========================================= Advice in Preparing for and Writing Tests ========================================= -IAN! idallen@ncf.ca How to succeed on tests in this course: Do the text and note examples: Type in the examples and do them to develop "muscle memory" about what the commands do. Don't just read the book and notes! If you never type in the "finger" command, you won't realize that you mis-spell it until the test. If you never use the "man" command, you'll get stuck at the "(END)" prompt in the test, and then it's too late. Type in the sample commands given in the book as you review the posted chapter review questions. Make sure your output is what you expect it to be. Do the Labs: Do the Floppix labs, and record your answers. Don't just read the labs. Some questions come from the labs, and you don't have time to do the lab online for the first time during the test. Make sure your output is what you expect it to be. Asking questions about how something works during the test is too late. Watch your prompts: Look at your screen and the prompt to know what program is expecting command input from you. If you haven't learned to type without looking at the keyboard, this advice is critically important. (Many students look at the keyboard instead of the screen when they type - they don't notice that the prompt has changed and that they are no longer typing input into the program they were expecting.) This is not a shell prompt: ftp> date ?Invalid command Invalid command: You can't type Unix commands into the FTP program. This is not an FTP prompt: $ put penguin put: Command not found Command not found: You can't type FTP commands into the Unix shell. This is not a login prompt for a telnet session: $ abcd0000 abcd0000: Command not found Command not found: You can't type a login userid (or your password or PIN number) into the shell. Watch your prompts! Prepare your computer: You will have to write your test while logged in to several computers at once (Floppix, ACADAIX, and the Linux test machine). You will save time if you know how to switch among the several Floppix consoles. Under Linux (including Floppix), you can see previous screens of text that have scrolled up on a console by holding down the SHIFT key and using the PageUp and PageDown keys. Remember - Linux runs the BASH shell (and you can use BASH on ACADAIX too). Don't waste time retyping your commands when you can use the arrow keys to scroll back up and edit them or re-execute them. Use of Windows is not permitted during tests. (If you use Windows telnet at home, you run the risk of deleting your entire file if you use Windows TELNET without reading my "Using Telnet" web page first.) Answer what you know first: You will not have enough time to try every question on the computer or to look up all the terms in the textbook. Answer what you know first. Most of the questions can be answered quickly from the knowledge you have acquired in lectures and by doing the weekly readings and homework material. Give the answers that you know first. Come back later to the questions that require computer work or fishing in documentation. Do not attempt to try every question on the computer! Think first! - Some questions, when typed in, may destroy your files or your shell. This can be a catastrophic loss during a test. Think first! - You will run out of time, especially if you are not yet skilled at typing, if you try to type in all the questions to see what the output might be. Answer the questions based on your understanding of the theory. You can come back later to "try" some questions on the computer, if they seem safe. Think! Think before you type something into the computer - you could wipe out your files or render your session unusable. If you don't know what it means, don't do it! If you do damage your session, you will have to either log out (if that is possible); or, you will have to reboot Floppix and start over.