SOUTH EAST ASIA REGIONAL COMPUTER CONFEDERATION SEARCC INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS' SOFTWARE COMPETITION 2007 (ISSC 2007) www.SEARCC07.com/issc2007.asp THAILAND, 20 - 22 November 2007.

HOSTED BY:
		The Computer Association of Thailand Under The Royal Patronage of His Majesty The King
		College of Internet Distance Education Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center Assumption University of Thailand

GENERAL INFORMATION
To foster the development of computer competence among young people in the region, SEARCC instituted a regional schools software competition in 1989. The competition, which is run under international competition rules, is open to students not more than 17 years of age. The competition also provides opportunities for the young people of the region to acquire a better awareness of the culture, life-style and aspirations of each other's country, thereby contributing to better understanding in relationships for future generations.

KEY DATES	Deadline for Registration	-	1 October
	Arrival of Participants	-	19 November
	Trial Competition	-	20 November
	Main Competition	-	21 November
	Awards Ceremony	-	21 November
	Sightseeing	-	22 November
	Departure of Participants	-	23 November

OFFICIAL WEB SITE
Updates and announcements regarding ISSC 2007 will be posted at the SEARCC 2007 website at   http://www.searcc07.com.

TRIAL COMPETITION
The trial competition will be conducted in a similar manner to the main competition. However, the scores obtained at the trial competition submissions will have no official status.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
Country teams will be provided transport from/to the airport on arrival/departure day. During the competition (19 to 23 August) accommodation will be provided to the teams on sharing basis. There will be no cost for transfers to and from the Suvarnabhumi International Airport for arrival on 19 November and departure on either 21 or 23 November.

COMPETITION VENUE & LAYOUT
The Competition will be held at Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center, Assumption University, 88 Moo 8, Bang Na-Trad 26 Km., Bang Sao Thong, Samutprakarn 10540. The Organising Committee of SEARCC’07 will ensure that there is sufficient desk and working space around each station, and sufficient passageways for movement. The competition area provides adequate lighting and ventilation, and is air-conditioned. Under no circumstance will anyone without a specific role in the competition be allowed into the competition area. Live results will be visible from vantage points around the competition area. Internet access will be available for the participants during the trial and main competition days.

PRIZES
Suitable Prizes will be awarded to the first three winning teams. Arrangement is being made to request the three prizes from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Certificate of Participation will be given to each participating team member.

OTHER INFORMATION
Visa requirements, embassy details of SEARCC countries, Airline information, departure airport taxes, accommodation details, dress standards, detailed program schedule for the participants (other than the competition), etc. will be announced separately through the web site.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

PREAMBLE
These Rules are derived from those used at the 2006 ISSC. Any deviations forced by the equipment and software in use will be advised to participating SEARCC members as soon as they are known and will be published on the SEARCC web site.

