The contents of this directory provide a demonstration of a simple
polling facililty that instructors can use in class any time that
students have access to a web browser.  This is a good way to have
students work problems and see to what extent they are converging
towards correct answers.

Unlike other polling facilities, this one is completely free without
any restrictions on number of simultaneous users, etc.  It also allows
a feature most polling facilities do not in that it may be used for
completely free-form answers, and the instructor can still show
histograms of response data.  (For complex responses, it may be
desirable to specify formatting constraints so answers that are
essentially the same are not treated as distinct.)

This file constitutes the documentation for a bare-bones facility that
may require a bit of editing for differing local needs.  The
implementation is contained in the files in this directory and
subdirectories named cNUM/f99/index.html, cNUM/f99/polling.cgi,
cNUM/f99/.pollcontroll/index.cgi, and
cNUM/f99/.pollcontroll/pollresults.cgi, which naming will be explained below.

It is assumed in any case that http ID/Password authentication is used
(by way of an appropriate .htaccess file in the cNUM/f99 directory) so
that the variable $remuser can be properly defined in
cNUM/f99/polling.cgi.

The demonstration here works with a file structure for courses in
which there are subsidiary directories such as c123, c246, c318,
etc. that constitute course codes such as "COMP 123", "COMP 246",
"COMP 318", etc.  Within a directory like c123, there can be
directories like f99 for "Fall 99", s99 for "Spring 99", and u99 for
"Summer 99". The mapping between directory names and course codes can
be modified by editing the lines in cNUM/f99/polling.cgi. that follow
the comment
 "# Edit the following lines if you want to change the directory naming schemes"
With the existing settings, there also need to be subdirectories of
cNUM/f99 (or whatever this directory is changed to) in the form
hwsubmit/$remuser/.polling for each "remote user" to track responses,
a subdirectory hwsubmit/.LOG to keep an overall log in the file
POLLLOGFILE, and a file hwsubmit/.pollnum initially containing just
the number 1.

Following are additional details about the files in the implementation.

cNUM/f99/index.html: Basically just shows the correct form of the link
that can be placed in an HTML file for students to access the polling
facility.

cNUM/f99/polling.cgi: The main polling implementation that students
access and that should not require much modification outside of the
section flagged by the comment noted above.  As configured here, it
can be used for students to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer or to
give a free-form answer by using the radio button for "other".

cNUM/f99/.pollcontrol/index.cgi: Implements instructor capabilities;
instructor can simply point web browser to the corresponding URL.  Use
the buttons to turn polling on or off, move to a new poll, and show or
hide the histogram of responses.  (I sometimes use the video mute to
view results myself and then decide when to display them to the
class.)

cNUM/f99/.pollcontroll/pollresults.cgi: Implements display of a
histogram of student responses.