CSC 444 Project FAQ
last modified on Wed Jan 7 14:52:55 EST 2004

  1. Question: What should we submit for assignment 5?
    Answer: You must hand in the complete package: Remember that we need to see the history of changes made to SRS, SDD, and the program. You must also submit the electronic version of your program in a tar package. Make sure the marker can unpack your submission, compile it, and run your system test cases. Organize your package to facilitate this! For example, create a directory for your Java programs, another directory for documentations (e.g. readme, user manual), a directory for test cases, and so on.

  2. Question: Suppose Node1 has two offsprings Node2 and Node3, in an OR grouping. Suppose the value of Node2 is 5 with weight factor of 2 and the value of Node3 is 10 with weight factor of 1. What is the value of Node1?
    Answer: 10. In case of an equality, the result is the value of the node that has the largest absolute value.

  3. Question: Do I have to remove the simplified functionality from my SRS and design document?
    Answer: Yes. You must apply your change management process and modify your SRS, and your design document to reflect the changes and simplifications.

  4. Question: What are the minimum and maximum values for weights?
    Answer: The minimum is 1. The maximum is unspecified. However, for practical purposes, e.g. overflow, you should set an upper bound value, e.g. 10.

  5. Question: Where and when can we drop the assignment 1?
    Answer: Assignment 1 must be submitted to the head TA (Rama) in SF 4308-B before 12:00 NOON tomorrow (Tuesday Sep 30).

  6. Question: How should we handle loops created by influences? For example, consider the following:
    Answer: Evaluate from left to right, bottom up. Here first evaluate D and F, then B and finally C, and move to A. At any given point in time, each goal has a value (or default of 0).

  7. Question: What happens if the value of a goal with its external influence goes below 0 or above 100?
    Answer: Force the values to remain in that range. No goal can have a value less than 0 or more 100.

  8. Question: Should we have a password authentication for our users?
    Answer: Problem description does not say anything about the number of users. You can assume there is only one user.

  9. Question: Should I specify my DTD in the specification document?
    Answer: You could. You may also delay that to the design phase after you have done some analysis.

  10. Question: How many XML files do we need?
    Answer: You need one file to store the definition of the hierarchy. You also need a data file for each sample point. You may choose to place your external influences in this file or create another file.

  11. Question: I am not sure if ecf or cdf provide the services that my team may need to implement our solution. Could you tell us what to do?
    Answer: This is part of your project. You have to investigate what is available to you. Based on that you have to identify your risks, the probability of occurrence, the impact, and your mitigation strategy.

  12. Question: Should we create the WBS for the entire project?
    Answer: No. You should treat each phase as a project. As such, you should divide the tasks and responsibilities among the team members. Make sure you discuss this issue as well as other risk management and project related during the practice session. When you have reached an agreement, have the TA to sign on your document. This note has to be handed in with your project report.

  13. Question: The project asks us to name our classes using an underscore notation. However, this is contrary to Java Standard. Why?
    Answer: Local rules always trump the standards. The project asks for this specifically, and you should abide. (Aside: the reason has to do with preference: extracting the names of classes and replacing the underscore vs. inserting space between lower and upper case letter.)