project 1: drawingMaker (CISC181, Summer 2006)

Introduction

Required Concepts

C++ concepts:

• control structures: if, if/else, switch, while, for
• functions
• Writing to external files with ofstream

Additional concepts:

• Using gnuplot to create .png files from data files
• Using and modifying Makefiles
• Creating a tar file for submission

While the project is designed so that you can do it without using arrays and pointers, you may use them if you like. However, my solution did not use any.

Reminders

• Work independently on this programming project.
• Do not work with another student in the class. If you need help, see your instructor or TA during office hours, or make an appointment if those hours are not convenient.
• Don't wait until the day before the assignment is due to start working. If you wait until then, you'll have no time to go in for help if you get stuck. This assignment is designed so you can pace yourself over several days.

Assignment Description

This assignment involves further development to a library of C++ routines stored in files drawings.h and drawings.cpp. You started developing this library in lab04. This project continues this development.

In this project you will add several capaibilities to this library, and then use the library in several main programs.

The project is divided into several stages. At each stage, you add a bit more capability to either the library (drawings.cpp/drawings.h) or to one or more of the main programs. At each stage, the total amount of credit you can possibly earn increases.

If you find that you are not able to complete the entire project, the intermediate stages provide places where you can stop, for partial credit. If you do decide to stop part way through, skip down to the step marked "Submission: creating your TAR file and updating your web page".

As with lab04, when you are finished, there will be a series of ".png" files that will show your final work. The links below show an example "before" and "after" group of .png files.

The following table shows a summary of the various stages in the project, what each one involves, and the partial credit involved. Detailed instructions follow this chart:

The project is divided into steps

The project is divided into eight (8) steps. You should do the steps in order.

On the other hand, it is probably best to read over the entire assignment before starting to code part 1, so you have some idea of where you are going. Don't let the size or complexity overwhelm you; working step by step, one step per day, you'll have no trouble finishing on time if you start NOW. So, with that advice, let's begin:

Step 0: Getting started
( 0% of total, 0% complete when done)

Copy the contents of the proj1 directory from the course web site to your own ~/cisc181/proj1 directory.

Those files can be found on strauss in the directory: /www/htdocs/CIS/181/pconrad/06S/work/proj/proj1 with the commands:

mkdir ~/cisc181/proj1
cp -r /www/htdocs/CIS/181/pconrad/06S/work/proj/proj1 ~/cisc181/proj1

Copy your drawings.cpp and drawings.h files from your completed lab04 over to your proj1 directory, overwriting the drawings.cpp and drawings.h files that are already there.

Do a "make clean", "make all", "make install". You should see that you now have a directory ~/public_html/cisc181/proj1 that contains PNG files created by your code.

They will resemble the files in the "before" directory for project1, except, if you did the steps in lab04 correctly, some changes will now be visible:

• the Texas flag in the file drawFlags.png should now show up correctly
• the Snowmen in the drawSnowMen.png file should now have heads

If that didn't happen, check with your TA or instructor before continuiing.

Step 1: Adding French Flag to drawFlag.png
( 35% of total, 35% complete when done)

Now, add the calls into drawFlag.cpp to draw the French flag, where indicated. (This is just like what you did in lab04 to add the French flag into the drawNightFlags.cpp routine.) Do a "make install" and the flag should show up in the drawFlags.png file.In a later step, you'll fix the US flag as well; for now it will show up as a blank rectangle.

Note that of the 35% listed for step 1, only 5% of it is for the call for the French flag. The other 30% is divided as follows:

• correctly creating tar file in final submission: 10%
• C++ style issues throughout: 10%
• correctly submitting, scripting and following instructions generally: 10%

An overview of the grading rubric for this project appears at the end of this web page.

Step 2: Fixing drawHouses.png
( 5% of total, 40% complete when done)

Modify drawHouses.cpp to draw three rows of four houses instead of two rows of three houses. This involves fixing up the for loops. Your drawHouses.png file should now look like the finished product.

Step 3: Making a row of snowmen (still no eyes or noses)
( 5% of total, 45% complete when done)

Add a single for loop inside drawSnowMen.cpp to draw multiple snowmen in a line, going away at an angle, and of differing sizes. You'll use the loop variable to control the x and y coordinates as well as the size of the snowman. When you are done, the picture will look that the finished product, except there will be no eyes or noses.

Step 4: Giving the snow men eyes and noses
( 5% of total, 50% complete when done)

Go into drawings.cpp and change code for drawSnowman to add code to draw the eyes and nose. You'll need to draw the eyes using another couple of calls to the routine that draws circles. You'll need to define the x and y coordinates, and the radius of the circles, in terms of the parameters to the drawSnowman function, so that the new feature work at multiple sizes... that is, big snowmen should have big eyes and noses, and small snowmen should have small eyes and noses.

When you are done with this step, the drawSnowMen.png file should look similar to the one in the "after" directory.

Step 5: Adding two new features
( 20% of total, 70% complete when done)

The drawings.cpp routine has code to draw the following features:

Your job is to add two new features into drawings.h/drawings.cpp. You are going to use these features in Step 6, so read over all of steps 5 and 6 before proceding with Step 5.

