User:Eml4500.f08.team.foskey.ckf/hw7b

Software used in creating the Wiki homework reports

The Need For Additional Software
Since the homework reports were not strictly text based, there was a need for additional software to create a full report. The software used can be broken down into three categories based on what the software was used for. These categories are text, images, and math equations.

Text
The bulk of the homework reports consisted of text. While most of the text was written directly into the edit area of a Wiki page, some of the text was created with the aid of other programs

AutoWikiBrowser
The AutoWikiBrowser program was downloaded by the group members to be used in creating the homework reports. The program was chosen because it was compatible with all operating systems and web browsers. However, no one in the group was able to figure out what the program was supposed to do. The program was 100% unhelpful for creating the homework reports, and the time spent trying to understand the program and make it work was time wasted.

Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word was used for some portions of the report where a significant amount of typing was required. Word works well as a word processor program, and has several helpful features, such as spelling and grammar check. This helped to reduce the amount of typing errors in the reports. Once the text was created in Word, it could be copied and pasted into the edit area of the Wiki page. A disadvantage with Word is that the formatting of the text (bold, underlining…) was not carried over in the pasting process because MediaWiki uses a different method for text formatting. Any text formatting had to be done manually in the edit area.

Images
A number of images were created for the homework reports. These images were created using several programs.

Paint
The Paint program was used because it is a very simple program to create basic figures. Most of the figures consisted of a few lines, arrows and some text labels. All of those can be created using Paint. A disadvantage to using Paint is that the images created are very simple and somewhat crude. It was the general consensus of the group, however, that the images effectively conveyed their meaning, and that the time and effort spent using a different program to create a high-quality image was unnecessary.

Microsoft Word
After using Paint for many of the initial drawings, it was found that one could create similar images but with better quality in Microsoft word using the draw command. These images could then be copied and pasted into a paint file to be turned into a JPEG file that could be uploaded on to Wikiversity.

Inkscape
This program is supposed to be used to make vector functions or images. However, it was too complex to be figured out to use without at least some guidance. It was then scrapped and used more basic tools instead.

MATLAB
MATLAB figures were created in most of the MATLAB assignments. These images were created directly by MATLAB in the coding of the assignments. These images were saved after they were created, and then uploaded like all of the images were.

Math Equations
A number of equations were written into the reports. These ranged from very simple equations, to complex matrices. It was possible to write these equations directly into the edit area if one knew the proper code syntax. This was convenient for simple equations, but became cumbersome for more involved equations.

LATEX
The Latex equation editor is a useful tool for people that needed to write out lengthy equations on Wikiversity. It was an especially helpful tool starting out because the math commands were unknown to us initially, and the correct commands could only be found after extensive searching.

Overall
Overall, the use of additional software was helpful for creating images, and for lengthy equations. Most of the text was typed directly into the edit area, as were some equations.