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From: hartley@uvm-cs.UUCP (Steve)
Newsgroups: net.unix,net.cse
Subject: students editing output
Message-ID: <433@uvm-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Sep-85 22:27:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: uvm-cs.433
Posted: Thu Sep 12 22:27:12 1985
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  We have two VAXen here running 4.2, and besides faculty and graduate student
research, we have some classes on the machines.  Although interactive use with
full-screen editors is a giant leap forward from the not-so-distant past of
batch submission using cards, the latter did have the advantage of some security
that the students hadn't tailored their output with an editor to be more
correct.  I do not mean to sound like I am assuming that all students would
take advantage of this feature, but I have heard rumors from some of the
students in classes I have taught in the past that a little of this did go on.
I can see the temptation arising the night before an assignment is due and the
program doesn't work.  There the (incorrect) output sits in a file, and all the
professor wants is the output file printed on a terminal along with a listing.
Who's to know if it is edited a little to change those incorrect numbers ....
  I am wondering if there are batch submission systems out there running under
4.2 BSD that are integrated with the line-printer spooling system.  A student
would gather up program source and input data along with a shell script on
how to compile, load, and go, and submit it to the batch server.  The output
would automatically go to a printer, offering some assurance that it hadn't
been tweaked.
  The only way I know of to check a student's work is go through a demo.  But
this is terribly time consuming, and it is hard to set a precise due date
(unless you check file modification times).
  What do other people do?  Thanks.
-- 
"If that's true, then I'm the Pope!"			Stephen J. Hartley
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