Hello,
I'm running moodle 1.7 on a Mac with php4.4.4 and mysql.
I'm trying to import a quiz data bank that was first exported out of TestGen to Blackboard format (this creates a .zip file). Unzipping the file creates a .dat file.
I have trouble importing this BB .dat file and get the following warning:
PCLZIP_ERR_BAD_FORMAT (-10) : Unable to find End of Central Dir Record signature
Any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA,
Sami
Blackboard import is confusing. Hopefully it will be better soon, but until it is....
* If it is a BB5 file the .dat file will have the <POOL> tag near the beginning. You only import the .dat file like you say.
* If it is a BB6 file the .dat file will have the <questestinterop> tag near the beginning. In this case you import the zip file complete.
I sounds to me like you are trying to import the .dat file into the BB6 format.
* If it is a BB5 file the .dat file will have the <POOL> tag near the beginning. You only import the .dat file like you say.
* If it is a BB6 file the .dat file will have the <questestinterop> tag near the beginning. In this case you import the zip file complete.
I sounds to me like you are trying to import the .dat file into the BB6 format.
Howard,
Thanks for taking the time to respond. My file is of the BB5 variety and I tried importing it using both BlackBoard options (BB and BB V6+). One returns the error I described earlier, the other one does nothing, i.e., reports no error, but does not import anything either.
I also tried importing the zip file, which gives the following error:
"Could not find question data file in zip"
Sami
Thanks for taking the time to respond. My file is of the BB5 variety and I tried importing it using both BlackBoard options (BB and BB V6+). One returns the error I described earlier, the other one does nothing, i.e., reports no error, but does not import anything either.
I also tried importing the zip file, which gives the following error:
"Could not find question data file in zip"
Sami
Ok, please attach your file and I will take a look.
Yep, it was a bug. Someone (!) changed the underlying object layout for true/false questions. I missed fixing the problem in blackboard.
It's fixed in CVS for 1.7, 1.8 and HEAD
It's fixed in CVS for 1.7, 1.8 and HEAD
Thanks a bunch! Being new to moodle, it took me a minute to figure out what CVS and HEAD meant. 
But for the benefit of other newbies... I went to http://moodle.cvs.sourceforge.net/moodle/moodle/question/format/blackboard/ and downloaded the format.php file, substituted it for the old one, and now the import works like a charm.
Sami
Sami
Sorry, I should have explained better. I've had a great deal of abuse for that in the past (you know who you are!) 
Howard,
I am trying to export a quiz from TestGen 7.3 and then import into Moodle 1.6.
TestGen 7.3 can export as any of the following four file types:
Blackboard (version 5,6,7)
WebCT3
WebCT4
WebCTCE6
Moodle can accept:
Blackboard
Blackboard V6+
WebCT
Research on this forum leads me to believe that the best/easiest export format to use is Blackboard.
I understand that the exported zip file must be extracted for Blackboard ver 5 and the .dat file is the Quiz import input and the .pps folder is to be copied to /moodle/mod/quiz/ on the server. For Blackboard ver 6 import the input is the .zip file.
When importing .dat file as Blackboard (default is ver 5): Fatal error: “Call to a member function on a non-object in /home/lattc/public_html/question/format/blackboard/format.php on line 134”
When importing .zip file as Blackboard V6+: error “Could not find question data file in zip”
File QuizBlackboard.ZIP is attached.
Questions:
Do you agree that Blackboard is the best/easiest format to use as export from TestGen 7.3?
As an alternative to uploading the .pps to the server, can the .pps be uploaded to the user file instead?
If we can get import .zip as Blackboard V6+ to work, will this eliminate the requirement to upload to server?
Will it be easier to fix the problem with .dat import as Blackboard (Ver 5), or fix the problem with .zip import as Blackboard (Ver6+)?
Do we have to pull any code or files from Moodle 1.7?
Thanks!
Bob Nickle
Yes, that was broken in 1.6 but it isn't now. You can copy the attached format.php file to
question/format/blackboard
(overwriting the original) and you should be good to go.
This was a rather mindless backport from 1.7, so it's at your own risk - but it should be ok. In your case you need to unzip the archive and import the .dat file into the Blackboard 5 version.
I'm not particularly familiar with TestGen but if it works then that's fine.
The BB6 zip file upload does not upload any other files in the manifest, but it's firmly in my to-do list.
question/format/blackboard
(overwriting the original) and you should be good to go.
This was a rather mindless backport from 1.7, so it's at your own risk - but it should be ok. In your case you need to unzip the archive and import the .dat file into the Blackboard 5 version.
I'm not particularly familiar with TestGen but if it works then that's fine.
The BB6 zip file upload does not upload any other files in the manifest, but it's firmly in my to-do list.
Howard,
Thank you very much. I noticed that the comment in the format.php code indicates Blackboard 6, and from what little I can read from code, it appears to upzip? So my question is, Doe this code handle both zipped BB6 files and unzipped BB5 .bat files?
Also, as an end user, can I upload the .ppg image files? Or, do I really have to?
Thanks,
Bob
Thank you very much. I noticed that the comment in the format.php code indicates Blackboard 6, and from what little I can read from code, it appears to upzip? So my question is, Doe this code handle both zipped BB6 files and unzipped BB5 .bat files?
Also, as an end user, can I upload the .ppg image files? Or, do I really have to?
Thanks,
Bob
No... the comment's wrong.
I actually need to spend some time straightening out Blackboard import. It confuses everybody (including me!).
You can only import the quiz questions, other files in the (BB6) zip file are ignored. I hope to improve this soon (this week with a bit of luck).
I actually need to spend some time straightening out Blackboard import. It confuses everybody (including me!).
You can only import the quiz questions, other files in the (BB6) zip file are ignored. I hope to improve this soon (this week with a bit of luck).
Hi Howard,
I am still waiting for our Moodle provider to update the Blackboard module in our 1.6 site. Meanwhile, is there a Moodle 1.7 test site available that I could use? Perhaps I could import Blackboard into that site, export as Moodle XML, and them import the XML into our production Moodle 1.6 site.
Thanks,
Bob Nickle
I am still waiting for our Moodle provider to update the Blackboard module in our 1.6 site. Meanwhile, is there a Moodle 1.7 test site available that I could use? Perhaps I could import Blackboard into that site, export as Moodle XML, and them import the XML into our production Moodle 1.6 site.
Thanks,
Bob Nickle