Bolt Tutorial

Creating a course

Install the BOINC software on a Linux system (or run the BOINC server virtual machine? in a VMWare player on any computer).

Use make_project to create a BOINC project:

> cd boinc/tools
> make_project test

Edit httpd.conf as directed (you'll need root access to do this). Let's say your server's domain name is "a.b.c" and you named your project "test".

Visit ​http://a.b.c/test_ops/bolt_ops.php, and create a course named "Test course" with course document "course_doc.php" (we'll create this later).

Lessons and sequences

Let's start with a simple course consisting of two lessons. Each lesson consists of a PHP or HTML file. Create the following files in ~/projects/test/html/user:

lesson1.php

<?php
    echo "
        This is the first lesson.
    ";
?>

lesson2.html

This is the second lesson.

course_doc.php

<?php
return sequence(
    name('course'),
    lesson(
        name('Lesson 1'),
        filename('lesson1.php')
    ),
    lesson(
        name('Lesson 2'),
        filename('lesson2.html')
    )
);
?>

Diagramatically, the course structure is:

Now visit ​http://a.b.c/test/bolt.php. You'll be asked to log in; do so. Click on the button to start the test course. You'll see:

Note that below your lesson Bolt has added some navigation links and a form to ask questions. Click on the "Next" button. You'll see:

Now suppose that instead of reading the lesson, the student goes away (for an hour or a month) and returns. Simulate this by visiting ​http://a.b.c.test/bolt.php. You'll see

Notice that Bolt "remembers" where you are in the course (this is stored in the database; it will work even if you go to a different computer). If you click "Resume" you'll see the second lesson again. Click on Next. You'll see:

Now visit ​http://a.b.c.test/bolt.php again, and click on "History". You'll see something like:

Bolt has recorded your course interactions and their timing, in its database. We'll return to this later.

Exercises