questions

SUPERVISOR TO ATTACH PROCESSING LABEL HERE

Figures

Words

STUDENT NUMBER Letter

Victorian Certifi cate of Education 2006

INFORMATION SYSTEMS Written examination

Thursday 9 November 2006 Reading time: 11.45 am to 12.00 noon (15 minutes) Writing time: 12.00 noon to 2.00 pm (2 hours)

QUESTION AND ANSWER BOOK

Structure of book Section Number of

questions Number of questions

to be answered Number of

marks

A 10 10 25 B 17 17 75

Total 100

• Students are permitted to bring into the examination room: pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers, sharpeners, rulers and one scientifi c calculator.

• Students are NOT permitted to bring into the examination room: blank sheets of paper and/or white out liquid/tape.

Materials supplied • Question and answer book of 23 pages with a detachable insert containing a case study for Section B

in the centrefold.

Instructions • Remove the insert containing the case study during reading time. • Write your student number in the space provided above on this page.

• All written responses must be in English.

Students are NOT permitted to bring mobile phones and/or any other unauthorised electronic devices into the examination room.

© VICTORIAN CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY 2006

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 2

SECTION A – continued

SECTION A – Short answer questions

Instructions for Section A Answer all questions in the spaces provided.

Question 1 A cinema uses a network of computers for selling tickets from day to day. What type of information system is the cinema using?

1 mark

Question 2 The diagram below shows the layout for a computer network used in a hairdressing salon.

a. State the topology of the network above.

1 mark

b. State the type of network used above.

1 mark

fileserver

administration computer

switch

modem

network floorplan for a hairdressing salon

legend – wall outlets

two sockets

four sockets

standard phone socket

all cabling

CAT-5 RJ-45

counter

3 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION A – continued TURN OVER

Question 3 Describe the major difference between the functions of a switch and a modem in a network.

1 mark

Question 4 A network operating system provides services to network administrators and users. State two important services you would expect to be provided: one for the administrator and one for the user.

Administrator User

2 marks

Question 5 Link each of these scenarios with one of the following stages of the systems development life cycle.

analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation

A network administrator identifi es the error rate of his organisation’s Internet connection.

A school replaces old computers in the computer room with new ones during the school holidays.

A graphics company identifi es some concerns in the way it currently stores and accesses past customers’ details.

3 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 4

SECTION A – continued

Question 6 A company, No Blots, supplies ink cartridges for printers which are sold only through the Internet. When customers place an order, the order is checked, a confi rmation is sent back to the customer and the details of the order are sent to the warehouse. The diagram below shows the data fl ow diagram (DFD) for the No Blots online purchasing system. The diagram does not show the data sources and destinations.

a. In a DFD a circle represents a process. Briefl y explain what is meant by a process.

1 mark

b. In the DFD, what do the symbols labelled stock and orders represent?

1 mark

c. Complete the context diagram below for the No Blots system.

3 marks

customer_order

co n firm

a tio

n _ d a ta

packing_info

validate

order process

order

confirm

order orders stock

stock for order

validated

order v a lid

a te

d o rd

e r

v a lid

a te

d

o rd

e r

s to

c k f o r

o rd

e r

customer_order

no blots

online

purchasing

system

warehouse

5 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION A – continued TURN OVER

Question 7 A computerised machine sorts fruit by weight. It uses a program that directs the fruit through three different gates according to weight. Below is a small segment of that program.

message ! “Fruit is undersized” fruit_count ! 0 Repeat good_fruit ! true Close all gates Input (fruit_weight) If (fruit_weight > 30.00) then Open (gate1) fruit_count ! fruit_count + 1 Else If (fruit_weight > 20.00) then Open (gate2) fruit_count ! fruit_count + 1 Else good_fruit ! false Open (gate3) Endif Endif If not (good_fruit) then Output (message) Endif Until eof ***end of fruit Output (fruit_count)

a. Identify each variable shown in the table below as one of the following variable types: text, date, boolean, integer, fl oating point.

Variable Type

fruit_count

message

good_fruit

3 marks

b. The code is to be written as a procedure within a larger program. The programmer decides to name the procedure ‘helen’ in honour of his girlfriend. Briefl y explain why this is a poor choice of name for the procedure.

1 mark

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 6

Question 8 Explain the difference between Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM).

2 marks

Question 9 Describe how a router can help make a large network run more effi ciently.

2 marks

Question 10 A company requires a particular task to be carried out using a computer. It has a choice of two programs, A and B. The company would like to evaluate both programs so that it can decide which to purchase. Several criteria can be used to evaluate software, including

effectiveness, effi ciency, maintainability, reliability, usability.

The company will perform three trials, each trial measuring a different criterion. The trials are shown in the table below. For each trial, state which of the criteria listed above is being measured.