GENERAL
1.	Each country will be allowed to send a maximum of two teams with one chaperon. Each team may consist of up to three school students. Registration must be done (using Annex C) through the respective country’s computer society, from where it will be forwarded to the host Society for the SEARCC Conference. Once the registration is accepted the organisers will be communicating directly with the chaperon. In case of a need to limit the total number of teams participating, only the first team of each country will be selected. The second team will be selected on a first come first served basis.
2.	All team members of school teams must be full-time students under seventeen years of age on 21st November 2007 (that is, born on or after 21st November 1990).
3.	The competition will be two (2) hours in duration, consisting of four (4) programming problems. Problems will be set in English. For a solution to be judged as correct, it must display the correct results as prescribed in the problem description when a set of competition data is processed by the judging program. In addition the results must be displayed on the monitor according to the specifications in the problem description. Final results are evaluated by the scoring system described in Rule 27.
4.	The programming languages to be used will be Pascal, C / C++ and Java.
5.	Challenges or appeals regarding the statement or solution of problems, configuration or operation of workstation, or any other matters, may be submitted in writing through the chaperon to the chief judge, but not after expiration of the first thirty minutes after the end of the competition.
WORKSTATION AND RESOURCES
6.	A team’s workstation will consist of an IBM compatible microcomputer running Windows XP Pro with floppy & hard disk drives, keyboard and mouse. All workstations will be configured identically. The necessary system software and sufficient virus free diskettes will be supplied (five diskettes will be provided - the competitor is expected to save each of the four solutions on separate diskettes for submission and maintain backup copies on the other diskette). Each diskette will be labelled with your country, team number, and the problem number or backup. There will be four program submission sheets, printed document of the rules and regulation, together with paper for rough work near your machine. The teams are responsible for maintaining backup copies of their solutions and save the work frequently in the working directory to avoid loss due to power failure and other unforeseen circumstances. The use of USB drives will not be permitted.
7.	Do not take any material inside the competition area without the permission of the Judges. Drinks/Snacks are not permitted inside the competition area but are provided in the reception area.
8.	During the first one hour of the competition, teams may ask for clarification of problem descriptions (and are encouraged to do so) only from the official judges. Such request should be submitted in writing. Answers will be limited to Yes, No or No Comment. Please phrase your questions accordingly. Questions written in a language other than English must be translated into English by the team Chaperon. Judges responding to questions will not compromise any part of the solution or clarify beyond the written description without providing the same information to all teams as close to simultaneously as possible.
9.	Teams should use only the resources of the workstations and the standard software and diskettes supplied. Additional help, any form of machine-readable material, or other resources are not permitted.
10.	Printouts of programs will be available during the competition from printers provided in the printing area.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
11.	The keyboard will be placed on top of the monitor and the problems will be under the keyboard. Do not touch the computer or keyboard until we announce START.
12.	During the competition, any changes or corrections to the problems may be announced, and such corrections will be given in written form.
13.	At the end of the 2-hour period a judge will announce STOP. Please stop work immediately and place your keyboard on top of the monitor. The only exception to this is if you have been awarded additional time to compensate for machine failure.
14.	At the end of the competition the five diskettes and the four program submission sheets will be collected.
SELECTION OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
15.	Teams may choose to write their programs in any of the programming languages offered. Teams are allowed to solve one problem in one language and other problems in other languages offered. The input and output operation will be kept simple, allowing them to concentrate on the problem solving aspects. No special features of the programming packages are needed, nor should they be used. In particular, the following features will NOT play a role in the programming tasks, and are strongly discouraged
	graphical output mouse input advanced file manipulation advanced numeric processing OS calls
16.	Teams should be familiar with the programming package of their choice, including the use of libraries. Ability to use the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), in particular the built-in editor, compiler, and debugger, will be helpful. Some knowledge of compiler options may also be an advantage. The following applications will be available: Notepad, Free Pascal ? 2.2.0 with IDE and documentation, Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, Microsoft Visual C++ 2005, Jcreator LE 4.50, Netbeans 5.5.1 and Eclipse 3.3 (IDE Package for Java)
INPUT AND OUTPUT DATA
17.	Input will be from keyboard or from simple text files. Output will normally be to the screen using standard characters, but possibly as a pattern of characters.
SUBMISSION OF SOLUTIONS
18.	Diskettes submitted to the judging station must contain the correct label (i.e., the country name, the team number and the problem number). Diskette should contain the programs corresponding to the submitted problem number and should adhere to the instructions given in 21.
19.	Diskettes submitted for judging must be accompanied with a completed program submission sheet for each problem (see Annex A). On the submission sheet, judges will log the submission time and provide feedback if the solution is incorrect.
20.	The judges retain submission sheets when a problem is solved correctly and the team will be notified that their submission has been successful. When the competition is over, all remaining submission sheets must be handed in to the judging station.
21.	Teams must adhere to specific instructions (see Annex B) regarding: a. filename of programs on the diskettes; b. output of results; c. the other instructions which make the programs uniformly compatible with the needs of judging station;
JUDGING
22.	Team members (or any other unauthorised personnel) are not allowed in the judging area. Failure to comply with this ruling could result in the team being disqualified from the competition.
23.	For each problem, several sets of confidential judging data will be used by the judges. Any correct solution is expected to process all test data sets and produce the correct output. The same sets of test data will be used to test the solutions from all teams submitting each problem.
24.	Solutions must execute on the judge’s workstation in 30 seconds (unless otherwise specified) of the clock time with any judging data set. Problems will be constructed so that a reasonable solution will meet this requirement using the competition data.
25.	For a solution to be judged as correct, it must produce the correct result as described in the problem description when any set of judging data is processed by the judges.
26.	Feedback for a bad run/submission will be given with one of the following comments on the Program Submission Sheet. Only the first error encountered will be indicated. a. TOO MUCH TIME Execution took longer than 30 seconds (or other specified time). b. NO OUTPUT Nothing appeared on the screen from the program execution within 30 seconds or other specified time). c. TEST DATA FAILED The program displayed incorrect results. d COMPILATION ERROR Compilation error is detected. e. ERROR OCCURRED The operating system, interpreter or compiler detected and error. f. BAD OUTPUT FORMAT The display was not formatted exactly as prescribed. g. IMPROPER SUBMISSION Directions were not followed. Examples – incorrect filename, wrong submission sheet or wrong program format
SCORES AND PLACING
27.	A team’s score will be the sum of points awarded to each problem either solved or attempted by the team. The point system for a competitor is as follows: a. One hundred (100) points will be awarded for each solution judged as correct. No points are awarded for solutions that are incomplete or inaccurate. b. Teams will be awarded a bonus of one (1) point for each five (5) minute period, or part of such period remaining when the solution is submitted to the judges (i.e. a problem submitted within the first five minutes and judged as correct earns a maximum time bonus of 24 bonus points). A problem submitted in the last five minutes and judged as correct earns 1 bonus point). c. Each submission that is judged incorrect for any reason specified in 26 above will incur a penalty of ten (10) points (i.e. minus 10 points) regardless of whether the problem is eventually solved or not. d. The placing of the teams is determined by the scores obtained. Should there be any tie in the scores, the placing is determined by applying following criteria in sequence:   number of problems solved; the time when the last solution was submitted.   If there is still a tie, the teams with equal scores will be placed at the same position
	The judge’s decision will be final in any matter. Any changes to these rules will be notified to all registered teams before the competition.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION	INFORMATION REGARDING THE QUESTIONS, RULES AND REGULATIONS
The Computer Association of Thailand issc2007@computerthai.org Ph: +66-2-216-5860 Fax: +66-2-216-5847 http://www.computerthai.org	Dr. Santithorn Bunchua Assumption University of Thailand keh@cide.au.edu Ph: +66-81-860-7084 Fax: +66-2-723-2959 CC: Prof.Dr. Srisakdi Charmonman charm@ksc.au.edu Ph: +66-81-621-4526 Fax: +66-2-723-2927
Download Form	ANNEX A ANNEX B ANNEX C