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WirisQuizzes release notes

WirisQuizzes services 4.11 - March 2024

During this release, you'll find a brand new advanced feature to improve your grading functions and take the student answer as a string.

We've also fixed several bugs.

What's new

Custom grading function takes arguments as strings

From now on, it's possible to pass the arguments of a grading function as a string. Thus, we can potentially keep trailing zeros that would be eliminated otherwise.

grading_fuction_string.png

Before this development, an answer like 0.230 was passed to the grading function as 0.23 , so it wasn't possible to track those trailing zeros.

Notice

You can see more details about how to handle these grading functions here.

What's fixed

  • Fixes an issue that prevented questions with deprecated functionalities from being opened and edited.

  • Fixes an issue that broke the validation of some Cloze questions when the number of subquestions exceeded a certain number.

  • Fixes a compatibility problem in graphical answer questions when labels were graded in the Validation options.

  • Fixes an issue that prevented variables from being displayed in the question's feedback when the student answered with the variable's name.

WirisQuizzes services 4.10 - January 2024

During this release, you'll find some nice improvements regarding the Graphical answer

We've also made some general improvements and fixed several bugs.

What's new

Perpendicular lines, parallel lines, mediatrix of a segment and midpoint of a segment

All those new possibilities are now available in the Graphical Answer type:

  • Perpendicular lines

  • Parallel lines

  • Mediatrix of a segment

  • Midpoint of a segment

For all the cases to work, it's essential first to draw a line or a segment and, afterwards, use the feature.

midpoint_segment.png

Helper text in Graphical Answer

Now, there is a new way to help users using the graphical answer. We just implemented a tooltip feature that gives valuable tips about using the most complicated tools.

midpoint_segment.gif

New magnetic grid mode

The magnetic grid can now be set to "force" mode, forcing all the points to lie on the grid. This is especially useful for devices like tablets and mobile.

Also, the teacher can now choose the magnetic grid mode that will be used in the student's answer field for graphical answers.

Option of hiding graphical tools

You can now hide elements in the graphical tool in your CalcMe algorithms. This can be used to hide any auxiliary constructions from the plotters that students see in the statement, such as the control points of an image inserted in the plotter.

What's fixed

  • Fixes an incompatibility error that appears in Moodle 4.1.4 when using #plotter_a_b.

  • Fixes a format problem when aligning the question's statement text next to an image.

  • Fixes a problem that broke the content edition when switching between the Initial content and Correct answer sections.

  • Fixes an error that disabled the Undo button when using the handwriting mode to draw any object.

  • Fixes an issue that generated a visual accumulation of objects when the browser's zoom was modified.

What's improved

  • Improves the magnetic grid feature to make it much more precise, especially in tactile devices.

  • Improves how polygons are built in the Graph. When the polygon tool is selected on a tablet, we no longer draw a point in the origin, avoiding student's confusion.

  • Improves how MathType is embedded in the answer section. When using the answer field type Math editor in a Popup, the modal window with the math editor can now be dragged around the screen and resized, allowing students to see the content behind it.

  • The Learning Lemur's pop-up is not showing in CalcMe anymore.

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.10.1 - February 2024

What's fixed

  • The helper text is no longer displayed when the graph is in read-only mode.

  • Graph now properly inherits the configured WirisQuizzes language.

WirisQuizzes services 4.9 - September 2023

During this release, you'll find some nice improvements regarding the Graphical answer

We've also made some general improvements and fixed several bugs.

What's new

Enable a "refresh" button to return to the initial statement

This feature provides the student with the possibility to refresh a question from the initial content provided by the teacher. Before, when the student erased the answer, the initial content would also be erased.

refresh_button.png

Hide existing objects from the student's plotter

Now, teachers can choose exactly which elements to show the students for a graphical question. This feature allows the teacher to erase unnecessary elements used to draw the graphic, so the students don't get confused.

hide_element_button.png

Hide labels and definitions of the represented objects

Teachers can choose to hide the labels and definitions on the student’s view of a graphical question. For example, for some geometrical construction problems, it can be interesting to hide the algebraic expression of an object.

display_settings.png

Provide the question's feedback from the correct answer

The automatic feedback feature is already very useful to the students to understand exactly how to solve a graphical problem. Now this feature is even better and faster. In the case the question has an initial content, the student will start to see the feedback from the initial content, and won’t need to see all the basic information loading from the beginning.

