Finding Cheaters

[paul.burgener]

Instructors-

You got any fast ways for finding copied CAD files among students?

I do a LIST on a specific line or arc, and copy/paste the Handle of the object into a piece of text, on a non-plotting layer (like Viewports). Once I've got the handle identified in all studetn files, I can quickly toggle among the open files, checking one by one, for redundant handles. Takes a long time, I'll admit. I'll close each drawing once I've <Ctrol> <Tab>ed through all the other drawings, thus reducing the number to toggle among as I check for redundant handles.

Years ago Reini Urban (sp?) had a program that would check the TDCREATE exact time and date that the CAD file was created. I used to catch cheaters that way, but there wasn't enough users for Reini to justify updating it for the R13 file format and later (I might have been the only one). It would analyse an entire folder of student files at once. Very fast.

Both of these ways above can be defeated, of course, but Intro students don't know how.

Anyone got other idears to check for copied files?

-Paul

[JASONM30395]

This is from the AutoCAD help file.

Have them submit a log at the end of each day or at the end of the project, or redirect the log file to your station over the network if you don't want them to know your watching.


Command line: logfileon

AutoCAD records the text window contents in the log file until you exit AutoCAD or use the LOGFILEOFF command.
You can also control the log file with the OPTIONS command. Use the Maintain a Log File option on the Open and Save tab in the Options dialog box to turn the log file off and on. Use the Files tab to change the location of the log file.
Each drawing saves a log file (with the extension .log) that may need periodic editing or deletion as the log file continues to grow.

SEE ALSO

Commands

LOGFILEOFF closes the log file. OPTIONS changes AutoCAD environment settings.

System Variables

LOGFILEMODE specifies whether the contents of the text window are written to a log file. LOGFILENAME specifies the path for the log file.



P.S.
You can also use this option to see if you need to write a few LISP/script routines for your more commonly used series of commands

[Ed Jobe]

I'm not an instructor, but I seem to remember a discussion awhile back on the guilds. What about a scheme where, you have a program running in the background watching the New command. Each time a new dwg is created, you stamp an xrecord with the creator's name. Then you can watch commands like copy, insert, xref and compare the creator's names. You could cancel the command if they were different or mark another xrecord with the name of the other student that provided the work to copy from and catch it when they turn in the work. If you create it as a vb dll and load it at startup, they can't alter the code either.

[arcadia_x27]

Although most virus scanners will detect it, My father taught high school AutoCAD and used the hacker program backorfice to monitor all his students, not only to tell if somone was cheating by having it log all their key strokes, but by also being able to tell what programs they had open and whether they were acessing things they shouldnt be (like internet chat sites stuff like that). he just had the virus scanner in his CAD lab ignore the backorfice trojan file.

[Ms. Serene]

I thought that as of AutoCad 2004 (I think) that AutoDesk had included accountablility software. This software was supposed to document the who, what, and when a drawing was created or changed. I remember this from an update course given through AutoDesk, but haven't got a chance to use it because not many companies that I worked for have upgraded from 2002. I also know that Microstation V8 has this software also, but they took it a bit further. On theirs you can actually recall the data from the previous dates.

[kfrost]

I set the units to 6 decimal places and check a few (4-8) points or create dimensions on each drawing with the student in front of me. I know two or more people cannot place data on the exact spot to the millionth of an inch. It's not DNA but it proves the point. One normally confesses at that point and the jigs up. As we are on a network the old "I must have inadvertently brought up the wrong drawing file does not cut it either. This may happen rarely in a beginning CAD class but not there after.