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ClassPad content management and transfer.

Being in control of the content you create and share.

Written by Anthony Harradine and Alastair Lupton, April 2008, WIP.

Copyright 2008, Harradine and Lupton Page 2 of 16

Contents.

1. Introduction. 3

2. Working with .vcp files on the CPManager. 4

3. Other peoples .vcp files and storing them on your PC. 5

4. Merging the content of two .vcp files using CPManager or FA-CP1. 6

5. Backing up the contents of the CPHH. 7

6. Transferring content from a .vcp file on the PC to ONE CPHH. 9

7. Transferring content to MANY CPHHs. 10

8. Transferring an Add-in to a CPHH. 12

9. Transferring content from one CPHH to another CPHH. 13

10. Transferring an Add-in into the CPManager. 15

11. What is a .xcp file? 15

12. Old ClassPad files on the WWW - .msc and .fls. 16


1. Introduction.

ClassPad (CP) software can be used by having either:

• a Casio CP hand-held computer (hereafter referred to as a CPHH) or,

• A Windows based PC with the CP Manager software installed or,

• A Power PC Mac with Virtual PC and CP Manager software installed or,

• An Intel based Mac with Parallels Desktop and CP Manager software

installed.

At the time of writing (April 2008), the latest version of the ClassPad software

was version 03.03.3000. To check for the latest version of ClassPad software, go

to http://edu.casio.com

When you purchase a HH, it comes with content management software called FA-

CP1. Install this on your PC. It contains the Exchange Window which you will

learn more about later.

CPManager can be purchased separately. It has two forms, Basic and

Professional. The Basic form is the same as that running on the HH and so you

can use the HH on your PC. The Professional version of the CPManager is a full

screen, resizeable, PC software application – an all in one Mathematics tool for

the PC.

When using either the CPManager or the CPHH, you will create ClassPad content.

ClassPad content includes: the graphs you draw, the computations you make, the

geometry constructions you build, the eActivites you make, the spreadsheets you

build and so on.

This document details the simplest way to manage, store, backup and share

ClassPad content electronically.

Before proceeding, be sure you have installed either the FA-CP1 or the

CPManager (Basic or unlimited Professional) on your PC or Mac1.

1 When installing, you may be asked a question (by Windows) about the installation of the ‘CESG502 USB’ drivers. It may say

they are ‘not signed’. Do not be alarmed by this message and be sure to say ‘Yes” to the installation. Failure to do this will

result in your CPHH not being able to communicate with the FA-CP1 or CPManager via your PC.


2. Working with .vcp files on the CPManager.

The CPManager Basic looks just like the HH but runs on a PC. It is installed like

any other PC application.

Once installed it operates very much like MS Word and other software. Just like

you can create a MS Word file (with the file extension .doc), you can create a

CPManger document, with the file extension .vcp.

When you first launch the CPManager the file you open is called

default.vcp (just like untitled.doc for MS Word and seen opposite).

default.vcp is automatically stored in the location:

C:\Documents and Settings\**********\My Documents\CASIO\ClassPad Manager

(where ********** is the ‘username’ logged into Windows on the PC).

If you do some calculations in Main and then exit the CPManager, the changes to

default.vcp are automatically saved.

It is recommended that when you start using the CPManager, you do a ‘Save As’.

Right-click on the CP Manager and click on File and then choose Save As… and

rename the file as you like. You can also choose to store this file wherever you

like, but saving to the folder ClassPad Manager (the default folder) is useful.


Once saved, you can now check to see what

.vcp file is currently active (or open).

Unlike MS Word, the CPManager does not

show this at the top of its window. To

determine what file active, right-click on the

CPManager and choose recent documents,

the file at the top of the list will be active, in

this case Teds Master. The ClassPad content

you now make (the calculations you do, the

geometry constructions you build, the data you enter, etc) will now be

automatically saved into this file.

You can make as many .vcp files you want, maybe one for Year 8 work, one for

Year 9 work and so on, or you might just like to maintain one master file with

everything in the one file.

Suppose you want to share all of your ClassPad content with your friends. Simply

send them the file (say Teds Master.vcp) and they can put it onto their PC and

simply “double-click it” or do a “File – Open …” by right-clicking on the

CPManager and they will have access to all your content. Of course they can

share with you similarly.

3. Other people’s .vcp files and storing them on your PC.

People who want to share the content they make using ClassPad software may

post .vcp files on the WWW that you can download. Some of your friends may

email .vcp files to you.

Once you have such a .vcp file, for ease of use, store it in the following directory:

C:\Documents and Settings\**********\My Documents\CASIO\ClassPad Manager

(where ********** is the ‘username’ logged into Windows on the PC).


