Welcome, Acces 3.x users! Acces4 introduces many new features and changes to the older Acces program. This
document summarizes what's new so experienced users can make the transition quickly and easily.
Older Documents
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to open your old Acces documents on a Mac. If you need to do this, you can
download EducAide's xpAcc program to convert a Mac Acces 3.x document to a Windows Acces 3.x document. A link to
xpAcc, along with instructions, can be found at www.educaide.com/downloads/xpacc.html
Once you've converted your document to a Windows Acces 3.x document, copy it to your Mac and start Acces4. Choose
, select *.acc in the Enable list, then browse for the converted file.
opening an Acces 3 document
Acces4 lets you open documents created by Acces 3.x. To do this, choose . Choose Acces 3 Documents from the Files of
type list, then browse for your document as usual.
opening an Acces 3 document
Acces 3.x files opened in Acces4 may lose some of their formatting options during the conversion process.
New Structured Documents
An Acces4 document is hierarchical, or structured. It is made up of groups of problems called Parts. These
parts are useful for organizing problems or for setting formatting options for several problems at once.
The Document Tree at the bottom left shows the structure of your document. It shows parts, problems and other
content, like directions and passages. Use the Document Tree to re-arrange problems (just drag and drop) or
set formatting options (right-click on a part or problem).
An Acces4 document will always contain at least one part. With only one part, it will be similar to an Acces 3.x
document, which had a simple, flat list of problems.
Printed Catalogs
Acces4 introduces a new visual method of selecting and adding problems to your document. The Database Browser
shows all of the problems that are in your printed catalogs. Most are organized by the same categories or topics
(i.e., the same table of contents). Some problems, however, are re-organized by state curriculum framework. For
example, the problem TX9 AA 95 is found under Texas Elem Math > Grade 3 > TAKS 1 > TEKS 3A > Problem
9.
If you prefer selecting problems using your printed catalogs and traditional database and category codes, please
see the Using the Grid section below.
Using the Grid
Grid View is recommended if you like to use printed catalogs, if you already have a list of problems by
database code, category code and number, or if you want to change certain things like workspace for several
problems at once. Switch to the grid by choosing .
While the grid will seem familiar, the way you refer to a problem in Acces4 has changed (see next section).
Also, you will see several new columns of Metadata that you can set for each problem: point values,
objectives, difficulty, etc.
Database, Category, and Problem
In the Acces4 grid, you add a problem by typing its CodePath. This is a lot like the database and category
code and problem number in Acces 3.x. The main difference is that the information is entered in one column
and separated by periods.
Acces4 will "auto-complete" your CodePath. If a problem comes from the same database and category
as the previous problem, you can type just its number.
For example, assume you have typed MMA.AA.1 on the first row. On the second
row, you can type 2 for the CodePath and Acces4 will turn this into MMA.AA.2.
On the third row, you can type BA.10 and Acces4 will turn this into
MMA.BA.10.
Directions
Directions are no longer specified for each problem in your document. Instead, they are specified for a group
of problems, or a Part. To do this, choose . Select a
direction from the list, or click the New tab to write your own, then click OK.
You will see an icon representing each direction in the Document Tree. You can right-click one of these icons
to make a change, or right-click the part to add a direction.
selecting directions from the list
Workspace
Enter workspace values the same way you did in Acces 3.x. Acces4 will convert numbers typed in the Workspace
column to tenths-of-an-inch, showing their units. For example, 5 will be converted to 0.5in, and 24 will be
converted to 2.4in.
Commands
There is no "Commands" column in the Acces4 grid. Writing or editing problems is done through a new
feature (see below). In addition, most formatting options can be applied to individual problems, which makes the
old grid column unnecessary. If you need to enter typesetting commands or want very low-level control, choose
.
Creating and Editing Problems
In Acces4, there are several ways to edit a problem. One way is to right-click on a problem in the Document
Tree and choose Edit. Or if you are working on the grid, click on a row and choose .
If you are an experienced problem-writer, you might try . Then
you can quickly switch between previewing and editing. To write a new problem, click the 
button at the bottom-right.
There is no longer the concept of "extracting" a problem. You always have access to its raw data,
or TeX code.
using Advanced View to edit a problem
Selecting Problems Using Scripts
If you used the 'Select by..." feature in Acces 3.x, or are familiar with scripts, you can do
something very similar in Acces4. Choose to enter your scripts,
but keep in mind the following two changes:
Hyphens can't be used to span categories. While hyphens can still be used for ranges of problems (e.g., 1-10 or
20-30), they can no longer be used to specify a range of categories. You can still mimic the behavior, though.
For example:
| Acces 3.x: | ALG AA-AC/12 | selects 12 total problems from categories AA, AB, and AC |
| Acces4: | ALG.AA/4 AB/4 AC/4 | selects 12 total problems from categories AA, AB, and AC |
Partial category codes can't be used. Full two-letter category codes must be used in scripts. This means that
scripts like MMA A/5 have no direct equivalent in Acces4. Scripts like MMA.AA/5 (and even MMA/5) still work,
though.
Next Steps
For more details about the features described here, or to learn about other new features in Acces4, please see
the online help (Help > Contents).
