Tim Rood wrote:
>
> We may well be able to create the diabolical MI test. For years we've stumped
> MI developers with "tests" of improved functionality. I'm a little out of date
> on the wish list but where's the "not in" query, just for example? or the
> "switch selections" a la AV? I promise to contribute a devil of a question in
> the "Intermediate Mapper" category, if we can get others to join in.
Okay, you're on! I have a couple in mind too. Anyone else have a
doozy of a question gauranteed to make a MapInfo wizard weep and
wail?
All we need is twenty questions; multiple guess (please supply the
right answer too; we don't want to out-diabolicalize ourselves,
okay?) At least one MapInfo employee has dared to take on any
challenge we can come up with. Assuming, of course, that we are up
to it.
I'd suggest that these questions be like MapInfo's test, only harder
(this is for those who think they know their stuff, y'know.) They
should involve only what's in the MapInfo Users Guide or Reference
Guide and what can be done with the user interface (i.e. no mapbasic
questions that aren't already covered in the chapter on the MapBasic
Window, but that still leaves a lot of open ground...) The best
questions would be those that concern typically common user problems
(like what happens when you open a workspace with custom labels
after you've packed a table, or problems of setting scale, fonts,
etc.)
I think that we could have questions with more than one correct
answer, but at least one of those answers has to cover all the other
correct answers. (Questions with NO right answer are okay too,
providing "none of the above" is a answer choice!) There can also be
terms used (like geocoding and geo-referenceing) where the correct
answer is in the MapInfo lexicon, while the other is not (perhaps
you might throw in an ArcView term that matches a MapInfo one to
stump the poly-GIS phonic.)
I'll be happy to collect questions, and then pass them out to
contributors to vote on the Final Twenty, and then maybe we can get
them set up on a Directions Magazine web page so people can take the
Challenge.
As to results, I'd suggest that the individual results should be
anonymous, and the test would be open to all. But I'd like to see a
summary of past results so a person can see how they did compared to
others, and the world can see if the questions are truly diabolical
or a breeze.
Perhaps there are some university profs out there who know a thing
or two about making tests. I'm just throwing out some ideas;
professional advice would be welcome!
Here's a little background material for you to chew on and get some
ideas.
MapInfo's training quiz (to see how much you know) is at:
http://testdrive.mapinfo.com/inetbu/survey.nsf/TrainingSurvey?openform
There's also some good sources for questions in the MapInfo wish
list at:
http://www.directionsmag.com/wishlist.asp?ID=49
Happy Scheming!
- Bill Thoen
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GISnet, 1401 Walnut St., Suite C, Boulder, CO 80302
tel: 303-786-9961, fax: 303-443-4856
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------------------------------------------------------------
> Bill Thoen wrote:
>
> > Steve Wallace wrote:
> > >
> > > Your description reminds me of the "test" you can take on MapInfo's web
> > > site, to see what level of training you should take first. I found many of
> > > the questions/terms to be misleading. Take a look at the "Training Quiz"
> > > yourself, at
> > > http://testdrive.mapinfo.com/inetbu/survey.nsf/TrainingSurvey?openform .
> > >
> >
> > What was misleading? It seemed okay to me. It is picky about using
> > precise terminology, but that's as it should be. That does make it
> > tough if you are fuzzy on terms like geocoding vs geo-refrencing and
> > so on. You also have to watch out for some questions as there is
> > more than one right answer (but the right answer might the one that
> > names the other choices.)
> >
> > I bet if we all tried we could make up a really diabolical test that
> > even MapInfo tech support couldn't pass! ;-)
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