What to Expect at the Testing Center

When you arrive at the testing center where you've scheduled your exam, you must sign in with an exam coordinator and show two forms of identification, one of which must be a photo ID. When your time slot arrives, you'll be asked to deposit any books, bags, cell phones, and other items you brought with you. Then you'll be escorted into a closed room.

All exams are completely closed-book. Although you are not permitted to take anything with you into the testing area, you are furnished with a few blank sheets of paper and a pen (in some cases, an erasable plastic sheet and a marker). Immediately before entering the testing center, try to memorize as much of the important material as you can so that you can write that information on the blank sheets as soon as you are seated in front of the computer. You can refer to these sheets of paper during the test, but you'll have to surrender them when you leave the room. Because your timer does not start until you begin the testing process, it is best to do this first while the information is still fresh in your mind.

You will have some time to compose yourself and write down information on the paper you're given. When you are ready, the exam coordinator will load the appropriate Microsoft certification exam (such as Exam 70-315), and you'll be permitted to start.

All Microsoft certification exams allow a certain maximum amount of time in which to complete your work (this time is indicated on the exam by an onscreen counter/clock, so you can check the time remaining whenever you like). All Microsoft certification exams are computer-generated. In addition to multiple-choice questions, you might encounter select “and-place (drag-and-drop), create-a-tree (categorization-and-prioritization), drag-and-connect, and build-list-and-reorder (list-prioritization) questions on many exams. The questions are constructed to check your Web development skills using Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Visual Studio .NET. Often you'll be asked to give more than one answer to a question. You also might be asked to select the best or most effective solution to a problem from a range of choices, all of which are technically correct.

Exam Layout and Design: New Case Study Format

The format of Microsoft exams can vary. For example, many exams consist of a series of case studies, with six types of questions regarding each presented case. Other exams might have the same six types of questions but no complex multiquestion case studies.

For the Design exams, each case study presents a detailed problem that you must read and analyze. Figure 1.1 shows an example of a case study. You must select the various tabs in the case study to view the entire case.

Figure 1.1. This is a typical case study.

graphics/01fig01.gif

Following each case study is a set of questions related to the case study. These questions can be one of six types (which are discussed next ). Careful attention to details provided in the case study is the key to success. Also, be prepared to toggle frequently between the case study and questions as you work. Some of the case studies also include diagrams (called exhibits ) that you'll need to examine closely to understand how to answer the questions.

After you complete a case study, you can review all the questions and your answers. However, when you move on to the next case study, you cannot return to the previous case study or make any changes.

Following are the six question formats:

Multiple choices, single answer
Multiple choices, multiple answers
Build, list, and reorder (list prioritization)
Create-a-tree
Drag-and-connect
Select-and-place (drag-and-drop)

It is quite likely that the exam 70-315 is a multiple-choice question format.

Multiple-Choice Question Format

Some exam questions require you to select a single answer, whereas others ask you to select multiple correct answers. The following multiple-choice question requires you to select a single correct answer. Following the question is a brief summary of each potential answer and why it is either right or wrong.

Question 1	You are developing an ASP.NET Web application for project management. Users from different types of operating systems and Web browsers will use your application, and some users might have cookies disabled on their browsers. You need to store page-specific information across page postbacks. The solution you choose must minimize the use of server resources. Which of the following options would you choose? A. Use View state to store the information. B. Use Session state to store the information. C. Use Application state to store the information. D. Use Microsoft SQL Server to store the information.
A1:	Answer A is correct. View state is maintained in the Web page itself as hidden variables . This minimizes server resources and does not require specific browser support. Answers B, C, and D are incorrect because they all use server-side resources to maintain state and are not suitable for storing page-specific information. This sample question format corresponds closely to the Microsoft Certification Exam format (of course, questions are not followed by answer keys on the exam). To select an answer, you position the cursor over the radio button next to the answer and click the mouse button. Let's examine a question in which one or more answers are possible. This type of question provides check boxes rather than radio buttons (circles) for marking all appropriate selections.
Question 2	You are a Web developer for a large manufacturing company. Your next assignment is to write a Visual C# ASP.NET Web application that enables the managers to manage the product catalog of the company. You need to display the product catalog in a DataGrid control on the Web form. You have retrieved the entire data from the Products database into the dsProducts DataSet object. You want to display only those products that are in stock. Which of the following options will help you achieve this? (Select two; each option presents part of the solution.) A. Create a DataView object to display rows from the Products data table in the dsProducts database. B. Set the RowFilter property of the DataView object to "StockQty >0" . C. Set the RowStateFilter property of the DataView object to "StockQty >0" . D. Set the Sort property of the DataView object to "StockQty >0" .
A2:	Answers A and B are correct. The `DataView` object represents a view of the data contained in a `DataTable` object; it can be filtered to contain only specific rows. The `RowFilter` property is used to filter rows based on an expression; therefore, it can be used to contain only those products that are in stock. Answer C is incorrect because the `RowStateFilter` property is used to filter rows based on their row states. Answer D is incorrect because the `Sort` property is used to specify the columns and the order in which the data in the `DataView` should be sorted. For this particular question, two answers are required. Microsoft sometimes gives partial credit for partially correct answers. For question 2, you must check the boxes next to answers A and B to obtain credit for a correct answer. Notice that picking the right answers also means knowing why the other answers are wrong.

