Segments
What is a segment?
Segments are a component of the form template used for containing the
checkbox/bubble sheet mark areas. The segment is designed separately and then
added to the form template and is used by FormReturn to find the location of mark areas (fragments) when the form is processed.
A segment can be thought of as a "sub-form" (a form within a form). You can have one or more of these appearing on a form. Segments can allow you to randomise content in a form or personalise the content displayed, e.g. a random block of multiple choice questions.
Segments usually take up the main body of the form template and contain the checkbox mark areas. Checkboxes are quick and easy to add using the duplicate feature. Even save preset styles of checkboxes to use again.
- Segment Area: The area from the corner of the top right segment barcode to the corner of the bottom left segment barcode is the segment area. Inside here is where segments appear. The purpose of using segment barcodes to define a physical area gives the image scalability.
- Fragment (Mark Area): A fragment is each checkbox mark area and the immediate area surrounding it on the segment. Usually many fragments will appear in a segment. Fragments are the area that FormReturn scans to detect what options have been marked by the form's respondent.
A fragment contains as many checkboxes as you need in the mark area.
Segment areas & segment selection
A segment is loaded into a form template by adding an empty segment area using the Segment tool and uploading the segment files into it.
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Question banks can be added randomly when the forms are printed, so that a number of students get a different form each that contains the same questions overall...... Explanation: You can embed one or more segments into a segment area. If there is more than one segment loaded into the segment area, the segment that is published will be determined by the segment area's segment selector; either a random segment, a pre-selected segment or a segment chosen by matching its segment selector ID to records that come from the database when publishing a form.
Multiple segment areas per form
Since you can define the segment areas in a form, you can also have as many segment areas per form as you like (as long as each segment fits within one form page).
