CIT 591 Using Blackboard
Fall 2001, David Matuszek

Note: We will not be making full use of Blackboard. Do not expect to see web pages, announcements, etc. here. We will post your assignment grades here, but it may take a little while to get around to it.

To turn in an assignment:

To "zip" files is to compress them into one small bundle. Blackboard lets you turn in one file per assignment, so you need to zip all your files up into one file.

Zip your files into one .zip file, using WinZip, FreeZip, Power Archiver, or some similar package. Give your zipped file some meaningful name. There are some very brief instructions below on how to zip files. I will be adding to these instructions as soon as I can.

Turn in all files related to your project. This includes all .java files, all compiled .class files, BlueJ's .pkg and .pkh files, etc. It's easiest for us if we can just open your project from inside BlueJ. We have a lot of programs to grade; we don't want to have to compile your files before we can use them.

Please do not turn in unrelated files, old versions, etc. Just give us the good stuff.

Next, go to https://courseweb.upenn.edu/courses/CIT591-2001C/ and log in using your usual name and password. Click the Student Tools button on the left. Click the Student Drop Box. (There's a Student Manual that you might look at when you have some free time.) Select your zip file, type a brief description in the "Name of Link to File" field, and click the Send File to Instructor button.

WinZip

If you have WinZip, you probably already know how to use it.

  1. Start up WinZip by double-clicking on the WinZip icon.
  2. Agree to the terms.
  3. Don't change the settings (click No) unless you want to.
  4. If WinZip starts up in WinZip Classic, then click the Wizard icon at the far right of the tool bar. If WinZip starts up in WinZip Wizard, don't do anything.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Choose Create a new Zip file and click Next.
  7. Either:
    1. Type in a name for your new zip file and click Next, or
    2. Click the Browse... button, then
      1. navigate until the directory shown at the top is where you want to put the new zip file
      2. type in a name for your new zip file
      3. click OK
      4. click Next
  8. Click Add folders...
  9. Select (but don't open) the folder containing the files you want to zip up (it should be selected and should have a + sign in front of it), and click OK.
  10. Click Zip Now
  11. Click Close.
  12. Use Blackboard to submit your new zip file to be graded.
PowerArchiver

All the labs have a zip utility installed called PowerArchiver. To create a zip file:

  1. Choose Start -> Network Software -> Power Archiver 6.11
  2. Choose File -> New Archive
  3. Navigate to where you want to create the archive, enter a name for the archive, hit OK.
  4. In the Add window that appears, navigate to the file or folder that you want to add, select it, and click the Add button.
  5. Wait until PowerArchiver finishes (it's very slow).
  6. If you want to add more files or folders,
    1. Under the Actions menu, choose Add.
    2. Navigate to the file or folder that you want to add, select it, and click the Add button.
    3. Wait.
  7. Close the PowerArchiver window.
FreeZip

There is a utility called FreeZip which is free, extremely fast, and much simpler to use than the others. Download it from http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/ or from any of your favorite software download sites.

To install FreeZip, double-click on the freezip.exe file and click Yes to accept the conditions. (You won't find better conditions anywhere!). FreeZip installs almost instantly.

There is one thing that I found very strange about the way FreeZip works. To run it, you right-click on a folder and choose Zip. FreeZip then zips up everything in the folder that you are in (not the one you just clicked on). For example, suppose you right-click on the folder named Version 3 and choose Zip:

This creates a file named Free.zip (which you should rename!). It contains, not just the Version 3 folder and its contents, but the entire contents of C:\Assignment--that is, Version 1, Version 2, Version 3, and test.html.

To check the contents of your new zip directory, right-click on it and choose ListZip.