CSCI 161 Summer 2023: lab 1

Batch testing: a lab1 directory of test cases and a batch test file (as discussed in class May 11th) can be found here: lab1 repo.
To run the test cases enter the command
bash batchtest

161 Lab 1 exercises

See the main lab page for submission deadlines and late penalties.

It is assumed you are keeping up to date with the lectures and labs.
Some additional git information is available through the git quick notes, git project/lab submission, and lecture resources pages.

This lab focuses on introducing our use of git for obtaining and submitting this year's labs and project, and also as a refresher on basic C++ programming.

In lab 1, you'll be following the lab instructions to:

create the markable (server-side) copy of the lab1 repository,
clone that to create your own local working copy,
compile the skeleton lab1 code using a provided makefile,
revise, compile, and test your C++ code for lab1
push your work back to the git server for marking

For this to work correctly, you will need to follow the lab instructions carefully and in the sequence given.

When doing the lab, take some time to ensure you understand what each command is supposed to do before you run it.

After running each command take some time to ensure you understand what actually did happen. (In the great scheme of things, it doesn't do anyone much good if you're just typing commands without understanding them.)

Lab instructions

Again, these must be done in sequence, and each set of instructions must complete successfully before you move on to the next.

If you've taken 161 in the past then you probably already have a csci161 directory. You're not going to want to mix up this year's 161 stuff with the old stuff, so before you mkdir csci161 I'd suggest doing something like
mv csci161 old161

0. double-check that the instructor has posted the repo
Run the command below, and check to make sure that the csci 161 lab1 repository appears in the list (if it isn't posted yet then don't proceed yet)
ssh -x csci info

This lists all the repositories you currently have access to, and the one you're specifically looking for will look like csci161/lab1.

A WARNING AGAINST TRYING THE REMAINING STEPS BEFORE YOUR LAB SESSION:
none of the remaining lab instructions will work correctly until the repository has been set up by the instructor, which may not happen until the day of the lab

1. create the server-side copy of the repo
To do this, enter the following command:
ssh -x csci fork csci161/lab1 csci161/$USER/lab1
($USER will automatically get replaced by your linux userid)

You can check if this worked correctly by running the ssh -x csci info command again, and it should now show an additional repository:
csci161/yourusername/lab1

2. clone your own local working copy
If you haven't previously done so, you'll want to create a csci161 directory in your home directory, i.e.
cd
mkdir csci161
cd csci161

now clone your server-side copy, creating a working lab1 repository here
git clone csci:csci161/$USER/lab1

We can check if this has been successful by entering our lab1 directory and checking which files are present:

cd lab1
ls

This should show lab1.cpp, lab1.h, makefile, and README

3. compile/run the skeleton, and try a git push
We'll use the supplied makefile to compile the files and create a lab1x executable:
make

That will thow a lot of warnings about unused parameters (since the functions are mostly empty so far), but it should compile and create a lab1x executable. You can check that using ls, then try running it:
./lab1x

The initial lab1.cpp is pretty much just a simple main routine to get an array of words from the user, sort them, and print the results using five functions. Skeletal versions of each of the functions are provided, the implementations are to be completed by you. You'll be working on the lab1.cpp content in step 4 below.

We'll try submitting your repository, just to make sure everything has been set up correctly:

git add lab1.cpp
git add lab1x
git commit -m "compiled the original lab1"
git push

(The commit will produce a couple of lines of messages about how many files were changed leading up to the commit and the create mode for lab1x.
The push will produce 10-15 lines of output regarding compressing/writing objects, information about the remote in use, and ending with a large hexadecimal commit id and "master -> master".)

This will have copied your work back to the server where the instructor can access/mark it. You can repeat this cycle as often as you like, each time it sends the updated content. (Thus the instructor will always have your most up to date version for marking.)

If anything goes wrong see step 5 at the bottom of this page for some basic trouble-shooting, and if that doesn't solve the problem then talk to your instructor for help.

4. complete the lab1.cpp file as per specifications
Now we finally get into the actual programming details for lab1.

The lab1x program basically collects, sorts, and displays a set of words, where each word is 3 to 10 characters long.

A main routine and set of functions have been defined to do this, but the functions themselves are incomplete.

