1. Your opinion ?
I am working on a set of assignments for a programming class, and I would
appreciate some feedback from you Euphorians.
Here's one. Do you think it is stated clearly enough for a student to
be able to write a successful program? Did I leave out any crucial
info?
Thanks,
Irv
Your client is a magazine publisher. She has a file of subscription info,
formatted as follows, one record on each line, fixed length.
219434 08 1997 5 ...name, address, etc follows
493952 01 1999 1
482995 02 1998 2
938295 05 1995 1
etc.
^acct ^mo ^yr ^length
where acct is the subscriber's account number,
mo and yr are the month and year the subscription started,
length is the number of years the subscriber paid for.
The actual file is about 10 megs. in size.
Your program will read the subscription file each month,
and create two new files:
1. A list of subscribers which expire this month, or next month,
so that the publisher can send a letter asking for a renewal.
2. A list of subscribers who should receive a magazine this month.
The entire data line should be copied into the appropriate file.
---
2. Re: Your opinion ?
On Fri, 15 Jan 1999 08:31:13 -0500, Irv Mullins <irv at ELLIJAY.COM> wrote:
>I am working on a set of assignments for a programming class, and I would
>appreciate some feedback from you Euphorians.
>Here's one.
-- Again I ask:
-- Do you think it is stated clearly enough for a student to
-- be able to write a successful program? Did I leave out any crucial
-- info?
>Thanks,
>Irv
>
>Your client is a magazine publisher. She has a file of subscription info,
>formatted as follows, one record on each line, fixed length.
>219434 08 1997 5 ...name, address, etc follows
>493952 01 1999 1
>482995 02 1998 2
>938295 05 1995 1
>etc.
>^acct ^mo ^yr ^length
>where acct is the subscriber's account number,
>mo and yr are the month and year the subscription started,
>length is the number of years the subscriber paid for.
>The actual file is about 10 megs. in size.
>
>Your program will read the subscription file each month,
>and create two new files:
>1. A list of subscribers which expire this month, or next month,
>so that the publisher can send a letter asking for a renewal.
>2. A list of subscribers who should receive a magazine this month.
>The entire data line should be copied into the appropriate file.
>
>---
3. Re: Your opinion ?
>-- Again I ask:
>-- Do you think it is stated clearly enough for a student to
>-- be able to write a successful program? Did I leave out any crucial
>-- info?
Ok, so you didn't get any responses the first time....
>Your client is a magazine publisher. She has a file of subscription info,
>formatted as follows, one record on each line, fixed length.
>219434 08 1997 5 ...name, address, etc follows
>493952 01 1999 1
>482995 02 1998 2
>938295 05 1995 1
>etc.
>^acct ^mo ^yr ^length
>where acct is the subscriber's account number,
>mo and yr are the month and year the subscription started,
>length is the number of years the subscriber paid for.
>The actual file is about 10 megs. in size.
>
>Your program will read the subscription file each month,
>and create two new files:
>1. A list of subscribers which expire this month, or next month,
>so that the publisher can send a letter asking for a renewal.
>2. A list of subscribers who should receive a magazine this month.
>The entire data line should be copied into the appropriate file.
The only thing that would be confusing would be "What month is it now?".
Without being told how to tell that, the coders will have to come up with
their own ways. (Input prompt, seperate data file that holds the info,
getting the current date from the computer, etc. The language wasn't
specified, but in Eu it would be easy to get the date. 
4. Re: Your opinion ?
>
>>-- Again I ask:
>>-- Do you think it is stated clearly enough for a student to
>>-- be able to write a successful program? Did I leave out any crucial
>>-- info?
>>Your program will read the subscription file each month,
>>and create two new files:
>>1. A list of subscribers which expire this month, or next month,
>>so that the publisher can send a letter asking for a renewal.
>>2. A list of subscribers who should receive a magazine this month.
>>The entire data line should be copied into the appropriate file.
>
And the filenames will use what naming convention/format ? Should the
program overwrite the existing output files each run or generate new
ones each time.
5. Re: Your opinion ?
>>Your program will read the subscription file each month,
>>and create two new files:
>>1. A list of subscribers which expire this month, or next month,
>>so that the publisher can send a letter asking for a renewal.
>>2. A list of subscribers who should receive a magazine this month.
>>The entire data line should be copied into the appropriate file.
>
>
>The only thing that would be confusing would be "What month is it now?".
>Without being told how to tell that, the coders will have to come up with
>their own ways. (Input prompt, seperate data file that holds the info,
>getting the current date from the computer, etc. The language wasn't
>specified, but in Eu it would be easy to get the date.
Thanks, Robert.
I asked because it's easy to leave out some things that seem
"obvious" to me, but aren't to anyone else.
I will add the specification: current month (as reported by the pc)
For this I'd probably use Euphoria, or Pascal But the language
shouldn't affect the difficulty of the assignment (Intercal excepted)
Irv
6. Re: Your opinion ?
On Wed, 27 Jan 1999 15:21:15 -0000, Bown, John <John.Bown at UK.ORIGIN-IT.COM>
wrote:
>>>Your program will read the subscription file each month,
>>>and create two new files:
>>>1. A list of subscribers which expire this month, or next month,
>>>so that the publisher can send a letter asking for a renewal.
>>>2. A list of subscribers who should receive a magazine this month.
>>>The entire data line should be copied into the appropriate file.
>>
>And the filenames will use what naming convention/format ? Should the
>program overwrite the existing output files each run or generate new
>ones each time.
Thanks, John.
I should have specified the output format: same as the input file.
As for naming conventions - that's part of the assignment.
You get extra credit for asking these questions
(more for answering them).
Should prior month expiration files be archived? Is there any use for them?
Should old versions of the second file (those who get a magazine) be saved?
Is there any use for them?
Is there any reason you should or shouldn't overwrite the existing
(prior month's) files, based on the use as stated?
Irv
