The Automated Survey System ReadMe File

How it all works

The following images shows how this system works.

To set up this system on your webserver

To set this system up you will need to download the software and place it in the directory of your choice. Untar the file using the appropriate command for your machine (type man tar for the man page.)

The files

Type ls -l for a directory listing. Your directory should look similiar to the following (you may have to set the permissions manually--type man chmod for specifics on how to do this.)

-rw-r--r-- 1 epperson student 763 Dec 11 02:17 Home.html
drwxrwxrwx 2 epperson student 512 Dec 11 01:52 data
-rw-rw-rw- 1 epperson student 181 Dec 11 02:14 password.file
-rwxr-xr-x 1 epperson student 6373 Dec 10 23:12 setup
-rwxr-xr-x 1 epperson student 2611 Dec 11 01:55 submit.cgi
-rwxr-xr-x 1 epperson student 3364 Dec 11 02:18 survey.cgi

The Home.html file is the starting point for users taking surveys.
Your surveys and data files will be stored in the directory data directory when they are created using the setup program. (keep reading for information on this)
The password.file stores the survey codes and associated information.
The setup file is the program used to create surveys.
The survey.cgi and submit.cgi files are the workings of the system written in PERL.
Several things that should be changed to meet your system needs are:

• The files setup, survey.cgi and submit.cgi all have #!/usr/local/bin/perl as the first line. This should be changed to indicate the directory where PERL resides on your machine. If you are unsure of this please consult your system administrator.
• The file survey.cgi has two variable that should be set for your system. Using a text editor edit the 3rd line to reference your password file (the default will work unless you change password file names.) The fourth line should be edited to reference the system's administrator. Be sure to keep a '\' before the '@'.

The password file

The password file contains all of the data associated with a survey code. The included password.file contains two lines that must be deleted before use. The first line has a short description of each data field. The second line is an example. The lines should be deleted before use. The third line is used by the system and should not be deleted.

When a password is used the file is updated with a --password used-- added to the beginning of the record.

The password file is (and has to be) world readable so this system should not be used for secure or sensitive transactions.

The data files

The data files are created automatically in the ./data directory when you create a survey. The results are delimited by a ':' The first line in the data file will contain an explanation of the fields.

To Create a Survey

When prompted enter the title of your survey. This will be placed at the top of your HTML document.

Next, you will be prompted to enter the filename of the survey. Please remember not to enter an extension at the end of the file name. I recommend a filename length of 8 to 12 numerical or alphanumeric characters.

You will then be prompted to enter the number of questions in your survey.

For each question you will be prompted for the type of question to create. In this version there are two types:

• Yes/No Questions. Type "Y" to create Yes/No Questions. It is also possible for the user to answer N/A for this question type.

• Scalar Questions. Type "S" to create scaler questions. Scaled questions allow the user to enter anywhere from 1 to 10. With 1 being least important and 10 being most important. It is also possible for the user to answer N/A for this question type.

At this point you are prompted to enter the text description (the actual question) of each question and then the process will continue starting with the first step.

Once you have finished the text description of your last questions, your survey and the associated data file will be created.

If you have any questions regarding the use of this system you may contact Kevin Epperson via e-mail.