You'll be editing the functions in the lab1.cpp file to match the specifications given for them in the lab1.h file.

The intent for the C++ portion of this lab is primarily to act as a refresher for some of the CSCI 159/160 material, and to get everyone back into the swing of programming.

The specifications for lab1.cpp are as follows:

The lab1.cpp must contain implementions of each of the functions defined in the lab1.h file, following the specifications given for those functions in lab1.h. (Skeletal versions of each function have already been included in lab1.cpp, you just need to complete them.)
You are not permitted to alter lab1.h.
When the instructor compiles/tests your program they will use a copy of the original lab1.h. If you have modified your lab1.h then your program will not compile and as a result will be heavily penalized.
The main routine has already been completed and should not be altered: the objective is to get the specified functions to work as intended, thus the main routine should work exactly as provided.

Be sure you read, understand, and follow the code standards for CSCI 161, as they will most likely be different than the standards you were given in your CSCI 159/160 course. Marks will be deducted for failing to follow standards.

I also strongly recommend that after each successful modification of your .cpp program you perform the following two commands:

   git add lab1.cpp
   git commit -m "some message describing the changes you just made"

These use git to take and store a snapshot of your latest set of changes, which will subsequently allow you to roll back to the current state of your code if you ever need to (e.g. if you accidentally trash your lab1.cpp file later, or make changes you wish to undo).

A sample run of the program is shown below. (For the sake of clarity in the example, user input is shown in bold italics - this is of course not something your program actually could/would do.)
Please enter the desired number of words for your dictionary (max 100) Please enter an integer in the range 1..100 foo Sorry, foo is not an integer, please try again Please enter an integer in the range 1..100 -1 Sorry, 4294967295 is not in the range 1..100, please try again Please enter an integer in the range 1..100 101 Sorry, 101 is not in the range 1..100, please try again Please enter an integer in the range 1..100 0 Sorry, 0 is not in the range 1..100, please try again Please enter an integer in the range 1..100 5 Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long blah Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long ick Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long abcdefghij Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long me Sorry, me is not of a valid length, please try again Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long trythisword Sorry, trythisword is not of a valid length, please try again Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long ok123 Please enter a word that is 3 to 10 characters long 123456 The 5 words in the dictionary are: 123456 abcdefghij blah ick ok123

5. add, commit, and push your finished lab back to the git server
We'll perform two git adds to ensure git has tracked your changes to lab1.cpp and lab1x, and a git commit to take a snapshot of the current repository state:

git add lab1.cpp
git add lab1x
git commit -m "lab1 complete"

Finally we need to push all your updates to the server for marking:
git push

Note that if you forget any of those steps (the adds, commit, or push) then the changes you made will not reach the instructor for marking.

If you're ever in doubt about the current state of your repository you can run the command git status, which should eventually give a message like "up-to-date with origin master". Here are the most common other messages it may give you:

"ahead of origin/master by 1 (or more) commit(s)": this means you still need to do a git push
"changes to be committed": this means you still need to do a git commit and a push
"untracked" files: this is really only crucial if the lab1.cpp file is listed, in which case you need to do your git adds, commit, and push

What to do if, on a push, you get an error like this:


FATAL: W any csci161/lab1 yourusername DENIED by fallthru
(or you mis-spelled the reponame)
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

Note the push should be trying to go to "csci161/yourusername/lab1", not to "csci161/lab1" (which is the instructor repo), so this error message suggests that in step 2 you may have cloned the wrong repo, e.g. you may have done git clone csci:csci161/lab1
instead of the correct git clone csci:csci161/$USER/lab1
thus now in step 5 when you push it's trying to overwrite the instructor's version, so is giving you that permission error.

It's not an uncommon mistake, and easily fixed. We need your lab1 repo to think it was cloned from *your* space on the git server, not from the instructor's, so we'll reset where your repository thinks it came from using the following command:
git remote set-url origin csci:csci161/$USER/lab1

After that, you should be able to push normally.

If you ever want to completely start over:

you can get rid of your server-side repo with the command
ssh csci D trash csci161/$USER/lab1
you can get rid of your local copy using the command sequence
```
cd
cd csci161
rm -rf lab1
```