Trial Criterion being measured

Carefully examine the user interface of each program.

Give the same task to both programs and record the time each takes to complete it.

Have each program run the same task 1000 times and count how many times each crashes.

3 marks

Total 25 marks

END OF SECTION A

7 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

Lucy has decided she needs some help to introduce her new computer climate control system for her greenhouses. She employs a system analyst, Susan, and outlines her current system and what she would like to achieve with the new system.

Question 1 Susan asks Lucy for technical information about the sensors used in her current system, but Lucy cannot help her. a. Identify a primary source from which Susan can obtain more information about the sensors.

1 mark

b. State two examples of the technical information Susan can expect to obtain from the primary source.

2 marks

SECTION B – Case study

Instructions for Section B Answer all questions in the spaces provided. Remove the case study insert and read all the information provided before you answer these questions. Answers must apply to the case study.

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 8

SECTION B – continued

Question 2 Lucy describes the temperature control to Susan. The temperature in a greenhouse room is constantly monitored and if it falls below 19°C a heater is turned on. If the temperature rises above 21°C the heater is turned off. When the temperature goes over 25°C vents are opened to allow fresh air into the room and if it gets hotter than 29°C evaporative cooling is turned on. Once the temperature drops below 24°C vents are closed and cooling stops. Susan fi nds this description confusing so she documents this process with a Nassi-Shneiderman (NS) diagram. Susan’s NS diagram is shown below. Five items are missing from it. From the following list choose only fi ve items and write each item in the correct place in the diagram.

1. turn water on 2. turn heater off 3. turn evaporative cooling on 4. temperature > 30°C 5. temperature > 29°C 6. temperature < 24°C 7. temperature < 19°C 8. monitor temperature

5 marks

Do forever

Read temperature

temperature > 21°C

temperature > 25°C

turn

heater on

yes

yes

no

no

yes no

open vents

yes no

yes no

close vents

turn evaporative

cooling off

9 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

Question 3 Lucy has seen that the Dutch system, as discussed in the case study, is robust and reliable. She would like to combine parts of this system with her current system but feels further investigation is required. By referring to Lucy’s current system, describe two further factors about the Dutch equipment that Lucy will need to investigate. Explain why each of these factors needs investigation.

Factors Need for investigation

4 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 10

Question 4 Susan has discovered a shareware program on the Internet that appears to suit Lucy’s needs. The program uses a number of standard interface screens that will allow Lucy to make adjustments to the conditions in the greenhouses. Other screens are used to alert Lucy to problems in the greenhouses. The following screen is a typical data entry screen.

Lucy thinks that this screen has a major design fault. a. Identify this fault.

1 mark

b. Suggest how the fault can be corrected.

1 mark

SECTION B – Question 4 – continued

11 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

The following screen is used to alert Lucy to problems with the growing conditions in the greenhouses.

Lucy thinks that this screen also has a major design fault. c. Identify this fault.

1 mark

d. Suggest how the fault can be corrected.

1 mark

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 12

SECTION B – continued

Question 5 Lucy has decided against the shareware program and buys the Dutch software. After installing it, her friend Peter, who is a programmer, is convinced that the Dutch software has some major faults. He has offered to fi x these problems for Lucy, free of charge. Explain the legal obligations and/or ethical considerations that Lucy should think about before she accepts or rejects Peter’s offer to alter the program code.

4 marks

13 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

After checking carefully Lucy is satisfi ed that she can allow Peter to fi x problems and make any changes that he would like.

Question 6 Lucy wants to receive an alert message if the humidity drops below 20% or rises above 80%. Peter writes a program module to do this and tests it with the following test data.

Test data Expected results

19 Alert

25 No Alert

80 No Alert

a. Susan is not satisfi ed that this data has fully tested the program module. Explain why.

2 marks

b. Explain exactly what Peter needs to do to satisfy Susan’s concerns.

2 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 14

SECTION B – continued

Question 7 One of the errors that Peter has found is in the code to control the shade curtain motor. For her fl owering orchids, Lucy wants the shade curtain to be closed if the light exceeds 15 000 lux (MaxLight). She also wants the shade curtain closed when the temperature exceeds 33°C (MaxTemp). The curtain should only be opened when the light falls below 7 000 lux (MinLight) and when the temperature drops below 30°C (MinTemp). The light and temperature values will vary depending on the plants grown in each greenhouse ‘room’. Peter has found that the code follows the algorithm below.

Begin If Temperature > MaxTemp Or Light >MaxLight Then CurtainMotor (Close) Endif If Temperature < MinTemp Or Light < MinLight Then CurtainMotor (Open) Endif End

a. Below is a testing table. Work out the action that the algorithm fi nally produces and complete the last column.

