Please review my CLD practice exam
Hi all,
I'm working my nerve up to take the CLD. If anyone has the time, I'd appreciate some advice on style, test rules, etc. based on my solution to the Traffic Light sample exam.
Seemed a lot easier than the car wash exam. Is this an older exam? How do the real tests compare to the practice exams? Any advice is much appreciated.
-Barrett
-Barrett
CLD
Attachments:
Stop Light Controller.zip 53 KB
blawson wrote: would a simple error dialog be all I'd need for error handling?
-Barrett
Message Edited by blawson on 11-16-2009 10:12 AM
Generally speaking, I think that the error dialog should suffice. I don't think I'm violating the NDA in saying this... (My sincere apologies to NI training & certification if I am - please delete my post if that's true) On exams I usually do something a bit more complex, but it's probably overkill. I usually run a separate loop in parallel and send my errors over there via a queue. That way errors don't hang up the application. Still, I use the stock error dialog (one of the two) in my error handler loop. I don't think I've ever lost points for that, to my recollection.
Also, regarding typedefs: To avoid orphaned enums that should be typedefs, I wrote something backwards on my forehead with a marker. (OK, not really.) "If it's a cluster or an enum, make it a typedef." Following this rule, I always start out with a typedef to begin with and thereby avoid the problem. My experience is that this almost always saves you trouble later on.
Free advice, for what it's worth.
Jim
Similar Messages
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Please Review my CLD Sample Exam
I am going to take the CLD in a month or so, so I figured I would work on some of the exams and post it up here for your advice.
I started with the Car Wash exam, and will do the other ones as well.
Thank you.
Any and all comments are welcome.
Kenny
Attachments:
Car Wash.zip 68 KBOn first look (not that I'm able to give any opinions about any CLD review)
Using a enum instead of string as a queue data type would lessen the risk of making a typo error when your programming, and makes the programming a bit faster it would also "lessen" the traffic since enum is a lesser datatype than string, and combining it with a typedef would keep changes up to date
Im taking the CLAD tomorrow, and am hopefully ready for the CLD right after that Hope it wont be difficult. Good luck! -
Hi,
I wanted to bring up this topic for those who are preparing for taking the CLD.
As you know there is a four hour limit for taking the exam. While preparing for the exam, using all the materials, webcast, and the certification discussion board, it is important ... , no critical, to clear your schedule and time yourself for a four hour exam. Twice.
Many developers get caught in the time crunch, both in their daily activities and in the test. Putting yourself in the position of having to face a hard deadline for completing the exam is a great wake up call. You don't want that call to be during the actual exam.
Timing your practice exams is a great way to experience the psychological pressures you will face during the four hours.
There is a wide spectrum of programmers that take the CLD, experienced pros, those who use it once or twice a week at work, advanced beginners, and all other experience levels. Preparing with a strict time limit gives all the broad spectrum of candidates the opportunity to see where their personal methods support or hinder the effort to complete in four hours.
In general, take no more than thirty minutes to read the specification, understand the specification, and plan your design.
Again, generally speaking, the last thirty minutes should not be used as a "last ditch" effort to start a new piece of functionality or race to a last minute addition. If a bug is introduced in this last half hour, the damage done to overall functionality could be much worse than the potential gain. One good use of the last thirty minutes is to continue testing integrated modules/SubVI's, to fix small discrepancies , to make one more verification that what you have already programmed is working correctly. One of my clients used to tell me "test, test, Test !"
Of course, it is impossible to give directions that will meet all individual methods. This is why taking a practice exam under strict time limits is a HUGE suggested best practice. You get to see first hand how your strategies and test taking methods fit the four hour time limit. You can plan and prepare your solution and methods, but until you time it firsthand, you are only measuring your knowledge of the methods. In most cases, nothing teaches faster than timing your sample exam and learning from your own mistakes.
If you are struggling with both implementation and timing, complete one practice exam without time, then take it again , timed, with just three and a half hours limit as you already know the specification.
