dscproblemset.cls
A document class for creating problem sets (exams, homeworks, worksheets, etc.). Defines commands and environments for writing problems, solutions (which can be hidden or shown at the flip of a switch), and designated answer areas, such as multiple choices and response boxes.
Basic Usage
To use the class, write \documentclass{dscproblemset} at the top of your
document.
Within the document, write each problem within a prob environment, themselves
nested within a probset environment. Solutions to problems should be placed
in soln environments.
A minimal example:
\documentclass{dscproblemset}
\begin{document}
\begin{probset}
\begin{prob}
This is the first problem.
\begin{soln}
This is its solution.
\end{soln}
\end{prob}
\begin{prob}
This is the second problem.
\begin{soln}
This is its solution.
\end{soln}
\end{prob}
\end{probset}
\end{document}
Homeworks vs. Exams
Homeworks and exams are both "problem sets", and this document class can be used to create either.
Homeworks
Not much special needs to be done for homeworks. Perhaps the main difference
between a homework and an exam is on the formatting of the title and
instructions. For a homework, a minimal title is preferable; this can be
created with \pstitle:
Signature: \pstitle{<course name>}{<assignment name>}[<due date>]
Exams
The class provides functionality that is especially useful for exam writing, including the ability to have multiple versions, formatting a title page, and adding empty scratch pages.
Exams are also more likely to use designated response areas; these are described in the Designated Response Areas section below.
Versioning
It can be useful to have different, but similar versions of an exam. For example, you might want students who sit next to one another to have different exam versions with slightly different problems (or problems in a different order).
To help with exam versioning, this class provides a \onlyversion command that
can be used to conditionally execute code based on the exam version. For
example:
To set the exam's version, write \def\version{<version>} at the top of the
document. For example, the following code produces "This is Version A":
On the other hand, changing the first line to \def\version{B} would produce
"This is Version B".
You can create as many exam versions as you like (or just one).
An alternative way to specify the exam is to specify the value of \version
during compilation. This will depend on the LaTeX compiler you are using, but
many support the -usepretex command line argument. This argument can be used
to define a macro at compile time. For example, to compile the document with
\version set to "A", you might write:
If this is done, the \def\version{<version>} line at the top of the document
should be removed, as it will override the value set at compile time.
Formatting a Front Page
Use \examfrontpage to generate an exam front page. The full signature is:
This will make areas for student name, the exam taker's signature, the signature of the test takers adjacent to the student, etc. If the exam is versioned, the version will appear, as will a place to write the exam version of the students seated on the left and right.
If the \version macro is not defined, the exam version will not appear on the
front page.
By default, there are boxes for the adjacent students to place their printed
name and signature. You may change this section of the front page by redefining
the \adjacentstudents command. In particular, if you want to remove it altogether, you can write:
This should be placed before the call to \examfrontpage.
Name Areas
\nameoneverypage{} can be used to display an area where students can write
their name on every page.
Scratch Pages
\scratchpage{} will generate an empty page (except for an instruction that says that
the page is intentionally empty).
\scratchpagedetach{} also generates an empty page for scratch work, but its message
says that the page is OK to remove from the exam.
Problem Environments
Problems
Groups of problems should be defined within a probset environment.
Individual problems are defined within prob environments within the probset.
For example:
\begin{probset}
\begin{prob}
This is the first problem.
\end{prob}
\begin{prob}
This is the second.
\end{prob}
\end{probset}
Problems are numbered automatically. An optional description can be provided:
Programming problems can be defined with the progprob environment.
Programming problems are numbered on a different counter than normal problems.
Subproblems
Multiple subproblems can be definined within a subprobset environment (itself
placed within a prob environment. The individual subproblems should be placed
within subprob environments. For example:
\begin{prob}
This is a problem with several subparts.
\begin{subprobset}
\begin{subprob}
Part One.
\end{subprob}
\begin{subprob}
Part Two.
\end{subprob}
\end{subprobset}
\end{prob}
Solutions
Solutions to a problem should be placed with a soln environment (itself
placed within a prob or subprob. Its contents can be hidden or shown by
writing either \showsolntrue or \showsolnfalse after
\usepackage{dscproblemset}.
Example:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{dscproblemset}
% solutions will be hidden unless this is changed to \showsolntrue
\showsolnfalse
\begin{document}
\begin{probset}
\begin{prob}
\begin{soln}
This is the secret answer.
\end{soln}
\end{prob}
\end{probset}
\end{document}
You can do things conditioned on whether or not solutions are shown using \ifshowsoln.
For example, to force a new page, but only in the solution document, write:
Designated Response Areas
This package also provides tools for drawing designated response areas, such as those on a quiz or exam that will be scanned and graded.
