We created this is the exam template originally for the Institute of Software Engineering and Programming Languages at the University of Ulm, composed in the single file exam.cls (supplementary images are located in img/). See the CHANGELOG.md for a list of changes.
If you encounter any problem, please write me an email or open a new issue!
There are just a handful of steps required to get started. You can inspect the CI output to see the PDFs produced.
-
Within your repository, navigate to wherever you want to create your exam.
The following examples will assume that the folder is empty (but this is not required). -
Retrieve the respective submodule.
-
With SSH:
$ git submodule add git@spgit.informatik.uni-ulm.de:teaching/templates/exam.git template
-
With HTTPS:
$ git submodule add https://github.com/Fancy-Templates/latex-exam.git template
Now, there should be a new folder
templatethat contains the exam template:+ / | - template/ | | - exam.cls | | - ...If you have never worked with submodules, cloning with the
--recursiveflag is usually sufficient. -
-
(optional) Create a folder for your first exam (e.g., "exam1").
$ mkdir exam1
Now, your folder structure should look like this:
+ / | - exam1/ | - template/ | | - exam.cls | | - ...Although this is technically just required if you want to create multiple exams for your lecture, it is probably best to plan ahead.
-
Setup the default exam structure
Copy at least
template/exam.tex,template/solution.tex, andtemplate/correction.texto your exam folder (or create them from scratch) as you probably want to modify them anyway. Besides, create a new foldertasks(or copy the one from the template)$ cp template/exam.tex template/solution.tex template/correction.tex exam1/ $ cp -r template/tasks exam1/
If you use
latexmkyou can copy the .latexmkrc file as well.Now, your folder structure should look like this:
+ / | - exam1/ | | - tasks/ | | | - ... | | - exam.tex | | - solution.tex | | - correction.tex | - template/ | | - exam.cls | | - ...With this, the main exam lives in the
exam.tex, while the tasks live in thetasksfolder. Your exam/project now resides in theexam1folder. -
Configure the exam
See configuring the exam for more information on the options.
Within the
exam.tex, you first have to include the correct document class, by specifying the correct path to the template (which should do most of the magic from there by adding important paths to TeX's default input list (input@path)). If you changed nothing in the steps before, the template should check automatically, if../template/exam.clsis present. Otherwise, make sure to give the correct relative path here.
If you want to just get started, and you are in an empty directory, the following commands should work for you:
git submodule add https://github.com/Fancy-Templates/latex-exam.git template
mkdir exam1
cp template/exam.tex template/solution.tex template/correction.tex exam1/
cp -r template/tasks exam1/
# configure exam1/exam.tex...If you want to update the template, you can use the following command:
git submodule update --remote --merge <path/to/the/submodule>For example:
git submodule update --remote --merge templateOmitting the path will update all your submodules.
-
The template requires two compilations to correctly calculate all points
-
For each desired version (exam, solution, correction), you need to create a separate file (see exam modes for more information on the modes) like this, but can make
exam.texthe default one:\PassOptionsToClass{solution}{exam} \input{exam.tex}
-
This repository contains a .latexmkrc file that can be used with
latexmk. -
You can naturally label and reference tasks and (sub-)tasks using
\label{<name>}and\ref{<name>}/\autoref{<name>}. -
The layout is currently designed for exams in German but translation should be relatively trivial.
-
If you want, you can use the .gitlab-ci.yml file to automatically let the CI build the PDFs of your exam for you if you use GitLab.
Essentially, there are three main modes that you can load the template with:
\documentclass[exam]{exam}: This is the default mode. It hides all solutions and additional hints for corrections.\documentclass[solution]{exam}: This mode shows all solutions.\documentclass[correction]{exam}: This mode shows all solutions and additional hints for corrections.
Besides the mode, you can pass code to automatically set up minted and rounded to use rounded boxes instead of the default ones (this, however, loads TikZ).
If you want students to provide a codeword so they can see their score earlier, use the codeword option.
Instead of passing the options directly to the document class,
we use \PassOptionsToClass{exam}{exam} to pass the options to the document class (this simplifies the files that we create per-mode).
There are plenty of configuration options, but only a few of them are required (and if you fail to provide them, they are displayed quite prominently in the layout and shown as an error). We show example definitions for all required options below:
\examnumber{1} % first exam, second, ...?
\examname{Funktionale Programmierung} % name of the exam/lecture
\examiner{Florian Sihler, Alexander Raschke} % name of the examiner(s)
\semester{Winter} % summer or wintersemester?
