The release of MultiDocs has created a lot of excitement and many schools want to start using the new system to its fullest. This week we released a collection of new videos that can be used to get you and your staff up to speed on the new systems.
The full set of videos are a comprehensive look at the new features and are likely to go further than you initially need. We recommend that you start at the beginning and work your way through them at a pace that suits you.
To begin with, take a look at our Introduction to MultiDocs video. This gives you a quick overview of what it can do and how to get started.
Once you have the basic idea, we recommend that you look at basic parameters and the inline calculator.
Once you have mastered the basic processes, there are other videos available on Multiple Choice questions, statistical data, more advanced parameters as well as how to move a school to the new system. Visit the MultiDocs video training page for more details.
We have released a new build of FX Draw Tools, specifically for anyone using the MultiDocs toolset.
The main change is that we have added a new Efofex MultiDocs app. This is a one-click way of starting both FX Draw and FX Equation, ready for use in a MultiDoc. Not only is this faster than the old, manual startup process, it also allows us to setup Word, FX Draw and FX Equation specifically for use in MultiDocs. This eliminates most issues users were having making the change.
You can still use the MultiDocs Edition to edit Classic Mode graphics and equations. This is not a one-way change.
If you are a Mac user, you will only have the choice of the MultiDocs edition. There are few changes that will affect you regardless of how you use it. If you want to use MultiDocs, run the Efofex MultiDocs app. If you are not using Microsoft Word and, hence, MultiDocs, you can still start FX Draw and FX Equation from your App Launcher.
If you are a Windows user, you can choose to download the Classic Mode Edition which operates as it always has. If you wish to use MultiDocs on Word (which we STRONGLY recommend) download the new MultiDocs Edition.
Moving From Classic Mode to MultiDocs
Just a reminder, MultiDocs includes a tool to help you move Classic Mode documents over to the new system. Moving to MultiDocs has no downside.
WIth the release of our new MultiDocs Edition of FX Draw Tools, we are also publishing a number of MultiDocs training videos. These provide the equivalent of a face-to-face training session in video form.
So far we have released two videos:
Introduction to MultiDocs (18 minutes) – This provides a quick introduction to the concepts and processes behind MultiDocs. It is an ideal introduction to use with all of your teachers.
Moving Your School To MultiDocs From Classic Mode (13 minutes). This video helps you work out a manageable action plan to move your existing Classic Mode documents over to the new MultiDocs systems.
The inline calculator has two new commands that calculator prime factors. The primefactors command returns a list of NUMBERS which you can access individually. The primefactorstring command creates a string that you can output directly.
{primefactorstring(75)} will produce…
whereas primefactors(75) will give you access to the individual prime factors which can be used in further calculations.
The full description of the commands can be found here:
We have added table and grid commands to the our equation tool. These can be used in FX Equation and FX Draw’s equation tool.
The table and grid commands operate in identical ways – the only difference is tables have lines and grids do not.
table(…) vrs grid(…)
Tables and grids can be nested within each other which creates a huge amount of flexibility in your layouts.
The table and grid commands are NOT intended to replace the full power of Word’s table editor but DO provide you with a lot of flexibility in how you format your output.
The full description of how to use tables and grids is available in our knowledge base.
FX Equation (and the equation tool in FX Draw) have a new Tally command that can be used to create graphics like this.
Produced with the command tally(17)
The command can be used in any equation and can be combined with parameters and/or tables to produce complicated output such as:
You can also use a second parameter with the tally command that limits how many groups are displayed on one line. For example the command tally(64,4) will produce this output.
We have been busy over the last few months, updating our products to run on the latest computers.
New 64 Bit Windows Versions.
We delayed moving to 64 bit versions of our products for many years as we waited for school technology to catch up. 64 bit computers are now just about universal so we have finally made the move. The new versions are faster and have fewer limitations that were forced on us by the old systems. For example, FX Draw now offers a 31cm by 43cm (slightly over A3) size drawing canvas whereas old 32 bit versions just managed a 30cm by 30cm canvas.
New Apple Silicon Versions
Our new Mac versions support both Intel chips and the new Apple M1/M2 chips natively. Anyone with a newer Mac will notice significant speed improvements with the newer versions.
The new versions, along with the many improvements we have made recently, mean that now is a good time to make sure that you are using the latest versions of our products.
We have added a new SelectFrom parameter type that simplifies the process of randomly selecting elements from a list or set.
$s=selectfrom($sourceparameter,number)
To use a SelectFrom parameter, you need to create a “source” parameter that contains the elements you wish to “select from”. The source parameter can be just about anything.
Once we have our source parameter, we can create a SelectFrom parameter
$s=selectfrom($d,5)
This command will randomly select five elements from $d. In this case, we will get back 5 cards from a deck.
One Trick – List All Elements
The SelectFrom command will select from listed values. Some parameters do not list all values automatically. For example,
$s=selectfrom($r,3)
will not produce the results you expect, because range parameters do not “list all values” automatically. To use the selectfrom command with range parameters (and other parameters which do not list all values), you need to list the values using references. The easiest way to do this is to use the $r[] notation.
$s=selectfrom($r[],3)
The addition of the square brackets will cause the range parameter to list all values and $s will contain 3 values selected from this list. You could have also typed something like $s=selectfrom($r[12,54],3) which would select from the 12th element through to the 54th element of the range list.
The SelectFrom parameter is an advanced parameter type that can make the creation of some question types much simpler.
The inline calculator automatically simplifies exact calculations. For example, if you have the display style set to Exa(ct), and perform the following calculation:
{1/4+1/6}
The calculator will return the simplified fraction 5/12
Often teachers do not want to simplify things immediately. Instead, they want to show the unsimplified version and then show the process of simplification. In other words, they would prefer to see 10/24. The new Uns display setting performs calculations without simplification.
Setting the Unsimplified Style
Using Unsimplified Results
We have added a new Simplify calculator command that allows you to manually simplify unsimplified results. For example, you might enter this:
The simplify command in action
The simplify command will only affect output when you are set to the Uns display style. The simplify command simplifies fractions – not algebra.
Probability
The Uns display style as created to address issues we experienced writing probability questions. Often, when writing solutions, we wanted an unsimplified version of the fraction to highlight the total number of possibilities on the denominator of the fraction. For example, if we had 100 students and were finding the probability that they took a bus to school, we might end up with a result of 36/100. Showing this is important, as is showing the simplified version of the fraction.
This did, however, create a difficulty! If the solution ended up being 36/100 we want to show the simplified 9/25. If the solution ended up being 37/100 we cannot simplify and would prefer to not show a redundant simplification.
The second line includes a redundant simplification!
The need to selectively show information depending on whether an expression can be simplified led to the final part of the new feature.
IfNotSimple
The IfNotSimple calculator command only outputs text if the input is not simple.
ifnotsimple(expression,”I need to be simplified!”)
This command, combined with Simplify, solves the probability problem.
IfNotSimple in action
Normally, these commands will be used on parameters rather than raw numbers.
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