We are learning in this course how computers are designed. At present there must always be a set of rules (protocol, parsing, or formatting rules) that govern the data sent so that a process can understand the data it receives. In a fixed-field format, every bit has to be correct and in exactly the right order. The homework submission protocol is far more "free form", but it is still far from accepting as wide a range of formatting as a human being.
Each HW problems document will be emailed to you. Do a "Reply" and edit the answers in the appropriate places, or save it from your email program, as a "text" file, edit it using any "editor" program (that can save the result as a "text" file) and email the result back in the body of an email message (not as an "attachment").
If for some reason you need another copy, you can access the version on the Class Web Site. Do not "Save as Source" from a Web Browser if you can avoid it (you get a lot of HTML commands, like <Title>). Instead use "Save as Text", which is available in all browsers and works well. Make sure that your editor does not create an HTML document (the grading program will not handle all html formats). See "Browser Setup Tips."
Edit the homework problems in a word processor to add the answers into the square brackets after each question. Use a non-proportional type font in your word processor (Courier or Monaco) to make things line up.
Save it as a "text" file, and email it back to me: (john.copeland@ece.gatech.edu) before class on the day it is due (video students have 14 more days). Email the completed document as the body of a message (not as an attached document) with the Subject simply "HW-n", where "n: is the appropriate number. Including quotes or extra spaces in the "Subject" will prevent your homework submission from being automatically graded.
Acknowledgements. My desktop email program checks for new mail every 30 minutes (when it and the network are up). An automatic confirmation message will be sent back to you at the next mail-check time after the desktop downloads your response (if your Subject is correct). If you do not receive a response within two hours (plus normal delays for outside email systems - "hotmail" may delay mail by several hours each way), then check the Subject and Address carefully, and send again. Send a CC to yourself for proof that you sent the HW.
If you need to send the copy to me after the deadline for the homework (to show you sent it on time), send it with the original "header" information. In Eudora, select "Blah, blah, blah" before you select "Forward" from the "Message" menu. In browser-based email programs select "show headers", "show more information", or the equivalent setting which shows the email server time stamp and document number.
Please send questions or comments in a separate message (with a diffirent "Subject". I will not accept paper returns. If you can not complete the assignment on time, tell me why and turn it in as soon as possible for partial credit.
Numerical answers must be in a normal decimal format (e.g., 0.015, 1.5e-2, 1.5%) and must be accurate to within 5%. You may use fractions (e.g., 3/32).
Do not use letter multipliers (e.g., 10mA, 30k, 80M). All letters after a number are ignored (e.g., M, m, k, etc.).
If the answer is a percentage, the format may be like 0.52 or 52% (52 is assumed to mean 5200%). You must include the % or use a decimal fraction.
Each problem has the same value (5 problems, 20% each). Each answer in a problem has an equal weight ( 4 answers, 5% each).
If an error in the first answer causes following answers to be wrong, all wrong answers are counted off. There will be no recalculation of answers based on previous wrong values, so be careful. This is the way things work in real life. If a bridge collapses, no one cares that the designer did all the steps but one correctly.
Please avoid using "HW-x" or "Re: HW-x" for the subject on any messages except your homework return. I have to assume "Re: HW-x" is a HW return because mmany email programs prefix the subject with "Re: " when you select "Reply".
Sometimes people send several returns. I delete all but the (apparent) latest message submitted before the deadline with the subject "HW-x" or "Re: HW-x" (and the same email header "From" field). It's better to wait and submit one return since deletion of multiple copies is manual and 100% accuracy is not guaranteed.
Please do not be tempted to submit a copy of someone else's work. The grading program computes correlations and identifies returns that are highly similar. This will be done at the end of the quarter and students who have copied, or who let others copy, homework returns will be in violation of the Georgia Tech Honor Code (since HW affects the final grade) and will be punished. Do not even exchange blank homework messages.
In order to parse your submission,
certain unique "flags" must be in place in the
submission. Do not delete or duplicate these flags, which are
shown below:
***START_HW***
[ ]-NAME
[ ]-PRISM
#1.
[ ]
[ ]
#2.
[ ]
***END_HW***
In the example above, the square brackets should contain:
You do have to delete anything
from the homework file. You may delete the lines above the line:
--------- (You may delete all above this line) ------------------
but leave the additional text (questions) in
place.
Do not send a typed-from-scratch reply. Edit the form that is sent to you.
TEXT files have lines that are separated by a Linefeed character (LF, control-J, UNIX), a carriage return (CR, control-M, Macintosh) or by a combination of both (DOS). HTML files (called "source" files by browsers) ignore these control characters and create a new line (or "line break" based on the HTML commands <BR> and <P>.
The AWK program that grades your homework depends on the characteristics of a TEXT file to parse the questions and answers. Question 5 must begin with "#5. " at the beginning of a line as defined by a CR, LF , or both (a "> " added at the beginning when you "reply" to email is accepted). The answers and the surrounding square brackets must be on a single line (no embedded LF's or CR's).
The most recent Web Browsers will let you edit HTML files (like the "hw3.html" on the Web and then email the edited HTML file. My email program Eudora 3.01 will display an HTML file properly, so I can not tell at that point whether the file you sent was a TEXT file or an HTML file, but the HTML files will not be graded, or will be given a low grade because questions and answers are not recognized.
Even if you are going to simply Copy and Paste into your email program, saving first as the right type of file may prevent carrying unwanted formatting information unseen into your email document. (Disable Communicator Default)
If you realized a question was answered incorrectly, it is to your advantage to submit a updated version of the homework. Your later submission will most likely will be the one that generates your grade, but this is not guaranteed. The best policy is not to submit your homework until you have finished working on it.
The Professor or Teaching Assistants will not manually edit the homework grading files because a student did not follow the above instructions. For example, manual intervention will not be done for:
The Professor or Teaching Assistants will rerun the grading program if any of the key answers are wrong, or if there are additional valid answers to a question. Late submissions will be graded, but the score used for final-grade calculation will be lower than the grade produced by the program.
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