Author: Stan Eisenstat
Subject: Practice CPSC 323 exam
Date: Tuesday, 06 Oct 2020, 09:33:54

[Sorry, this should have been sent yesterday.  /Stan]

As I wrote earlier, the midterm will be given asynchronously.  There
will be a window (e.g., from 10am until 3pm New Haven time) during which
you must

* get your copy of the exam (instructions below)

* spend up to 75 minutes writing your answers to the questions on one or
  more sheets of paper (preferably 8-1/2" by 11") or using an app (e.g.,
  Notability)
  
* create a file on your computer/phone that contains your work (e.g., by
  scanning or taking pictures of the sheets of paper or exporting the
  document from your app as a PDF file)

* upload the file to the Zoo (e.g., using scp)

* submit the uploaded file using the command

    % /c/cs323/bin/submit 1E scanned_Copy_Of_Exam

  no later than 90 minutes after you got the exam (the extra 15 minutes
  are for scanning, uploading, and submitting).  You may submit more than
  once (only the most recent is retained); and you can use the command

    % /c/cs323/bin/check 1E

  to verify that the file was submitted.

To test the software and your ability to get a copy of the exam and scan,
updload, and submit your work, there is a practice exam Tuesday (i.e., today),
starting at 12:01am and ending at 11:59pm.  This exam is optional, but if you
do not take it and you encounter problems during the real exam, you will not
get much sympathy.


Accessing an Exam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the window of time during which you may take an exam opens, the Zoo
command

  % /c/cs323/bin/get.exam

will create in your current working directory a text file that contains
a copy of the exam.  The time will be logged, and you will be given a
deadline for submitting your work.  The deadline will be either 90
minutes later (longer if you are entitled to extra time) or the end of
the window for taking the exam, whichever is earlier.

If you run the command again during the window for taking the exam, you
will be reminded of the time when you started and the deadline for
submitting your work, and you will get another copy of the exam.

If you run the command after the window for taking the exam closes, you
will get another copy of the exam.

--Stan-