Some of our education-industry users have asked if there is a driver for
the NCS 3000 test grade scanner.
For those users in search of a complete educational-administration solution,
Chancery Software has just incorporated the NCS 3000 into MacSchool.
MacSchool can now read cards for daily attendance confirmation, do grade
reporting for grade card preparation, and handle student course request and
registration.
Cabling
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If the MacSchool system is installed, the cable between the NCS 3000 and
the Macintosh is already in place. If the school only wants to grade tests
(without installing MacSchool), they need to make the cable. Since the
NCS 3000 uses a serial interface to communicate with a computer, a hardware
technician should have no trouble making the cable.
Software
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4th Dimension is designed to collect data from the serial port and store
the collected data for further processing. Its scripting language contains
functions for reading the serial port. If HyperCard will be used, there are
XCMDs in the public domain for reading serial ports. In both cases,
software must be written to address the specifics of scoring tests.
For more information, search under: "National Computer Systems" and
"Chancery Software"