Registration Instructions

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New registration

LOCAL CONTEST RULES

• Hardware and Software
  Conduct of the contest
  Practice Session

Hardware and Software

The contest is provided with IBM-compatible РСs connected in Microsoft Windows network. Each team will be allowed to use one.
The following programming systems are available to each team:

Conduct of the contest

Each team consisting of 3 students will use a single workstation. At least six problems will be proposed for solution. The contest lasts 4–6 hours depending on problems number and difficulty. The Jury can lengthen the contest in case of unforeseen difficulties. Contestants may bring and use unannotated natural language dictionaries(except electronic ones), blank sheets of paper and instruments for writing. Contestants CAN bring and use any books, reference manuals, program listings (except electronic ones). Contestants MAY NOT bring and use computing devices (handhelds, portable PCs, notebooks, calculator), mobile phones or any other communication devices. During the contest teams solve proposed problems. A solution is a program (single source file, not executable) on one of allowed programming languages. Solutions to problems that were submitted for judging are called runs. Different problems may be solved using different programming languages. Each problem will require that input data be taken from the input file and output data be put into the output file. Input and output file names for each problem will be specified in the problem statement. All input and output files are placed into the current directory Runs are not allowed to:

• use extended memory and protected mode of processor in BP 7.0 and BC++3.1;
• write into interrupt vector table and read from it;
• access the network;
• work with any files except those explicitly specified in the problem statement (input and output files);
• attack system security;
• execute other programs and create new processes;
• change file system permissions;
• work with subdirectories;
• create or manipulate any GUI items (windows, dialog boxes, etc);
• do anything else that can stir the evaluating process and the contest.

The contest software uses different methods to reveal violations of the above restrictions. A team violated the mentioned conditions is disqualified.

The run is evaluated by executing it on a secret set of tests, common for all teams. A run is accepted, only if it gives correct answers to all tests.

Evaluation is performed automatically, that is why a program should respect formats of input and output files described in the problem statement. If not explicitly stated otherwise, all input data are considered to be correct and satisfying all restrictions from the problem statement.

In each problem statement time limit will be specified. The run is not accepted, if the program exceeds this limit.

Solutions are submitted for judging during the contest using the contest software. Immediately after submission of any run, the team may continue to work on other problems.

As soon as the run is evaluated, a team receives a message with the evaluation results. This message will be shown on the screen. A team is informed whether the run is accepted or not. If the run is rejected, the cause of the rejection is reported to the team together with the number of the test case that the submission failed to pass.

All tests are applied at the same order. The number of incorrect test reported in the results is the number of the first test where the run was rejected. For example, if it was mentioned “Time limit exceeded on test 9” it means that tests from 1 to 8 passed the check-out and the program exceeded the allowed memory limit on test 9. The message “Output format is not correct on test 1” means the output file does not match the appropriate format.

During the contest the contestants can make clarification requests on the problem statements. The request should be a Yes/No question. If the clarification request is incorrect or the answer is clear from the problem description, the Jury answers "No comments". If the Jury agrees that there is an ambiguity or error in the problem statement, a clarification will be issued to all teams.

Contestants may use network printer during the contest. The Support Staff will deliver the printout to the team. The number of printed pages cannot be more than 30 pages per team.

Teams are ranked according to the most problems solved. In case of equal number of solved problems, the team with the lowest penalty time wins. A penalty time is a sum of the time consumed for each problem solved plus 20 minutes for every other run for this problem before the accepted one. Any other attempt to make an extra run after the accepting the solution is considered as “incorrect answer” and leads to additional penalty time.

Contestants and observers will see preliminary results of all teams during the contest. Contestants may see the results on their computers, observers - on the monitor outside the competition area.

where Battle , Cube , Digit , Gsm , Modem , Putin , Safe , Schedule , Travel – the problems, Tasks – the number of accepted runs, Penalty – the time penalty, + " the run was accepted after the first submission, "+i " – the run was accepted after i unsuccessful submissions, " -i " — – the run was rejected and it has been made i unsuccessful submissions.

During the contest Contestants may communicate ONLY with members of his/her team, the Jury and the Support Staff.

A team may be disqualified by the Jury for any activity that violates contest rules. Disqualified teams are not allowed to participate in the contest next year.

The Jury is solely responsible for determining the correctness of runs, winner determination and teams disqualification. Its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

The Jury isn’t responsible for the participants’ files safe keeping.

The official test set used by the Jury to evaluate runs isn’t published even after the end of the contest.

During the fixed time after the conclusion of the contest a team may file complaints or appeals. The Jury approves the Appeal Committee decision.

Practice Session

• The practice session will take place the day prior to the contest. During the practice session teams become familiar with the contest environment and the contest software solving sample problems (1-2 simple problems).
• During the practice session teams MAY NOT store any source code anywhere except working directory.
• During the practice session teams MAY NOT attach any devices to the computer or alter its hardware configuration.
• The results of the practice session are not taken into consideration when determining the contest results. However, the Jury may disqualify from the contest any team violating the contest rules during the practice session.