-----Original Message-----
From: Dirk Fretz [mailto:dirkfretz@att.net]
Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 2:02 PM
To: cis121ab@acad.gc.maricopa.edu
Subject: Question about CIS121AB UserID: dbfretz

Hi Professor Ottenberg,

Chapter 2, page 88, Homework Assignments, Problem Set 1, Question 4 states:

Do a paused, wide display of the root directory of the ACTIVITIES disk. the fourth file down in the second column is:

a. FILE2.FP

b. MAR.NEW

c. HELLO.TXT

d. DRESS.UP

Now, I'm relatively familiar with the rudimentary aspects of dir /w and dir /p even prior to this course. Regardless, if I key in dir /p/w as I believe is the means to find the answer, the fourth file in the second column is orion.neb. Any and all errata for FBA books doesn't have a listing for WinXP Comand Line. Below is what I get when I type in the command and parameters as I understand them. Am I doing something incorrect? Is there a correct answer to #4?

Thanks

A:\>dir /p/w
Volume in drive A is ACTIVITIES
Volume Serial Number is 3402-7721

Directory of A:\

VENUS.TMM	ASTRO.TXT	BORN.TXT	DANCES.TXT	EARTH.TWO
EXP02FEB.dta	EXP03JAN.dta	FILE2.SWT	FILE4.FP	GETYN.COM
HELLO.TXT	JUPITER.TMP	LONGFILENAME.EXTENSION	MARK.FIL	MERCURY.TMP
NAME.BAT	ORION.NEB	QUASARS.DOC	Sandy and Patty.txt	TITAN.TXT
AST.99	WILD3.ZZZ	WILDTWO.DOS	[GAMES]	Sandy and Nicki.txt
BLUE.JAZ	CASES.FIL	EARTH.ONE	EXP01FEB.dta	EXP02MAR.dta
FILE2.FP	FILE3.FP	FRANK.FIL	GRAMMY.REC	JUP.TMP
LEFT.RED	LONGFILENAME.TXT	MER.NEW	MIDDLE.UP	NEWPRSON.FIL
NEW-SUVS.XLS	PERSONAL.FIL	AST.NEW	STATES.USA	VEN.99
WILD1.XXX	WILDTHR.DOS	Y.FIL	[TEST]	[MUSIC]
BONJOUR.TMP	CAROLYN.FIL	DRESS.UP	EXP01JAN.dta	EXP03FEB.dta
FILE2.CZG	FILE3.CZG	GALAXY.TMP	GREEN.JAZ	JUP.NEW
JUPITER.TXT	LONGFILENAMED.TXT	MER.TMP	MIDDLE.RED	AST.TMP
[MEDIA]	WILDONE.DOS	BORN.TYP	EXP01MAR.dta	EXP03MAR.dta
GALAXY.TXT	JUP.99	LONGFILENAMING.TXT	MERCURY.TXT	PLANETS.TXT
RIGHT.UP	STATE.CAP	VEN.NEW	WILD2.YYY	ASTRO.TMP
[DATA]	VEN.TMP	EARTH.THR	EXP02JAN.dta	FILE3.SWT
OLDAUTO.MAK	RIGHT.RED	AWARD.MOV	[SPORTS]	GO.BAT
LONGFILENAME	[LEVEL-1]	MER.99	person.fil	STEVEN.FIL
VENUS.TXT	WILDONE	ZODIAC.FIL

	91 File(s) 47,396 bytes
	7 Dir(s) 287,744 bytes free

----- Original Message -----

From: CIS121AB Instructor or Grader

To: 'Dirk Fretz'

Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 6:08 PM

Subject: RE: Question about CIS121AB UserID: dbfretz

Dirk,

Good questions—I’m so glad you asked. It’s a mystery to me in many ways. When I first selected this text, I completed all the assignments and at that time, did get the answer that the textbook was looking for. However, when I do it now, here’s what I get (excuse the messy columns):

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A:\>dir /w/p

Volume in drive A has no label.