Lock initial content for the Graphical answer type

This is a feature that was already available to the Equation answer type and now can also be found on the Graphical answer. The initial content can now be locked, so the student won’t be able to change it by mistake, committing an unwanted mistake.

What's fixed

  • Fixes a bug that broke the validation of questions involving initial content and units of measure.

  • Fixes a bug that forced units of measurement to be defined in CalcMe to work correctly.

What's improved

  • Improves the CalcMe performance when external images are uploaded.

  • All files in the PHP generic integration library are now encoded using UTF-8.

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.9.1 - October 2023

What's fixed

  • Fixes a compatibility issue between WirisQuizzes and Moodle 4.2.2 with PHP version 8.1.2.

WirisQuizzes services 4.9.2 - October 2023

What's fixed

  • Fixes an issue that prevented CalcMe variables from being correctly displayed in the question's algorithm.

WirisQuizzes services 4.9.3 - November 2023

What's new

  • Adds compatibility with Moodle 4.3. You can visit Moodle's official website to learn more about the new version of the learning management system.

WirisQuizzes services 4.8 - April 2023

During this release, you'll find an exciting new Answer Type, allowing more flexibility for teachers when evaluating their students. 

We've also made some general improvements and fixed several bugs.

What's new

Sketch answer type

From now on, teachers will have a new way to evaluate their students by asking them to sketch a graph.

sketch_example.gif

Students will only have the handwriting tool available to do that, so the teachers can set a tolerance for slightly inaccurate answers.

sketch_validation_options.png

Tip

You can see more details on creating this kind of question here.

What's fixed

For WirisQuizzes Studio

Bugs related to WirisQuizzes Studio have now been fixed.

  • Fixes a bug that broke how compound answers were graded when the Any answer option was selected.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented external images from being added to the specific question feedback.

  • Fixes a bug that crashed the question's initial content when the option Lock initial content was activated. It disables the handwriting feature for the student's answer in this specific scenario.

For Question Grading

Bugs related to our Question Grading Engine have now been fixed.

  • Fixes a bug that crashed a question's validation when it has different weights for compound answers.

What's improved

  • Improves how the Bar unit is represented within WirisQuizzes Studio. From now on, the corresponding unit will be displayed as bar instead of b.

  • Improves the usage of the apostrophes (') as decimal separators as long as º'" are not selected as units of measure.

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.8.1 - May 2023

What's fixed

  • Fixes an incompatibility problem between the latest version of WirisQuizzes and Moodle 4.2.

  • Fixes an issue that prevented variables from being correctly expanded in Coze multichoice (normal, not vertical/horizontal) question's feedback pop-up.

WirisQuizzes services 4.8.2 - June 2023

What's fixed

  • Fixes an issue that prevented some geometric equivalent expressions from being correctly evaluated in Graphical answer questions.

  • Fixes a mirroring problem with WirisQuizzes answers outside MathType in Moodle RTL.

  • Fixes an issue that broke questions whose answers involved the < symbol.

  • Fixes an issue that prevented the arrow button prev_ex1.5.png from being displayed when the correct answer was too long.

  • Fixes a problem that broke Cloze questions in Moodle 4.1.X (where X < 3).

WirisQuizzes services 4.7 - February 2023

With the purpose of welcoming new users to the WirisQuizzes Studio and making their learning experience a little easier, we've added a getting started page. This is a place where you can learn how to get started with the product and enrol in our training services.

Also, we have listened to you. Several bugs reported by our Customer Success Team have been fixed.

What's new

Getting started page

A new menu section where you can find more information on WirisQuizzes and get quick access to our documentation and customer support.

getting_started_section.png

Essentially, you can get quick access to our documentation and customer support through the following links:

Full-screen CalcMe

You can now open display CalcMe in full-screen mode within WirisQuizzes Studio. This is especially helpful when editing long algorithms.

calcme_full_screen.png

New languages

Now we support Russian and Chinese languages.

wq_rus.png

What's fixed

  • Fixes a critical bug that caused CalcMe algorithms to be deleted under some circumstances when the digit group or decimal separators were changed.

