Caucus 5 Feature and History Change Log

This document is a detailed log of the history of bug fixes, feature changes, and improvements to Caucus 5.  It is by definition a working document, and changes frequently.  It starts from version 5.002.005, the 1st pre-release candidate for Caucus 5.

The table below summarizes the changes in each new revision.  Most recent changes are at the top of the table.  Each change is marked as one of the categories below.  The list of changed files may appear at the end, in parenthesis.

Version       Summary of changes
  • 5.018.036
    6-Nov-2006
  • Feature.  Added choice of floating vs. tabular layout of quiz problems.  (CML/CC50/quiz_prob.cml, quiz_probedit.cml, quiz_take.cml, quiz_takeprob.cml, quiz_takeprob.i, sql_update_tables.i, startup.i)
  • Fix.  Allow quiz text-entry problems to be automatically scored (but note that spelling must be exactly correct!)
  • Fix.  T/F or True/False allowed for T/F quiz questions.
  • Fix.  "Who's on now" -- display names properly for users with more than one word in their last name.  (CML/CC50/main/onnow.i)
  • Feature.  Add option to allow correct quiz answers to be viewable by quiz takers once they have submitted their answers.  (CML/CC50/main/quiz.cml, quiz_take.com, quiz_takeprob.cml, quiz_takeprob.i, sql_update_tables.i)
  • Fix.  Manager "send email to Caucus users" did not work for individually-created "user" groups.  (CML/CC50/man_mailallf.cml)
  • 5.018.035
    31-May-2006
  • Feature.  Added %quiz_summary(quiz-key) and %quiz_problem_summary(problem-key) macros, to provide direct links to the graphical whole quiz and individual problem graphical summaries.  Added a security option to quizzes to control who is allowed to see these summaries.  (CML/CC50/quiz.cml, quiz_summary.i, quiz_problem_summary.i, macros.i)
  • 5.018.034
    14-May-2006
  • Feature.  The file attach (upload) dialog now supports uploading either 1 file or 10 files at once.  It also adds an "image gallery" option, which automatically generates thumbnails and a "gallery" (table) of images.  This is especially useful for sets of digital camera images.  (CML/CC50/main/uploadpop.cml, uploadpop2.cml, uploadpop10.cml, viewitem.cml, macros.i)
  • 5.018.033
    6-Apr-2006
  • Feature.  Custom CML commands may be executed in the "<head>" of every page, by placing them in local_head.i.  (CML/CC50/main/head.i, local_head.i)
  • Feature.  Added %readnewall(link-text) macro.  Acts the same as the "read all new discussion" link from "My Conferences", but can be put anywhere.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i)
  • Fix.  Automatic registration (creation) of new users via the reg/urlregister.cml script now works properly for Caucus 5.  (CML/CC50/reg/urlregister.cml).
  • Fix.  When new site-wide fields (manage > look & feel) are created, record and display the proper field type, and the full field description.  (CV2/sweb/funcvar.c, CML/CC50/main/man_fieldsf.cml)
  • Fix.  When changing the look and feel of an interface to use text instead of buttons (menu_text.i), which text links appear will match which buttons have been turned on or off.  (CML/CC50/menu_text.i)
  • Fix.  When changing the look and feel of an interface, some buttons did not allow you to specify their associated text.  (CML/CC50/main/man_cc.cml)
  • 5.017.032
    29-Mar-2006
  • Feature.  The default list of system-wide user information fields now includes "registeredon" (date/time user was registered or created) and "regface" (interface used when registering).  Data is automatically generated for these fields.  Conversion scripts exist to update the fields from old (Caucus 4 or pre 5.017) releases.  (CV2/sweb/c5tablecheck.c, funcvar.c.  CML/CC50/main/man_ucreated.cml, person.cml, register.i, perinfo.cml, man_ucrf.cml).
