Most of the time issues with the application or server will manifest during the startup of the application. Application always shows the startup screen where the error messages are displayed if an error occur. User is given an option to Retry the operation so it is possible for the recoverable errors to be resolved.
Roles
[User] - Examiner, Marshall, Student using application to enter the marks, take an exam and so on.
[Admin] - Certain tasks (usually troubleshooting) are protected by the Administrator password, we refer to the user performing those tasks as Admin
In order to provide support Fry-IT may ask you to provide diagnostic information such as iOS version, Practique for iPad application version and so on, these are accessible via Application details, see screenshot.
To access Application Details
Application Details information
If the iPad is connected to the Wi-Fi network there is a Wi-Fi signal strength icon in the top left corner of the screen otherwise iPad is not connected to the Wi-Fi network.
It is normal for an iPad to drop the Wi-Fi connection especially if device is moving from room to room or building to building as the signal strength will fluctuate. The iPad should, and most of the time will reconnect to the Wi-Fi automatically as it will periodically search for the Wi-Fi access points and connect to the one with the strongest signal. As of iOS8 there was an issue with the re-connection algorithm Apple used which resulted in the situation called "sticky clients", this means that the iPad will hold onto the access point despite its signal is already very weak (as you move away from the access point) instead of quickly jumping to the next access point with the stronger signal. This is normal and can be mitigated by access point settings, please contact your IT department.
If you encounter problems with the Wi-Fi connection on your iPad please try following steps to reconnect
Practique application keeps persistent connection between the iPad and server. When this connection is broken for any reason iPad will display this notification message. Before you continue with more troubleshooting please check “iPad is not connected to the Wi-Fi” section first.
Application uses active ping mechanism to make sure it’s connection to the server is fresh and live. Active ping sends tiny piece of information to the server every 5 seconds and requires server to respond within 5 seconds. If server does not respond, Practique application will tear down its connection to the server and schedules an automatic reconnection in random intervals up to 5 seconds. It will keep trying to connect to the server until connection is established.
The reasons why the connection can be broken include:
Examiner’s marks are always stored on the iPad. This is done while an Examiner is marking as well as at the point of the mark sheet submission. When an Examiner submits marks, the application adds submitted marks to the synchronisation queue, marks are then automatically synchronised to the server. There may be cases where synchronisation may not be possible at the time of submission. When a synchronisation error occurs, you may try to force synchronisation using the following steps.
There are pending messages and exchange status is 'Failed'. [Admin] Use Delete pending messages button to clear pending messages in the queue. You will need to know you Practique for iPad administrative password.
Make sure marks has been extracted before using "Delete pending messages" from the iPad otherwise this action may lead to potential irreversible data loss! |
The Practique Server allows only approved devices to communicate with it for security reasons. Devices which have not been approved by the administrators in the Device management section on the the Practique server will be declined communication attempts.
Guided or Single Application Mode is enabled, contact Administrator to unlock the iPad. You can verify if this is a case using Application details > Single Application Mode will be Yes or No.
There may be case that exam team observes errors on the marksheet just before the exam or during the exam (usually reported by Examiners). In such cases the best course of action is to use paper to collect the missing/correct information and process it after the exam finishes using tools for mark adjustment in Practique Server.