[ARCHIVED] how to avoid line wrap in speedgrader

[ebonakdarian]

I am trying to grade and annotate programs (ie source code) in the speedgrader.

The format and indentation of the code are relevant. However, when the code is visible in the speedgrader the lines are wrapped in which appears a document in portrait format, which obfuscates the code structure.

Is there a way to view this in landscape (this is NOT the same as rotating the content)? The .java files uploaded have lines that are longer than 80 characters and would print out fine in landscape, but not portrait. Speedgrader displays these in portrait, and I haven't found an option to change this or set a margin of say 120 columns.

Is this possible? I'm hoping it is as displaying all contents in portrait seems arbitrary and limiting.

Thanks!

[rmurchshafer]

I'm honestly surprised that .java files would even display in Speedgrader.  But, to answer your question I don't believe there is any way to change the orientation like you are suggesting and view within Speedgrader.  You should be able to download the file though by clicking the download icon on the far right next to the title of the uploaded file.

Many people I know who grade programming type files like this choose to bulk download all of the files from the main page for the Assignment.  It appends the student name onto the files and downloads them all as a single zip file which you can then view and grade with whatever apps make most sense on your computer.  Speedgrader is great, but in my experience really only works well with Word, Excel, Powerpoint, or PDF files.

Actually, would it work to have your students save their files in PDF format, landscape mode and then upload those????  I think the only way you'll get them landscape is if they can be produced that way by the students prior to submission.

Rick

[ebonakdarian]

Hi Rick,

Yes, it just treats the .java files as text files I believe (indentation levels are a bit off too, but I can deal with that). I'll have to look and see if students can save the files also as PDF and then upload them. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm assuming that annotating them in speedgrader will be the same with PDFs?

I haven't used speedgrader at all until 2 days ago - always graded hardcopy and returned it. I also would do the bulk download in the zip file to run the programs as needed, so I definitely need the actual source file. I can easily convert them to PDF in bulk (yay Unix scripts/commands!) myself, but I want to avoid having to upload them again individually for each student .. that would be very time consuming unless there's a batch way to do this that I'm not aware off. Do you know by chance?

Esmail

[rmurchshafer]

Esmail,

Check out these two guides below.  It's possible to download all submissions, view and annotate them on your computer, and then bulk upload them back to the students.  I think you will find this helpful for what you are trying to accomplish.  And yes, if you go the PDF route you will be able to annotate in SpeedGrader.

• How do I download all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I upload all student submissions for an assignment?

Rick

[ebonakdarian]

Thanks, that is really helpful, esp the info on bulk uploads.

The 'not changing the filename' makes sense, but will introduce a bit of an added step for the students.

E.g., I download the .java files, convert them to PDF for proper annotation, I'd have to rename the PDF files to the original names (with the .java extension - not a problem, I can script that part) before I tried to upload them. This however means students would have to download the .java files and rename them to PDF before being able to view them. Hmm ... Maybe having students upload both .java and .pdf files would be easier. That way I could download the .java as needed to run/test code, and annotate the PDF in Chrome/Canvas/Speedgrader.

I appreciate the various ideas you have given me.

Esmail