CS1101C PE Instructions

Use This Header

/**********************************************************************/
/* PE Account Number: plabxxxx (will be given to you)                 */
/* Matriculation Number: U089999A (not your userid)                   */
/* Session: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 (choose one)                                */
/**********************************************************************/

An example of a correct header is:

/**********************************************************************/
/* PE Account Number: plab9876                                        */
/* Matriculation Number: U081234A                                     */
/* Session: 1                                                         */
/**********************************************************************/

General Instructions

1. Ignorance of these instructions is not an excuse for flouting them.
2. Type of exam: Open Book. Students are allowed to bring in any written or printed notes and textbooks. Electronic equipment of any kind are not allowed. Hand-held non-programming calculators are allowed. The rules on calculators are given HERE.
3. Students are not allowed to bring any form of storage media. Floppy disks, thumb drives, CD-ROMs, etc. are all not allowed.
4. No access to other electronic equipment (including laptops and PDAs) are permitted. No access to your usual sunfire account will be allowed during the entire day of the Practical Exam.
5. No electronic dictionaries are permitted. However, students may bring in traditional paper printed dictionaries (books).
6. Handphones must be turned off and placed inside your bags. Bags must be placed on the floor.

Before the PE

1. Students must leave the last row empty.
2. You will be allowed into the lab five to ten minutes before the start of the lab session.
3. Make sure that you are at the right venue. If you are at the wrong venue, you will be told to move to the correct venue.
4. Login to the computer using a Windows account that will be given to you.
5. Place your matriculation card on the table.
6. You will be given a PE account number for your Practical Exam. This is to be used to login to a special machine with hostname plab3.comp.nus.edu.sg using Secure Shell Client. Login as soon as you are given the account slip. The PE account number special account is called plabxxxx where xxxx is some four-digit number.
7. Students will need to setup the "submit" and "check" programs. This is done by typing the following command in plab (you may copy and paste the command):

   /home/course/cs1101cl/bin/pesetup
   

   Ensure that the above setup command ran correctly. If you see an error message, type the command again. If you cannot get it to work, call the lab TA.

8. Once the PE setup program has worked, you will be able to use the "submit" and "check" programs in the same way as you would for your regular lab. You must use the submit program to submit your program. Failure to do so will result in zero marks for the practical exam.
9. The PE setup program also shows you what to do next.
10. You will not be allowed to login to your usual sunfire account at any time. It will be disabled during the entire day of the Practical Exam.

During the PE

1. No communication of any kind is allowed between students.
2. The task bar must be visible at all times.
3. No one is allowed to leave early.
4. Students are allowed to access only the CS1101C Practical Exam Question (webpage address will be given by your lab TA). The CS1101C Main web page and CS1101C Lab Web Page will be inaccessible on the day of the practical exam.
5. Students are not allowed to access the IVLE.
6. Students are not allowed to access any other web sites.
7. The CS1101C lab web pages containing students submissions will be removed to save disk space.
8. Students are not allowed to run any programs other than the Secure Shell Client (a maximum of two windows) and a web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer).
9. Students are not allowed to retrieve any programs and files from their H: drives.
10. The invigilators can only help you with regards to the functionality of the software (e.g. gcc does not work). They will not help you with the fixing of any errors (compilation errors, runtime errors, or logic errors) in any way. No hints or help will be offered by them.
11. Students are reminded to submit their programs regularly. Strictly no extension of the deadline is allowed.
12. The invigilators will take your attendance and give you a PE Account which you will use to login and submit your program. Do not use your regular sunfire userid.
13. All submissions from every computer are logged.
14. Ensure that you check your submission to confirm that your program has been properly submitted.
15. Leave your lab immediately after the time is up.
16. Take care of your own program files. No extra time will be given should you accidentally lose your program files.
17. Make sure your C source file is named properly and check its content thoroughly before the end of the examination. Do not wait until the last minute! No extra time will be given and no appeals on wrong content or wrong file name will be entertained.
18. When you are told to stop, log out of Windows promptly. Refusal to comply will result in getting zero marks for the practical exam.
19. After you leave the lab, leave the lab level immediately. Do not loiter around the lab area or discuss things while you are in the vicinity.

Marking Scheme

1. Test Runs: 30 marks.
   1. We will run your program through fixed test data and compare the output of your program with correct output data. This is done automatically by our test program and is done to help us with the enormous task of marking 610 scripts. There will be several sets of tests data adding to a total of 30 marks.
   2. Your program will definitely include File I/O, including reading from a text file, and writing to a text file. It is essential that you are familiar with the topic of File I/O, else you will get zero marks for the test runs.
   3. It is essential that your program follows the sample output exactly. If you forgot a full-stop or have an extra space, your program output will be marked as wrong.
   4. If your program is suposed to print "Result: 50" but your program prints "Result : 50", it will be marked wrong due to the extra space.
   5. Conclusion: Be very careful and meticulous.
2. Coding: 40 marks.
3. Style: 30 marks.
   1. Indentation and readability: 5 marks.
   2. Comments and choice of identifiers: 10 marks.
   3. Program Design (modularity, choice of functions): 15 marks.
4. Compilation error(s): 0 marks for Test Runs. It is better to have an incomplete but compilable program, rather than to have a complete but non-compilable program. Practice incremental coding, i.e. write a few lines of code, then compile and run, then write a few more lines of code, compile and run, etc. Ensure that the program you submit is compilable.

Tips

1. Practice incremental coding to prevent the occurrence of errors. Compile your program after adding about five to ten lines of code.
2. Plan your code before doing actual coding.
3. When copying and pasting in vim, the pasted code appears slanted and out of line. This is because vim has “smartindent” and “autoindent” enabled by default. Also, line numbers are shown by default. To disable all three features, type the following commmand in Vim's command mode and press ENTER:

   :set noai nosi nonu
   

   To enable all three features again, type:

   :set ai si nu
   

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