  • Feature.  Quizzes now have a "summary" page that shows the graphs and other summary information for all problems in a quiz.  (CML/CC50/quiz.cml, quiz_probl.cml, quiz_graphprob.cml, quiz_prob_otherans.i, quiz_summary.cml)
  • Feature.  Added the %peoplelist(groupType groupName $quote(optional fields) Title) macro, which displays a sortable list of all of the members of a specific group, along with an optional set of fields from the user_info table.  You can also remove fields from the default display by prepending them with a "-" in the list of optional fields, e.g. "-userid" removes the userid column.  (CML/CC50/main/peoplelist.cml, macros.i)
  • Feature.  Added the %peoplegallery(groupType groupName all width title) macro.  It produces a link with text "title".  Clicking on the link pops up a new page, containing a gallery of the thumbnails of the people in the chosen group.  All=1 means show everyone, 0 means only those with pictures.  Width is the width of the page, measured in people.  (CML/CC50/main/peoplegallery.cml, macros.i)
  • Fix.  Incorporated the CSNAP tool into Caucus 5.  There are still many "rough edges" to the C5 version of CSNAP, however.  (CML/CSNAP50/main)
  • 5.015.030
    20-Mar-2006
  • Feature.  The "Forgot your password?" page can now recognize (find) users by their Caucus userid or their email address.  (CML/CC50/reg/reset.cml)
  • Feature.  Each Caucus "interface" may have a top-banner (that appears before everything else) that has a background image, a left-image, and a floating-right image.  This feature is controlled from the manager "modify look and feel" page.  (CML/CC50/main/body.i, startup.i, man_cc.cml, man_ccf.cml)
  • Feature.  Interfaces may be defined as "bridge" interfaces, that record users' entry in a special group, then switch them automatically to a base "target" interface.  (CML/CC50/main/local_bridge.i)
  • Feature.  Added new macro %anyConfHasNew(conf1 conf2 ...), which displays the "new" icon if any of the conferences in its argument list has new material.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i, anyconfhasnew.i)
  • Feature.  The macro %conference(), which links to a conference (and optionally item and response) now has a new 4th argument -- text that will dynamically appear when the user "hovers" their mouse over the link.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i)
  • 5.015.029
    9-Mar-2006
  • Fix.  Adding wildcards to groups (such as conferences) was extremely slow for sites with thousands of users.  (CV2/sweb/groupuprule.c)
  • Feature.  Personal information page (click on a person's name to see it) now displays when the person registered, and all of the groups they belong to.  (CML/CC50/main/person.cml)
  • Feature.  The size of the response thumbnails may be controlled from Manage > Look and feel > Edit switches > item & response display.  Also, users or managers may delete a person's image.  (CML/CC50/main/defaults.i, man_switchf.cml, me1f.cml, methumb.i, reguser.i, siteswitch.i, themf.cml, thumbmake.cml)
  • Fix.  When creating new conferences, the matching Filesafes did not get the identical access control list.  (CML/CC50/main/man_createf.cml)
  • Fix.  Improve the readability of statistics wizard output.  (CML/CC50/main/man_statwizf.cml)
  • Fix.  Email report sent when a new user self-registers, was missing most of the data fields.  (CML/CC50/reg/regreport.i)
  • 5.014.028
    2-Mar-2006
  • Feature.  User thumbnails automatically appear next to their responses.  This option must be turned on individually in each conference (it defaults to off).  Users may individually turn off the display of the thumbnails.  (CML/CC50/main/customhf.cml, custom_home.cml, peoplelist.i, me1f.cml, startup.i, themf.cml, register.cml, register.i, man_ucr.cml, man_ucrf.cml)
  • Feature.  Quizzes: a graphical summary chart appears at the bottom of each quiz problem page.  (You must be able to edit a problem in order to see the graph.)  (CML/CC50/main/quiz_graphrow.i, quiz_prob.cml)
  • Feature.  Lists of users now appear in a consistent form, with alternating color bars, and may be sorted by any column (e.g. name, date last on, etc.)  (CML/CC50/main/man_date2.cml, onnow.i, members.cml, peoplef.cml)
  • Feature.  A Caucus site may now have it's own "favicon".  (See the file public_html/favicon.)  Note that favicons only work in some browsers.  (CML/CC50/main/head.i, loginbox.i, searchf.cml)
  • Fix.  Newly registering users may now upload a picture as part of registration.  Managers editing or creating a user may upload a picture.
  • Fix.  Quiz problem scores did not display on the problem page.  (CML/CC50/main/quiz_prob.cml)
  • Fix.  A manager may no longer completely delete themselves as a user.