  • Fixes a bug that replaced the student's answer for MathML code in Moodle interactive questions with multiple tries.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented the comma from being used as a separator when the question's validation involved grading functions.

  • Fixes a bug that caused a strange message to appear when attempting for the second time a Moodle quiz with multiple attempts involving WirisQuizzes matching or multiple choice questions

What's improved

  • Improves the answer field display in mobile devices with vertical orientation.

  • Improves the dimensions of the correct answer preview window, making them configurable, and every plotter is correctly displayed.

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.7.1 - March 2023

What's fixed

  • Fixes a critical backwards compatibility bug that throws an HTTP 500 error when previewing questions with the parameter answer enabled.

WirisQuizzes services 4.7.2 - April 2023

What's fixed

  • Fixes a critical compatibility bug between WirisQuizzes code and Moodle's newest version 4.1.2.

  • Fixes a bug concerning the plugin qtype/essaywiris that prevented Essay question types from being created in Moodle 4.1.2.

WirisQuizzes services 4.6 - October 2022

Creating dynamic questions with WirisQuizzes Studio requires some time and experience; we do love CalcMe, but we know that it might not be the most accessible tool to use when you're just starting with WirisQuizzes. That is why we've created an easier and quicker way to generate random variables for your dynamic questions. 

With this release, we hope to save you time and some headaches, especially when starting with WirisQuizzes. But don't worry, if you're an algorithm line lover, we are not taking this away from you. You will always be able to use our advanced mode.

What's new

Random variables quick edition mode

WirisQuizzes has a new functionality for generating dynamic questions. From now on, you can create random variables with our quick edition mode.

WQ_4_6.gif

Tip

You can see more details on using this new procedure here.

Add integers as random variables

You can add up to five random variable groups to your question by clicking on the Add variable button.

add_variable.png

For the moment, these variables will need to be integers, but we are working to provide more options in the future.

two_variables_2.png
Display random variables in the question text, initial content and feedback

These variables can also be used outside WirisQuizzes Studio as when we created them with CalcMe. To include a variable anywhere within a question type, write a pound symbol # followed by the variable's name (e.g. #a).

statement_2.png
Evaluate these variables in the question solution

When defining the question's correct answer, we can expect the corresponding expression to be displayed as we have written it, or we want to evaluate it before showing the result to the students. To do so, we need to use the evaluate() command and insert the variables to be simplified as its argument.

evaluate_command.png

If we don't use the command mentioned above and just type #a2+#b2, the correct answer will be displayed, as you can see below.

preview_not_evaluated.png

It won't suppose any validation problem, as the student's answer will be compared following the corresponding assertions as usual. We only recommend using the evaluate() command to display the correct answer in a more compact way.

Convert automatically to the advanced mode

You can automatically convert these basic random variables to the advanced mode if you wish. Thus, you will be able to add more variables and restrictions using all CalcMe resources.

automatic_conversion.gif

Tip

The same happens if you delete a random variable from the quick edition mode, it will disappear from the advanced mode automatically.

What's fixed

  • Fixes some copies in WirisQuizzes Studio that weren't translated correctly and only displayed in English.

  • Fixes some links in WirisQuizzes Studio that were broken or not redirecting correctly.

  • Fixes an issue that prevented answers with equivalent prefixes from being validated correctly.

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.6.1 - January 2023

What's improved

  • Includes compatibility with LTR direction in WirisQuizzes Studio.

What's fixed

  • Fixes a bug that broke correct answers when we selected the quiz option Each attempt built on the last.

WirisQuizzes services 4.5 - June 2022

A faster, improved version of WirisQuizzes is here; WirisQuizzes 4.5 release is out.

This version has a new look and user experience, and it also runs faster than our previous versions. We wanted to improve the user experience of the WirisQuizzes Studio, provide a more straightforward way of creating content and adding editing questions with WirisQuizzes, and improve the speed performance of the WirisQuizzes Studio.

What's new

New interface

WirisQuizzes Studio has a fresh new look. We've renovated its key menus and editors with our product design team.

