websubmit.cgi is a script that permits ODU CS students to submit their assignments via the web. It is intended as an alternative to our internally developed submit command as well as to the Blackboard and OCCS assignment submission facilities. Unlike those alternatives, websubmit allows students to submit files both from their Unix accounts and from whatever PC/console from which they are running their web browser. It also allows for assignments where students must submit multiple files but where the file names are constrained by the instructor.

websubmit also addresses a pet peeve of mine: the submit command and most web-submission utilities rely on students knowing what files they are supposed to turn in and what those files should be named. That may seem a perfectly reasonable expectation, but my experience is that a substantial number of students turn in the wrong sets of files^[1] or turn in the files with incorrect names, making grading much more difficult than it needs to be.

By contrast, websubmit.cgi is invoked with an instructor-supplied assignment description that lists the files to be turned in, so that students are presented with an explicit list to guide their submissions. websubmit.cgi is most useful for assignments where the names of the files to be turned in are determined ahead of time by the instructor or where, at least, the number of files to be turned in is relatively small. For assignments that are weakly structured or that vary by the individual student, have the students package their project into .zip or other archive file formats.

websubmit also provides several optional features:

(optional) invocation of an automatic grading script after each submission and for the (optional) revelation of the instructor's solution when the student is finished with an assignment.