Project: Robot Logging Suite

Summary: You will write a "robot logger" program which can log actions to a file, and also read and perform actions from a file.

Details

You should use command-line input flags to specify whether the robot is in "read" mode (reading actions from a file), "write" mode (logging actions onto a file), or both "read" and "write" mode. When no files or flags are specified, I/O should happen through the terminal.

In particular:

• If the user specifies a command-line flag -w, then
  • if the following command-line argument does not start with a hyphen (indicating it is a flag), then that argument should be used as the name of the file for writing. However, if no file name is given, the program should ask the user for a file name.
  • the program should perform the given commands, and
  • the program should log the commands in the specified file.
• If the user specifies a command-line flag -r, then
  • if the following command-line argument does not start with a hyphen (indicating it is a flag), then that argument should be used as the name of the file for reading. However, if no file name is given, the program should ask the user for a file name.
  • the program should read commands from the specified file, and
  • the program should perform the commands.
• If the user does not specify the command-line flag -r, then
  • the program should read commands from the user via standard input, and
  • the program should perform those commands.
• it should be possible for a user to utilize both -w and -r mode.
• the program should not print a prompt for robot commands; instead
• if the user specifies a command-line flag -h, then the program should list the possible actions (i.e., the command file or input format) and exit

This program should support at least 10 different actions (following the Project 3 command requirements). As with that project, each action (except, perhaps, quit) must be implemented as a separate procedure.

Examples

The following examples are based on a program robot-command that supports this project. Although this table shows several possibilities, the table is not complete. For example, various combinations of -r and -w are possible, with and without file names, and the -r and -w flags could be in either order.

Command line	Interpretation
./robot-command	no command-line arguments, so reads from stdin and writes to stdout (facilitates shell redirection)
./robot-command -r infile.dat	reads commands from file infile.dat; writes to stdout
./robot-command -r	reads from a file; because no filename is given on the command line, program must ask user what file to use; program writes to stdout
./robot-command -w logfile.dat	reads from stdin; writes commands with parameters to file logfile.dat
./robot-command -w	reads from stdin; writes commands with parameters to a file; because no file name is given on command line, program must ask what file to use
./robot-command -w logfile.dat -r infile.dat OR ./robot-command -r infile.dat -w logfile.dat	reads commands from infile.dat, writes commands with parameters to logfile.dat
./robot-command -r infile.dat -w	reads commands from infile.dat; writes comands with parameters to a file; because no log file name is specified, user must be asked for the filename

Notes

• Global variables may not be used in this project; use of any global variable will result in a grade of zero. Instead, use parameters to pass values into functions.
• You are encouraged to use Project 3 or your command-robot.c program from the Command-Line Arguments lab as the basis for the command input. (You must clearly identify which code is original to a different work and who the authors are.)
• Remember that stdin and stdout are themselves FILE* variables and can be passed to functions that expect a variable of that type.

Grading

In addition to the general grading guidelines for evaluation, the project is worth 25 points.

• [1 point] Program lists possible actions with -h flag
• [4 points] Program can write actions to a file
• [2 points] Program can acquire output file from flag or user input
• [4 points] Program can read and perform actions from a file
• [2 points] Program can acquire input file from flag or user input
• [5 points] Program offers at least ten distinct commands
• [3 points] Program verifies input
• [3 points] Program handles errors appropriately
• [1 points] Example command files are given
• Comments on Program Format, Comments, Readability, Testing, etc.
  (Points not given, but points can be deducted.)

A five point penalty will apply to any submission that includes personally identifying information anywhere other than the references/honesty file.