One time saver is to document and label as you program. While you are in a section of code, document what that case, SubVI, or algorithm is doing. Right at the point of conception it is easy to jot down a one line description. Waiting until the end and then documenting all the work you have done is not as efficient as documenting "in the moment". You might be testing in the last thirty minutes and run out of time to document the complete application. Also, when you are working with already documented code, you are giving yourself a road map as you integrate modules or add functionality to the application. Try this while you are taking the practice exam.
I hope you find this advice helpful and something to think about, but more importantly I hope I have convinced you to take some practice exams with strict time limits. Although I have touched on a few topics, the focus here is to promote the timing your CLD practice exams in preparing for the CLD.
Mark Ramsdale
Project Manager and CLD
Customer Certification and Training at National InstrumentsJeff·Þ·Bohrer wrote:
RDarn the mobile interface.
Tim, I hear you. What do you consider to be a "normal project"?
PS My CLD-R is at 8:00am tomorrow.
"Normal" = project for actual work
Good luck starting in about 13 minutes!
There are only two ways to tell somebody thanks: Kudos and Marked Solutions
Unofficial Forum Rules and Guidelines -
Finished taking Sprinkler CLD Practice Exam
I am planning on taking my CLD this coming week, and just finished taking this practice exam. Since I studied the car wash and ATM solutions I decided to go for the Sprinkler practie exam. The "Sprinkler CLD.zip" file is the results of 4 dedicated hours of my Saturday.
I ran the VI analyzer on all VIs and CTLs and I'm not impressed with myself. Could somebody tell me how they think I would score?
I looked at the solution for the Sprinkler.vi and it's clear that my approach is nothing like the solution from NI. This could be a good or a very bad thing.
It appears quick comments could mean alot if the graders depend heavily on the VI Analyzer. It appears that I should have at least two comments in each VI, and not only have the documentation section filled in the VI but the same for controls.
It's clear that I missed some wires when I resized my case select boxes.
After finishing the exam and then looking back i see there is a possible lock out condition on initialization that would prevent the VI from reading the CSV file. I shouldn't have created a "READ CSV" State. If i would have placed the "READ CSV FILE" inside the "Power Up Configuration" state there would be no issues. I should have restarted labview in my last hour. If the VI starts up with the Water Pressure above 50% and No Rain then the CSV file is read and there is no problem. This would have been an obvious mistake had I restarted labview.
I realize that I missed some of the specifications. For example if it starts raining during a sequence it is suppose to restart the sequence, not pause it.
There are few comments in the code. I usually add many comments to my code, but this is my first time using a simple state engine.
At work I have a large infrastructure already in place complete with error handling and task management. I am also use to working on multiple monitors. During the test I only used one. Even if I didn’t pass this practice exam at least having a dry run outside my normal work condition was very good practice.
I spent time practicing earlier and can build the Timer.VI in about 8 minutes. A functional global timer seems to be a common theme in the practice exams.
Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions?
Do you think I would have passed the CLD exam with this test?
Comments?
Regards,
Attachments:
VI Analyzer Results.zip 4 KB
Sprinkler CLD.zip 377 KBThere are a lot of good things in your code, you are nearly there. I haven't run your code, so this is more style and documentation comments.
If I were you, I would concentrate on the following:
Wire Error through all your subVI's put your subvi code in an error/no error case structure. If you had done that, you didn't need the flat sequence structure in your code.
You haven't even wired error to the subvi's with error terminals, this will cost you points.
Label any constants on the block diagram.
Brief description of Algorithm on each VI block diagram.
You could have avoided using local variables, for example Run Selector as this control is available in the cluster. So just a unbundle by name would have given you the value of that control. If you do use them, then make sure you state why (for example efficiency etc.) in a block diagram comment.
Some subVis are missing VI documentation, this wont be taken lightly.
Using default value when unwired (for your while loop stop) is not recommended. This was specifically discussed during a CLD preparation class I attended not so long ago.
While icons are pretty, I wouldn't waste time trying to find glyphs for your subvi's just consistent text based icon scheme is perfectly acceptable. You can do this if you do have extra time, it wont fetch your extra points though.
LabVIEW 2012 has sub diagram labels, you can enable this by default in Tools>>Options, adding comments in each of the cases is recommended.
