About This Contest          Wed Oct 10 08:38:06 EDT 2012

You should have the following 5 handouts:

  (1) This Contest Help File: one page, this handout.
  (2) Schedule: one page, with room numbers.
  (3) Help Files: explains contest in detail.
  (4) Demo Files: demonstration code.
  (5) Problems: not given out till start of contest.

You may use any printed matter you bring to the contest,
but CANNOT use a web browser or any electronic device
of your own during the contest (except of course for
personal communications unrelated to competition).

This year the Sample Input and Sample Output are being
given to you as the files sample.in and sample.test
(.test is the extension used for verified output, and
.out is the extension used for your computed output).
For program `ppp', if you do NOT create your own
`ppp.in' file, when you run `make' the file `ppp.in'
will be automatically created for you as a writable
copy of sample.in.  You can then compare the ppp.out
file produced to sample.test, by using a command such
as `diff ppp.out sample.test'.  For many problems an
exact match is not required; see problem statements
and `help scores' for details.  You may modify ppp.in
after it has been created this way to add your own
tests, though of course you will not have any verified
output to compare these against.

The command `help' will display this file.  You have
also been given a printout of the important help and
demonstration files.

This is a `formal' contest.  The command

	help formal_contest

displays more details about formal contests.

To display a list of the help files available use the
command `help index'.  Note that if something in the
index has the name `help/topic' you use the command
`help topic' to view it.

The contest managers will log in for you.  You will NOT
be given a password.  If you have an xterminal, the xsh
command will make more windows: see `help xterminals'.

The contest managers will inform you in writing which
account you will be using.  It is your responsibility
to double check that the contest managers have logged
you into the right account.

The command `hpcm_get' will get a demonstration problem
into your directory ~/demos/count (where ~ denotes your
home directory).  Read ~/demos/count/README and ~/demos/
count/Makefile and practice submitting the demonstra-
tion problem.

Hpcm_get will also get all the contest problems into
your `~/problems' directory AFTER the contest official-
ly starts.  At the contest start time you will be given
a printout of all the problem descriptions.  The command
`help problems' will display a list of all the problems
AFTER the contest starts.  Also see `help solving'.

The command `scoreboard' will display the scoreboard.
The time of a problem is the time between the start
time of the contest and the time a solution is submit-
ted.  See `help scoreboard'.

There is no time penalty for an incorrect submission for
this contest.

To send a question to the contest manager DO NOT try
to e-mail the manager directly.  Instead edit the ques-
tion into a file qqq and use the command:

	hpcm_sendmail < qqq

Output of the print commands (see `help print') will
be brought to you.  Please do NOT try to find the
printer.  For more information see `help print'.

You CANNOT use the alternative submit commands that
make `in-submit', `inout-submit', or `solution-submit'.

You CANNOT use a web browser.  You may use any printed
material you like, but cannot communicate electroni-
cally with the world outside the contest.

The `javahelp' and `stlhelp' commands give access to
on-line Java and C++ STL documentation: see `help java'
and `help c++'.

The day after the contest proper, the contest will be
converted to a different type of contest.  You will then
be given your account name and password, and can log in
and in a sense continue the contest.  `in-submit',
`inout-submit', and `solution-submit' will be allowed.
The judging will be completely automatic.  You will be
able to print by making a ~/PRINTER file: see `help
print'.  The scoreboard will use the submission type
(`submit', `in-submit', `inout-submit') of incorrect
submissions in place of time.  A correct submission with
no previous incorrect submissions will have a score of
100.0, and the penalties for incorrect submissions
depend on submission type as follows:

    incorrect `submit'		10%
    incorrect `in-submit'	20%
    incorrect `inout-submit'	30%

See `help scoreboard', feedback contests, for details.

Good Hunting!