CEOI 2010 Competition Rules

Task types

All of the tasks in CEOI 2010 are designed to be of algorithmic nature. Tasks may be of the following types:

• Batch tasks: Solutions comprise a single source file of a computer program which reads data from standard input and writes its answer to standard output.
• Reactive tasks: Solutions comprise a single source file of a computer program which interacts with an "opponent" program provided by the organizers. The reactive interface may be implemented either by using standard input/output, or by linking a library to the contestant's program.
• Output-only tasks: The contestants are given input files and they have to produce correct output files by any means available.

Limits

As usual, for every task other than output-only tasks, the following limits will be enforced on the contestants' submissions:

• Time limit: a limit on the total processor time the process may consume while solving a given input.
• Memory limit: a limit on the total amount of memory the process may have allocated at any moment. Note that this limit includes not only the variables, but also the executable data, the stack, etc.
• Source size limit: no submitted program may exceed 100 kB in size.

All limits will be announced in the problem statements.

Competition Equipment and Environment

The contestants' machines will run a specially prepared Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. A beta DVD version of this distribution can be downloaded here (log in as user "training").

Compiler versions that will be used:

• fpc >= 2.4.0 (compiler switches -Sg -O1)
• gcc >= 4.4.0 (compiler switches -static -O2 -lm)

A detailed list of software will appear later, if requested. All software currently installed on the DVD version should be available. The desktop manager will most probably be KDE.

Submitting solutions

The contestants' submissions will be evaluated by a competition server. Each contestant will be assigned a username and a password for accessing the server. The environment on the server will be as close as possible to the environment on the contestants' machines.

Contestants submit solutions to the competition server via a web browser. Solutions for tasks may be submitted at any time during the contest.

For tasks which require output files as solutions, contestants must submit a zip file containing all produced output files. A more detailed explanation will be provided in the task's description.

For tasks which require programs as solutions, the submission facility will accept C, C++ or Pascal programs, verify that the program compiles and obeys the stated limits on program source size and compile time; the submission facility will then run the program on the sample test cases given in the task description, enforcing the relevant run-time resource constraints.

The submitted program will be accepted even if it fails some of these checks. The submission's status will be reported back to the contestant by the competition server as soon as possible.

For each task, the last submission received for that task will be used to award points.

Scoring

For each batch and reactive task the test data will be divided into batches, with each batch containing one or more test inputs. A test input is solved correctly if the submitted program produces a correct output file within the enforced limits. A batch is solved correctly if each of the inputs it contains is solved correctly. Points are awarded only for correctly solving batches of inputs.

For each output-only task points are awarded for each correct output file submitted by the contestant.

Clarification Requests

During the first two hours of competition, contestants may submit written questions concerning any ambiguities or items needing clarification in the competition tasks. Questions must be submitted on the provided Clarification Request Forms, expressed either in the contestant's native language or in English. If required, delegation leaders will translate their contestants' questions into English after they are submitted and before they are sent to the Scientific Committee. The Scientific Committee will respond to every question submitted by the contestants. Contestants should phrase their questions so that a yes/no answer will be meaningful. Questions will be answered with one of the following:

• YES
• NO
• ANSWERED IN TASK DESCRIPTION (EXPLICITLY OR IMPLICITLY): The task description contains sufficient information. The contestant should read it again carefully.
• INVALID QUESTION: The question is not phrased so that a yes/no answer would be meaningful. The contestant is encouraged to rephrase the question.
• NO COMMENT: The contestant is asking for information that the Scientific Committee can not give.

Announcements

In case the SC makes verbal announcements during the competition, these announcements will also be available on the Competition Server's web interface. The web interface also shows the official CEOI time and date every time the page is loaded.

Conduct of contest

Submitted programs are not allowed to:

• access the network;
• fork;
• open and create files;
• attack the system security or the grader;
• execute other programs;
• change file system permissions;
• read file system information;
• make system calls not related to solving the competition task.

During the contest, contestants are not allowed to:

• access the network for anything other than communicating with the competition server
• communicate with persons other than CEOI staff
• reveal their passwords
• intentionally damage or endanger any part of the competition environment

Any of the above actions may result in disqualification.

Appeal Process

At the end of each competition day, submitted solutions are judged using data which conforms to the specification given in the problem statement, but which is unknown to contestants during the competition.

Provisional grades, based on these tests, are delivered to team leaders. The test data will be available electronically in the contestant environments. Contestants and team leaders may use the contestant workstations to verify that the grading is correct.

A Team Leader may file an appeal by completing an Appeal Form and submitting the completed form to the SC until the GA meeting in the evening of the same day. Every appeal will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee and the team leader will be notified about the committee's decision. All appeals and their disposition will be summarized at the final GA meeting of that competition day.

In the event that a mistake is discovered in the grading of a task, the mistake will be corrected and the submissions of all contestants will be re-graded and re-scored, whether or not the scoring of that particular submission has been appealed. Note that re-scoring may result in a higher or lower score for any contestant. Should anyone's score change after grading results have been distributed, new results will be printed and distributed to them.

Contact information

Any questions and comments related to the contents of this page should be directed to Michal Forišek (head of the host SC) at misof at ksp.sk