One of the two new features may be taken from the following list of suggested items. The other feature should be something like this, but that does not appear in the list (something you dream up). Or, you may come up with two completely different items not in the list below.

(As a reminder: work independently. I would find it highly unusual if two folks were to choose exactly the same combination of two items, or to draw any particular item in exactly the same way!) But to ensure that that doesn't happen, I'm going to ask that you "register" your choice of what to draw on a discussion board in WebCT. First come first served in terms of what you choose to draw.

The two new picture elements can be anything you like, subject to the following rules.

(1) When I say "anything"... Well, not _anything_. Try to stay with the spirit of "grade school line drawings." If your drawing appeared in a motion picture, that picture should get a G rating, or at the worst, PG (not PG-13 or R). While we want to encourage free artistic expression, it would be a bad idea to "cross the line" in terms of drawing something that might be perceived as offensive.

(2) Your two "new elements" don't have to be complicated, but they should different from each other. Don't just do two slightly different versions of the same thing.

(3) One of your two could be an enhancement of an existing element (e.g. adding facial features or other detail to the stick figure, house, etc.). However at least one of your new elements should involve adding a new drawing function to the drawings.h and drawings.cpp file.

(4) Only one of the new features can be from my list of suggestions (unless you do, for example, two different cartoon characters from the same show.)

Change drawings.cpp/drawings.h to add routines for your two new picture elements.

Then, use drawSnowMen.cpp or drawHouses.cpp as a model to create a drawNewFeatures.cpp file. This file should draw a picture called drawNewFeatures.png that illustrates several examples of each of your new picture elements in various sizes (for example, a big SpongeBob, a little SpongeBob, and an in-between SpongeBob). This demonstration should show that your two new elements can scale in size and position. That is, you can draw them in a variety of x,y coordinates and in a variety of sizes, and they still look like the thing they are supposed to represent.

You'll also need to create a new files drawNewFeatures.sh, and add the necessary lines into the Makefile to support these files. Note that the drawNewFeatures.dat and drawNewFeatures.gnuplot should be created automatically by the code in drawNewFeatures.cpp.

Two hints on creating a new shell script

When you create a new shell script called drawNewFeatures.sh, you might need to use the command:

chmod u+x drawNewFeatures.sh

to make the file executable before it will work properly. You can test the shell script separately from the Makefile by just typing the name of the file at the command prompt, just like you do with executable program files, e.g.:

./drawNewFeatures.sh

Step 6: Making your own picture (80%)
( 10% of total, 80% complete when done)

Now, change the name of drawPhillsPicture.cpp to drawXXXXsPicture.cpp where XXXX is your name.

Change the Makefile to support drawXXXXspicture, where XXXX is your name.

Now, customize your drawXXXXsPicture.cpp to make it YOUR picture. Your picture should be different from mine, and express your creativity in some way. It should contain at least your two new picture elements, and at least five different picture elements total (e.g. a house, a stick figure and a sun, and your two new ones.)

Again, keep it clean and try to stay somewhat within the boundaries of good taste.

Step 7: Fix the US Flag (90%)
( 10% of total, 90% complete when done)

Now change the drawUSFlag routine in drawings.cpp/drawings.h to add the stripes and stars. You'll need one for loop for the short stripes, and another one for the long stripes. Finally, some nested for loops should work well for drawing the stars.
The code contains the address of a web page that explains more about how to draw the US Flag, and what the proper proportions are.

As you update the routines in drawings.cpp and drawings.h, you should see the results reflected in both the drawUSFlag.png files, and in the drawFlags.png file. Note how the structure of the Makefile is used to keep both sets of files up to date as changes are made to the drawings.h and drawings.cpp file.

As you draw the USFlag the first time around, use the drawFivePointedStar routine supplied. In the final step, you'll add a new routine, drawFivePointedOutlineStar that will draw a proper "outline" star like the ones shown in the sample output.

Step 8: A proper five pointed star
( 10% of total, 100% complete when done... except for submitting!) )

Finally, develop a new routine drawFivePointedOutline star using the technique discussed in class, and replace the calls in drawTexasFlag and drawUSFlag with calls to these new routines.

Submitting your work (tar file and script file)

Scripting your work and creating your tar file should follow the techniques learned in lab04, so refer back to that lab for details. Here is a summary of what is required of you:

1. Make a tar file called proj1.tar. Reminders:
• you should be one level up from ~/cisc181/proj1 when you do your tar, i.e., you should be in the directory ~/cisc181/.
• Do a "make clean" inside ~/cisc181/proj1 before creating your tar file. If you create it correctly, the size should be no more than a couple hundred KB, maybe less. (You can use the unix command ls -lh to see how large each file is in bytes, KB, MB, or GB.)
  
2. Make a script called proj1.txt. In your script, you should cd into your proj1 directory, cat all of your .cpp files and your .h file, and then cat your Makefile. Finally, do following three commands: "make clean", "make all", and "make install". That completes your script.
   
3. Then, submit your proj1.txt and your proj1.tar file to WebCT.
   
4. Print your proj1.txt file and give it to your TA.
   
5. Make sure you have a link on your CISC181 web page to your ~/public_html/cisc181/proj1 directory.

Grading

Here is a summary of the grading rubric. TAs might indicate more detailed grading in their own rubrics.

(end of project 1)