It's just that exciting
Office Hours
I'm in my office in room 1011 from 2:00pm - 3:30pm on Wednesday and Thursday and from 2:00pm - 3:00pm on Friday. If you can't fit into this schedule feel free to email me at abrady1 {at} mix.wvu.edu to schedule an appointment.
Documentation
Remember, part of your grade for module R1 and R2 includes documentation. Detailed outlines for the programmer's manual and the user's manual are in these slides.
Modules R3 & R4
Module R3 adds executable code to your processes. R4 extends this functionality to load programs from files. Both are due on Friday, March 11th. If you're experiencing segment faults, crashes, or numbness of the extremeties, please contact me early. Debugging these modules isn't as easy or quick as prior modules.
Troubleshooting Turbo C
Turbo C is... inconvenient at times. Here are some common setup problems and (hopefully) solutions:
Just Installing the Thing
Instead of pointing you to the slides or Mooney's site, here's a detailed list of steps to get Turbo C running. Please contact me if you still can't get Turbo C running. It's a pain, but once you're set up you shouldn't have to fight the compiler like this again. The following assumes you're running Windows XP. If you're using Virtual Box, do everything inside the VM:
- Make a directory to store your files, I suggest C:\MPX
- Following the instructions on the MPX Support Page (Turbo C Download) page to download and install the Compiler, Debugger, Assembler, and Profiler.
- Download mpx_supt.h and mpx_supt.c and place them in C:\MPX
- Run C:\TC\BIN\TC.EXE to start Turbo C (Make a shortcut if you'd like)
- Click "Options" -> "Directories" and update the fields like this then click OK:
- Click "Project" -> "Open Project"
- Navigate to C:\MPX, you may need to click the ..\ links to find your directory
- "Open" a new project by tying "MPX.PRJ" in the "Open Project File" Box, click "OK" (See below)
- Since MPX.PRJ doesn't yet exist, Turbo C will create the new project
- Now add the .C files to your project. Avoid adding header files, otherwise you may include them multiple times.
- Once the files are added to the project, you can now compile and run your code. Make sure you've written a main() method somewhere and added the .C source to the project before you compile.
- Click Compile -> Make or just hit F9
- Fix any compiler errors, and you should now have a MPX.EXE file in your C:\MPX directory
- If you run your program in Turbo C, make sure the Output Window is open (Click Window -> Output)
- You can also run your program outside Turbo C. Start a command prompt (START -> Run -> cmd.exe) and cd to C:\MPX. Type MPX.EXE to run your code.
- When one of the above doesn't work, email me as soon as you can.
Cannot find files
If Turbo C can't find important files like stdio, dos.h, etc. You need to make sure your directories are set up correctly. If you're source code is stored in C:\MPX, try the following:
- Start Turbo C
- Click "Options"
- Click "Directories"
- Change the directories like this:
Working as a Group
One of the more challenging problems with MPX is how to divide up work between your members, and how to write code as a groups. Here are some suggestions, some of which are beyond the scope of this class. If you're interested anyway and need help, send me an email.
- Use a version control system -- Google Code can host a subversion repository for you. A svn repository allows you to centrally store your code and track changes from each user. This is somewhat a complex topic, if you decide to do this, you'll also need a subversion client like Tortise SVN to check out and commit to the repository. Once you have a Google Code project set up, here is a decent tutorial that shows how to checkout your Google Code svn repo using the Tortise SVN client.
- Break each module into pieces -- Once you've worked out the overall design of your project as a group, most of the functions can be written solo. For example, the commands for module R1 don't depend on any other commands.
- Communicate often -- Email each other, or myself, as much as possible. You start seeing major breakdowns between your group members, contact myself or Dr. Mooney ASAP.
Materials for Module R1
On the left are my slides for Module R1. You can also read more about Module R1 in Dr. Mooney's MPX Project Manual, or just click here. Module R1 is due Friday, February 11th before your grading session with me. Start early, because Module R2 will be due the following week.
Getting Started with Turbo C and MPX
Obtain a Windows (XP preferred) environment
You have a few options here if you don't have XP installed:
The easiest is virtualization. Virtual Box will let you install XP inside a modern OS and run both simultaneously. In a week or two you should receive an email about your MSDNAA account. The MSDN Academic Alliance grants students cheap/free copies of most Microsoft software.
If you have Windows 7 Pro, Ultimate, or Enterprise, you get a free copy of Windows XP. Check out Windows XP Mode for a virtualization of XP that integrates with Windows 7 pretty well.
If you just can't "find" XP anywhere, you can probably get Turbo C running in Windows Vista / 7 as long as you aren't running the 64-bit version. Turbo C is mighty, 16-bit code, and Microsoft removed 16-bit compatibility execution from at least the 64-bit editions of Vista / 7.
Obtain Turbo C and the mpx_supt files
Click the "MPX Support Site" link on the left to download/install Turbo C. You can reference my Turbo C Primer or Dr. Mooney's more in-depth guide from the MPX Project Manual for help setting it up. Try and make a project file and compile a test program. Be sure to download mpx_supt.c and mpx_supt.h on the MPX Support Site, they'll be needed to start coding module R1 next week. I also recommend Notepad++ to edit your code. It will highlight C syntax and supports tabbed editing, collapsible functions, etc.