4. Merging the content of two .vcp files using CPManager or

FA-CP1.

Suppose that Lucy decides to share with you her ClassPad content. She emails

you a file called Lucys Master.vcp. You place the file in the directory:

C:\Documents and Settings\**********\My Documents\CASIO\ClassPad Manager and

want to merge some or all of its contents

into the file Teds Master.vcp. To merge

content between documents we use the

Exchange Window on the CPManager or

the FA-CP1 software.

Right-click on the CPManager and choose the Exchange Window option or launch

the FA-CP1 software. If using the FA-CP1, you will not see the Active

Document folder.

A window similar to that seen below will appear. You will need to click on the

small plus signs alongside the Active document and ClassPad Manager Folder to

see the files as shown below.

Clicking on the plus alongside Lucys

Master will allow you to see the

contents as seen below. You can see

that in Other Data and in the Families

folder, there are 6 Geometry

constructions documents. I can now

‘drag and drop’ the construction

documents or folders containing

documents into the master vcp file.

You can drag and drop in both

directions.


5. Backing up the contents of a CPHH.

If you have a Casio CPHH, you will create content as you work with it. The

ClassPad software has it own navigation system and so you can make and save

geometry constructions, data and so on, on the Casio CPHH.

It is wise to back-up the content you make. To back up the content, you need to

use the Exchange Window (in the CPManager) or the FA-CP1 software and

connect the HH to your PC using the USB cable that came with the HH.

First, launch the CPManager on your PC, right click and choose the Exchange

Window or launch the FA-CP1 application on your PC.

Then turn your HH on and attach the HH to the PC via the USB port. The HH

should go into Communicating… mode and the Exchange window/FA-CP1 should

change to look as seen below.

The left half of the window is showing the insides of the HH and the right side is

devoted to your computer. If you are using the FA-CP1, there will be no

Active Document folder.

If, when you connect your CPHH, it does not appear in the

exchange window/FA-CP1 window,

• On your hand held, go to Communication mode

(access via the Menu)

• tap Setup and Open Setup Menu

• make sure that


o the Cable Type is set to USB Cable

o the Wakeup Enable is On.

• If necessary, correct these settings unplug your HH and try again.

Alternatively, when in the Communication mode, tap in the menu of

the HH to establish communication.

Right-click on the ClassPad Manager

folder (or the FA-CP1 folder if you

are using this software) and choose

Add Virtual ClassPad…. This allows

you to make new .vcp file on your

PC. Call it ‘CPHHbup25_04_08’.

Click Open and you will be told the

file does not exist, reply Yes, to

have the PC create it.

Now simply drag and drop the HH icon into the newly made file.


You can choose to back up only certain folders/documents if you wish. Drag and

drop individual items at will into appropriate folders.

6. Transferring content from a .vcp file on the PC to a CPHH.

It is likely you will want to take things you have stored on your PC in a .vcp file

(maybe that you made on the CPManager or that you have got from friends or

downloaded from the WWW) and transfer them to a CPHH.

Repeat all steps as outlined in the previous section but instead of dragging and

dropping from left to right, drag from right to left – that is from the .vcp on the

PC into the HH.

Again you can drag and drop folders or individual documents. Dragging the folder

Families from Lucys Master.vcp will transfer 6 geometry constructions into the

CPHH, placing them in a folder called Families. You can then go into the Geometry

application on the CPHH and go to File and Open and find the files you have just

transferred.


7. Transferring content to MANY CPHHs.

If you need to transfer some content to many CPHHs, e.g. a class set of CPHHs

you can use the HandHeld assistant to make the process quick and easy. The

Handheld assistant is part of the CPManger and the FA-CP1.

Launch the Exchange Window (right-click on the CPManager) or launch the FA-

CP1. Then, turn on the first CPHH and plug it into the PC via a USB port using one

of the USB cables supplied with each CPHH. The CPHH will go into

Communicating … mode and on you rPC you will see the window below.

If, when you connect your CPHH, it does not go onto Communication ... mode

and therefore does not appear in the exchange window/FA-CP1 window consult

the section called “Backing up the contents of a CPHH.” to learn how to deal with

this issue.

Now choose the data you want to transfer (from within a .vcp file – I am using

the folder SS below) into the CPHHs and drag it into the HandHeld Assistant

folder as shown below. You can drag a whole folder of individual files (as shown)

or a single file.


Doing this will result in a dialogue box

asking if you wish to Add More Data or

Start the Assistant.

If you have no more data to add, choose

Start the Assistant the dialogue box opposite

will appear. Choose to overwrite or Erase all

and then click OK. The data will be

transferred to the linked CPHH.

