MicroTest Pro is available for both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. The program has been developed in such a way that files created on one platform can be moved to another platform. Question bank and test files can be transferred and utilized on both platforms. Some care must be taken if you plan to move these files between platforms because of implicit differences between the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. These differences fall into four major categories: Fonts, Graphics, File Names and Attributes.

Fonts

If you plan to move your files between platforms, use a font that exists on both Macintosh and Windows. We recommend that you test the fonts you want to use by creating a sample question bank that can be viewed on both platforms. If MicroTest Pro encounters a font that it cannot recognize, it will attempt to find its closest match.

Graphics

When pasting graphics into MicroTest Pro, the program uses a format best suited to the platform on which it was created. The Macintosh file format default is the PICT format, and Windows creates a Windows MetaFile. These formats will provide the best quality reproduction for printed tests.

NOTE: These file format defaults are platform specific and cannot be read by both platforms. If the Macintosh version of MicroTest Pro attempts to open a MetaFile, an ‘X’ corresponding to the size of the image is displayed instead. The same will occur if the Window version of MicroTest Pro attempts to open a Macintosh PICT file.

If you plan to move questions with graphics between platforms, we recommend that you paste your graphics in ‘Cross Platform Format.’ Before pasting your graphics into MicroTest Pro, from the Edit menu, choose Question Layout, and then choose General Layout. From the General Layout Options dialog, select the “Store Graphics in Cross Platform Format” checkbox. MicroTest Pro will then automatically store graphics as Device Independent Bitmap (‘DIB’) files.

NOTE: If you have a previously created question bank that contains graphs that were pasted without the Store Graphics in Cross Platform Format box marked, you can mark the box and copy and paste the graphs again. You may find that these files do not reproduce with the same quality as the PICT files or MetaFiles.

File Names

If you want to move files from one platform to another, we recommend that you create file names that both platforms can read. You will find that this applies when you move files from the Macintosh to a Windows system. We recommend adhering to the following guidelines:

1. Punctuation marks, or special characters cannot be used.
2. File extensions should not be added. In addition, do not delete extensions generated by MicroTest Pro. For example, MicroTest Pro uses .1, .i and .tst to identify question bank files and test files.

Attributes

Files moved from Windows to the Macintosh contain icons that are Windows specific. The ‘Type’ and ‘Creator’ codes assigned by the Macintosh operating system control these icons. If you are not familiar with modifying these codes, we recommend that you research commercial or shareware products that can assist you. Type and creator codes for MicroTest Pro are as follows:

File Type         Type Code / Creator Code

Question Bank Index (*.I):    Bndx / MSDB

Question Bank Data (*.1):    BOOK / MSDB

Test Files (*.tst):        TEST / MSDB

Virtual Resource Files (*.vrf):  VRF[space] / MSDB