Build-List-and-Reorder Question Format

Questions in the build-list-and-reorder format present two lists of items: one on the left and one on the right. To answer the question, you must move items from the list on the right to the list on the left. The final list must then be reordered into a specific order.

It is quite likely that you will not see any build-list-and-reorder questions in the exam 70-315.

These questions are usually in the form, "From the following list of choices, pick the choices that answer the question. Arrange the list in a certain order." For a sample of how they appear on the test, see Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2. This is how build-list-and-reorder questions appear.

graphics/01fig02.jpg

Question 3

From the following list of famous people, pick those who have been elected President of the United States. Arrange the list in the order in which they served .

Thomas Jefferson

Ben Franklin

Abe Lincoln

George Washington

Andrew Jackson

Paul Revere

A1:

The correct answer is

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Andrew Jackson

Abe Lincoln

On an actual exam, the entire list of famous people would initially appear in the list on the right. You would move the four correct answers to the list on the left and then reorder the list on the left. Notice that the answer to the question did not include all the items from the initial list. However, this might not always be the case.

To move an item from the right list to the left list, first select the item by clicking it; then click the Add button (left arrow). After you move an item from one list to the other, you can move the item back by first selecting the item and then clicking the appropriate button (either the Add button or the Remove button). After items have been moved to the left list, you can reorder the list by selecting an item and clicking the up or down arrow button.

Create-a-Tree Question Format

Questions in the create-a-tree format also present two lists: one on the left and one on the right. The list on the right consists of individual items, and the list on the left consists of nodes in a tree. To answer the question, you must move items from the list on the right to the appropriate node in the tree.

It is quite likely that you will not see any create-a-tree questions in the exam 70-315.

These questions are basically a matching exercise. Items from the list on the right are placed under the appropriate category in the list on the left. For a sample of how they appear on the test, see Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3. This is how create-a-tree questions appear.

graphics/01fig03.jpg

Question 4

The calendar year is divided into four seasons:

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Identify the season when each of the following holidays occurs:

Christmas

Fourth of July

Labor Day

Flag Day

Memorial Day

Washington's Birthday

Thanksgiving

Easter

A1:

The correct answer is

Winter

Christmas

Washington's Birthday

Spring

Flag Day

Memorial Day

Easter

Summer

Fourth of July

Labor Day

Fall

Thanksgiving

In this case, all the items in the list were used. However, this might not always be the case.

To move an item from the right list to its appropriate location in the tree, you must first select the appropriate tree node by clicking it. Then you select the item to be moved and click the Add button. If one or more items have been added to a tree node, the node is displayed with a plus icon (+) to the left of the node name . You can click this icon to expand the node and view whatever was added. If any item has been added to the wrong tree node, you can remove it by selecting it and clicking the Remove button (see Figure 1.3).

Drag-and-Connect Question Format

Questions in the drag-and-connect format present a group of objects and a list of connections . To answer the question, you must move the appropriate connections between the objects.

It is quite likely that you will not see any drop-and-connect questions in the exam 70-315.

This type of question is best described using graphics. Here's an example.

Question 5

The following objects represent the various states of water:

graphics/01inf01.gif

Use items from the following list to connect the objects so that they are scientifically correct:

Sublimates to form

Freezes to form

Evaporates to form

Boils to form

Condenses to form

Melts to form

A1:

The correct answer is

graphics/01inf02.gif

For this type of question, it's not necessary to use every object, but each connection can be used multiple times by dragging the answer to multiple locations. Dragging an answer away from its position removes it.

Select-and-Place Question Format

Questions in the select-and-place (drag-and-drop) format present a diagram with blank boxes and a list of labels that must be dragged to fill in the blank boxes. To answer the question, you must move the labels to their appropriate positions on the diagram.

This type of question is best described using graphics. Here's an example.

Question 6

Place the items in their proper order, by number, on the following flowchart. Some items may be used more than once, and some items might not be used at all.

graphics/01inf03.gif