BIT320 Remix — Test

December 8, 2005

Error Codes and what they mean

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Programming can be difficult, especially when errors occur.  Luckily, when they do happen, XSLT produces a number of different error codes to help troubleshoot the issue.  The error codes produced by Shady Waters’ code helped me determine what the cause of the problem is.

The first error code, ORA-06550, gives the line and column location of the SQL block where there was an error.

The second error code, ORA-00947, was a little more helpful.  This code occurs when an SQL statement requires two sets of values equal in number, and the second set has fewer values than the first set.

By typing these error codes into Google (or if you want to make me happy: search.msn.com), you can see the cause as well as the solution.

In Kevin's Blog, 12/08/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

November 13, 2005

Exam Question 15

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Both Aga and Supriya are correct about Exam Question 15. Since a course can have many sections, C must be correct. Therefore, if you put C, bring your exam to my secretary in E2420 before Thanksgiving to get your points.

In Blogonautic Solutions, 11/13/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

Exam Question 13

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Supriya gets right to the heart of the matter when she states:

Since Pink Footsie started the discussion on the test questions, I thought this would be a good time to clarify some of my doubts from the test as well. Question 13 on the test reads:

Based on Diagram 1, whats the minimum number of class meetings a student may participate in?

The correct answer is A-0.

However, I am not sure how to derive this answer from reading the diagram. Now, it is given that a SSC will have many students. Since the cardinality of a student in a SSC is missing, do we read it as unknown, and then assume that a student can be in 0 SSCs for the minimum?

As we stated many times in class, when there is a ternary relationship between entities, entities are not obliged to participate in that ternary relationship. Therefore, the minimum number of times an entity may be represented in such a relationship is 0.

In Blogonautic Solutions, 11/13/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

November 10, 2005

Contesting Test question 15 on ERD

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Question 15 reads:

Still on diagram 2, assuming the primary key of class meeting is roomID, professor ID, and coursesectionID, what is the maximum number of class meetings a course may have?

The answer given is B. “1″ but I would like to say that the C. “Many” interpretation is true. If you read the diagram from the side of class meeting then it’s true there can only be one section meeting at that time but if you read it from the course side (course can have many sections and therefore sections can have many meetings) the maximum relationship based on interpretation ends up being many, which is the side the question is asking about. Any takers? Looking at the diagram might help clarify what I’m trying to say.

In Pink Footsie, 11/10/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

Exam clarification #2: Question 16, SQL

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Another one of those possibly contested questions that some of us discussed has to do with question 16. It looks at whether the subquery within the query is same as customer.customer_num <> orders.customer_num. I was a little confused on that one because I didn’t understand the real difference in the cross product. What helped me see that they are really different is running it in Oracle (because your tables are still there). The first command basically eliminates duplicates and filters out all the possibilities. It’s easier to see if you run it than explain it verbally (it’s simply one of those rules). I hope this helps.

In Pink Footsie, 11/10/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

Exam clarification #1: ER portion question 9

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I know several people might have had a question regarding number 9 in the ER portion of the exam. Here’s how it reads:

9) Based on Diagram 2 and the project description, a candidate primary key for the ternary relationship Class Meeting is roomID, professorID, and course sectionID.

A. True B. False Correct Answer: B. False.

Based on the diagram many of us could argue that there was no date, therefore under just interpreting the diagram it would be answer A. The reason that is not true is because the question is a little tricky. Specifically the words: and the project description imply the need to apply both the diagram and the description to your reasoning. Sorry for everyone who missed that one.

In Pink Footsie, 11/10/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

October 25, 2005

E.ck my complexity R.epels me!

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So I’m sure that I am not the only one with questions about….*gasp* the test! Not only was it a prime example of the complexity of Normalization, ER Diagrams, & SQL queries but also that I just don’t understand the complexity enough. Not enough to serve any use at least ;)

So one question that came up for me is also applicable to the first project. In an associative entity, can the primary key only be made up of foriegn keys of other tables or can it also have other attributes make up the primary key. I wasn’t sure if it was an assumption that I could make on the test or the project. Oh may I always find my answers on this blog, oh wise ones!

In Shady Waters, 10/25/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

Assuming the Test Away

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Kevin brought up two different questions regarding ambiguities in the the SQL Guide and also in the example problem solutions. I think its about the assumptions one uses in approching the problems.