  • 5.014.027
    28-Feb-2006
  • Fix.  In rare cases, Caucus would "hang" when it entered an infinite loop, trying to rebuild the "name cascade" (the list of people or conference names, broken up into alphabetical ranges).  (CV2/sweb/buildnamecas.c)
  • Fix.  While editing a group, clicking on a trash can next to a rule that has only a userid (no name), the pop-up asks for confirmation to delete someone else.  (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml)
  • Fix.  When a conference name contained parenthesis, attaching files as a linked name or linked URL failed.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i)
  • 5.013.026
    17-Feb-2006
  • Feature.  Detect and handle IE7.  (CML/CC50/main/browser_detection.i)
  • Feature.  When a new user registers, send an email notification to a selected manager.  (See manager > users > user info fields, at the bottom).  (CML/CC50/main/man_userface.cml, man_userfacef.cml, reg/register.i, regreport.i)
  • Feature.  The manager of an interface may require that new registrants have a valid email.  This option sends an email to the new user, and requires that they click on a link in the email in order to complete their registration.  (CML/CC50/main/man_userfollow.cml, login.cml; reg/register.i)
  • Feature.  Added database fields to control the default size of pop-up windows: site_xs_goto, site_ys_goto, etc. (site_xs and site_ys for goto, help, indiv, person).  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i, popup.js)
  • Fix.  Quizzes: add help page and documentation to edit quiz problem page.  (CML/CC50/main/quiz_probedit.cml, help/h_quiz_answers.cml)
  • Fix.  Quizzes: allow double-quotes in left/right text fields in answer rows to problems.  (CML/CC50/main/quiz_probedit.cml)
  • Fix.  Don't show "You can manage" if a person is (only) a member of quizCreate.  Do show "You can create" if a person is (only) a member of conferenceCreate.  (CML/CC50/main/youare.i)
  • Fix.  Fix uploading (and unzipping) of .zip files into items and into quizzes.  (CML/CC50/main/abox_rt.i, abox_at.i, macros.i, uploadpop.cml, uploadpop2.cml, uploadpop4.cml, uploadpop5.cml)
  • 5.013.025
    6-Feb-2006
  • Major new feature.  Add "quizzes" (test with individually scored problems) to eLearning capabilities.  (CML/CC50/quiz*, groupedit.cml, groupselector.i, grouppick.cml, etc.)
  • Feature.  Add %last() macro, points to last response in an item.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i)
  • Feature.  Add a "check all boxes" link on the "edit my conference list" page, to allow selecting all conferences on the page.  (CML/CC50/main/confeditlist.cml, confeditlistf.cml)
  • Fix.  When a manager is editing a person's profile, allow them to change the person's picture.  (CML/CC50/main/themf.cml)
  • Fix.  On the manage the management groups page, sometimes user names and userids appeared mixed-up.  (CML/CC50/main/man_mgrs.cml)
  • 5.013.024
    27-Jan-2006
  • First MacOS X release.
  • 5.012.024
    26-Jan-2006
    In dev
  1. Fix.  Item creators must still be able to edit the text of their items, even if the organizer turned off the creators' ability to delete the entire item.  (CML/CC50/main/imanage.cml)
  2. Feature.  Allow macros in personal information "introduction" field, and make %conference() and %person() in particular work properly and target the proper window.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i, popup.js, person.cml)
  3. Fix.  Fixed problem where users with "wildcard opt-in" access to a conference click on the conference name, and sometimes still fail to get access to the conference.  (CV2/sweb/groupuprule.c)
  4. Fix.  Manager "Email users" page, pop-up recipient list, did not handle individual user groups properly.  (CML/CC50/main/man_mailall.cml, man_mailalls.cml)
  5. Fix.  Some managers might not be able to see interface_storage conferences (even when they are supposed to).  (CML/CC50/main/conflistedit.cml, people.cml, conflistorder.cml, goto.cml, cen_myconfs.i, cen_other.i, courselist.i.  Bad call to %mgr_in_group().)
  6. Fix/Feature.  A user may only see the list of members of interface_storage conferences, if s/he is an organizer, instructor, or manager with conference or group editing privileges.
  • 5.011.023
    21-Jan-2006
  • Release version.
  • 5.011.022
    20-Jan-2006
  1. Fix.  Finish rewriting User Reports for Caucus 5.  See Manage > Users > Produce User Reports.  (CML/CC50/main/man_ureport.cml, man_urptf.cml, ureport.cml).  The CML/REPORTS directory is no longer used and may be deleted.
