IT App's Question Thread

[MJRomeo81]

So when something like "List some constraints for the aforementioned case study" are there any benefits from providing non-generic ones?  Like for example, unless specifically mentioned, money, time and labour are pretty much applicable to any case study.

I've never seen a S.A. question that requires you to "list constraints". Instead, you would be more likely to identify & explain them. And in this case, you certainly want to go into specific detail (depending on the requirements of the solution).

If you go into specific detail then for sure it would be beneficial. This really goes for any question that requires some analysis. Always ask,"how/why?".

[paulsterio]

You'll never be asked to LIST constraints because as MJRomeo pointed out - it's more likely that you'll have to identify and explain them.

My tip is yes - those generic constraints often always work - time, money...etc. but just make sure you adapt them to the case study, like, why exactly does time matter - are they a large organisation in which downtime means that they can potentially lose a lot of money? Money might be a constraint for a small home-office sort of scenario where the client does not have the financial muscle to afford large-scale IT solutions.

Essentially you have to ask yourself what is the limits of what can be installed, if everything was good, you could install a state-of-the-art hardware/software system which caters to their every need, but that's not feasible. It's always best, in my opinion, to have both generic and non-generic constraints explained, so if you were asked to explain 3, 2 of 1 and 1 of the other would be good. Some non-generic ones might include:

- Having to be compatible with legacy systems
- Having to compromise with old hardware
- Technically illiterate staff members (so training might be an issue)
- Practical constraints - e.g. wired ethernet is not practical for connecting two buildings (something I remember from a practice exam).

[Rifat_Z]

Alright, so this was a multi-choice question on the 2nd VITTA 2012 trial exam (Q13 if anyone's wondering)

The network manager of a real estate agency (with two branches) is deciding how to upgrade the company's network and internet connection which will cost the company a great deal of money. This is a
A. Tactical decision
B. Strategic decision
C. Operations decision
D. Day-today decision

Now I selected B, but the solutions say B. Quoting Mark Kelly's powerpoint on this:

"STRATEGIC DECISION MAKERS
Make very big decisions that:
 Are expensive
Are long-term (e.g. years)
Could be disastrous if wrong
Define the nature of the organisation
Chart the organisation’s future"

"Judge whether the decision will have a significant impact on the organisation over quite some time.  That would be strategic"

"E.g. for Safeway, building a new million-dollar store is a relatively minor tactical decision, but for the manager of a single gift shop, building a second store is a massive, strategic decision."

It seems B meets all these criteria.

[Lasercookie]

I would pick tactical myself.

We can rule out D. We can also rule out C. It's not an operations decision, that would be actually going forth and upgrading the hardware, not deciding how they will upgrade it. 

So we have a network manager - he's not of senior management, but he'd be of 'middle management. Someone has already made the decision that the network will be upgraded, now this network manager is figuring out how that will actually be done.

It doesn't seem like a strategic decision to me. Strategic decisions are more for what kind of direction the organisation would head in. They're usually done by CEOs, board members etc. those really high level jobs. The decision on what network hardware they use isn't going to "Define the nature of the organisation or Chart the organisation’s future".

It's not going to take them years to complete the task of deciding how to upgrade it. They'll use the network for a long time and all the benefits of technology will come to the organisation, yes, but the actual decision is about how they'll go about upgrading it.

[Rifat_Z]

Hmm, good points. The 'will cost the company a great deal of money' was the real kicker for me, I fell for it too easily Well, I guess this was a learning experience, won't do that on the exam!

[Rifat_Z]

Okay, are they serious? Have a look at question 5 part b, then look at the suggested solutions. WTF?

Question: http://i.imgur.com/0klfk.png
Suggested Solution: http://i.imgur.com/lOEVM.png


Mod Edit: Removed copyrighted material.

[Genericname2365]

Nicholl's Landscaping is subcontracted by the Maroondah Council in Victoria to maintain its parklands. It holds personal data about its employees including health information. Which of these laws apply?
A. Privacy Act 1988
B. Health Records Act 2000
C. Information Privacy Act 2001
D. Charter of Human Rights & Responsibilities Act 2006

According to the solutions, "C: The Information Privacy Act 2001 applies to all local government subcontractors in Victoria." Yet I don't understand why the Health Records Act 2000 doesn't apply.

