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Import and export - Plugixa Exam

Exams -> Import & export moves the question bank in and out.

Both directions are in the free edition deliberately. A question bank you cannot get out of a plugin is a question bank you should think twice about putting into one.

The import and export screen, with the format selector and a file picker

Formats

Format Import Export Typically comes from
CSV yes yes A spreadsheet, or another plugin
Aiken yes - A plain-text multiple-choice format, easy to type by hand
GIFT yes - Moodle’s text format
Moodle XML yes yes A Moodle question bank
QTI yes yes Most commercial assessment systems

Aiken and GIFT are import-only because they cannot express the types this plugin supports. Exporting to them would silently drop questions.

Importing

  1. Pick the format and choose the file.
  2. Choose the subject the questions land under.
  3. Review what the parser found before committing.

Questions arrive unpublished, through the same validation as one you typed. That is the safety net: an import cannot put an unreviewed question into a live exam, and a malformed answer key is rejected at the door rather than discovered by a candidate.

What travels

Stems, options, answer keys, explanations, points and difficulty. Tags where the source format carries them.

What does not

  • Images. Most of these formats reference files that are not in the export. Picture questions need their images adding afterwards.
  • Your subject tree. Everything in one import lands under one subject; move them afterwards, or import in batches, one subject at a time.
  • Exams. These formats describe questions, not papers. Build the exam here.

Exporting

Choose a format and a scope: everything, or a filtered set. Export is also the quickest backup of the bank that is readable somewhere other than here.

Doing large imports well

  • Import one subject at a time. It is the difference between filing 400 questions and re-filing them.
  • Import into a draft subject first if the source is untrusted, look at what arrived, then move it.
  • Check the types. A source full of question types this build does not have will import what it can; the report says what it skipped.
  • Publish deliberately. Nothing is live until you publish it, so review, then bulk-publish.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Usual cause
The import reports fewer questions than the file has Types the build cannot represent, or rows the validator rejected. The report lists both.
Imported questions do not appear in an exam They arrive unpublished. Publish them.
Picture questions came in without pictures Expected. The formats reference files the export does not carry.
A CSV fails entirely The header row does not match. Export a small set first and use that as the template.
Everything landed in one subject That is how import works. Import per subject, or move afterwards.

What to do next

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