| Updated |
Each team will be assigned a work area that includes a computer workstation, a small table desktop, and three chairs.
The contest will be held on networked Pentium-III and Pentium-IV computers running a patched Centos 6.0 with the Gnome X-Windows environment.
Each team will have a machine of its own to use during the contest. During the contest, contestants are to use the network only to submit contest problems or questions and get responses from the contest officials. Connecting to any other computer on the LAN or Internet, either before or during the contest, with telnet, FTP, Web browser, email, or any other network application is grounds for expulsion from the contest.
If you have any questions about the Contest Environment, send them to <systems@socalcontest.org> .
For more information regarding UNIX or the editors that will be available, see our Guide to UNIX and Editors.
The judges accept problem submissions only in the following programming languages.
| Language |
version |
|---|---|
| C | gcc 4.4 |
| C++ | g++ 4.4 |
| Java | jdk 1.6.0_27 from java.oracle.com |
What tools and documentation will be available online?
Programs will be compiled using libstdc++ (-l stdc++).
For additional information on the editors, please see the Guide to UNIX and Editors.
| Editor |
Version |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ed | 1.1 | |
| emacs | 23.1 | character based (emacs -nw) and mouse based (emacs) |
| gedit | 2.28 | |
| nano | 2.0 | |
| vim | 7.2 | Vi IMproved, character based (vi, vim) |
Note: jed and pico are not supported.
There is a common, indeed recommended, sequence of activities and commands that teams should follow during the contest.
getdata
Typically, files with be of the form
sampleN.in
sampleN.out
sampleN.in is a properly formed input file for problem N.
sampleN.out is the output file that a properly working program will produce from sampleN.in.
There is a causal relationship between sampleN.in and sampleN.out!
answers
compile source_file
You may find that your source_file does not compile properly when using the judges' options. You must fix your code to conform to the judges' requirements.
./a.out < sampleN.in (for Java, use: java aout < sampleN.in )
Inspect the screen output, but don't be lazy. The judges have generously supplied you with sample output that results from properly processing the sample input. Check your output against the judges' expectations.
./a.out < sampleN.in > pN.out
(for Java, use: java aout < sampleN.in > pN.out )
diff sampleN.out pN.out
answers
If you cannot find a clarification and are unable to solve the differences of your own accord, you may issue a question (clafication request) to the judges. Edit a file that contains the the problem number and your question, then issue it to the judges.
question question_file
The judges do not answer every question, and may in fact reword your question either for clarity or to avoid divulging judges' data. Wait a few minutes then periodically check to see if your question has been answered.
answers
submit problem_number source_file
Determine the status of your submission (pending judgement or judged with a response code).
status
It takes time for judges to issue a response. Work on another problem while waiting.
Unless otherwise stated in the problem description, each of your programs is to read all its input from standard input and write all its output to standard output. For each problem, your submission will consist of a single source file.
The software environment provides the following commands to the contestants:
compile source_file
submit problem_number source_file
submit will prompt you to enter a password. This password is the first four characters of your login password.
Source file sizes are limited to 300000 bytes. If the size of your source file exceeds the limit, submit will return the messages
Your submission is N bytes, which exceeds the 300000 byte limit.
Submission denied.
getdata
question file_name
status
This command replaces the use of e-mail to read the judges' response.
answers
score
timeleft
After you have submitted a source file for judging, your submission will be run with one or several sets of input data and the results reviewed. It is the judges' intent never to reveal directly or indirectly the specific input data the judges use to test contestant programs. The judges will respond to your submission with one of the following messages. If a submission contains more than one type of error, the response will still contain only one message. The judges will report only the first error seen, which may not necessarily be the error that occurs first or most frequently in the output.
You have solved the problem.
The judges were unable to compile or link your program. Check whether
No expression or line number information will be returned to contestants.
Your program crashed during execution or an assertion failed. In the former case, the judges' response will also include a description of the signal received by the program, e.g., "Segmentation Fault." If an assertion failed, the message will state, "Assertion Failed." In neither case will expression, file, or line number information be returned to contestants.
Your program ran for more than 60 CPU seconds.
Your program did not produce the expected results.
The output of your program is incorrectly formatted. Check that the significant digits, delimiters, whitespace, spelling, etc., in your program's output conform to that given in the problem description.
The judges will attempt to return responses within a few minutes of submission. If it takes longer, we either are having to deal with a large number of submissions or are having other problems. (Typically, the very first submission for a problem will take slightly longer than usual to judge; also, the last half hour of the contest is usually extremely busy. Programs that require more CPU time or that have infinite loops will also take longer to judge for obvious reasons.)