docx2bb is a tool for creating BlackBoard (bb) test questions (text) import file from a Microsoft Word *.docx document. Supported question types are: True/False, Multiple choice, Matching, Essay, and (simple) Fill in the blank. ExamFormat-Sample.docx shows a sample exam format for use with docx2bb. Unicode-to-ASCII replacement rules from 'docx2bb.json' data file can be optionally applied.
docx2bb includes three components:
- docx2bb_lib - library including the conversion logic
- docx2bb - command line interface (cli)
- docx2bb_web - website interface
An important design principle for docx2bb was that it's input (MS-word docx) file must not look different from a key solution exam. this way a specifically prepared exam key solution document can be processed by docx2bb and a import text file results, reducing the number of steps and files necessary to manage the exam automation process.
docx2bb can be installed as a python3 package:
- Clone the project's repository or download its zip file from github.com
- Unzip the file to a folder on your hard drive and rename the resulting folder to 'docx2bb'
- Install the python package and start it
git clone https://github.com/SinanSalman/docx2bb.git
cd docx2bb
pip install .
./srart.sh
The source distribution contains Python, JavaScript, CSS, HTML code. The code also makes use of several libraries including Python-Flask, jQuery, and python-docx.
Code submissions are greatly appreciated and highly encouraged. Please send fixes, enhancements, etc. to SinanSalman at GitHub or sinan[dot]salman[at]zu[dot]ac[dot]ae.
docx2bb is released under the GPLv3 license, which is available at GNU
docx2bb is provided with no warranties, use it if you find it useful. docx2bb is designed to keep your *.docx document unchanged, but the author assumes no liabilities from use of this tool, including if it eats your exam ;).
2016-2019 Sinan Salman, PhD
- Feb 24th, 2019 0.21 changed shebang to #!/usr/bin/env python to use python in $PATH
- Sep 28th, 2017 0.20 initial web interface release and move to github
- Sep 20th, 2017 0.17 fixed bug with single answer FIB identified as ESS
- Mar 07th, 2017 0.16 added tabs and ... to the list of replaced characters
- Feb 13th, 2017 0.15 fixed Q beg/end bug
- Nov 29th, 2016 0.14 fixed minor py2.7 file open compatibility issue (JSON). Cleanup in prep for pyinstall packaging
- Nov 17th, 2016 0.13 add default values for unicode2ascii replacements even if docx2bb.jason file is absent
- Nov 07th, 2016 0.12 add PageBreak elimination logic, fix line id reporting in verbose, and made T/F RegEx substitution case insensitive
- Oct 29th, 2016 0.11 fix outline level identification issue
- Oct 27th, 2016 0.10 initial release on bitbucket