Action required Action produced by algorithm

temperature light curtain motor curtain motor

34 16 000 Close

34 5 000 Close

29 5 000 Open

29 16 000 Close

4 marks

b. A line in the algorithm contains a logic error. Identify that line by writing it out in full.

1 mark

c. Describe how this error can be corrected.

1 mark

15 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

Question 8 The new system requires a computer in each nursery to control the greenhouse climates. The orchids may be damaged if these computers fail to work. Each computer will be placed in a small enclosed area as shown in Figure 3 of the case study. a. List three separate hazards to which these computers will be exposed.

1.

2.

3.

3 marks

b. Select one hazard and describe why this is a concern for Lucy.

2 marks

c. Describe how Lucy should protect the computers from the hazard described in part b.

2 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 16

SECTION B – continued

Question 9 Lucy wishes to connect the computer in the local nursery with a computer in her house so she can monitor the greenhouse from her study. The distance is approximately 30 metres. She has two choices.

Option 1: to connect via CAT-5 cable Option 2: to set up a wireless link

Select the better option for Lucy. Justify your selection by comparing the two options.

2 marks

17 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

Question 10 Lucy needs to monitor her new remote nursery as described in the case study insert. She needs to connect the nursery computer (fi ve kilometres away) to her home computer. She expects the remote nursery computer to transmit approximately 2 KB of data every fi ve minutes to the home computer. She has a phone service to the remote nursery. She is investigating a number of options for this task. a. What type of network does Lucy want to set up?

1 mark

b. For each of the following three options outline one strength. Option 1: Use dial up Internet – get the computer to use the Internet by dialling in every 5 minutes.

Option 2: Use broadband instead of dial up Internet.

Option 3: Set up a microwave link.

3 marks

c. Select the best possible option for Lucy. Justify your selection by discussing the three options above.

3 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 18

SECTION B – continued

Question 11 Lucy wants to be able to compare the humidity, temperature and light measurements from different times of the year so she can identify the best growing conditions for her orchids. Peter has agreed to write a program that will store the data for this purpose. His preferred programming language will only allow data fi les to be organised for sequential or random access. Peter decides to use a random access fi le. Compare the two access methods and comment on the suitability of Peter’s choice for Lucy’s purpose.

3 marks

19 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

Question 12 Lucy has a huge project to convert her current greenhouse, and to include her new greenhouses into the new computer climate controlled system. For each greenhouse, she has to coordinate tasks such as

• purchasing new equipment • removing old equipment • installing new equipment including computers, cabling and sensors • installing the software • setting up the network.

a. Which project management tool would be most suitable for Lucy to use to plan her project?

1 mark

b. Describe three ways in which this project management tool will help Lucy manage the project.

3 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 20

SECTION B – continued

Question 13 Lucy has decided to trial the new computerised greenhouse climate control system in her local nursery fi rst before installing it in her remote nursery. She also considered two other methods.

• running both the new and current system at the same time for a month • changing over to the new system in both nurseries all at once

a. Identify the type of changeover method Lucy has decided to use.

1 mark

b. Explain why this method is a better choice for Lucy than the other two options.

3 marks

21 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

SECTION B – continued TURN OVER

Question 14 Lucy has read a great deal lately about viruses that can attack home computers through Internet connections. Lucy is relying on her Internet connection to monitor her remote nursery’s greenhouse conditions and to alert her of any problems. It is important that her computer is always turned on and connected to the Internet. Describe two ways Lucy could protect her computer against attack from viruses.

1.

2.

4 marks

Question 15 Lucy had to be rushed to hospital for an appendix operation. She was forced to leave her nurseries in the hands of a fellow orchid grower, Edmund. Edmund is very familiar with looking after orchids but has never used a system like Lucy’s new greenhouse climate control system. Lucy had no time to give Edmund instructions on running the system so she told Edmund where to fi nd the 365-page user manual. a. Describe another form of user documentation that should have been available for Lucy to give to

Edmund.

1 mark

b. Identify the main topics this documentation should contain.

3 marks

2006 INFOSYS EXAM 22

SECTION B – continued

Question 16 After Lucy’s system had been set up and working for about three months, a data security company contacted Lucy about backing up her data. This company uses the Internet to transfer customer data to their storage facilities. The company has made the following three claims about their service.

Claim 1: Lucy would not need to worry about the backup, they would do it all for her. Claim 2: Lucy would always be able to access the backup. Claim 3: They would keep Lucy’s backup on a very secure site that is well away from the nurseries.

Discuss what Lucy needs to investigate before accepting each claim. Claim 1

Claim 2

Claim 3

2 + 2 + 2 = 6 marks

23 2006 INFOSYS EXAM

END OF QUESTION AND ANSWER BOOK

Question 17 When the system was being designed, Lucy produced a list of objectives for the new system.