[Lasercookie]

Okay, are they serious? Have a look at question 5 part b, then look at the suggested solutions. WTF?
Question: http://i.imgur.com/0klfk.png
Suggested Solution: http://i.imgur.com/lOEVM.png

We can't really have full exams uploaded onto the exam, since yeah copyright etc. I've replaced it with a screenshot of the question + answer you were talking about.

I'm guessing you were referring to the fact that they gave you lines to complete the answer, rather than a proper a box etc? Lines would make more sense if they asked you to describe what kind of changes you would apply to make it 1NF valid. The company exams can be a bit off like that in places, the best you can do is just take what you can learn from it and move on.

Nicholl's Landscaping is subcontracted by the Maroondah Council in Victoria to maintain its parklands. It holds personal data about its employees including health information. Which of these laws apply?
A. Privacy Act 1988
B. Health Records Act 2000
C. Information Privacy Act 2001
D. Charter of Human Rights & Responsibilities Act 2006

Dodgy question.

I do have to point out that
B - it's Health Records Act 2001, not Health Records Act 2000.
C - It's IPA 2000, not IPA 2001.

I'm going to assume they were typos. But yeah, I would go for Health Records Act 2001, that applies to anyone in Victoria handling health information. IPA 2000 would also apply, since they are contracted by the Victorian government - but that doesn't apply to health information. I would think that the "more correct" answer here would be Health Records Act 2001 I would think, since it explicitly states that they have health information. 

[MJRomeo81]

Okay, are they serious? Have a look at question 5 part b, then look at the suggested solutions. WTF?

Question: http://i.imgur.com/0klfk.png
Suggested Solution: http://i.imgur.com/lOEVM.png

This is a dodgy question but considering it was only 2 marks I think this is fair enough. Clearly the examiner was interested to see if students understood what 1NF is at its most BASIC level; that is, to not have multiple data elements in one field.

Alright, so this was a multi-choice question on the 2nd VITTA 2012 trial exam (Q13 if anyone's wondering)

The network manager of a real estate agency (with two branches) is deciding how to upgrade the company's network and internet connection which will cost the company a great deal of money. This is a
A. Tactical decision
B. Strategic decision
C. Operations decision
D. Day-today decision

I have highlighted in bold the hint to this question. The network is to be primarily used for the two branches to communicate. In addition to the reasons laseredd pointed out, I would also select A. Strategic decisions are the big high-end 'goals' of the organisation (e.g. we want to be the best at customer service). Deciding to upgrade the network doesn't define the nature of the organisation, or change it in any way. It merely allows the branches to facilitate communication. This is important but certainly not what you would call "strategic".

[saifh]

When looking for techniques to validate numeric customer data for a RDBMS, could adding a "validation rule" be one? My teacher says no, and a valid validation rule would be something like a "range check".

[Lasercookie]

When looking for techniques to validate numeric customer data for a RDBMS, could adding a "validation rule" be one? My teacher says no, and a valid validation rule would be something like a "range check".

Validation rule is too vague. What do you actually mean by it? As far as I see, it's almost a synonym for validation technique, I don't think that's what you mean though.

[saifh]

When looking for techniques to validate numeric customer data for a RDBMS, could adding a "validation rule" be one? My teacher says no, and a valid validation rule would be something like a "range check".

Validation rule is too vague. What do you actually mean by it? As far as I see, it's almost a synonym for validation technique, I don't think that's what you mean though.

In Microsoft Access, when you enter Design View or whatever it is theres a area which has the title of "Validation Rule" just like there is of Range Check, and you put in for example ">=2000"

[Yendall]

When looking for techniques to validate numeric customer data for a RDBMS, could adding a "validation rule" be one? My teacher says no, and a valid validation rule would be something like a "range check".

Depends what you're trying to validate. If it's numeric customer data you could use an existence check, range check, limit checks, presence checks or logic checks.

[Lasercookie]

In Microsoft Access, when you enter Design View or whatever it is theres a area which has the title of "Validation Rule" just like there is of Range Check, and you put in for example ">=2000"

That's not really a validation technique though. That's just the name of the box where you type in how you're going to validate it. It's almost as if you're going:

Q: Name a validation technique.
A: Validation technique.

You'd be looking for things along the lines of what Yendall said.

[Genericname2365]

So I haven't spent too much time on IT recently, but for the next 3 days I'm planning to go through all the dot points of the study design and go over material I don't know too well (with the assistance of VCE IT), as well as doing trials and covering the material I don't know too well there. Just wondering is that good usage of my time?