Response Boxes
A blank response box can be drawn using the responsebox environment. The
single argument to this environment is a size determining the height of the
box. The contents of the environment are hidden when \ifshowsoln is false,
and are shown otherwise.
Example:
\begin{prob}
What is the meaning of life?
\begin{responsebox}{3in}
This is the solution.
\end{responsebox}
\end{prob}
Inline Response Boxes
Inline response boxes for short answer questions can be drawn with \inlineresponsebox.
The signature is:
\inlineresponsebox[<width>][<height>]{<solution>}
The default width is 1.5 inches, and the default height is 3.25 em.
Example:
The default widths and heights can be overridden by changing the values of
\inlineresponseboxwidth and \inlineresponseboxheight:
Multiple Choices
Multiple choice bubbles can be drawn with the choices environment:
\begin{prob}
What is the capital of California?
\begin{choices}
\choice Los Angeles
\choice San Francisco
\correctchoice Sacramento
\choice San Diego
\end{choices}
\end{prob}
The correct bubble is shaded when \ifshownsoln is true, and is unmarked otherwise.
The shape of the choice bubble can be altered with an optional argument to the choices environment. The shape can be any valid TiKZ node shape:
Choose all that apply:
\begin{choices}[rectangle]
\choice alpha
\correctchoice beta
\choice gamma
\choice delta
\end{choices}
If desired, individual bubbles can be drawn outside of a choices environment using the
\bubble{<text>} and \correctbubble{<text>} commands.
True/False
True/False response areas can be drawn with \Tf (if True is the correct
response) and \tF (if False is the correct response). Like with choices,
the correct choice is shaded if solutions are being shown.
Other Commands
\inputproblem
A helper function for including a problem located in a subdirectory. Assumes
that the problem is containing in a file names problem.tex within a directory
named after the problem, itself within a directory called problems.
Signature: \inputproblem[<description>]{<problem name>}
Example: to include the problem defined in
problems/time-complexity/problem.tex, write \inputproblem{time-complexity}.
Compile-time Solution Hiding
As described above, showing or hiding the solutions can be done by setting
\showsolntrue or \showsolnfalse after \usepackage{dscproblemset}.
However, there are some cases in which we'd like to show or hide solutions at
compile time (e.g., in a Makefile that builds both the version with solutions
and that without).
To facilitate this, this package looks for a macro named \hidesoln. If this
name exists, \showsolnfalse is set. Otherwise, \showsolntrue is set by
default.
This mechanism facilitates compile-time automation because macros can be
defined at the command line with most LaTeX compilers using the -usepretex
argument. For example:
Configuration
The spacing between problems and subproblems can be changed by redefining the commands
\probsep and \subprobsep. Their default definitions are:
% separation between problems
\newcommand{\probsep}{0.5cm}
% separation between subproblems
\newcommand{\subprobsep}{.25cm}
By default, programming problems are labeled, e.g., "Problem 1.", and
programming problems are labeled "Programming Problem 1.". The text that
appears before the number can be controlled by redefining \probtext and
\progprobtext.
Example
\documentclass{dscproblemset}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
% change to \showsolntrue to show solutions
\showsolnfalse
% determine the exam's version
\def\version{Z}
\begin{document}
\examfrontpage{
DSC 40B
}{
Midterm 01
}{
December 21, 2022
}{
Instructions: do not cheat.
}
\nameoneverypage{}
\begin{probset}
\begin{prob}
This is the first problem in the homework.
\begin{soln}
This is the solution.
\end{soln}
\end{prob}
\begin{prob}
This is a problem with several subparts.
\begin{subprobset}
\begin{subprob}
Part One.
\end{subprob}
\begin{subprob}
Part Two.
\end{subprob}
\end{subprobset}
\end{prob}
\begin{prob}[(Optional descriptions can be provided)]
Designated response areas can be drawn.
\begin{responsebox}{2in}
And solutions can be placed inside.
\end{responsebox}
\end{prob}
\begin{prob}
They can be inline response areas, too:
First name: \inlineresponsebox[2in]{testing}
Last name: \inlineresponsebox[2in]{this}
\end{prob}
\newpage
\begin{prob}
Multiple choice questions are supported.
\begin{choices}
\choice alpha
\correctchoice beta
\choice gamma
\choice delta
\end{choices}
The choice bubble's shape can be changed to any valid
TiKZ node shape, such as ``rectangle'':
\begin{choices}[rectangle]
\choice alpha
\correctchoice beta
\choice gamma
\choice delta
\end{choices}
\end{prob}
\begin{prob}
As are True/False questions.
\Tf{}
\end{prob}
% redefine the text that appears before the problem number
\renewcommand{\progprobtext}{Coding Problem}
\begin{progprob}
This is a programming problem; it is numbered on a different counter.
\bubble{test}
\end{progprob}
\end{probset}
\scratchpage{}
\end{document}