Press "Enter" to skip to content

Using EBB

You must either be on campus using the Duke Blue WiFI network or using the Duke VPN.   If you are not logged into the Duke Blue WiFi or the Duke VPN, EBB will not load.

Before taking an exam with EBB

  • Download and Install the EBB software
  • Start the program to make sure it’s working properly.
    • You will first see a “Welcome Page”.
      –you will be unable to access any other files on your computer or on the internet.
      –you do not need to insert a disk in to your disk drive as stated on the welcome page.
      –an encrypted version of your exam will be backed up on your hard drive and on our server.
  • After clicking on OK on the welcome page you will be on the “Student Input” page”. In the space provided enter your first name, last name and for class ID choose your class ID (course number).  If you can select your course ID from the list, you are able to communicate with our server. If you had to select or type “Other” you are unable to communicate with our server. Try the step again well before your exam date. If you cannot connect to our server then send a note to ppshelp@duke.edu so we can try and correct the connection problem.
  • Before entering an exam room, check your computer’s power settings on the control panel. Be sure that it is not set to go into “suspend” or “hibernation” during a period of inactivity. If it does go into either mode the EBB program will freeze your computer and you will not be able to use it to complete the exam.

Starting EBB on Exam Day:

  • Unless your exam is in room 153 Rubenstein Hall you are unlikely to have access to an electrical outlet.  Make sure your laptop battery is fully charged.
  • Start the EBB program.  Click OK on the Welcome Page. Proceed to the Student Input screen.  Enter your name and choose your Class ID from the drop down list.  At this point Professor name and Course name fields will automatically populate. You will also be prompted to enter the number of questions you will be answering. You will not be allowed to proceed to the typing screen in EBB until you have entered all of this information.
  • Do NOT select the Start Exam button until the proctor instructs you to do so. When so instructed, select the Start Exam button. Confirm the number of questions when prompted and in a moment or two the exam word processing screen will then open.

Finishing Your Exam and Exiting EBB:

  • When you are done with your exam, click the Finish Exam button at the bottom of the typing screen. (Don’t worry if you accidentally click the Finish button during your exam.  When the Finish Exam button is pressed you will be given a chance to return to your exam on the next screen.)
  • You will notice either a green or yellow screen after you exit. The green screen means that the exam was saved to your computer and to the school network. The yellow screen means your answers did not save on the network, but it will inform you that the exam has been saved to your computer’s hard drive. DO NOT WORRY IF YOU RECEIVE THE YELLOW SCREEN.  YOUR EXAM HAS BEEN SAVED TO YOUR COMPUTER. Please let the professor or proctor know if you received the YELLOW screen. You then will submit the exam as instructed below.

Submitting Your Exam if You See the YELLOW Screen:

In some cases Electronic Bluebook will not be able to upload the exam to the network:

  • In the unlikely event of a network or server problem, students will find that EBB cannot upload the exam to the network.
  • If firewall software, including the McAfee VirusScan Access Protection Module, is not configured to allow the program to transmit the file it may block EBB from connecting to the network.
  • The wireless network may be congested during exams.

In any of these cases students should follow the following procedure:

  1. Follow the instructions on the Yellow screen and try to resend your exam. You will receive a note in the yellow box on the page telling you if you are successful or not. If you are NOT successful after several attempts then go to the next step.
  2. Save the exam answer and exit EBB when the proctor calls time at the end of the exam period; and, within 1 hour following completion of the exam, e-mail the copy of your exam answer automatically saved on your computer hard drive by EBB to ppsebb@duke.edu pursuant to the instructions below.

Windows users will find the exam file in their home directory at Documents\Exams\2023

Mac users will find the exam in their home directory at Documents | Exams | Exams |2023.

Open the appropriate folder. You can determine which file is the correct one by examining the name of the file and comparing it with the date and time you completed the exam. The first part of the file name is your last name, the second part is the course and section number as you entered it, and the third part of the name includes the date and time the file was saved. For example, if your last name is “Sanford” and you completed the exam for section 000_00 on December 3rd at 11:15 AM, the file you would e-mail will be named “Sanford–000_00–Dec-3 11-15-00.enc”. Be sure to send the file that ends with the extension “.enc.” to ppsebb@duke.edu.

If You Have a Problem During the Exam:

If you experience a computer problem that prevents you from continuing to type in EBB you may choose one of these three procedures:

  • You may immediately obtain a bluebook from the proctor and complete your exam by hand.
  • You may restart the computer and restart Electronic Bluebook. If your computer crashed without properly shutting it down, when you restart EBB it will offer you the option to recover your work. If you do so, your work completed prior to the failure will then be available.
  • If your computer fails and you wish to seek immediate technical assistance, you should notify the proctor. The proctor may contact someone on the IT staff or may ask you to complete the exam in a bluebook. As soon as possible a member of the IT staff will examine your computer and pull the file that was last saved to your hard drive for the professor to grade in addition to the bluebook.

Tips for Successfully Using EBB:

Be certain your computer is functioning well. If you are aware of any problems, have them fixed before the start of exams.

Close Other Applications. Although it is not likely that leaving other applications open while working in EBB would cause any problem, we recommend that you close other applications before working in EBB just to be safe. We also recommend that you turn off any screen savers from third-party providers (i.e., a screen saver that did not come loaded on your machine).

Additional Information:

No Editing After You Exit Your Exam. Each time you open EBB, a new exam file is created. EBB does not allow you to go back and edit prior exam files because the files are encrypted for security purposes. However, if your computer crashes it will allow you to recover your work and continue working when you restart the program.