Objective 1: The temperature, light and humidity do not go outside the set limits. Objective 2: No more than two errors in a month will be recorded. Objective 3: Record all errors and immediately send an alert message to her mobile phone.

After six months of operation, Lucy thinks that her new greenhouse climate control system is a success. However, she wants some data to support her feeling, so she has checked the error log from both nursery computers. The content of the error log is shown below.

12-3-2006 17:31:57 vents stuck action required 15-3-2006 03:54:29 mist sprayers malfunction action required 27-5-2006 13:45:11 greenhouse too hot action required 31-8-2006 07:34:51 vents stuck action required 03-9-2006 14:04:33 greenhouse too bright action required

a. For Objective 1, indicate the data that informs Lucy that the objective is not being met.

1 mark

b. For Objective 2, indicate the data that informs Lucy that the objective is being met.

1 mark

c. What additional data needs to be checked to evaluate if Objective 3 has been met? Explain.

2 marks

Total 75 marks

TURN OVER

2006 INFOSYS EXAM

CASE STUDY INSERT Please remove from the centre of this book during reading time.

Lucy is the owner of Lucky Orchids which specialises in growing orchids for the pot plant market. Her nursery, a 600 square metre heated greenhouse, is located next to her house in country Victoria. At most times during the year there are 100 000 plants growing in the nursery. The orchids are worth about $2 000 000.

Lucy’s current system So she can grow the best orchids, Lucy has to have different growing conditions at different stages of a plant’s life. For example, her seedlings and younger plants require less light, a higher temperature and higher humidity than older plants. To achieve this, Lucy has divided the greenhouse into three rooms.

Each room has its own set of climate control units as shown in Figure 1 on the following page. They can be set according to the needs of the plants in that room.

For example, for Lucy’s fl owering plants

• if the light exceeds 15 000 lux (a measure of light brightness), shade curtains are automatically pulled across the roof

• if the humidity rises above 80%, the mist sprayers are turned off • if the temperature is above 25°C, vents are opened to allow fresh air into the greenhouse.

Each unit operates independently and automatically although sometimes one will fail. This can have serious consequences for Lucy’s plants and she can only check each unit by going into the greenhouse and reading various climate gauges in the greenhouse. For example, if heaters fail at night she will not know until the morning when she physically checks the thermometer. Cool overnight temperatures will cause her plants to grow more slowly or even kill them. Failure to control light or humidity may also cause damage. Unfortunately, Lucy cannot be in the nursery every day because of personal and business commitments.

2006 INFOSYS EXAM

Figure 1. Climate control units for one room

With the current system, Lucy can grow plants from seedling to fl owering in 2 12 years. On a recent trip to Holland, to purchase new varieties of plants, she noted that Dutch nurseries were growing plants from seedling to fl owering in 1 12 to 2 years. The reason for this is that the climate in their greenhouses is computer controlled. All the sensors and climate control devices are connected to a computer. A computer program then maintains ideal growing conditions. For example, if the temperature gets too high, shade curtains are activated regardless of the light level, and in extreme conditions, mist sprayers are also turned on, even if humidity is above 80%.

Lucy’s new system Lucy recently purchased a new nursery fi ve kilometres from her house. It has unheated greenhouses covering 3000 square metres of land. Because her new greenhouses will have to be upgraded for her orchids, Lucy decides that she wants to introduce a computer controlled climate system into both her existing local nursery and her new remote nursery.

She would like this computer climate control system to

• combine control of all climate devices to produce better conditions for orchid growth • allow her to remotely check and alter the conditions in each greenhouse room in both nurseries • record errors and send an alert message to her mobile phone if something fails.

light control unit

shade curtains open

close

light

sensor

temperature control unit

heater on

off

evaporative

cooler

vents

on

off

open

close

temperature

sensor

humidity control unit

mist sprayers on

off

humidity

sensor

2006 INFOSYS EXAM

Lucy imagines that the new system will be something like that shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2. Proposed equipment plan for a room

Figure 3. Proposed plan for the two nurseries

END OF CASE STUDY INSERT

light

sensor

temperature

sensor

humidity

sensor

shade

curtains

heater

evaporative

cooler

vents

mist sprayers

open

close

open

close

on

off

on

off

on

off

to greenhouse computer

equipment in a room

30 m

5000 m (5 km)

Lucy’s house local nursery

remote nursery

room

equipment

room

equipment

room

equipment

room 1 room 2

room 1 room 2

room 3

greenhouse 2

room 1 room 2

greenhouse 3

computer

for all

greenhouses

in remote

nursery

greenhouse 1