The main thing is time management and make sure you read other posts/blogs on CLD. I would also recommend quick drop, if you haven't started using this it may not be a good idea to do so now for your exam next week. But in general it is very useful and saves time.
Hope this helps.
Beginner? Try LabVIEW Basics
Sharing bits of code? Try Snippets or LAVA Code Capture Tool
Have you tried Quick Drop?, Visit QD Community. -
Hello,
I am trying a somehow different architecture from what I am used to with the CLD ATM practice exam and I would appreciate any feedback. I am still hesitant about the "double queued message".
I'll appreciate your comments.
Regards.
Attachments:
ATM Simulator.zip 259 KBChristian_M wrote:
I got the ATM in CLD Exam.
I think the code you posted is very good, but it is simply too much for CLD.
Don't try to create super-special-awesome architectures, instead use simple ones, e.g. I just used a statemachine which fullfills all the needs of the ATM. Keep in mind you only have four hours and with some exams you have lots of text to implement. More complex architectures are more difficulte do debug and there is not really time to debug.
So keep it simple!
Christian
Thank you Christian. Just yesterday I reworked this example using a simple state machine. Unlike with the architecture I posted here, with the simple state machine I had plenty of time to debug and test. So, you are probably right about keeping it simple. I guess I need to remember that the the CLD is a test and not a product to deliver to a client. -
My stoplight.vi for CLD practice exam
I am preparing for CLD and looking for comments on my implementation of the "stoplight" CLD example question. Any comment would be appreciated. Kudos will be distributed liberally.
The pdf for the example question is in this zip file:
ftp://ftp.ni.com/pub/devzone/epd/2419.zip
Attachments:
CLD_Traffic_Light.zip 42 KB
Sample CLD Exam - Traffic Light.pdf 350 KBIt looks like your code does everything that the clad exam wants. I see that you documented everything but the main vi. You might just want to explain what the purpose of the mian vi is. I think you code is simple and east to read. The state machine is simple and works good and everything seems to flow nicely. You document well what is going on in each loop.
I hope this was userful info.
Tim
Johnson Controls
Holland Michigan -
Could anyone offer up suggestions to better the code? I probably spent too much time getting it to work because when I stopped at four hours I realized I hadn't done half the commenting I wanted too.
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.
-Ian
Attachments:
CLD Exam - Car Wash.zip 97 KB-Put a description of your top-level VI under VI Properties/Documentation. An over-all description of what the program does.
-Use wire labels where appropriate (such as your shift registers).
-I would use some sort of error handling and make sure all your property nodes are wired through with the error clusters. This will also help with flow control since most of your property nodes are not wired to anything.
-Mark is correct in using the Use Default if Unwired on the tunnels. Although this is programmatically correct, I avoid using this just for the sake of clarity on what the default value is. Wire a default constant to these. The reason you may get dinged is it's not self-documenting.
-Your shift registers are uninitialized in your main loop. Was this your intention?
-In SetAllIndicatorsOff.VI there is no need for the Array Size function. You can use auto-indexing on your For loop. Or you can input your cluster and cycle through your cluster elements inside the For loop which will eliminate the need for the cluster to array function.
-In StationStepper.VI, your inner case structure does nothing.
-In DefaultWash.VI, the operation does not seem to agree with the documentation. The High Pressure Wash is enabled regardless of which wash setting is selected.
-In NeedStationOne.VI, like the unwired default for tunnels, wire constants to the index array function. Necessary? No, but it's easier to see what the default settings are for the function, in this case 0 and 1; although your description of the VI mentions nothing about these selections (Under Body Wash and Bug Remover).
-In TimeElapsed.VI, position your controls and indicators on the FP in the order they appear on the connector pane. This makes it easier to follow with the context help. Unless you're opening this VI during run, you don't have to worry about the look and feel of the FP. You could make this VI simpler by using an FGV.
-Editne last thought, make sure you create a project from the start.
All together your programming style is clean and well documented. I would definetly concentrate more on getting the documentation down right than proper operation, and as Mark stated, check your spelling. It makes it harder to understand what your intentions are.
Reese, (former CLAD, future CLD)
Some people call me the Space Cowboy!
Some call me the gangster of love.
Some people call me MoReese!