  2. Fix.  CML function $re_exists() should return true if a deleted response has been edited to "put text back in", even though the response no longer has an author.  (CV2/sweb/funcre.c)
  3. Feature.  Add %people(), %conf_item_link() macros.  (CML/CC50/main/macros.i)
  4. Fix.  Make $userids_byid() only report users with user_info.active >= 10.  (CV2/sweb/funcvar.c.)
  5. Fix.  Do not let non-organizer item creators delete their own items, if that switch was turned off in customize > capabilities.  (CML/CC50/main/imanage.cml)
  6. Fix.  Batch-creation module now adds users to interface_registered group and to groups that have wildcard matches.  (MOD_BATCH/man_ucreated.cml)
  7. Fix.  Creating new system groups sometimes showed them as owned by user "0".  (CML/CC50/main/grouppick.cml)
  8. Fix.  If creating a new system-wide field fails for some reason (e.g. reserved database keyword), inform user, tell them to try a different name.  (CML/CC50/main/man_fields.cml, man_fieldsf.cml)
  9. Fix.  Deleting rules (users) from a group could fail if there are quotes in the user's name.  (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml)
  • 5.010.021
    12-Jan-2006
  1. Fix.  Give instructors proper access to conference "Customize" page, and its subpages.  (Some links could be clicked on, but did nothing).  (CML/CC50/main/custom.cml, cus_en*.cml, custom_email.cml)
  2. Fix.  When deleting a user, delete their subdirectory under USER001 as well.  (CML/CC50/main/userids_delete.i)
  3. Feature.  Add a "Join" button to list of "Other conferences" and "All conferences" (that you see when clicking on "Edit my conference list").  So users can either click a conference name to join it, or click on a checkbox and the Join button.  (Sigh.)  (CML/CC50/main/conflistedit.cml, conflisteditf.cml)
  4. Fix.  Finish rewriting the "email to all users" manager feature to use the Caucus 5 group system.  (CML/CC50/main/man_mailall*.cml)
  5. Fix.  Finish rewriting the "email to all users in a conference" organizer feature for Caucus 5.  (CML/CC50/main/cus_mailall.cml)
  6. Fix.  Sitewide email notification sometimes skipped the first scheduled notification time each day.  (CML/ENOTIFY50/main/sitewide.i, enotify.cml)
  7. Feature.  Let conference instructors modify access levels to their conferences, but only to instructor, include, or readonly.  Instructors may not add or delete users.  (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml)
  8. Fix.  "Viewed item list" in person pop-up windows has been restored.  And now the "Modify interface" page controls whether "who has seen" and "viewed item list" in person pop-up windows.  (CV2/sweb/funcper.c, CML/CC50/main/person.cml)
  9. Fix.  System groups could not (previously) be deleted.  (CML/CC50/main/groupdel.cml)
  • 5.009.020
    6-Jan-2006
  1. Fix.  Don't show "~~~~~~" boundary conference name in conference lists (or any confs table entry with cnum <= 0).  (CML/CC50/main/cen_myconfs.i, conflistedit.cml)
  2. Fix.  Search button should search retired items.  (CML/CC50/main/searchf.cml)
  3. Fix.  Fix parsing of %name() macro in text of site-wide notifications.  (Often came up blank for CC50 interfaces.)  (CML/ENOTIFY50/main/sitewide.i)
  4. Fix.  Managers can edit user info fields, even if the fields are un-checked for "Self".  (CML/CC50/main/themf.cml)
  5. Fix.  People who have never been on Caucus should show "last on" as empty.  (Macros %per_laston and %datetz in CML/CC50/main/macros.i)
  6. Feature/Fix.  Interface Storage conferences do not appear under "My Conferences", "Other Conferences", or any of the pages reached from "edit my conference list", unless you are a manager, or an organizer or instructor of the conferences in question.  (CML/CC50/main/cen_myconfs.i, cen_other.i, conflistedit.cml)
  7. Feature.  When editing a conference group, managers can add "Primary" organizer access for a person (by clicking on the edit icon for a person/rule).  (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml)
  8. Fix.  When editing a group, only show edit icon next to group access level (Organizer, Include, etc.) if user can edit this group!  (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml)
  9. Feature.  When viewing groups, only let users see groups that they are members of (or if they have appropriate manager privileges for).  (CML/CC50/main/groupselector.i)
  10. Feature.  Add "Manage all user groups" link to main "Manage" page.  (CML/CC50/main/manage.cml)
  • 5.009.019
    22-Dec-2005
  1. Fix.  Infinite loop when building the name cascade (table) for sites with a very small number of users.  (CV2/sweb/buildnamecas.c)
  2. Feature.  "Caucus4" groups renamed to "System" groups.  Managers may add new System groups. (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml, grouppick.cml, groupselector.i)
  3. Feature.  When editing a group (access control), added an "edit" icon next to the access level name (e.g. Organizer, Include, etc.)  Thus all users with the same access level can be changed to a different access level in one fell swoop.  (same file list as #2).