The software is now waiting for a new CPHH

to be connected. Unplug the one that is

connected, turn on the next one and then

plug it in. The data will automatically be

transferred to this CPHH. Now just continue

to unplug, turn on and plug in and until all

CPHH have had the data added to them. Click

Finished.


If you have more than one folder or file to

add to the HandHeld Assistant, when

prompted click “Add More Data”.

Once you have added all the data you

require, choose the Start Assistant option

from the Hand-Held Assistant menu and

then proceed as outlined above.

8. Transferring an Add-in to a CPHH.

An Add-in is an application that is designed to run on the Casio CPHH. Add-Ins

are not installed on the CPHH when you buy it. One example of an Add-in is the

application called Algy 2 (http://www.stepsinlogic.com).

Such applications can be found on the WWW and exist as .cpa files

(see picture right).

Many Add-ins (games and other types) can be found on the WWW. Try

http://classpad.org as a start. After you find a .cpa file you want, save it to your

PC in a place of your choice.

To transfer an Add In into a single HH, launch the Exchange Window/FA-CP1 and

connect your HH to the PC as though you were backing up the HH (see the

section called Backing up the contents of a CPHH) and then simply drag and drop

the .cpa into the CPHH Add-in Applications folder in the Exchange Window/FA-

CP1.

Note that if you wish to transfer an Add-in to

multiple HHs, then use the Handheld Assistant

option, “Install Add-in to ClassPads…”. Simply

locate the Add-in, click Open and then repeatedly

connect and disconnect the HHs.


9. Transferring content from one CPHH to another CPHH.

It is possible to transfer content from one CPHH to another. You can transfer all

types of content from one hand-held to another except for Add-Ins. Add-Ins

must be transferred to a CPHH as explained in the previous section.

On each CPHH, go to the Communication menu and open the setup menu.

Set the Cable Type to 3pin cable and tap set.

Now connect the CPHHs using the small black cable that came with the CPHH (it

is called a 3 pin cable, but it looks to have just one pin, like a radio earphone type

plug, on each end of the cable). Be sure that when you put the cable into the

CP 300, it goes in with a ‘click’.


On the CPHH that will be receiving content, choose

Receive from the Link menu. It will go into Standby

mode, this will be displayed on the screen, and wait

happily until it receives the content.

On the CPHH from which you will be sending content,

choose Transmit from the Link menu.

Now locate and select the content you wish to transmit

and then tap Transmit. You will see a list of all the

folders on the CPHH. You can select the folder and its

contents by tapping in the small square to the left of the

folder name. Multiple selections are possible.

Alternatively, you can double-tap on the folder name and you will be shown the

contents of the folder. Then you can select the individual piece of content, a

GEOM construction in this case.

When you have selected what you want to transmit, tap OK at the bottom of the

screen. And then OK again when asked if you want to Start Transmitting.


10. Transferring an Add-in into the CPManager.

Unfortunately you can not transfer an Add-in into the CPManager.

However, some Add-ins (like Algy 2) are available as .exe files that will run as a

independent application on a PC.

11. What is a .xcp file?

A .xcp file is designed for sharing of ClassPad content in a clever

way. One .xcp file will contain a single ClassPad document, a

Geometry file, an eActivity, a list of data and so on.

If you get a .xcp file from the WWW or other means, save it on the desktop of

your PC. Double-click it and the CPManager will open, with the previously active

.vcp file remaining active, but (magically) the contents of the .xcp file will have

been merged into your active .vcp file. If the .xcp file contained an eActivity, that

eActivity will automatically open and be ready for you to use. If it contains some

other form of content, the Main Menu will be displayed and you will then be able

to locate the new content in your CPManager and use it.

The .xcp file is then of now real use to you except maybe for a backup of the

content.

To make a .xcp file, launch the Exchange Window (right-click on the CPManager)

and then locate a single piece of ClassPad content and drag it from the Exchange

Window to the desktop of your PC. The .xcp file will be created on your desktop.


12. OLD ClassPad files on the WWW - .msc and .fls.

Prior to Version 3 of the ClassPad software, .vcp files did not exist. There were

two types of file in the place of a single .vcp file. They are described in the table

below.

File Type Extension Contains Origin Icon

Flash Image .fls eActivities

OS 2

or

earlier

MCS Image .msc Other Data

OS 2

or

earlier

If you get such file(s) from the WWW or other

places, save them in some directory on your

PC and then double click it. The CPManager

will launch and at the same time make a .vcp

file (in the same directory as you saved the

old file) containing the content of the old file.

Note that the new .vcp file will become the

Active Document for the CPManager.

You can then proceed to merge the contents to another .vcp file if required and

change the Active Document back to what it was if necessary (right-click on the

CPManager and select Recent Documents).