...I'm right here baby, right here, right here, right here at home -
I think the Practice Exam Solution may be wrong. FWIW, I picked B. Exam solution claims the answer is A. Aren't Doubles stored as 4-byte?
Solved!
Go to Solution.Thanks Jeff.
I guess I get confused with the layout of the Representation Palette.
Seeing U32, I32, and Double in the same column makes me think they are all 4 byte and that Extended is the 8 byte version.
Guess studying for the recert has made me learn something after all.
Doubles are 64 bit and Extended is machine dependent at least 64 bit. -
Practice CLD-R Exam 1, Question 24 symbol?
I am cramming for the CLD-R. What is the little peace-sign looking symbol? It is from the sample CLD-R Exam 1, question 24.
Thank you!
Certified LabVIEW Developer
NI-VLM Administrator
Solved!
Go to Solution.JulieC wrote:
I am the World's Most Interesting LabVIEW Programmer, after all.
Whoa...are you coming to NI Week? If so, you gotta come see my Tips and Tricks to Speed LabVIEW Development presentation...if nothing else, just to see the pop culture reference on my opening slide. Seriously, you quoted my as-yet-unreleased-to-the-public intro slide almost verbatim.
Darren Nattinger, CLA
LabVIEW Artisan and Nugget Penman -
CLD Practice Review - Car Wash
Hey, so I've done all 4 available CLD Prep Exams. I was curious if I could get some feedback on the Car Wash. This, imo, was the easiest of them all and so I was wondering what kind of marks I would end up getting with the attached as the end result. Like, just how many "unnecessary bends" are present in my code? What does it need? The code is in 2011 SP1. Thank you.
Remember, code does exactly what you tell it.
Attachments:
Car Wash.zip 89 KBWell while we wait for the thread to be moved here are some comments:
Your main has uninitialized shift registers for no reason. They should be initialized with constants.
All of your VIs are missing VI Icons
All of your VIs are missing VI Descriptions
Saved controls are also missing icon and description
Your front panel controls don't have tip strips, or descriptions
Wires are routed behind structures in a couple VIs
There are far too few comments. All cases in the state machine needs comments explaining what the state is for.
I also don't remember all the requirements so there is likly funcitonal things I don't remember. Like aren't controls supposed to be disabled when a car is going through the wash?
Unofficial Forum Rules and Guidelines - Hooovahh - LabVIEW Overlord
If 10 out of 10 experts in any field say something is bad, you should probably take their opinion seriously. -
Please review my solution!
Hello All,
I am planning to attend the CLD exam next week. I am practicing some of sample questions. I solved the ATM question.
Kindly please review and let me know the feedback. Attaching the code in both 2014 and 2010 version along with question.
Thank You!
Regards,
Rajesh Nair
Attachments:
ATM 2010.zip 173 KB
Automatic Teller Machine 2014.zip 250 KB
100928C-01.zip 293 KBOverall I've seen worse but, you do have a major problem as I se it from looking at your code.
You FORGOT the USER. Seriously, the user is key. Tip Strips and Discriptions on EVERY user control or indicator is a must. Postition the FP so user controls are visable is a must.
I'm not "in love" with your queue handler but could se it on a larger project with a generic queue data type and a priority boolean. overkill for a CLD exam you only get 4 hours and yo need to document those controls and indicators.
Type defs- All have default icons (Break that habit now or you'll find something like this someday and be sorry)
There are a few developers I'd be tempted to shoot. It is a point on code reviews around here now.
Wired terminals not on root block diagram will get you dinged. do a search i've said it before.
Jeff -
Hi,
I am preparing for 1z0-050 exam to get 11g OCP. I am thinking of buying 'Transcender' - 1z0-050 Practice Exam.
Has anyone used these practice exams and Flash Cards from Transcender for 1z0-050? If yes, do you recommend the material from Transcender?
I have used the Transcender practice exams for 042, 043 and 047 in the past and I found them very useful.
However for all those exams I used a very good Study Guide to supplement the Practice exams.
For 050 exam, based on the Web Search there are only 2 books, Sam Alapati and Freeman. Reviews for both the books are not that great.
Looks like Sam Alapati book has lot of errors.
