Common applications questions and answers
Questions
Q1. Do some research on the Internet. What information is held in a typical bar code for a supermarket product?
Q2. Do some research on the Internet. How do you calculate the check digit on a 13 digit ISBN number?
Q3. Do some research on the Internet. What measures have been taken in recent years to reduce credit card fraud?
Q4. Describe some benefits of a CAD system for producing technical drawings.
Q5. What is the difference between POS, EPOS and EFTPOS systems in a shop?
Q6. How can IT help in the marketing of a new product?
Q7. Define Computer Aided Manufacturing.
Q8. What is a ‘software patch’ used for?
Q9. Describe two benefits of bespoke software compared to off-the-shelf software.
Q10. What is meant by ‘generic’ software?
Answers
Q1. A bar code typically holds a product ID code, a manufacturer’s ID code, a country of origin ID code and error-checking information in the form of a check digit. It doesn’t hold the price.
Q2. There are different methods of working out check digits. For example, the 13 digit ISBN code for Computer Studies for A Level (4th ed) is 978-0-954351472. The check digit is the number on the right hand side, 2. A barcode scanner would read the first 12 digits of the ISBN code and then see if it got a 2. If it did get a 2, it would know that the ISBN code had probably been scanned correctly. How does it work out the check digit?
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- First, it multiplies each digit in turn by a 1, then a 3, then a 1, then a 3 and so on, and adds up the result, like this:
- (9 x 1) + (7 x 3) + (8 x 1) + (0 x 3) + (9 x 1) + (5 x 3) + (4 x 1) + (3 x 3) + (5 x 1) + (1 x 3) + (4 x 1) + (7 x 3) = 138
- Next, it divides the 138 by 10 to get 13 remainder 8.
- Finally, it subtracts the reminder from 10, so 10 – 8 = 2. (This system uses something called ‘modulo 10’, which just means the remainder after you divide a number by 10).
- As you can see, the check digit is 2, which is also the number on the right hand side of the 13 digit ISBN code. Do note that 10 digit ISBN numbers use a different system to the one described here.
Q3. Credit card fraud has been reduced in recent years with the introduction of Chip and PIN technology along with campaigns to encourage credit card holders to shield their PINs when entering them into machines, not to write PINs down and to use updated anti-virus software on any computers they use to buy things with their credit cards.
Q4. CADs can make use of templates. It is easy to try out different ideas. Designs can be both 2D, 3D and animated. You can work to much finer detail than a draughtsman on paper could. You can use pre-drawn objects to speed up the design process. Drawings can be easily shared by email. Collaborative working is much easier. Storage of digital drawings takes less space than conventional paper. Drawings can be encrypted for security. It is easy to backup drawings. Drawings can be linked to spreadsheets, so that the cost of producing a drawing can be automatically calculated.
Q5. POS (Point Of Sale) is a place where you pay for goods. EPOS (Electronic Point Of Sale) is a place where you pay for goods that uses an electronic till to record payments, produce receipts and possibly link to a central stock control system. EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer Point Of Sale) is the same as EPOS except that the seller can accept payments for goods electronically, using a debit or credit card.
Q6. DTP software can be used to design leaflets, brochures, emails or other sales literature. Email programs and bulk email applications can be used to send out emails advertising goods. Reports can be generated using spreadsheets, for example, showing sales figures and identifying where more effort needs to be placed to improve sales. Questionnaires can be produced online and the results processed automatically, to get customer feedback. Word processors can be used to send out standard letters and to mail merge addresses to letters to personalise them. Allow any other sensible use.
Q7. Computer Assisted Manufacturing is where a computer system is used to control factory production, for example, the supply of components, planning schedules and so on. CAM is usually linked to CAD systems so designs made in CAD systems can be transferred electronically to machines, which are then set up automatically or semi-automatically. This provides an integrated manufacturing process, which saves time and money.
Q8. A software patch is a piece of software that is applied to an application after it has been installed to modify it or to correct a bug found in the software. It saves the user having to completely reinstall the software.
Q9. Bespoke software gives the customer the exact features they want. It can also integrate with a customer’s existing hardware and software, even if they are quite old.
Q10. Generic software is software that can be easily applied and used to many different situations, for many different purposes.