1.8 CBA ItemBuilder for Software-Developers

This section is not intended for item authors who want to use the CBA ItemBuilder to computerize assessment content but for software developers that were asked to support a particular assessment project that considers using the CBA ItemBuilder.

The CBA ItemBuilder supports mainly two use cases that require software developers.

The CBA ItemBuilder is not only freely available for non-commercial use (see section 1.2). It can also be integrated into existing contexts and allows the integration of existing HTML/JavaScript implementations of assessment content. In this sense, the CBA ItemBuilder is an open tool for developing computer-based assessments.

Embedded Content into CBA ItemBuilder Tasks: Content can be embedded into CBA ItemBuilder items using iframes (used within CBA ItemBuilder designed Pages with components called ExternalPageFrames, see section 3.14). A simple interface allows the embedded HTML5/JavaScript to interact with the CBA ItemBuilder task, to store data, and to re-store its state on re-visit is available.

Software developers can find all required information in section 4.6.

HTML5/JavaScript programmers can add missing features to CBA ItemBuilder items by implementing content that is embedded as iframes, and that can interact with the content created by item authors using a simple API based on Post Messages.

Open source repositories with content generated for ExternalPageFrames are welcome.14

Embedding CBA ItemBuilder Tasks into other Applications: Items created with the CBA ItemBuilder can also be embedded into other web-based delivery software. For this use case the so-called TaskPlayer API is provided.

Software developers can find all required information in section 7.7.

Developers can integrate the content generated with the CBA ItemBuilder by including the provided runtime (called TaskPlayer API) into web applications, that allow loading and displaying of CBA ItemBuilder Tasks. No special server technology is required.

Open Source Contribution to the CBA ItemBuilder: Currently, open-source contributions to the CBA ItemBuilder’s source code (i.e., the desktop application) and the React runtime cannot be managed and considered for integration by DIPF/TBA.

  1. See, for instance, msk-oc-externalpageframes.↩︎