Can someone please post there experience regarding the Transcender practice exam for 1z0-050?
Thanks in advance.I used a practice test from SelfTest Software, which is produced by the same company, Kaplan. I thought their practice test for that exam was very good. I only have one complaint: Some of their referenced materials (websites, etc) were illegal materials found on sites like docstoc. I hope they've removed those. Anyway, I also had heard that Alapati's book was not so good, but it was the only book I used. When I heard that, I decided to glean through the book quickly & try to learn elsewhere. This site is helpful:
http://www.oracle-base.com/articles/11g/Articles11g.php#ocp
and also this:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/sql/index-099021.html -
When I try to sign in to my account on iTunes, I get the above error message, along with"Please review your account information".
When I then click on "Review", it comesup with the page "Create an Apple Account for the iTunes Store"and presents me with the Terms Of Service.
When I click "Agree", It is disabled.
Can anyone tell me why this has happened and how to resolve it?
Please, please, please help.Count me in as having the same problem. I have been leaving messages in the iTunes for Mac forum where others in there also are having problems. I have been unable to access my account since 11/7/2007. E-mails with Apple have not worked and now I haven't heard back from them since Saturday. I have tried both on a Mac and Windows machine and keep receiving the same error message that:
This Apple ID has not yet been used with iTunes.
I last purchased music with this account on 10/30/2007. I even tried resetting my password, changing my account info, trying on a computer with iTunes 7.4, etc. I have money in that account and 150 songs and 5-6 tv shows that I cannot access. I also just purchased a new computer and cannot sync my iPod with this computer since these songs will not transfer.
Apple really needs a phone number for technical support. Having to deal with e-mails back and forth (and waiting a day for each e-mail) is not a good business practice. Hopefully they will have a phone number in the future.
Either way, count me in on getting annoyed that a week later, this issue has not been fixed. -
What is the best practice exam for 70-462 SQL 2012 DB Admin. exam?
Hi All,
I've completed the 70-462 exam prep guide from Microsoft press, i.e., I've read the book twice and practiced everything I could on my lab network (short of AlwaysOn and Clustering), including all the review questions and practice sections. Now I need
a practice exam and I'm wondering what success test-takers would suggest.
I saw Transcender's practice exam for 70-461 and it was less than what I expected. There were questions that didn't belong there and I don't want to waste my money on a practice exam that has a bunch of "filler" questions. It was the
first Transcender practice exam I've ever seen.
Thanks for any advice you can provide! I expect to take the exam in about 3 weeks.
Eric B.Seriously, though, I've been studying this guide for nearly 6 months, don't have the money to re-test over and over, and would rather pay for a practice test than pay for the exam itself more than once.
Hi Eric,
In addition to Kalman’s post, based on my research, you can take a practice test for 70-462 from below link. Also, as is suggested in this
article, you can buy a practice test for Exam 70-462 from Kaplan SelfTest and MeasureUp.
http://www.accelerated-ideas.com/free-70462-practice-test.aspx#.VGRCzf6KCM8
Besides, about such issues, for quick and accurate response, I would like to recommend that you ask the question in the Learning forums at
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=CertGeneral . It is appropriate and more experts will assist you.
Thanks,
Lydia Zhang -
Recommendations for SCJP 6 practice exams
I everyone, I am new to this forum but I have gotten a lot of help from this forum so far. This is my first post. And please excuse me and direct me in the right direction if someone else has already asked and gotten an answer for this questions.
I am taking the SCJP 6 this AUG 4. I wanted to know what practice exam service shall I use (other than the two exams provided by SUN) if I want to get a taste of the real exam. I know there are many sites that provide practice exam packages, but I am afraid they might not be similar to how the actual SCJP 6 exam might look like. Please tell me your recommendations on what sites best depict the real exam scenarios.Thank you for your reply, I will check out your recommendations, it certainly helps. But I would also like a recommendation for a practice exam service that I could subscribe to, meaning a portal that will provide me with many practice questions and I dont have to worry about whether they are similar to the questions in the real exam. I know there are services like Ucertify, pass4sure etc...if anyone has used these services could you please comment! Thank you all in advance
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