Q:   The description for Assignment I on the course website states that it
is recommended to use hash-table or map class (if alphabetical order is
implemented) to store the records read from the file. My question is whether
these are absolute requirements or can we use other ways to store the
records (such as BufferedInputStream and Tokenizer class)?
A: You can use other classes but be able to motivate your choice.

 

Q: I was wondering if the sorting algorithm should take into account case and
consider LAB in call caps the same as lab in all lowercase letters.
A: Yes, you can consider them the same.

Q:    The project description for Assignment 1 on the course website shows a
sample input file to be used as input in the project (starts with "Peter piper picked...")
Is that the actual file on which the final program will be tested on or should the program adapt to any text input ?
A: You should be able to run/use any input file.

 

Q: The website gives no details about the report we are supposed to hand it along with our projects.  What is required?
 
A: The report should be similar to any other HW report. Should be very short and address
your choice of datastructures and OO design.
 In addition you need the Javadoc generated documentation.
 
Q:  Hi, Professor,
 I have a few questions concerning the lab assignment.
 What is Javadoc and what is "Javadoc based documentation of the code"?
 Are Javadoc and jar file the same?
 In SUN's Java tutorial, I found information about jar files,
 but I couldn't find any information about Javadoc.
 Could you tell me how can I write a Javadoc or give me some sources from
 which I can learn?
> Thanks.
A: No they are not the same. A jar file is an archive file is similar to zip (Windows)
or tar (unix) files. Javadoc is a tool that you can run on your source code and will generate documentation.
 If you use www.google.com you find lots of information,
for example
Javadoc: http://java.sun.com/j2se/javadoc/
jar files: http://java.sun.com/products/JDK/1.1/docs/guide/jar/
 
Q: What are the correct commands to create the jar file and what are the commands to run it… I
compressed my two classes into one jar file… but when try and run it I get errors.
A: I suggest that you check the the links above where I have provided
pointers for reading about how to use jar-s and javadoc. Please note that some of the details depend on the Java version you use.
 
The short answer to your question is that if you use the jar command
as a simple archiving tool than
you do the following to create: jar cvf jarname [file1] ... [filen]
to read a jar: jar xvf jarname, to check a jar: jar tvf jarname.
 
To create a jar that you can execute you need to create a Manifest file
(the exact content depends on the version of the JDK used), a simple text file,
  that will tell the java runtime
where to find the Main class file, add it to the jar,
 and
when you run the java command you use the flags to tell that you are running
from a jar, i.e., java -jar myjarname