Frequently Asked Questions

This is a collection of frequently asked questions and their answers about our courseware packages.

General

Windows

Linux

Software Questions

Installing the software

Boole

Submit and the Grade Grinder

Submit and the Grade Grinder for Students

Submit and the Grade Grinder for Instructors


General

Q. How do I get your software?

A.  Our software is only available to purchasers of our courseware packages.

Q. OK so how do I get your courseware packages?

A.  All of our packages may be bought directly from our publisher, or from good bookstores (click or brick).

Q.  What version is my program?

A.  To find the version of a program:
When a program is started,
its "about window" (sometimes called a "splash screen") is displayed briefly.

The version information is located in the bottom right corner.

In Windows, while a program is running,
going to the Help menu and selecting the About... menuitem, should open an "about window".

On a Macintosh, while a program is running,
going to the application menu and selecting the About... menuitem, should open an "about window".

Windows

Q.  What is the "Windows Key"?

A.  Most PC keyboards have a "Windows key" (also known as the "Windows-logo key"), and it's usually located in the bottom-right of the keyboard, between the Control/Ctrl and Alt keys.

The Windows key operates analogouly to a Shift, Control/Ctrl, or Alt key. That is, to press "Windows-r" (written also as "Windows+r"), which is referred to as a "keyboard shortcut", you hold down the Windows key, then press the "r" key.

There are keyboard shortcuts for a number of functions.

Q.  How do I open "Windows Help"?

A.  Windows comes bundled with some online help. This is available by selecting the Help item in the Start menu. (You might also try the keyboard shortcut, Windows+F1.)

Windows Help has a search option where you can type in a keyword or phrase to get a list of related topics.

Q.  How do I create a "Windows shortcut"?

A.  To learn how to create a shortcut, open Windows Help, and search for the phrase (include the quotation marks):

	"create a shortcut"

Q.  What is the Windows "Run Command" or "Run Dialog"?

A.  Windows has a Run Command dialog into which you can type the name of a program, folder, document, or Internet resource, and Windows will open it for you.

To open this Run dialog, try using the keyboard shortcut, Windows+r. (Sometimes, there is a Run item in the Start menu.)

If you need more help, open Windows Help, and search for the phrase (include the quotation marks):

	"run command"

Q.  How do I send you DirectX information (dxdiag) about my Windows system?

A.  Open the Run dialog, then enter:

	dxdiag

The DirectX Diagnostics window has a button to "Save All Information". Use that to create a file, then email it (as an attachment or its contents) to us. Thank you.

Q.  How do I send you my Windows "System Information"?

A.  To learn how to open the "System Information" window, use Windows Help, to search for the phrase (include the quotation marks):

        "System Information"

Depending on your edition of Windows, one of the results should be something like:

  • What is System Information
  • Using System Information
  • Display system data
One of them should describe or give you the option to open "System Information". Once opened, choose to save the information to a file, then send us that file as an attachment.

Q.  How do I "print screen"?

A.  To learn how to do a "print screen" or "screen capture", open Windows Help, and search for the phrase (include the quotation marks):

        "print screen"
NOTE: On most notebook computers, to press the "Print Screen" key (which might be abbreviated as "prt sc"), you'll have to hold down a "function" key (typically labeled "fn" and located in the bottom left corner of your keyboard) then press the "Print Screen" (generally located in the upper right corner of your keyboard).

To save the "screen capture" to a file, open Microsoft Paint by opening the Run dialog, and entering:

	mspaint
Then, paste and save.

Q.  Is your software compatible with Windows Vista?

A.  Our programs will drop your system's color scheme into Vista Basic. By itself, this is purely cosmetic.

There are issues with Tarski's World 6 in some system configurations.

For more information about the Vista Basic color scheme, open Windows Help, and search for the phrase (include the quotation marks):

	"Vista Basic"

Q.  On Windows Vista, the world pane in Tarski's World 6 covers up the tool buttons or has other display problems.

A.  We have seen this problem on systems using integrated graphics by Intel, specifically the 945GM and 965 Express Chipsets.

You can check what graphics your system uses by running dxdiag, selecting the Display tab, then looking in the Device area.

Something that has worked is to set the "Depth Buffer Bit Depth" to "16 Bit Depth Buffer":

  1. Right-click on the desktop, look for and select the "Graphics Properties..." popup menu item (or something similar, but NOT "Graphics Options").

    This should open the "Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver" control panel.

    If not, look in the list of Control Panels for "Intel(R) GMA Driver" (or something similar; "GMA" stands for "Graphics Media Accelarator").

