ProcTesting – Proctored Exams (MERN)

ProcTesting is a full‑stack proctoring platform for creating, delivering, and reviewing online exams with built‑in anti‑cheat protections. It includes role‑based dashboards for students and faculty, a professional Exam Editor with question import, and exports of submissions to CSV/Excel.

Features

• Role‑based dashboards with clear role badges (Student/Faculty)
• Secure Exam Runner
  • Fullscreen requirement, copy/cut/context‑menu and text selection disabled
  • Tab/app switching detection with friendly warnings and countdown overlay
  • Auto‑submit after violation timeout; no premature “time expired” text
  • Navbar is hidden during exams
• Exam Editor (Tailwind styled)
  • Basics, Scheduling, Assignment, and Questions sections
  • Question cards with duplicate/remove actions
  • Import questions from Google Sheets (CSV/TSV) or Google Docs (text)
• Submissions review for faculty
  • View attempts with populated student details (name, email, roll no.)
  • Inspect proctoring events per attempt
  • Export submissions to CSV or Excel (.xlsx) with auto‑filters and readable column sizing

Tech stack

• Frontend: React 18 + Vite, Tailwind CSS v4
• Backend: Node.js + Express, MongoDB + Mongoose, JWT auth

Folder structure

backend/
	server.js        # Express app entry
	config/db.js     # MongoDB connection
	middleware/
	models/
	routes/
frontend/
	src/
		pages/         # Pages (Dashboard, ExamEditor, ExamRunner, etc.)
		components/
		utils/api.js   # Axios instance and API helpers
	vite.config.js

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Getting started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS recommended)
• MongoDB (local or cloud, e.g., MongoDB Atlas)

Backend setup

1. Create a .env file in backend/ with:

MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/proctesting    # or your Atlas URI
JWT_SECRET=replace-with-a-strong-secret
PORT=5000                                          # optional; defaults to 5000
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5173                   # Vite dev URL for CORS

2. Install and start the server:

cd backend
npm install
npm start

The server exposes REST APIs at http://localhost:5000/api.

Frontend setup

1. Create a .env file in frontend/ (you can copy from .env.example):

VITE_API_BASE=http://localhost:5000/api

2. Install and run the dev server:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

3. Open the printed URL (typically http://localhost:5173).

For production deployment, see DEPLOYMENT.md for detailed instructions on configuring environment variables for platforms like Vercel, Netlify, or Render.

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Importing questions (Exam Editor)

Open the Exam Editor and click “Import”. You can paste content or choose a file.

Supported formats:

• Google Sheets (CSV/TSV)
  • Headers: text, type, options, correct, points
  • Options separated by | or ;;
  • Multiple correct answers should be comma‑separated (e.g., A,B or 1,3)
  • If a CSV field contains commas (e.g., A,B), wrap it in quotes

Example CSV:

text,type,options,correct,points
What is 2+2?,single,2 | 3 | 4 | 5,3,1
Select prime numbers,mcq,2 | 3 | 4 | 5,"A,B",3
Explain Newton's second law,text,,,5

• Google Docs (plain text)
  • Example block:

Q: What is 2+2?
A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
Correct: C
Points: 1

You can choose to replace existing questions or append the parsed ones.

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Exporting submissions (Faculty)

On the Submissions page for an exam, use the top‑right buttons:

• Export CSV – downloads a .csv with columns:

  • SNo, AttemptID, StudentName, StudentEmail, RollNo, Status, Score, Violations, StartedAt, SubmittedAt
  • Timestamps are ISO‑8601 strings (UTC)

• Export Excel – downloads a .xlsx with:

  • The same columns as above
  • AutoFilter enabled on the header row
  • Column widths sized for readability
  • Date cells formatted as yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss (displayed in your local timezone by Excel)

Filenames are timestamped, e.g., exam_<examId>_submissions_YYYYMMDD_HHMM.*.

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Available scripts

Backend:

cd backend
npm start     # runs nodemon server.js

Frontend:

cd frontend
npm run dev      # Start Vite dev server
npm run build    # Production build
npm run preview  # Preview the production build

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Troubleshooting

• MongoDB connection fails
  • Verify MONGO_URI and that MongoDB is running/reachable
• CORS errors in browser
  • Ensure CLIENT_URL in backend .env matches your frontend origin
• Invalid token / unauthorized
  • Set a valid JWT_SECRET and ensure the frontend stores/sends the token
• API not reachable from frontend
  • Confirm backend port and base URL in frontend/src/utils/api.js

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License

This project is for educational purposes. Add a license here if you plan to distribute.