DCS grading programs

Changes since the old version

This web page outlines the major changes between the or "1988" version of the grading programs. That version is described on the "old version" of the grading programs (also called the "1988 version") and the new (or 1998) version. The details are presented in sections titled "Changes since the previous version", included in all the individual commands' web pages and also in the descriptions of the file format and the standard command-line options for student-record selection and sorting.

Why a change?

Here are some reasons for producing a new version:

• There have been many complaints over the years about some of the grading programs, especially enter (now genter) and gen. Genter isn't exactly radically fixed, but consider the next point.
• At some point, the programs should acquire a user interface that is more up-to-date and convenient. Perhaps it might be sensible to rewrite them in Java. The newer versions' implementations are more congenial to conversion to Java.
• An echo of the Y2K problem will hit in late 1998: partly because of year-2000 issues, the University of Toronto has purchased and is installing a new student record system. The new system uses ten-digit student numbers in place of the old nine-digit ones. Rather than patching the 1988 version of the grading programs, I preferred to write a new version I could be more confident of modifying for the new student numbers. (If all goes well, I will change one constant from 9 to 10, and then change a few score test files.)

Things that have changed a lot

All the marks programs now use a different file format, and this will have good and bad effects. The major changes are:

• Many more odd marks calculations are allowed.
• Student marks are delimited by tabs (instead of occupying specified character positions or "columns").
• Students can have individual formulas for marks that need to be calculated on an individual basis.

Here are some individual programs that have changed in ways that should be helpful:

• Genter -- unlike the old enter -- now lets you move back to the previous student record. Type control-U (for up) or control-B (for back) or control-K (for nothing much, unless you're a vi user).
• Gpr has a long format that should allow easier lookup of single students, either internally, for answering petitions, or externally, for returning marks in response to an individual query on the web.
• Gen now has simpler defaults, and you shouldn't have to put up with all those annoying questions it used to ask you.
• Glint looks for more problems and chokes on fewer that it should ignore.

Programs with changed names

To avoid conflicts with other standard program names, which have been a problem in the past, all the grading programs have names beginning with the letter 'g'. This has required changing some of their names:

• "archive" is now "garchive".
• "display" is now "gdisplay".
• "enter" is now "genter".
• "fixnames" is now "gnames".
• "gsubscan" is now "markscan".

Programs that have vanished

These programs no longer exist:

• "grade"
• "grid"
• "recol"

Grid might be revived, if there's a mighty wave of demand. It's never struck me as particularly useful.

Recol needs too much brain to use. The combination of gdelete and gswap does the same job. However, as with grid, it could be revived by strong popular support.

New programs

These programs didn't exist in the old version:

• "goldtonew"
• "gpubreport"
• "greport"

Programs that are now shell scripts

This category is relevant because you may see different symptoms of trouble if a program is really a shell script rather than an independent compiled program.

• "gstats" is now a shell script based ongpr.
• "gpubreport" is new, and a shell script based on gpr.
• "greport" is new, and a shell script based on gpr.
• "archive" is still, as always, a shell script based on gpr.
• "display" is still, as always, a shell script based on gpr.