  2. Click on the "3D Settings" button to open a "OpenGL Settings" window, which has a table with two columns: "Attribute" and "Value".
  3. Go to the "Depth Buffer Bit Depth" attribute, then click in its value column for a pulldown menu. Set it to "16 Bit Depth Buffer".
  4. Click the "Apply" button.

If this does not work for you, please send us the dxdiag information!

In the meantime, as a workaround, you may downgrade and use Tarski's World 5.

We are sorry for this inconvenience.

Q.  How do I run Tarski's World 5?

A.  Open the Run dialog, then enter:

	%ProgramFiles%\LPL Software\Tarski's World Folder\Tarski5.exe

To avoid all this typing every time you run Tarski's World 5, create a new Windows shortcut, and type into the Create Shortcut dialog:

	%ProgramFiles%\LPL Software\Tarski's World Folder\Tarski5.exe

Q.  When I double-click a Tarski's World Sentences file (*.sen) or World file (*.wld), I want Tarski's World 5 to open it. How do I do that?

A.  Open the Run dialog, then enter:

	%ProgramFiles%\LPL Software\Tarski's World Folder\Tarski5.exe /register

Q.  How do I go back to having Tarski's World 6 run when I double-click Tarski's World Sentences (*.sen) and World (*.wld) files?

A.  Open the Run dialog, then enter:

	%ProgramFiles%\LPL Software\Tarski's World Folder\Tarski6.exe /register

Linux

Q.  Why does the Tarski splash screen hang when starting?

A.  From the command line, try running the program:

        glxinfo

If you see the message:

        Extension "GLX" missing on display ":0.0" 

You need to either change your X configuration to load the glx extension or install a video driver which supports glx. Unfortunately both of these changes can be complicated and are beyond the help that we can give in this FAQ. A good place to start to look for help would be a web search including your flavor of linux, your video hardware and the term glx.

Q.  How can I install the software using the rpm or deb Linux package management system?

A.  We provide Linux installers for the Red Hat and Ubuntu flavors of linux. Both of these installers are really just shell scripts which automate the installation of a number of rpm (in the case of Red Hat) or deb (in the case of Ubuntu) packages. Once installed they should be visible through the package management software that your OS provides along with all the other packages installed on your system. Furthermore, you can use those tools to subsequently remove the software from your system if you so desire.

Software Questions

Q.  I think that I have found a bug in the software. How can I report it?

A.  You can use our bug report page to report any bugs that you think that you have found. We ask for a lot of information. Please be as specific as you can, since the more information we have the easier it is for us to find and fix the problem.

Q.  Which platforms will your software run on?

A.  Our software is currently known to run on the following operating systems:
  • Windows NT/98/ME/2000/XP
  • MacOS 8.5-8.6, MacOS 9.x, MacOS X 10.1-10.4 and Classic environment
  • 32-bit Fedora Core and Ubuntu Linuxes

Windows Vista is currently not officially supported because of some compatibility issues.

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Installing the Software

Q.  Can I install the Tarskis World software on my laptop?

A.  Certainly. Feel free to install the software on any computer you intend to work on.

Q.  Can I run the Tarskis World software directly from the CD/floppy disk?

A.  Certainly. Just double-click on the applications or exercise files as you normally would.

Q.  I am an instructor. Can I install your software on the computers in our lab?

A.  Yes, provided that you are teaching a class in which students are required to purchase individual copies of the package. The software should be removed from public computers at the end of the term in which the class is taught.

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Boole

Q.  I tried to print from Boole, but the printing option seems to be disabled. What am I doing wrong?

A.  You are using an old version of Boole. Early versions were not able to print but the current version can. You can download the latest versions of the software here.

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Submit and the Grade Grinder

Submit and the Grade Grinder for Students

Q.  What is the Registration ID?

A.  The Registration ID is an identifying number which serves as your registration key for the Grade Grinder grading service. Without it you will not be able to use the Grade Grinder.

Q.  Where can I find my Registration ID?

A.  On newer CDs the registration ID is printed directly on the CD. It is a sequence of letters and numbers, something like L11-1234567. In older releases it is printed on a label attached to the sleeve containing the CD.

Q.  There's no Registration ID on my CD sleeve. What should I do?

A.  If you bought a used copy of the package, see the next question. If you bought the package new, then it is defective. We apologize; this happens occasionally. Please return it to the book seller.

Q.  I bought a used copy of the package. Why doesn't my Registration ID work?

A.  The Registration ID is registered to whoever originally owned the book, and the registration is non-transferable. Please return your copy of the package to the bookstore that sold it, and buy a new courseware package. If you have questions about our policy in this regard, see our Email Change Policy.

