As we have been creating questions with the new parameter system, we noticed that we were often seeing issues that were caused by a parameter value repeating. For example, if we created the following parameters…
$p=range(1,10) $q=range(1,10)
We usually wanted the variability but did NOT want the two parameters to be the same value.
We have now added a No Repeats option to the parameter screen to address this issue. No Repeats is on by default and just prevents $p and $q from being assigned the same value. It has greatly simplified the creation of many questions.
We have added new prime and composite commands to Efofex parameters. You can now define a parameter which is guaranteed to be a prime number like this:
$p=prime(1,100)
$p will be a randomly selected prime number between 1 and 100. The composite command uses the same notation.
Prime numbers are particularly useful for designing parametised algebra questions.
We have created a new newsletter – Efofex Insiders – which is where you will publish all of the technical changes that go on. This is the sort of information that is crucial and interesting to a subset of our customers. Most of you probably do not want to know!
So… if you are a bit of an Efofex guru and want to keep up to date with all of the latest features and changes (particularly with the exciting changes happening with Efofex Parameters), sign up now!
Efofex Insiders will be a more active list and you can expect to see articles published most weeks. The digest will be mailed out Monday mornings. Just so you know what you are getting into, we have included a sample article below.
New Prime and Composite Commands for Efofex Parameters
We have added new prime and composite commands to Efofex parameters. You can now define a parameter which is guaranteed to be a prime number like this:
$p=prime(1,100)
$p will be a randomly selected prime number between 1 and 100. The composite command uses the same notation.
Prime numbers are particularly useful for designing parametised algebra questions.
Efofex Insiders is all about providing fine detail without annoying most of our customers. Subscribe now! Efofex Insiders
Welcome to the new, Efofex Insiders news blog. We have repurposed our old Support blog to provide a news service for more technically minded users. If you like knowing all of the “ins and outs” of Efofex products, and want to keep up with all of the latest changes, this is the blog for you!
Efofex Insiders also gives you much more scope to influence the development of new features. Your comments and ideas are important to us. History has show us that the best ideas are often the result of a random “It would be great if…” comment from a user.
Due to the topic’s inclusion into the IB program, we have added Voronoi diagrams to FX Draw and FX Graph. This new feature has been included into software releases dated after November 5 2020.
If you do not know of Voronoi diagrams, you can find more information here.
Microsoft Word will sometimes compress your images and this can have a severe effect on your graphics, particularly if they contain text.
Image Quality Has Degraded
You can prevent this quality loss in Word’s options. You can prevent the quality loss in both the current document and all NEW documents.
Word for Windows
Go to Word’s File menu and choose Options
Go to the Advanced Tab
Scroll down to Image Size and Quality
Put a check mark in Do not compress images
Select whether you wish this to apply to the current document or all new documents.
Word’s Option Screen
Word On Mac
The process is similar on the Mac. Go to the Word menu (at the top of screen) and choose Preferences.
Click on the Edit options
Put a check mark in Do not compress images in file
Choose whether you want the setting to apply to the current file or all new files.
Our Recommendation
Teachers tend to produce graphics where high accuracy is required and we recommend that you set Word to Do Not Compress for all new documents – as well as updating the setting for old files you are working on. While image compression has few issues when used on photographs, it can make your output look much worse than it should.
For the past 30 years, Efofex products have integrated into Word for Windows using some old technologies. Today, we are announcing the release of our new Word Integration system that is simply better. Better, faster, more powerful and, best of all, it works on Macs!
Cross Platform
If you use Word on a Mac, you now have access to Word integration that exactly matches what we are offering on Windows machines. No compromises. You can create documents on a Mac, seamlessly move them to a Windows machines to edit, and then bring them back to a Mac for printing.
Faster
The new system no longer requires the old technologies we used for Classic Mode. Not only does this make the new system cross-platform, it also greatly increases the speed at which you can do simple things like creating and editing graphics. If you regularly go into and out of graphics and equations, you will find the processes up to three times faster.
Safer
And safer. The old system has always been a bit opaque and prone to problems. The new system is far less likely to fail.
Support for Efofex Parameters
The new system provides much better support for Efofex Parameters and its speed advantage can make the regeneration of an existing document up to ten times faster. You might not have explored Efofex Parameters yet but the ability to use and create self-modifying documents is so powerful and time-saving that we are sure that it will become part of your workflow in the future. In fact, the support for Efofex Parameters is so much better in the new system that we have decided to not make Efofex Parameters easily accessible in Classic Mode
Transparent Graphics
Classic mode is restricted by the underlying technology so that it can only provide graphics with white backgrounds. This means that you cannot overlay graphics or use a coloured background. Our new integration can provide graphics with transparent backgrounds.
It’s Time To Make The Change
There is now no good reason to keep using our old, Classic Mode system. While we will never FORCE you to change, the new capabilities are so powerful it should be one of the easiest decisions you will ever have to make.
More Information
There is lots of information available to help you make the change.
If you only have time to watch one video, watch this one…
If you use our Word toolbars on Windows, you will notice a couple of design changes in the latest release. There are no functional changes and you can continue to use the old “classic” toolbars much as you always have.
There are two changes you will notice:
The Efofex tab on your Word ribbon bar has been renamed Efofex Classic.
The second change is in the layout of the buttons. All of the same buttons are there, we have just moved things around and made the less used buttons smaller which should minimize confusion.
The changes have been made because we are deprecating the old, classic toolbars. We are NOT removing them and you can continue to use the toolbars as you always have if you wish.
There is more information on the exciting replacement for the old toolbar soon!
It seems that calling our new dynamic document feature “FX Dynamic” has been a mistake as we have had a lot of people asking us how to install “FX Dynamic”. The name is just too close to our product names and lots of people have decided it was a new product.
It isn’t! It is just adding a (really) powerful new feature to existing products.
We have decided to drop the FX Dynamic brand-name and just call the feature what it is – Dynamic Mathematics Documents Using Efofex Parameters. We know the name is long but it is far more descriptive of what we have added and far less likely to be thought of as a new “product”.
We are still really excited about it though! In fact, we are even more excited about it than when we announced it two months ago, but more on that development in a little while.
We have just uploaded new versions of FX Draw, FX Equation and FX Online that include what we think is probably our most exciting new feature release ever – FX Dynamic.
What makes it so exciting? Well imagine a situation where two classes need to do a test on two different periods in the same day. You would really like two separate versions of the test but that is not practical. Enter FX Dynamic.
FX Dynamic lets you create new versions of YOUR questions, potentially with fully worked solutions, at the push of a button. Everything can be updated – graphs, diagrams, equations. There are almost no limits to what you can produce.
FX Dynamic in action in FX Draw
If you are using Word on a Windows machine, we have added a button to the Efofex toolbar. One push, sit back, and in a few minutes you can have a completely new version of your test, worksheet or exam.
Best of all, FX Dynamic is included free as part of your FX Draw Tools subscription. Just download the latest version, take a look at the video below, and you are on your way – or alternatively, just wait for others to create FX Dynamic documents and push one button.
Efofex News 