CreateAssessmentDefinition

Applies to the following products:

Questionmark OnDemand

Questionmark Perception

Questionmark OnPremise

Applies to the following Perception versions:

Perception 5.7

This method creates an assessment definition for the assessment information supplied and returns the Assessment_ID of the new assessment.

The information that must be provided is the Assessment Name, name of the person who created the assessment definition, template used by the assessment , description of the assessment and at least one assessment block, containing:

The block name
The introduction text
At least one item (question) selection, containing:
- The selection method
- The Topic_ID, unless items (questions) are selected individually
- If items (questions) are selected randomly, the number of questions selected
- The Question_ID, unless all items (questions) in a topic are selected
At least one assessment outcome, containing the assessment outcome name

The assessment created will be stored in the first assessment folder that appears in the repository (as viewed through Authoring Manager).

If using this method in Perception 5, you can also set the language of the assessment definition being created. For example, if you are including questions in German you can identify the assessment as being in German. This can then be used to schedule the assessment in the given language.

If the language is not defined or you are using Perception 4, it is assumed that the language of the assessment is in the base language of your Perception installation.

A SOAP fault will be returned in the following cases:

An assessment name is not provided
A timed assessment is not given a positive integer as the time limit
No template is specified
No assessment blocks are defined
An assessment block in not named
An assessment block that uses its own template does not have a template specified for it
An assessment block contains no items (questions)
The item (question) selection method is not defined properly
The items (questions) cannot be selected as required by the selection method
No assessment outcomes are defined
An assessment outcome name is not provided
The minimum percentage score for an assessment outcome is less than 0 or greater than the maximum percentage score
The maximum percentage score for an assessment outcome is greater than 100 or less than the minimum percentage score
An assessment outcome branches to another assessment or a URL that is not defined

Available in:

Version 4.1 +
Version 5.1 +

Parameters

Input name					Description	Data type	Optional field?
Assessment
	Assessment_ID				Enter a predetermined Assessment_ID for this definition	Integer	Y
	Revision				The new assessment definition's current revision	Integer	N
	Session_Name				The new assessment definition's name or title	String	N
	Author				The name of the new assessment definition's creator	String	N
	Save_Answers				This indicates whether to save the answers in the answer tables	Boolean	N
	Save Answer_Data				This indicates whether to save the data to all answer tables, or only to the results and assessment tables	Boolean	N
	Open_Session				This indicates whether the assessment can be presented with open.dll or open.php	Boolean	N
	Session_Password				The assessment's password (blank if no password is set)	String	N
	Session_Timed				This indicates whether the assessment has a time limit (if so, the value is contained in the field Time_Limit below)	Boolean	N
	Time_Limit				The number of minutes for which the assessment is available (used if Session_Timed above is set)	Integer	N
	Template_Name				The default template file for the assessment (each assessment block can be set to use its own template file)	String	N
	When_Feedback				0 - No Feedback at all 1 - Feedback shown after each block 3 - Feedback shown at the end of the assessment	Integer	N
	End_Feedback				If When_Feedback above is zero: 0 - All questions get feedback 1 - Only wrong or unanswered questions get feedback 2 - Only wrong questions get feedback 3 - All answered questions get feedback	Integer	N
	Exclude_Unscored				If When_Feedback above is not zero, this indicates whether questions with a maximum score of zero should show feedback	Boolean	N
	Folder_ID				The Folder_ID of the assessment folder where the assessment should be placed	Integer	N
	Lang*				The language of the assessment. If no topic or question exists in the specified language then an exception will be thrown. If the input language is "-" (base language), then a base language topic/question(s) must exist. The input language must be valid and should be available in languages.config file on the Perception server.	String	Y
	Description				This is a short comment for the assessment definition	String	N
	Monitored				0 - Assessment not monitored 1 - Assessment monitored	Boolean	N
	Editor				The last user who modified the new assessment definition	String	N
	Version				The version of Assessment Manager last used to modify the new assessment	Integer	N
	Permit_External_Call				This is placed in the database field S_Header.Permit_External_Call	Boolean	N
	Created_Date				The date on which the new assessment definition was created	Date	N
	Modified_Date				The last date on which the new assessment definition was modified	Date	N
AssessmentBlockList
	AssessmentBlock (zero or more repetitions)
		Block_Name			The name of this assessment block	String	N
		Feedback			This indicates whether feedback is enabled or disabled for this block	Boolean	Y
		Shuffle_Questions			This indicates whether questions are shuffled or not within this block	Boolean	Y
		Suspend_Time_Limit			If a Time_Limit is set for the assessment, this indicates whether this block is excluded from it	Boolean	Y
		Use_Template_File			This indicates whether this block uses its own template independently of the template used for the assessment	Boolean	Y
		Template_Name			This is the template used for this block	String	Y
		Introduction_Text			This is the introductory text used for this block	String	Y
		ItemList
			Item (zero or more repetitions)		This parameter (if used) is in the form of sets of item (question) information, as detailed
				Method	0 - If this item (question) was selected randomly 1 - If all items (questions) in a topic were selected 2 - If this item (question) was selected as a single question	Integer	N
				Include_Sub_Topics	If the Method is 0 or 1, this indicates whether subtopics were included in the item (question) selection	Boolean	Y
				Topic_ID	If the Method is 0 or 1, this is the Topic ID of the topic from which this item (question) was selected	Boolean	N
				Number_Of_Questions	If the Method is 0, this is the number of items (questions) selected	Integer	N
				Question_ID	If the Method is 0 or 2, this is the Question ID of the selected item (question)	Integer	Y
AssessmentOutcomeList
	AssessmentOutcome (zero or more repetitions)
		Outcome_Name			The name of this assessment outcome	String	N
		Session_Score			This indicates whether to show the total topic score	Integer	N
		Topic_Scores			This indicates whether to show the topic scoring	Integer	Y
		Topic_Feedback			This indicates whether to show the topic feedback	Boolean	Y
		Branch			0 - Do not branch after this assessment outcome 1 - Branch to another assessment after this assessment outcome 2 - Branch to a URL after this assessment outcome	Integer	Y
		Assessment_ID			If Branch is 1, this is the Assessment ID of the assessment to branch to	Integer	Y
		Destination			If Branch is 2, this is the URL to branch to	String	N
		Message			This is the message given as feedback with this assessment outcome	String	N
		Min_Percent			This is the lowest percentage score that will activate this assessment outcome	Real	Y
		Max_Percent			This is the highest percentage score that will activate this assessment outcome	Real	N

* only used in Perception Version 5.1 and higher

Response

Output name	Description	Data type
Assessment_ID	The Assessment_ID of the new assessment definition	Integer

Troubleshooting

Please refer to the following page for any error codes that are displayed when using this method.

Appendix - Error codes