Q.  I bought a new copy of the package. Why doesn't my Registration ID work?

A.  Most likely, you misspelled your name or email address when you first used Submit. You can use our Email Change Page to correct the mistake. You will have to know what the misspelled name/email was, however. If you are still having trouble, contact us and we will investigate.

If you are sure that this is not the problem then you may have bought a defective copy of the package. We apologize; this happens occasionally. Please return it to the book seller.

Q.  Submit is not able to connect to the Grade Grinder. Ever. Is your server down?

A.  Possibly, but if this is persistent the problem is more likely to be that you are behind a firewall. If so you need to specify a proxy server. You can do this by selecting the Settings... item from the File menu in Submit. If you are unsure of the information to enter here, you should try duplicating the information in your web browser's proxy settings, or check with your local technical support people.

Q.  Submit says that it cannot deliver mail to my email address. What should I do?

A.  When you make a submission, Submit sends your grade report by email to your registered email address. Sometimes, the mail is returned to us (it "bounces"). This can happen for a number of reasons. Common ones are:
  • You spelled the email address incorrectly,
  • Your email account is over quota,
  • The computer to which your email is delivered is unvailable (down, or not on the network)
  • A spam filter on the computer to which your email is delivered is blocking our address.
though there are many others.

When we receive a mail bounce, we mark your account to indicate this, and you will be unable to Submit again until the problem is fixed. In any case, you must tell us that the problem is fixed, by visiting our web site and updating your address (even if it remains the same.) It takes about fifteen minutes for the system to be fully updated after doing this.

What you must do to fix the problem varies depending on the nature of the problem. Obviously, if the email address is spelled incorrectly, you should correct it. If your account is over quota, deleting mail will be the solution. You probably can't do anything about the network or mail host being down.

If you are the victim of an over-eager spam filter, there are a couple of things that you can try. The first is to change your preferred server using Submit's preferences. If only one server is being blocked by the filter, then use the other. For technical reasons, it is most likely that it is gradegrinder.stanford.edu that is being blocked. Having changed your Submit settings, you will then need to visit the web site and reset your address to clear the flag. Don't forget to wait for about fifteen minutes for the system to reset.

Q. Submit accepts my submission, but I don't get a grade report. What should I do?

A.  Please read this page for an explanation of the many things that can go wrong with mail delivery, and some things to try.

Q.  Will my professor know if I make mistakes when I submit grade reports to myself?

A.  If, when you send in your files using Submit, you check "Just to Me" instead of "Instructor Too", your instructor will never know. You can submit the same files over and over, until you get the exercises right.

Submit and the Grade Grinder for Instructors

Q.  I'm a new instructor, and I want to use he Grade Grinder for my next class. Do I need to contact someone or prepare ahead of time?

A.  You should register your course with us. The link to that page can be found from in the Instructor Resources. You'll also find some other information about using the Grade Grinder that may be helpful. Other then that, we recommend that you make arrangements for the software to be installed on computers that your students will have access to -- in a campus computer lab, for example. We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the software, so that you can help your students with any questions that they may have. Many of our instructors like to devote one class session to talking about or demonstrating the use of the software.

Q.  I have several teaching assistants. How can I register all our email addresses so that students can submit their work to all of us?

A.  You may want to set up a mailing list for yourself and your teaching assistants. See Registration and Teaching Assistants for more information.

Q.  As an instructor, how can I organize all of these grade reports?

A.  Some of our instructors use Excel spreadsheets. However, our web-based system for displaying grade reports is now available. Check it out at Web Reports.

Q.  How can I tell if a student sends me a forged grade report?

A.  If you are in doubt about the authenticity of a grade report, just ask us. We'll check our records and get back to you right away. We hope to have this automated soon and available through the web.

In addition, now that we are testing web-based grade reports, you could look and see if the report appears on your web reports. If there is a discrepancy between the web reports and the emails you receive, let us know and we will look into it.

Q.  I received a grade report indicating a timestamp collision. How can I find out the identity of the other student?

A.  We will be glad to provide you with the information. Just send us an email containing the submission id (forwarding the grade report works well). We will respond quickly with the information.

Q.  I accidently deleted my grade reports. Is there any way to recover them?

A.  We keep each grade report archived for at least six months. In some cases, we may be able to recover grade reports that were sent up to a year ago. If you need copies of grade reports, let us know. We'll need any information you can give us, such as the name, email address, and Registration ID of the student who submitted the files, the name and email address of the instructor, if applicable, and the dates when the reports were sent.

Q.  Now that I can access my grade reports on the web, can I delete all of those emails?

A.  No. The emails are still the definitive grade reports. The web reports are dynamically generated, as opposed to the emails, which serve as hard copies, in case of a disputed grade.

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