WirisQuizzes Studio interface when Text answer type is selected

Some of the changes we've implemented:

Launch WirisQuizzes Studio button

We’ve renovated the button that allows you to launch WirisQuizzes Studio settings from your LMS (Moodle specifically), now you can activate WirisQuizzes functionalities by clicking the WirisQuizzes logo button as shown below.

New button to launch WirisQuizzes Studio
Top auxiliary buttons

The top menu will support you when managing the question file and finding support. The file submenu button includes options such as:

  • Import

  • Export

  • View Source

The question mark button guides you to our documentation website pages according to the section of the WirisQuizzes you’re in: answer types, input options, validation options, random variables.

Topx auliary buttons that supports you when managing the question file and finding support.
Random variables button

We’ve also separated the feature of the random variable to our settings menu (input options and validation options), we hope this will clarify the clear distinction between these three features.

random_variables.png
Enlarged MathType and Graph editors

We know how difficult it can be to insert large equations and design detailed graphs on small editors. So, we’ve made sure to increase the size of our editors to make sure you have all the space you need to be STEM creative.

Auxiliary text input in initial content and correct answer sections

It can be difficult for new joiners in the WirisQuizzes community to distinguish between Initial Content and Correct Answer features. Actually, this single button change can make a big difference when using WirisQuizzes for the first time and the options for both Initial Content and Correct Answer features are endless. To make this onboarding journey as smooth as possible, we made sure to also introduce auxiliary texts to the Initial Content and Correct Answer sections. 

By clarifying that:

  • Initial Content - is the initial state of the answer editor that your students will see when attempting the question. 

  • Correct Answer -  the place where you can enter the correct answer for this question, you can modify the criteria used to compare it to your students' responses using the validation options menu.

Product notification box

We've also introduced a notification box where you can find product information and alerts with valuable links to our documentation and others.

Product notificaction box with WirisQuizzes information and alerts

Content edition UX

This new feature behaves almost as a Fill in the Blank question by allowing you to lock the initial content and leave empty spaces for your student to input their answers.

You can access this new feature by going to Input Options > Initial Content > Lock Initial Content. You can see a live example below:

release_notes.gif

What's fixed

  • Fixes a bug that prevented customized feedback to be displayed within the Any answer feature.

  • Fixes a bug that displayed an error message when disabling some elements of the toolbar in Graphical answer questions.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented answers with the comma as a decimal separator to be validated properly.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented CalcMe auxiliary content to be preserved throughout multiple attempts.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented not symbolic answers to be validated properly in lists without enclosers.

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.5.1 - July 2022

What's improved

  • Includes compatibility with PHP 8.0 fix deployed in the latest MathType filter.

What's fixed

  • Fixes a bug that broke the modal window when editing the initial content of a compound answer.

WirisQuizzes services 4.5.2 - September 2022

What's fixed

  • Fixes critical bug in Moodle 4.0.1 and up that prevented questions from being created with WirisQuizzes.

WirisQuizzes services 4.5.3 - November 2022

What's fixed

  • Fixes an issue that prevented backup files from being correctly restored in Moodle 4.0.

WirisQuizzes services 4.4 - December 2021

We're excited to take another step toward making WirisQuizzes a complete STEM assessment tool with sophisticated graph features. Starting now, WirisQuizzes supports statistical graphical representations, this is a unique feature on the STEM market. Passionate for statistics, please continue reading.

What's new

Introducing statistical graphs in the short answer question type

Teachers can now add statistical graphs to a Short answer question type and ask students to answer by interacting with the dynamic graph. The following statistical representations are available: bar chart, line chart and pie chart.

statistical_graphs.png

All statistical charts designed within WirisQuizzes are interactive and customizable, and our software system automatically evaluates assessments with graphical statistical questions.

Tip

You can see more details on creating this kind of question here.