\semesteryear{2023/24} % year of the semester
\date{12. März 2024} % date of the exam
\starttime{9:00 Uhr} % time of the exam
\duration{90} % allowed duration in minutes
% information regarding the permitted material
\permittedmaterial{\allowhandwrittensheet}
% alternatively: \allowcheatsheet, \allownothing, or free text
% \onnotenoughspace{Wenn Sie mehr Platz benötigen, verwenden Sie zuerst die Rückseiten der Blätter.} % what to do if someone has not enough spaceBesides these, there are probably just two or three more options that you are potentially interested in:
% This allows to add more information to the cover page
\morehints{
\item Consider to avoid cheating, please!
}
% this allows to set the given image inside the stamp rectangle on the cover page
\framedcoverimage{img/nilpferd}
% allows you to freely add lines to the points table
\addtopointstable{\notenbonus}
% \addtopointstable{\nachkorrektur\and\notenbonus}, \addtopointstable{Intersting free text}
% can be given multiple times if more than one line is desired/requiredIf you really want to know about what you can configure besides that, you can take a look at the source code. Every \fancy@make@cmd{<name>}{<default value>} indicates a configuration option that you can set via \<name>{<new value>}. For example, you can overwrite the institute like this:
\institute{Fluffy Penguins Research Center}If you want to forbid the students to remove the additional sheets (if there are any), you can use:
\additionalsheets{Die Zusatzblätter dürfen \textbf{nicht} herausgelöst werden.}After loading the class and configuring the exam, your document may have the following basic structure:
\begin{document}
% Typeset the coverpage
\maketitle
% ... (tasks)
% This is optional and only required if you have additional pages.
% For example, to repeat definitions.
\appendix
% ... (optional additional pages)
\end{document}Most of the time you are probably fine with one of the following two forms. You can create an task with a single task (i.e., no subtasks) like this:
% This task has 7 points
\begin{task}[7]{Eine interessante Aufgabe}
Eine interessante Aufgabenbeschreibung
% ... (solutions)
\end{task}If you want subtasks, you can add them like this (see below for free-form subtasks): `
% \begin{task}[7]{Eine interessante Aufgabe}
\begin{task}{Eine interessante Aufgabe}
Eine interessante Aufgabenbeschreibung
\begin{subtasks}
\subtask{1} Eine Teilaufgabe
% ... (solutions)
\subtask{2} Eine weitere Teilaufgabe
\subtask{4} Eine letzte Teilaufgabe
\end{subtasks}
\end{task}You can combine the optional argument with the subtasks as well, as indicated by the comment. In this scenario, the template will automatically check if the sum of the subtasks is equal to the given/expected points (i.e., it issues a warning and provides a visual hint if the points are not equal). Use this as a safeguard if, for whatever reason, a task has to have a fixed number of points.
See conditional content for how to present solutions.
If your task requires a radio- or checkbox, you can use the following environments. Within them \correct can be used to mark the respective (correct) answer(s):
\begin{radioboxes}
\item Antwortmöglichkeit 1
\item Antwortmöglichkeit 2
\correct Antwortmöglichkeit 3
\item Antwortmöglichkeit 4
\end{radioboxes}
\begin{checkboxes}
\correct Antwortmöglichkeit 1
\item Antwortmöglichkeit 2
\correct Antwortmöglichkeit 3
\correct Antwortmöglichkeit 4
\end{checkboxes}The \VerticalSpace inserts effectively a \vfill in the exam mode (and therefore just creates blank vertical space for the students to write). An optional argument allows to (relatively) weigh the space against other \VerticalSpace commands. For example, if you use \VerticalSpace[2] and \VerticalSpace, the first one will be twice as large as the second one.
Besides a unit-less number, you can use a unit that TeX can understand to get a fixed space: \VerticalSpace[2cm] creates a 2cm space.
For a fill-in-the-blank answer, the \StudentLine{<solution>} macro will effectively use the remaining space on a line (use \StudentLine[<width>]{<solution>} to limit the width) and set a placeholder for the student to write in. The given solution is added in the solution mode.
You can use the \IndentGuides{<height>} macro to create vertical lines (of length <height>) as indent guides. For example \IndentGuides{5cm} creates 5cm long lines.
You can use an optional argument if you are not satisfied with the number of lines presented. So \IndentGuides[4]{5cm} creates 4 lines of 5cm length.
