ExTimUA

A. Synopsis

ExTimUA is a script that allows to record the hand-in times of students while taking an exam. This is done by scanning the student's RFID card at hand-in time. It allows prerecording students with special time facilities at the beginning of the exam, such that you can keep track of their time usage. It is intended for use at the University of Antwerp.

B. Automated installation on MS-Windows

The script and its auxiliaries have been packaged as a self-extracting executable installer for use on MS-Windows.

Download DMW-ExTimUA-2026-2.exe. Run the executable. This will install the tool on windows. If you are using a better operating system, read the instructions below (under C. Manual Installation).

C. Manual Installation

On a decent operating system, you want to decide yourself how the software is installed. You might e.g. want to put the package in a venv (or in a container). Therefore, you can find the raw installation instructions below. If you are an MS-Windows user, skip this section and continue with section D.

1. Install the prerequisites

i. When on GNU/Linux or UNIX:

a. Install the following packages using your favorite package installation tool (e.g. pacman, apt-get, ...)

opensc
opensc-pkcs11
pcscd
pcsc-tools
ccid

b. Then, install, enable and start the pcsc daemon.

$ sudo systemctl enable pcscd
$ sudo systemctl start pcscd

c. Test wether your card reader is working using opensc-tool by issuing at your shell prompt:

$ opensc-tool -l

ii. When on MAC:

a. Install the opensc tool by:

$ brew install opensc

b. Test wether your card reader is working using opensc-tool by issuing at your shell prompt:

$ opensc-tool -l

2. Install the package itself

The ExTimUA code can be found on PyPI.

When on GNU/Linux, UNIX or MAC: If you have a python interpreter installed on a GNU/Linux, BSD-like or UNIX-like workstation that is all you need. You can install the package from the command line as follows:

$ pip install –upgrade extimua

D. Usage

1. Graphically (MS-Windows only)

a. Fresh start

Start the script by double-clicking the icon on the desktop. This will create a .csv file your desktop, e.g. ‘1509FTIABV_2026-06-13_1330.csv’.

b.Restart when window inadvertently closed or tool crashed

Drag and drop the csv file on to the icon (or start the tool again by double clicking and enter the same course code and starting time, the tool will recognize this as an earlier saved session).

2. From the command-line

a. Fresh start:

Start the script from a command/shell prompt:

$ extimua

This will create a .csv file named e.g. '1509FTIABV_2026-06-13_1330.csv',

b. Restart when window inadvertently closed or tool crashed

Start the sacript from a command/shell prompt with the csv file as argument, e.g.

$ extimua 1509FTIABV_2026-06-13_1330.csv

E. License

ExTimUA is distributed under the terms of the MIT-license.

MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.