Bar charts

A bar chart is a diagram in which the numerical values of variables are represented by the height or length of lines or rectangles of equal width. This type of graphical representation is now supported by WirisQuizzes Instructors can now create dynamic bar charts as initial content and ask the students to answer questions by interacting with the chart.

bar_charts.png
Line charts

A line chart, line plot, line graph, or curve chart displays information as a series of data points called 'markers' connected by straight line segments. It's a primary type of chart typical in many fields. This type of graphical representation is now supported by WirisQuizzes Instructors can now create dynamic line charts as initial content and ask the students to answer questions by interacting with the chart.

line_charts.png
Pie charts

A pie chart is a circular statistical graphic divided into slices to illustrate numerical proportions. In a pie chart, the arc length of each piece is proportional to the quantity it represents. This type of graphical representation is now supported by WirisQuizzes Instructors can now create dynamic pie charts as initial content and ask the students to interact with the chart.

pie_charts.png

Uploading images to graphs

Teachers can now add background images or extra elements to make questions more dynamic and fun. Whether that image is your school's logo or an additional picture for getting the attention of your younger students, it is now possible with WirisQuizzes graph functionalities.

upload_images.png

What's fixed

Nothing in this release

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.4.1 - February 2022

What's improved

  • Updates the WirisQuizzes public demo according to the new available features. It also includes advanced mathematics relevant examples. You can find it here.

WirisQuizzes services 4.4.2 - March 2022

What's fixed

  • Fixes a critical bug that froze WirisQuizzes Studio after changing the language of the CalcMe user interface.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented lists and tables from being correctly displayed when the semicolon was defined as the list separator.

  • Fixes a bug that broke imported grade weights.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented the student's answer from being correctly displayed after attempting a Cloze question.

  • Fixes the WirisQuizzes Studio links to the tool's documentation.

  • Fixes a bug that broke the weights of a compound answer question when the Any answer option was selected.

  • Fixes a bug that saved WirisQuizzes Studio content even though we click the Cancel button.

WirisQuizzes services 4.4.3 - April 2022

What's new

  • Adds compatibility with Moodle 4.0. You can visit Moodle's official website to know more about the new version of the learning management system.

What's fixed

  • Fixes a bug that broke WirisQuizzes Studio sessions when creating WirisQuizzes questions with the Brazilian Portuguese version of the tool.

WirisQuizzes services 4.3 - September 2021

During this release, you’ll find several new features mainly focused on making graphical representations more powerful, allowing you to add text field sections and supporting you when converting external information and data into WirisQuizzes. After listening to your requests, we’ve also made some general improvements and fixed several bugs.

What's new

Introducing Auxiliary Text to Graph Questions

The auxiliary text feature will also be available on graph questions, and students will be able to explain their reasoning behind the building of a graph or area.

auxiliary_input.png

Tip

You can see more details regarding it here.

Import complex algorithms to CalcMe

With the introduction of the new CalcMe algorithm line feature, we will automatically detect any algorithm in Wiris CAS for you and convert it to a CalcMe algorithm. Thus, you can have a better experience further editing it using our fully functional code editor.

import_cas.png

Tip

You can see more details regarding it here.

Import between initial content and correct answer

Repetitions are over. With the new import feature, you can save time, automatically sending information from the initial content to the correct answer area or vice-versa.

initial_content.png

Tip

You can see more details regarding it here.Initial content

Introduction of advanced mathematics in WirisQuizzes demo

You can have a sneak peek into WirisQuizzes and experience its power for free. We've included advanced mathematics features in our demo, allowing you to grasp the full complexity of WirisQuizzes without committing to a full subscription.

quizzes_demo.png

Tip

You can try it here now.

Customize plotter size in WirisQuizzes question statement plotters

The size of your plotter graphs can be customized in the question's statement. Using a very brief notation, you can make your plotters more visible to students.

customize_plotter.png

Tip

You can see more details regarding it here.

Fill Color Customization for Graph Points

It's possible to customize the fill colour of graph points on CalcMe Make specific points of your graph stand out by colouring them with multiple colour options.

fill_color.png

What's fixed

For LMS integrations of WirisQuizzes

Bugs related to WirisQuizzes LMS integrations have been fixed. Some errors related to question types have been solved, which will enable you to use WirisQuizzes in a faster and smoother way.

Related to specific question types:

  • Cloze questions errors related to adding multiple-choice questions have been fixed.

  • The matching question type whose possible answer contains a repeated value (due to using random parameters) has been fixed. It no longer displays the repeated value twice instead of one anymore.

  • An extra line break is no longer added to every option when creating multiple-choice questions.

