In march, we had our LeActiveMath review meeting and the the AssemblyTool was one of the deliverables. One requirement stated that the user can drag anything into the AssemblyTool, be it a learning item or section from ActiveMath or any external item.

ActiveMath learning items are referenced by mbase identifiers. Upon an upload to ActiveMath, the system knows how to dereference them and how to display the items. To some extent, the system was a closed environment being able to display only OMDoc items. In introducing the dynamic item, it is now able to reference external URLs as well. And that’s the magic behind the AssemblyTool.

When thinking about a AssemblyTool demo for a review, Carsten Ullrich and I tried to come up with a good story line. So far, I showed the external dynamic link in action only by dragging pictures from other sites into the AssemblyTool. But then, the power of the web and of the link got us: We used ActiveMath’s search tool to get something about a “derivative”. In the scenario, we were not happy enough about the suggested items, so we searched for some other content at Wikipedia using a prepared link. This operation was successful, so we dragged the Wikipedia link into the AssemblyTool and a link to a picture as well. Then we searched for the same key word at Google, switched to videos, and found a lecture on derivatives at YouTube. Again, we took the link and dropped it into the AssemblyTool. Finally, we uploaded the book into ActiveMath and watched the result: In between our OMDoc learning items, the dynamic items referring to Wikipedia and YouTube appeared. Wow, that was a positive experience!

Although I am the implementor of the AssemblyTool, I am astonished about its facilities, I have not foreseen. The other day, I found out how to submit a table of contents from one ActiveMath server instance to another in a very convenient way. Until now, the recommendation was to save the table of contents to a file within AssemblyTool 1 started at server 1 and to load it into AssemblyTool 2 started at server 2, and finally to upload it.

But the same result can be obtained in a much simpler way. Just select the chapter node(s) and drag-and-drop it into AssemblyTool 2. That’s it.

It was about time to start a professional blog. Until today, I used to maintain a private blog only. So, let me briefly introduce myself.

I started in the ActiveMath group in April 2004 on a project called Mippa. After a year, I moved a bit closer to the group when I received the task to implement the AssemblyTool. In retrospect, let me say, it turned out that this tool was a good exercise to learn more about ActiveMath and its implementation. Though, it is a minor part of the system, it is smart enough and quite a lot appreciated by authors, though the target group were actually students themselves. However, it runs, provides some really cool features, and looks sexy.

Apart of the AssemblyTool, I supervised several students: Philip Kärger  implemented the interactive concept mapping tool iCMap; Emil Zankov implemented an applet for interactive fractions exercises using different representation and Michael Bellem is implementing an analysis tool for feedback-free derivation exercises.

Also, since Carsten Ullrich has left the group, I am responsible for demoing ActiveMath. I do the demos on site or remote via VNC. The latter was a nice experience, because I had to take different local times into account (e.g., Dubai or Texas). If possible, I travel to conferences or exhibitions like the Cebit to present our system. Saying this, feel free to get in contact with us for a demo.