The default distance can be changed with \IndentGuidesDistance{<distance>}. The default color can be changed using \IndentGuidesColor{<color-name>} (e.g., \IndentGuidesColor{green}).
If you pass the document-class option code to the exam class, it will set up minted for you. Now, you can use minted to present code to your liking:
\begin{minted}{java}
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello World!");
}
}
\end{minted}As an optional argument, you can (next to all the other keys known from minted) pass numbered to get indented line numbers (numbered accepts an argument which controls the amount of the indent):
% or \begin{minted}[numbered=2em]{java}
\begin{minted}[numbered]{java}
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello World!");
}
}
\end{minted}If you, for example for layout reasons, want to indent your code, you can pass the autogobble option to minted to remove leading whitespace:
This is code:
\begin{minted}[autogobble,numbered]{java}
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello World!");
}
}
\end{minted}Additionally, we provide several inline macros that can be used to write code for common languages:
\java{System.out.println("Hello Java!");}
\ts{console.log("Hello TypeScript!");}
\js{console.log("Hello JavaScript!");}
\haskell{main = putStrLn "Hello Haskell!"}
\prolog{main :- write('Hello Prolog!'), nl.}
\css{body:before { content: "Hello CSS"; }}
\xml{<hello>XML</hello>}
\html{<html><body>Hello HTML!</body></html>}You can use the examples environment to present examples (e.g., for each subtask). The environment will automatically detect the number of examples and use the phrase Beispiel or Beispiele accordingly (yet, similarly to the point calculation, this requires a second run).
\begin{examples}
\item \texttt{1 + 1} sollte \texttt{2} ergeben
\item \texttt{AnnA} ist ein Palindrom
\end{examples}If you want to have a different text above the list, you can use the optional argument (the number of examples is stored in \examplescount):
\begin{examples}[Hier ein \ifnum\examplescount=1 Beispiel\else paar Beispiele\fi:]
\item \texttt{1 + 1} sollte \texttt{2} ergeben
\item \texttt{AnnA} ist ein Palindrom
\end{examples}Besides the tasks environment, you can use \Subtask{<points>} to create a subtask with a given number of points. The starred version \Subtask*{<points>} does not add a points box in the margin and therefore (theoretically) allows you to layout your tasks freely.
We recommend, that you create a separate file for each task, including it using \input{<filename>} or \include{<filename>}.
This not only allows easier re-use and -order tasks but also keeps the main file clean and readable.
Even though we allow for a lot of flexible constructs behind the scenes, you are probably fine with using only two environments.
The solution and correction environment can, theoretically cause compilation fail. Please report an issue (including the MWE). If needed, see conditional content for a potential (emergency) workaround.
\ifexam
Dieser Text erscheint nur in der Klausur, nicht in den Lösungen.
\fi
\begin{solution}
Dieser Text erscheint nur in den Lösungen, in einer Lösungsbox, nicht in der Klausur (zudem wird er hier in einen entsprechenden Block gefasst). Analog, existiert die `correction` Umgebung.
\end{solution}Similarly, you can use the correction environment to create a correction block which explains your grading scheme to the correctors.
\begin{correction}
Hier können Angaben zum Korrekturschema stehen.
\end{correction}There are three switches you can use: \ifexam, \ifsolution, and \ifcorrection, active in the respective modes (keep in mind, that correction implies solution). You can use them like this:
\ifsolution
Dieser Text erscheint nur in den Lösungen, nicht in der Klausur.
\else
Dieser Text erscheint in allen anderen Modi.
\fiInternally, the color of solution text is guided by \SolutionColor{<color-name>}. You can use this to change the color of the solution text (e.g., \SolutionColor{red}).
If you, for whatever reason want to mark something as part of the solution, you can use the \solutionstyle macro (although this is independent of any \ifsolution environment, for flexibility).
If compilation is too slow for you, you can create a format file and use that instead:
$ etex -shell-escape -ini -initialize -save-size=20000 -stack-size=20000 -jobname="fancy-class-exam-fmt" "&pdflatex" mylatexformat.ltx """exam.tex"""
# issue this twice
$ pdflatex -jobname exam -fmt fancy-class-exam-fmt -shell-escape exam.texYou may be able to drop the -shell-escape flags (if your exam does not require them).
However, please do not forget to re-create the format file if you change the template or any other configuration in the preamble.