For everyone using the tool in Catalan or Spanish:

  • The string above the auxiliary input component has now been translated to Catalan and Spanish for those who don't feel so familiar with English.

Regarding error messages:

  • An error message no longer appears when a teacher clicks re-grade to a quiz that was not graded before.

Other fixes related to all WQ questions:

  • Questions with the auxiliary input component enabled no longer lose it when migrating to WirisQuizzes 4. You no longer have to select the option again manually.

  • Questions whose statements involve equations in LaTeX that contain underscores no more prolonged crash on WirisQuizzes 4.

  • Questions no longer display the statement not filtered, and the input boxes are broken when their answer contains decimal numbers without the leading 0 (that is, .12345).

  • Strokes within a student's answer are no longer lost with WirisQuizzes 4.

For WirisQuizzes Studio

Bugs related to WirisQuizzes Studio have now been fixed.

  • When MathType appears in a popup, it now preserves edited formulas. Moreover, since the MathType popup no longer opens as blank, it is possible to edit a pre-existing formula.

  • Some menus in CalcMe especially dropdown panels, no longer appear misplaced when opened in WirisQuizzes Studio

  • Dropdowns of Graph within the correct answer activity of a graphical answer question can now be opened when browsing Firefox.

  • WirisQuizzes Studio now correctly preserves the changing styles of plotted objects using the Graph in the question’s statement.

  • Defining the parameter answer in an algorithm box in CalcMe is now working correctly.

  • Compound questions do not slow down the load of the Input Options activity anymore.

For Question Grading

Bugs related to our Question Grading Engine have now been fixed.

  • CalcMe does not ignore the line after ending the multiline comment.

  • When importing the correct answer in a question with a grading function with a random parameter, the evaluation of the correct answer no longer fails.

  • Graphical Answer questions regarding functions with asymptotes no longer break in some corner cases.

  • WirisQuizzes Studio correctly grades functions with random parameters. The evaluation no longer fails when you import the correct answer in a question with a grading function and where the right answer uses random parameters.

  • Questions regarding multi-letter units (such as cm, ml, Wb, Bq, atm, floz, etc.) within compound answers with text fields no longer cause wrong corrections of correct answers in WirisQuizzes 4.

  • No errors occur when grading a compound question with multiple answers, thus leading to correct grading results.

What's improved

Ready only after creating a text field

This is mainly for all System Administrators who manually integrate WirisQuizzes Now, you'll be able to not allow for trial and error and make sure the student's first recorded answer is the final one. You'll be able to disable the students' answer field as you wish programmatically.

read_only.png

Minor subsequent releases

WirisQuizzes services 4.3.1 - September 2021

What's fixed

  • Restores compatibility with PHP versions prior to 7.2.

WirisQuizzes services 4.3.2 - October 2021

What's new

  • Adds compatibility mode with the plugin filtercodes.

filtercodes.png

What's fixed

  • Fixes a critical bug that prevented some questions from opening with the message "Exception - .symbols.[X]: wasn't preceded by a comma".

  • Fixes a bug that prevented some quizzes to be attempted with the message "uncaught exception: Call to a member function get() on float".

WirisQuizzes services 4.3.3 - November 2021

What's new

  • Adds an Error detector on CalcMe, allowing you to detect errors quickly and avoid mistakes when preparing your quizzes.

debugger.png

What's improved

  • Expands compound answer boxes if the entered formula is more significant than the original space.

  • Enables Fill with the correct answer option when a compound answer has a repeated label (LHS).

What's fixed

  • Fixes a bug that prevented feedback from appearing correctly on Cloze questions with more than one option defined for a short answer.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented all Cloze questions from showing all answer boxes.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented questions that included a vector or a matrix followed by a subscript that is not an integer from appearing correctly.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented mathematical expressions involving π and e elements from being plotted with no errors using the Expression button in Wiris Graph.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented variables and expressions declared in the first or last line of a multiline comment from being considered.

  • Fixes a bug that prevented decimal and digit group separators from being saved correctly in WirisQuizzes Studio.

  • Fixes several service errors on questions involving the literal string "{"in Wiris CAS

  • Fixes a bug that prevented auxiliary CalcMe sessions from being saved correctly when the regular answer field was left blank.