[CS Dept logo]

Online Discussions for
Com Sci 221, Programming Languages

[back] Department of Computer Science
[] The University of Chicago

Copyright information

Last modified: Mon Jan 2 11:59:48 1995

Instructions for Online Discussions

All discussion outside of class uses the World Wide Web. You should check for new information at least three times a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and the weekend. Most documents associated with the class have a button at the bottom, or a pointer to a separate document with such a button. By selecting this button, you may add a comment to the discussion associated with that document. A pointer to your comment appears in a list at the bottom of the document that you attach it to, and another one appears in a chronological index of all comments. There is also a topic index that tries to organize all of the discussion into sensible topic areas. Every comment automatically contains a button of its own, so the discussion may continue.

Reading Comments

The quickest way to catch up on all parts of the discussion that you have not yet read is to look at the chronological index. Each comment is also linked to its parent (the document to which it is attached), its children (the comments attached to it), and to an index of all its ancestors. You should be able to follow a discussion fairly efficiently by selecting these pointers.

Contributing a Comment

Where to attach your comment

The quality of our discussion depends on how well we all structure our contributions to it. Whatever document you are reading when you select the button is the one to which your comment is attached, and the one at whose foot your comment will be listed. Please attach your comment to the other document that it relates to most directly. When you are in doubt between attaching to a parent or a child document, the child is usually the right choice. For example, if Alfredo has a question about homework 3, he should attach it directly to the document describing homework 3. If Olga has an answer to the question, she should attach it to Alfredo's question, rather than to homework 3. Another question or comment on homework 3, independent of Alfredo's, should be attached directly to homework 3.

If you have a brand new topic, that cannot be sensibly associated with an existing document, use the new topics entry in the topic index. The instructor will try to reorganize such new topics into the regular topic index. If you need to practice or test features of the discussion system, use the test section.

How to create your comment

To create a comment, select the button at the bottom of the document to which you wish to attach your comment. An online form will appear, with a pair of radio buttons allowing you to choose how you will enter the main body of your comment:
Type it in
type directly into a text window in your WWW browser,
Submit a file
submit a file that you have prepared through your favorite editor.
Select the appropriate button to choose your desired form for entering the comment. In NetScape and Mosaic, it is reasonably easy to enter short to moderate comments directly. In Lynx, the text entry window is very awkward, and you probably do not want to use it for more than half a dozen lines.

Next, select

to bring up the form for entering the body of your comment
if you have changed your mind and do not wish to contribute a comment

If you choose to continue, a new form comes up, allowing you to enter two pieces of information about your comment:

Name:
Please enter your name consistently wherever you use it. You may choose a nickname for your first name, but use the same form all the time. Please enter your family name exactly as it is normally written in the Roman alphabet.
Subject:
Describe the subject of your comment as usefully as possible in 1-5 words. The creation of good subject descriptions is quite challenging. You will do best if you can imagine yourself as a classmate reading your comment, with no prior knowledge of what it will contain. Generally, you should make the subject description as specific and informative as possible, given that it must be very short. For example, "What?!!!" is poor, "Confusion in homework 3" is slightly better (but, if the comment is attached to homework 3, the reader already knows most of the information), "What does 'functional program' mean?" is pretty good.
Warning: in the Name and Subject windows, do not use the 3 special HTML characters < > ", or part of the header of your comment will be lost.

The name and subject consist of one line each, and are quite straightforward to enter through Mosaic, NetScape, and Lynx. The body of the comment usually contains more than one line, and requires a bit more care.

Preparing the main body of your comment

The last piece of information to enter is

Your comment:
Express your question, answer, or other comment as clearly and briefly as you can. The style doesn't have to be stuffy, but please avoid large volumes of cute phrasing that doesn't contribute to the meaning. Again, you will do best if you can imagine yourself as a classmate reading the comment.
The body of your comment is automatically made into an HTML document, stored in the instructor's files. WWW browsers format HTML documents dynamically depending on the reader's context. In particular, line breaks and multiple spaces do not appear in the form that you type them. Mostly, this is good, as it makes normal text easier to read. But, if your comment contains more than one paragraph, or if it contains a program fragment requiring special line breaks and indentation to be readable, then you must use special HTML markup to get it formatted right. The two HTML markings that you are most likely to need are
<p>
marks the beginning of a new paragraph.
<pre> ... </pre>
causes the material between the marks to be displayed with the exact spacing and line breaks given
As you become more familiar with WWW, read A Beginner's Guide to HTML to learn the other useful marks that are available for making headers, lists, etc.

Do not use the 3 special HTML symbols < > " except in the special forms of HTML syntax. If you need these particular symbols to appear in your comment, you must describe them as &lt; &gt; &quot;.

The remainder of the form differs depending on how you chose to enter the body of your comment. If you chose to type it in your directly, use the large text entry window. If you chose to submit a file, use your favorite text editor to prepare the file, then describe that file by the three parts:

Site of your file:
  • Quads
  • Ellis
  • Kimbark
  • Woodlawn
  • Gargoyle
indicate which machine it is on, by selecting the appropriate radio button
Login name:
type in your user name on the selected machine
Pathname of file in your home directory:
type in the pathname for the file, starting from your home directory

How to Submit Your Comment

After you finish entering all of the relevant information for your comment, select the button. Your browser will display the comment, as it will appear when it is finally included in the discussion. Please review your comment carefully, and make sure that it says what you intend. Now you have 3 choices:
BACK
If you notice an error, or want to make a change, use the BACK feature (a button in Mosaic and NetScape, the left arrow in Lynx) to return to your comment and edit it. Of course, if you are submitting a file, you must go back to your editor to revise that file. Within the browser, you will only be able to revise the description of the file. Then, select again. You will see the revised version, as it will appear in the discussion. You may revise as many times as you like.
When you are satisfied with the comment, select this button.
If you decide that you don't want to comment after all, select this button, which permanently discards all of the information that you have typed in to the forms.

Revising and Correcting the Discussion

The instructor owns all of the documents entered into the discussion. All revisions, corrections, deletions, etc. must be performed by the instructor. Particular care is required in revising a shared discussion, since it is very easy for readers to become confused about which version of one comment another one refers to. As much as possible, new and revised information should be entered as additional comments. If it is important to actually change or delete an existing comment, send e-mail to odonnell@cs describing the desired change and the reason.

Linking Comments to Other Documents

If you know about anchors and URLs in HTML, then you realize that your comments can link to other documents through the World Wide Web. You may use this feature effectively to refer to materials other than what you write yourself in the main body of your comment. Keep in mind that your comment is copied permanently in to the instructor's files but other documents that you point to may be changed or removed at any time by their owners, or they may be inaccessible at certain times because the host machine that serves them is disconnected. There is some risk of confusion if you point to items that change or disappear before people read your comment.

Practicing and Testing

There is a special test document that you may use to practice producing comments, or to test features of the discussion system. Please do not attach test comments to any documents other than the test document and its descendants. Please do not carry on meaningful discussion in the test section. If you cannot find a sensible place for your comments, start a new topic.

Maintained by Michael J. O'Donnell, email: [] odonnell@cs.uchicago.edu