Flink Word Games ProblemBuilder Authoring utility

• Project ID:

  781791

• Project Type:

  Fixed

• Budget:

  $250-$750 USD
  

Project Description:

The FlinkWords Games authoring ProductBuilder program consists of four nested procedures:
* ProductBuilder()
* CollectionBuilder()
* GameBuilder()
* ProblemBuilder()

The authoring utilities are designed to take two kinds of input:
1. The Product Configuration file (config.xml)
2. The Product Word List file (words.txt), created as a tab-delimited text file exported from Excel

The output of the authoring programs is a Problem Set file (problems.xml). The problem Set file and the Product Config file are bundled with the generic end-user app to create a specific product for a specific Partner Organization.

The process of creating the Problem Set file begins with ProductBuilder() reading config.xml for the information it needs:
* wordsTotal – the total number of words in the product
* collectionsTotal – the number of game collections in the product
* gameSize – the number of problems in a game
* grade – the grade level (for school products)

ProductBuilder() then calls CollectionBuilder(difficulty) collectionsTotal times, and creates the output file, problems.xml, containing the collections returned from CollectionBuilder(). Calls to CollectionBuilder() are passed the value EASY, MEDIUM, or HARD, to define the difficulty level of the games to be created. For any value of collectionsTotal, one third of the collections are created at each difficulty level.

CollectionBuilder() creates a series of “games”, that contains one problem for each word in words.txt. For example, if wordsTotal = 120 and gameSize = 24, CollectionBuilder() creates 120/24 = 5 games of the specified difficulty level. To do so, it reads in words.txt, randomizes the order of the words, and then calls GameBuilder(difficulty, wordSet[ ]) wordsTotal/gameSize (e.g., 120/24 = 5) times, passing it both the difficulty level and successive sets of gameSize (e.g., 24) words from the randomized list. As a result, one call to Collection Builder() leads to enough calls to GameBuilder that every word in words.txt has been passed once and only once. The collection is then returned to ProductBuilder().

GameBuilder() creates a series of problems, based on the difficulty level and words passed to it. It does so by calling ProblemBuilder(difficulty, word, activity) gameSize (e.g., 24) times, passing it the difficulty level, one word, and the type of problem to be constructed, known as an activity. The game is then returned to CollectionBuilder().

ProblemBuilder() then creates a problem. This is where the bulk of the work is done, and the bulk of the text below describes this function. After the problem is created, ProblemBuilder returns it to GameBuilder().

There are five types of problems, called activities. These involving providing the player with one or two strings of characters from which they must create a specific word. The activities differ in the rules governing how the letters in the string(s) can be manipulated. These rules in turn constrain how ProblemBuilder constructs the two strings.

At the heart of ProblemBuilder is the algorithm which controls the construction of the letter strings displayed in each problem. The algorithm, in turn, is controlled by is a set of letter parameters. Letter parameters define the number and classes of additional letters that are added to or removed from the word in constructing the problem (see below). Implementation of the algorithm must permit product authors (non-programmers) to easily set letter parameters in an external text file. This will be critical throughout beta testing, and will also make it possible to customize levels of difficulty for particular partners or school districts (who report back to us that, for example, the Easy level is too easy or too difficult).

For each problem, ProblemBuilder starts with a word. It then adds or removes letters to or form the word, may provide additional letters the player can add, and then may mix up the order of the letters. Each activity has its own rules for adding,

Skills required:

.NET, ASP, Electronic Forms, Javascript, Microsoft

Additional Files:

ProblemBuilderSpecs.pdf