Volume Serial Number is 288D-9C6F

Directory of A:\

[DATA] [GAMES] [LEVEL-1]

[MEDIA] [MUSIC] [SPORTS]

[TEST] AST.99 AST.NEW

AST.TMP ASTRO.TMP ASTRO.TXT

AWARD.MOV BLUE.JAZ BONJOUR.TMP

BORN.TXT BORN.TYP CAROLYN.FIL

CASES.FIL DANCES.TXT DRESS.UP

EARTH.ONE EARTH.THR EARTH.TWO

EXP01FEB.dta EXP01JAN.dta EXP01MAR.dta

EXP02FEB.dta EXP02JAN.dta EXP02MAR.dta

EXP03FEB.dta EXP03JAN.dta EXP03MAR.dta

FILE2.CZG FILE2.FP FILE2.SWT

FILE3.CZG FILE3.FP FILE3.SWT

FILE4.FP FRANK.FIL ZODIAC.FIL

GALAXY.TMP GALAXY.TXT GETYN.COM

GO.BAT GRAMMY.REC GREEN.JAZ

HELLO.TXT JUP.99 JUP.NEW

JUP.TMP JUPITER.TMP JUPITER.TXT

LEFT.RED LONGFILENAME LONGFILENAME.EXTENSION

Press any key to continue . . .

LONGFILENAME.TXT LONGFILENAMED.TXT LONGFILENAMING.TXT

MARK.FIL MER.99 MER.NEW

MER.TMP MERCURY.TMP MERCURY.TXT

MIDDLE.RED MIDDLE.UP NAME.BAT

NEWPRSON.FIL NEW-SUVS.XLS OLDAUTO.MAK

ORION.NEB person.fil PERSONAL.FIL

PLANETS.TXT QUASARS.DOC RIGHT.RED

RIGHT.UP Sandy and Nicki.txt Sandy and Patty.txt

STATE.CAP STATES.USA STEVEN.FIL

TITAN.TXT VEN.99 VEN.NEW

VEN.TMP VENUS.TMM VENUS.TXT

WILD1.XXX WILD2.YYY WILD3.ZZZ

WILDONE WILDONE.DOS WILDTHR.DOS

WILDTWO.DOS Y.FIL

91 File(s) 47,396 bytes

7 Dir(s) 287,744 bytes free

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m curious why all three (yours, mine, and theirs) are so different.

I will adjust your score accordingly after my grader has recorded it in Midas. Until I have a good resolution, I’ll alter that question so that any answer is marked as correct.

Thank you for including your Palette username, but please don’t include it in the subject line; I group my DOS emails by subject to better track communications.

Thanks,

Alicia Ottenberg

Business & IT Faculty

Glendale Community College

623.845.3252

Professor Ottenberg,

Ok, I figured out the problem as to that Question #4 answer. On page 17, Activity 1.15 has the reader start a DOS session and then introduces the Properties option for that DOS window. Page 18 shows a screenshot of the Font tab "panel" as I call it. The font setting in the screenshot is 10x20 raster, but I can only get 10x18. Since the reader is not told to change any of the default settings, I'm assuming they are as follows on the Layout tab panel:

Screen Buffer Size - Width: 80 Height: 300

Windows Size - Width: 80 Height: 25

Since I'm not real fond of Microsoft's "Curious George" big-font/small-screen default settings for a DOS session, I've changed the default settings to my liking. With my 19" monitor, I use a 8x12 raster font setting. As for my Layout settings, they are as follows:

Screen Buffer Size - Width: 125 Height: 300

Windows Size - Width: 80 Height: 58

So, when I set things back to the default level, and use a 10x18 raster font, the output below is what I get. HELLO.TXT is answer "c." for Question 4.

A:\>dir /w/p
Volume in drive A is ACTIVITIES
Volume Serial Number is 3402-7721

Directory of A:\

VENUS.TMM	ASTRO.TXT	BORN.TXT
DANCES.TXT	EARTH.TWO	EXP02FEB.dta
EXP03JAN.dta	FILE2.SWT	FILE4.FP
GETYN.COM	HELLO.TXT	JUPITER.TMP
LONGFILENAME.EXTENSION	MARK.FIL	MERCURY.TMP
NAME.BAT	ORION.NEB	QUASARS.DOC
Sandy and Patty.txt	TITAN.TXT	AST.99
WILD3.ZZZ	WILDTWO.DOS	[GAMES]
Sandy and Nicki.txt	BLUE.JAZ	CASES.FIL
EARTH.ONE	EXP01FEB.dta	EXP02MAR.dta
FILE2.FP	FILE3.FP	FRANK.FIL
GRAMMY.REC	JUP.TMP	LEFT.RED
LONGFILENAME.TXT	MER.NEW	MIDDLE.UP
NEWPRSON.FIL	NEW-SUVS.XLS	PERSONAL.FIL
AST.NEW	STATES.USA	VEN.99
WILD1.XXX	WILDTHR.DOS	Y.FIL
[TEST]	[MUSIC]	BONJOUR.TMP
CAROLYN.FIL	DRESS.UP	EXP01JAN.dta
EXP03FEB.dta	FILE2.CZG	FILE3.CZG
Press any key to continue . . .

How do I get my columns lined up so nice? Well, as a DOS session property, I've got the QuickEdit mode option selected on the Options tab panel. This allows me to cut and paste columns to Excel. Once I get the columns auto-aligned in Excel, all I have to do is paste the aligned information into the email document and Outlook Express holds the format.

Hmmm. Your dir /w/p output below is interesting in that your directories are listed first. I'm guessing you're getting those results if you've somehow made some DOS command switch presets. I vaguely recall that presetting feedback format with switches was an option in DOS from an ELT244AA & AB Intro to Networking (NET244) course I took in 2000, but I could be wrong. The only way I get a DIR output like yours is by using the following command pattern:

A:\>dir /ogn/w
Volume in drive A is ACTIVITIES
Volume Serial Number is 3402-7721

Directory of A:\

[DATA]	[GAMES]	[LEVEL-1]
[MEDIA]	[MUSIC]	[SPORTS]
[TEST]	AST.99	AST.NEW
AST.TMP	ASTRO.TMP	ASTRO.TXT
AWARD.MOV	BLUE.JAZ	BONJOUR.TMP
BORN.TXT	BORN.TYP	CAROLYN.FIL
CASES.FIL	DANCES.TXT	DRESS.UP
EARTH.ONE	EARTH.THR	EARTH.TWO
EXP01FEB.dta	EXP01JAN.dta	EXP01MAR.dta
EXP02FEB.dta	EXP02JAN.dta	EXP02MAR.dta
EXP03FEB.dta	EXP03JAN.dta	EXP03MAR.dta
FILE2.CZG	FILE2.FP	FILE2.SWT
FILE3.CZG	FILE3.FP	FILE3.SWT
FILE4.FP	FRANK.FIL	GALAXY.TMP
GALAXY.TXT	GETYN.COM	GO.BAT
GRAMMY.REC	GREEN.JAZ	HELLO.TXT
JUP.99	JUP.NEW	JUP.TMP
JUPITER.TMP	JUPITER.TXT	LEFT.RED
LONGFILENAME	LONGFILENAME.EXTENSION	LONGFILENAME.TXT
LONGFILENAMED.TXT	LONGFILENAMING.TXT	MARK.FIL
MER.99	MER.NEW	MER.TMP
MERCURY.TMP	MERCURY.TXT	MIDDLE.RED
MIDDLE.UP	NAME.BAT	NAME.FIL
NEWPRSON.FIL	NEW-SUVS.XLS	OLDAUTO.MAK
ORION.NEB	person.fil	PERSONAL.FIL
PLANETS.TXT	QUASARS.DOC	RIGHT.RED
RIGHT.UP	Sandy and Nicki.txt	Sandy and Patty.txt
STATE.CAP	STATES.USA	STEVEN.FIL
TITAN.TXT	VEN.99	VEN.NEW
VEN.TMP	VENUS.TMM	VENUS.TXT
WILD1.XXX	WILD2.YYY	WILD3.ZZZ
WILDONE	WILDONE.DOS	WILDTHR.DOS
WILDTWO.DOS	Y.FIL	ZODIAC.FIL

	92 File(s) 47,482 bytes
	7 Dir(s) 287,232 bytes free

As for altering my score to reflect the perceived oddity, thanks. Although, I'm not sure how the above information changes things if at all. If anything, maybe I can get credit for that question by the showing how I got it wrong in the first place and by replicating your "directories first" output format.

Thanks for your time,

Dirk

----- Original Message -----

From: CIS121AB Instructor or Grader

To: 'Dirk Fretz'

Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 8:55 AM

Subject: RE: Question about CIS121AB

Dirk,

Thanks for the lesson. The textbook assumes the default window size, with HELLO.TXT as the answer. I haven’t knowingly altered any settings but I’ll look into it. Fortunately, when I checked the statistics on this question, the overwhelming response was the correct one.

As for the trouble you go to to get your columns aligned nicely, don’t do it for me—a “rough draft” is fine!

Alicia Ottenberg

Business & IT Faculty

Glendale Community College

623.845.3252