In the SQL Guide, the real question is what does the book mean by “update”. I thought at first that it was that you could change a specific value in a column but that not might not be the meaning behind the book. It might have meant that you can put more information in. Actually, it does because I just looked at the section heading and it says “Adding New Rows to an Existing Table” I think it says it all ;)

Also, for the problems solutions, is it possible that there is more than one solution. When I go and compare my answers, i rarely have a exactly similar answer because once again, my assumptions of what is and isn’t possible shapes how I view the problems and the lines I draw. Makes me remember, when I’m doing a problem, to really consider what I’m assuming. I think Bud will try and make the test as understandable as possible, but he’s going to be slightly specific in regards to problem set up ;D

In Shady Waters, 10/25/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

October 24, 2005

The Curve — Why Blogstar gets it

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So, with some amusement, I read the various posts over the weekend about the curve. I say “with amusement” because they popped up in the middle of a presentation I was doing on the class remix. Talk about having to be quick on your feet.

At any rate, SuperMatt started it off with:

Our Bit320 class has less than 15 students in it. This is great for learning, but terrible for grading. Most classes have many more people enough to get a large enough sample to allow for a bell curve.

TigerLilly fired back with:

Also, I think the curve does not encourage group work because basically we have to fight for a spot in the ranking. It is not avoidable with the mandatory group work but besides that, I have no incentive to help someone else out.

and finally, our pal Shady resonated to this last sentiment:

Maybe but then what are they doing trying to get us to compete with each other, if they really want us to work together. It’s like MO said:

Rewarding B when hoping for A.

And lets all be honest here, this isn’t a problem. These are opinions. OPINION SLUG!

Then, perhaps unaware of this fracas, or perhaps just hoping it would go away and purposely moving on to a productive topic, Blogstar chimes in with:

Repeating groups occur when you have mutiple columns of the same attributes.

Responding to Tigerlily’s observation (perhaps written after her “I’m not sure I should share information post”):

As I have been looking over my notes, the repeating groups concept doesn’t make sense to me anymore. Can someone quickly explain it?

My observation is this. We are at a stressful point in the semester. People realize they are going to be evaluated, and they want to make sure they get an evaluation that matches their true capabilities. They are worried that they will somehow give away “the secret” to their success.

Let me attempt to relieve these concerns. The test is only 10% of the grade. Blogging is 36% of the grade. You are making many more points by blogging than by taking the test. The blog posts that I consider the most valuable are posts like Blogstar’s (as I write this, Kevin makes a similar post) where the student makes a contribution to the class’s knowledge about the topic covered.

I will grade the blogging portion based on quantity and quality. Contrary to Tigerlily’s and Shady’s observations, the lion’s share of credit in this course is given based on your contribution to the class knowledge. The person who scored the lowest on the exam last year scored an A for the course because he did incredible projects and really contributed.

Remember this point.

In Blogonautic Solutions, 10/24/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

Answer Guide Typos

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The posted answer for question 2, ER exercise #2, is yes, a car has to be classified as either new or used.  This contradicts our course-pack, which explicitly states that “mandatory sub-typing is represented by a double line from the super-type.”  In the example, there is only one line between the super-type and the sub-type, making it an optional relationship.  Thus, the answer should be no, the car does not have to be classified as new or used.  While working through many of the example problems in preparation for the test, I have come across a few typos like this, which ultimately make it more difficult and time consuming to study.

In Kevin's Blog, 10/24/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

October 21, 2005

Exam

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Is there any reason to study chapter 5 or 6 in the SQL book for the exam on Tuesday?  From what I recall, Bud said we only need to know the material up through chapter 4.  I just wanted to make sure this is the case.

In Kevin's Blog, 10/21/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

Kevin Stratvert is #1!!!

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As predicted in one of my previous posts, my blog now is listed as number one on Google for the search term Kevin Stratvert.  It’s interesting to see how the relevance of a web site increases with additional incoming links and by using the term several times on the page.  My blog is currently appearing as number six for the search term Stratvert.  Once again, I’m going to predict that by the end of the semester, my blog is going to be the most popular listing for the term Stratvert.  This may not be a good thing though.  My uncle’s law firm, Miller Stratvert, currently has the top position.  I’m not too sure I want my blog to overtake his business web site in the rankings.

I was then interested in finding out how many web sites are actually linking to me.  I found the Link Popularity Tool by Marketleap Search Engine Marketing Tools.  According to their site, 389 web sites are currently linking to me.

I’m starting to see how important blogs can be to businesses especially when trying to obtain higher search engine rankings.

In Kevin's Blog, 10/21/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

September 8, 2005

My second first post

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Please visit my del.icio.us site http://del.icio.us/SuperMatt . On this site I have my bookmarks. I did not do this with my first site.

In SuperMatt, 09/08/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

First post

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This is my first of many posts to the class remix blog. My del.icio.us account is located at the following URL: http://del.icio.us/kevlers. Stay tuned for further updates.

In Kevin's Blog, 09/08/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati