The aim of TypeTest is to make doing a typing test easier and more convenient. It removes the hassle of timing and marking. This is great if you are an individual developing your typing skills, a trainer teaching others to type or responsible for selecting people on the basis of their typing ability.
TypeTest stores a history of results in an Access database making reporting easy. It has been in development since 1986.
Use the Choose command on the Original menu to select a test. If you don't have a hard copy available, you can print one (use the Print command on the Original menu) or you can choose the View command from the Original menu. This will display the original test on the screen for you to type from.
Use the Preferences command on the Copy menu to select a test length. You can choose to allow editing or not.
To begin the test you just start to type. The timer starts as you type the first character. You can let the text wrap however I prefer trainees to get used to pressing Enter at the end of every line.
A gauge indicates time remaining. Deciding halfway through your test to access menus will generally result in the test being stopped.
You can stop at anytime and choose the Mark command from the Copy menu. TypeTest will let you know when the time is up. The test is locked to prevent further typing or correcting.
TypeTest will mark the test. It compare the two files and give you a speed and accuracy. It displays the test length and whether editing was allowed. It displays mismatches so you can see the sort of errors made.
When TypeTest starts you are asked to sign-in with your name. This is used to keep a history of typing results (so you can plot your progress, find averages and standard deviations. Imagine all that exciting statistical analysis!). You can use the Change Name command on the Results menu. Or you can view results with the History command on the Results menu.
You can print your test; choose the Print command from the Copy menu.
You can save your typed copy (or you could create a new original) with the Save command on the Copy menu.
You can start again. Clear the existing test by choosing the New command from the Copy menu.
You can open a previously saved copy to edit. When you start editing it the time starts. You can use this to test people's ability to correct errors in a given time. When they've finished (or time is up), TypeTest marks it. The speed is obviously not the typing speed but a measure of editing speed. (Try to get a high score.)
There is an About screen on the Help menu if you want to read about me. There's also an online help file (F1) which contains basically the same information as you are reading now.
The Unlock menu is for finding the lock code and entering the unlock code. When you've correctly entered the unlock code the program's full functionality is available.
You can leave the program by choosing the Exit command from the File menu (<surprise!>)
Typetest compares your copy with the original word by word. It displays any errors it comes across.
Only drastic situations confuse this sequential marking process. E.g. typing a different original than TypeTest is using to mark with, leaving out whole lines, not starting from the beginning of the test. If you don't do these things and your accuracy is better than 75% TypeTest uses sequential marking.
If you have marked it against the wrong original you can choose the right original and re-mark it.
If it gets confused, TypeTest reverts to using a Spelling check approach. Which will identify any words that don't exist in the original. It isn't as accurate a but then until your accuracy is approaching 98% it probably doesn't matter too much. Just work on fixing the obvious problems first.
Speed is measured in words per minute (WPM). The number of standard words is the character count divided by five.
If a test is marked before the time has expired, then the total word count is divided by the expired time to find the words per minute.
Accuracy is the total word count less the error count over the total word count as a percentage. The more accurate the copy the more accurate TypeTest's marking.
You can use the Open command from the Copy menu to open an existing copy and mark it. The program assumes it was a five minute test unless the first character is a number between 1 and 9.
The program can be used by any number of people and will store the results for each person. This is useful for seeing how you improve over time.
You can view the results by choosing the History command from the Result menu.
If you have Access (or better) you can use it to look at the .MDB file and do whatever you like there.