  • 5.008.018
    21-Dec-2005
  1. Fix.  Renaming a conference must also rename the "uploaded files" directory in public_html/LIB.  (CML/CC50/main/man_cname.cml, man_cnamef.cml)
  • 5.008.017
    19-Dec-2005
  1. Fix.  When building the name cascade (list of alphabetical ranges of names used in the group editing), now can handle any arbitrarily long list of identical names (e.g. hundreds of "Mary"s).  (CV2/sweb/buildnamcas.c)
  2. Fix.  Members of management group interfaceManage can now create interfaces.  (CML/CC50/main/man_mkiface.cml)
  3. Fix.  AIM field is populated properly on "who's on now".  (CML/CC50/main/onnow.i)
  4. Fix.  "Really require required personal information fields to be filled in" checkbox now lives at the bottom of the "Select the ... user information fields" page.  (CML/CC50/man_userface.cml, man_userfacef.cml)
  5. Feature(?).  Announcements now work on IE6, working around problems with that browser's understanding (or lack thereof) of CSS fixed positioning.
  • 5.007.016
    6-Dec-2005
  1. Feature.  When editing a group, allow adding a list of typed (or cut-and-pasted) userids, all at once.  (CML/CC50/main/groupedit.cml)
  2. Feature.  When creating a new interface, copy all of the user-information field definitions (i.e. which user fields are used by this interface) from the current interface.  (CML/CC50/main/man_mkiface.cml, man_mkifacef.cml)
  3. Build.  Include -lcrypto in the CV2/sweb makefile, if said dynamic library exists.  (Needed for some Redhat distributions.)
  • 5.007.015
    4-Dec-2005
  1. Build.  Major changes to improve portability across Linux distros.  Added "--nosasl2", "--nomd5" configure options.  More use of standard dynamic libraries.
  2. Feature.  Rewrote group selection pages to make them much easier to user.  Built a better name-cascader for selecting ranges of conference & user names.  Vastly increased the speed of grouprules -> groups table updates by adding new CML function $group_update_rule().
  3. Fix.  Copying items or responses to another conference, now all conference names (available and not hidden) are selectable.
  • 5.006.012
    7-Nov-2005
  1. Build.  Uses openldap-2.3.11 and libsasl2 for Solaris 10 compatibility.
  2. Fix.  Corrects subtle permissions issues (user resigns from conf, is given organizer priv, rejoins, but doesn't get organizer privs).  (CV2/sweb/groupupdate.c)
  3. Fix.  Some managers could not access an option (e.g. Conference Settings) even if they were in conferenceChangeAll group.
  • 5.005.011
    31-Oct-2005
  1. Build.  Completely new build script.  Provides options for using either unixODBC vs iODBC driver managers.
  2. Fix.  Users that have removed themselves from a conference may be restored -- conference organizers can now see and delete the exclude rules for those users.  (CML/CC50/groupedit.cml)
  • 5.003.009
    27-Oct-2005
  1. Fix.  Single-quotes in the names of certain objects (e.g. notebook categories) caused changing/saving those objects to fail.  (CV2/sweb/funcvar.c)
  2. Fix.  Conferences could appear multiple times (e.g. in "My Conferences") if there was more than one access rule for the same person, with the same access level.  (CV2/sweb/groupupdate.c)
  • 5.002.008
  1. Fix.  If a user is allowed in a conference, but not yet a member of the conference (e.g. if they have "opt-in" access), clicking on any link to a conference will (now) give them normal access and "join" them as a member. (CC50/main/confhome.cml, viewitem.cml, confaccess.i, macros.i, etc.)
  2. Build.  Added 'solaris9' to list of platforms recognized by configure script.
  • 5.002.006
  1. Fix.  When a user changes the order of their conferences, sometimes conferences that are near each other trade places.  (CC50/main/conflistorder.cml)
  2. Feature.  Make announcements appear as DHTML "pop-overs" rather than as pop-up windows.  Some pop-up blockers were stopping Caucus announcements.  (CC50/main/announce.cml, announce.i, announcef.cml)