoto wrote "My old version randomized the position of the correct answer."

I did not include randomizing the position of the correct answer for two reasons:

(1) I didn't have time to figure out how to do it, and

(2) Moodle has the option of shuffling answers (and questions) for you, which worked fine for my purposes.

Hopefully Tim's version will work fine for those that need the randomization feature.

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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Timothy Takemoto -
Hi Jeff

> (2) Moodle has the option of shuffling answers (and questions) for you, which worked fine for my purposes.

I think that it will do fine for most people's purposes.

There is (or was?) however, one minor problem with the Moodle answer shuffling in that the answers are not shuffled on the feedback page. Thus if in a four option multiple choice where the correct choice is always the last, if feedback is given and if multiple attempts are allowed, then sooner or later a students might notice the pattern, make a mental note of all the last choices and n be able to get full marks from the second attempt.

Tim 
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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by shoham adizes -
Jeff, Tim, Olga and who ever else worked on this tool... GREAT WORK!

I have used it with great success in the past and it has saved me many many man hours. So thank you!

I have, however come across a problem that I hope soneone can help me solve.

I had my quiz questions translated into Russian. OF course Russian uses a different character set than the Latin letters we use.

I am able to load the translation onto your spread sheet but when I export to GIFT the GIFT file does not recognize the Russian letters and all I get are ????????????????

Any idea how I can get the GIFT file to recognize the Russian character set?

Your help is greatly appreciated.
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In reply to shoham adizes

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Dave Murray -

Did you try opening the gift file in the notepad editor and then saving it in UTF-8? 

If that doesn't work, you could try the program here...

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=114107#p500922

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In reply to Dave Murray

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by shoham adizes -
Dear Dave Murray,

Neither of the options you suggested worked for me sad

Thanks for the advice though.
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In reply to shoham adizes

Excel export tool: sample data?

by Frank Ralf -
I suppose the data is already corrupted by exporting it from Excel in the wrong format. Do you have some sample data that you could post here? I think that would help.

Regards,
Frank
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In reply to shoham adizes

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Jean-Luc Delghust -
Hi Shoham,

Excel macros are a nightmare when it comes to charactersets (in my experience at least)...
I did try and use the Giftexporter but I had to develop a similar tool to this one (I needed some specific features for some colleagues, and as I'm more familiar with XML...)
You'll find it here: http://moodle.org/mod/glossary/view.php?id=2741&mode=entry&hook=8061
Questions are exported in Moodle XML format (UTF8), not gift, and it doesn't support all the question types (just MC, SA, TF and matching)
There's a manual in English.. If you want to give it a go. Let me know whether it works; I'm curious (though if the notepad workaround didn't work, I doubt this will)
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In reply to shoham adizes

回應: Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Janet Cheng -

Dear All ,

 I have the same question about the Russian quiz using excel2gift

. Have anyone solve this problem ?  

many thanks for your reply.

 

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In reply to Janet Cheng

Re: 回應: Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Brian Gaehring -

Hello all,

Love using the Excel 2 Gift.  But like several others, some of my quiz creators need to make their quizzes in Japanese and other Asian languages.  The Japanese characters appear normally when written into Excel, but the file created by "Export to Gift" only shows ????????? where the characters appeared.  I tried opening/converting the file with a text editor, but it seems that the original text that is pasted into the Excel exporter must already be in UTF-8.

Have there been any plans to update 1.1 to make it more compatible with Asian language fonts in Excel?  Thanks

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In reply to Brian Gaehring

Re: 回應: Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Mohanraj Sengodan -

im also getting same error in this version 

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by bulent sobaci -
Can you make it up to 1000 questions or more?Thanks.
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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT--essay questions

by David Bayne -
Sorry for the total newbie question (I've been using Moodle for only a few weeks!)

Is there a trick to making Essay questions? I'd love to use a tool like this, rather than the manual process (which is taking forever).

Thanks in advance!

-David
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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Mike Kruger -

I have created a stand alone program for GIFT conversion if you are interested. It accepts any file type and pretty much any format, and then converts them in to UTF-8 so it can be imported. No more taking numbers of the front of questions etc.

You can find it here.

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Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by PANKAJ SONI -

 

I want your help for exporting excel to GIFT,

I already have lots of sheets with only  multiple answer questions.

I donot know about macros. So, help me to simply your code for my specific need. I will post sample of my sheet in next reply.

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In reply to PANKAJ SONI

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by roc mehra -

When i try to import gift fomat. I got following error. I am using moodle2.2 and export to gift tool

The type of the file you selected (document/unknown) does not match the type expected by this import format (text/plain).

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In reply to roc mehra

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Try renaming the file to somthing.txt.

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by roc mehra -

Thanks Tim,

Solve my problem

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In reply to roc mehra

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by roc mehra -

Hi Tim,

I tried to upload 100 question in gift format(Moodle2.2) but it gives me error writing to database But when i import same in moodle 1.9 It does fine.

Why?

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In reply to roc mehra

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Please can you turn on Debugging, and copy the full error message here.

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by roc mehra -


Notice: Undefined index: format in D:\xampp\htdocs\lmsasr22\bb\moodle\question\import_form.php on line 125

Notice: Undefined index: format in D:\xampp\htdocs\lmsasr22\bb\moodle\question\import_form.php on line 127

question/formatnotfound

More information about this error

 
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In reply to roc mehra

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

Acutally, it seems that is what happens when you forget to select the format at the top of the form.

It seems that it was fixed in Moodle 2.3, as part of MDL-33338, but the fix was never back-ported to 2.2.

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by roc mehra -

So,

Whats the appropriate solution for this. Should i need to update moodle 2.3 or anything else.

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In reply to roc mehra

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by sandro franco -

I hope this helps, actually it will. After almost 72 hours trying everything (since I was getting the same error) I found out that if you insert some special characters this will generate a problem when creating the question. In my case the text of one of my question was:

I couldn't respond right away because I _________ notes on a webinar when you called

But somehow the form was changing the apostrophe for an Spanish character ´ so the word couldn't was looking like this

couldn´t

Once I removed all similar errors I was able to upload 100 questions with no problem (no annoying error, yayyy). So I recommend you to look for such special characters
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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Konark Singhal -

Hello, I am new to Moodle and also not a programmer. I used the excel2gift tool to try and create *gift with 100 questions included. When I export to gift, MS Excel hangs and when I escape, I see this error: 

Run-time error '-2147417848 (80010108)':
Method 'Bold' of object 'Font' failed

Can someone help where I am going wrong? I am trying to upload a very very basic MCSA questionnaire with no bold etc.

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by VIjay Reddy -

Hi Jeff,

Can I get the download link for Excel2Gift v2 please?

Thanks a lot in advance!

VIjay

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Annalize Verasamy -

Hi Jeff

Do any one have an Excel2GIFT export tool file that you can incorporate a picture , such as jpeg? 

Thanks 

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In reply to Annalize Verasamy

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by Oliver Rusle -

Hi, I have  downloaded the version mentioned above and named Excel2GIFTbeta (dated 11/03/2007) and followed the instructions.

However, I am getting the following error message when trying to upload into Moodle 2.6:

"Incorrect sesskey submitted, form not accepted"

Any ideas why? Is there a more recent version? Any advice from the community? Thanks


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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - true false error

by Sheree Crites -

When trying to export to GIFT, I keep getting an error that there needs to be one answer in answer field 1.  I do have answers in all the T/F question answer field number 1.


HELP!

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: EXCEL to GIFT format export tool - Excel2GIFT

by AMAN JAIN -

Hi Jeff


This does not seem to handle GIFT control characters like {,},= etc.


thanks,

Aman Jain

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