CS 1440 Assignment 2: Text Tools

• Instructions
  • How to Submit this Assignment
  • Troubleshooting
• Project Requirements
  • Output Examples
• Test Scripts

Note: this file is a placeholder for your notes. When seeking help from TAs or tutors, replace this text with a description of your problem and push it to GitLab

Get the starter code

• Clone this repository and use it as a basis for your work.
  • Run each of these commands one-at-a-time, without the $ (that represents your shell's prompt).
  • Replace USERNAME with your GitLab username, LAST and FIRST with your names as used on Canvas.

$ git clone git@gitlab.cs.usu.edu:erik.falor/cs1440-falor-erik-assn2 cs1440-assn2
$ cd cs1440-assn2
$ git remote rename origin old-origin
$ git remote add origin git@gitlab.cs.usu.edu:USERNAME/cs1440-LAST-FIRST-assn2.git
$ git push -u origin --all

Overview

A client has sought DuckieCorp's services to process a large quantity of textual data. Specifically, the data is in the form of a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file which is far too large to load as a spreadsheet in an application such as LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel.

I explained to the client that it would be easier for them to install Linux and use its built-in text processing tools for this job. Fortunately for our bottom line (and your job security), this client is adamant that installing Linux is out of the question. Instead, DuckieCorp will recreate the classic suite of Unix text processing tools in Python.

I made a start at this project, but only got as far as creating a general outline and finishing the usage() routine before my other responsibilities at DuckieCorp became too great. I will leave this project to you, my favorite intern, to complete. If you do good work I am confident that this small job will turn into a standing contract.

Shell Tutor Lessons

Included with this assignment are 2 new Shell Tutor lessons. Together they are worth 10 points. Run make-certificate.sh and commit the resulting certificate file in the shell-tutor directory.

Start early and complete the tutorial before you finish designing your text tools. The lessons will help you run and test your tools more effectively. As always, if you encounter a problem, run tutor bug and email the output to your instructor.

Running the starter code

All tools are invoked through the src/tt.py driver program, like this:

$ python src/tt.py TOOL [OPTIONS] FILE ...

If that gives you Command not found, try it with python3 instead.

• Not all tools take OPTIONS
• All tools do take one or more FILEs
• Read the Output Example files to see what each tool's output will look like
  • Lines beginning with $ represent what is typed into the shell
    • When you run the same command, omit the $
  • Your program's output should essentially match the examples, which cover both good and bad program behavior
  • Extra leading or trailing white space is generally permissible, except where its presence changes the meaning of the output
  • Windows users the numbers displayed by the Word Count tool may differ slightly from the examples