TRIAL 1

COMPUTER STUDIES
PAPER 1
2024
MARKING SCHEME
SECTION A (40 marks)

1. (a) Computer memory determines the processing power of a computer.

Estimate the memory capacities of the following computer generations
(1 mark)
 First Generation – 2KB
 Third Generation - 2MB

(b) State the storage devices used by the generations named in (a) above.
(1 mark)

 First Generation – Magnetic drum memories.

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 Third Generation - Magnetic Disks
2. Write each of the following acronyms in full as used in computing. (2 marks)
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(a) CAD
CAD - Computer aided design
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(b) DVD
DVD - Digital video disk/ digital versatile disk.
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(c) WORM
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WORM -Write once read many

(d) POS
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Point of sale/point of sale terminal.

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Differentiate between Bcc and cc in an email. (2 marks)

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3.
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In cc, all the recipients of the mail are able to see other recipients of the same mail.

Bcc: In Bcc, all recipients of the mail are not able to see other recipients. (2 marks)
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 4. A retailer uses a spreadsheet program to calculate profits. Figure 1 shows the spreadsheet.

Figure 1
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(a) Which row contains labels only? (1 mark)
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Row 1 or 1

(b) Write the formula that has been entered in cell F2. (2 marks)
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= D2 * E2; = product (D2, E2)

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OR = Product (D2: E2)

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5. Describe compatibility as a factor to consider when purchasing a computer. (2 marks)

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 Compatibility factors on computer choice.

 Compatibility with available software. Being able to have the available software
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installed.
 Having the available peripherals in the market being able to be connected.

6. A computer is idle but the hard disk light is blinking, indicating some activity. State two
possible causes of this. (2 marks)
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  Possible causes of Hard disk blinking.
 Virus executing itself.
 Updating of some software applications.
 Network access taking place.

7. (a) Define a laptop computer. (1 mark)

 Is a portable computer small enough to be used on laps.

 (evidence of portability, mobility, small size)

(b) The screen is said to be 17 inches. Explain what this means. (2 marks)
 Diagonal length of the screen. An indication of the size of the screen.
 (mention of size only 1 mark)

8. State one advantage of having each of the following provided with a laptop. (3 marks)

(i) Modem



For internet connectivity
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Converts analog signal to digital signals and vice versa.
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 It is wireless technology of internet at any point.
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(ii) USB

 Most peripheral devices are connected to the computer via USB ports.
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 Has high speed rate.

 Supports both power and data transmission.
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 One USB can support 127 devices at a time.

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(iii) Free suite:

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 The user is not required to buy a licence for use of the software.
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 (several software packed as one)

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9. List two career opportunities associated with computer networking (2 marks)

 Network administrators
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 Network engineers

 Network technicians

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10. Differentiate between dedicated computers and special purpose computers. (3 marks)

A Dedicated computer is a general-purpose computer that is committed to some

processing task; though capable of performing a variety of tasks in different
application environments. E.g., the computer can be dedicated to carrying out Word
processing tasks only.

A special-purpose computer is designed to handle/accomplish a particular specific

task only. Such computers cannot perform any other task except the one they were
meant to do. Therefore, the programs which are used in a special-purpose
computer are fixed (hard-wired) at the time of manufacture.

11. (a). State one limitation of a parallel port and one limitation of a serial port as used
in computer interfacing. (2 marks)

Parallel port – Limited to short distance

-Expensive

Serial port

– Limited to transmission rate(slow).

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(b). State two advantages of using firewire over USB cables. (2 marks)
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firewire enables transmission of multimedia type of data

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firewire has high transmission rate compare to USB

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12. Due to the risks involved in using the traditional classroom teaching method during
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this covid-19 period, many schools have embraced online teaching methods. Describe
the teaching methods listed below
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(a) Distance learning (1 mark)

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This is where the teacher and the learner has no physical contact.
The teacher prepares learning materials and sends to the student to
download and learn at his own pace and schedule. Exams and
certifications are also done onlinee.

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 (b) Interactive learning (1 mark)

This is whereby the students are in a centralized location while the

teacher is at a different location. They are both connected via
multimedia devices for interactive communication while seeing each
other

13. In a calculation, the actual result obtained was 0.7649326 but the computer presented
it as 0.764.

(a) With reference to data processing, identify the type of error above

and state how it can be minimized (1 mark)

Truncation error

(b) Distinguish between Sequential file organization and indexed Sequential file
organization (4 marks)

Sequential file organisation

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Sequential file organisation means that records are stored sequentially, one after the
other. Records stored using sequential file organisation normally are stored in
ascending order or descending order, based on the value in the key field.
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Indexed file organisation

Indexed file organisation is a method that uses a separate file, called an index, to
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record the location of a record on a storage device. An index is a file that consists
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of a list containing the values of one or more fields and the corresponding disk
address for each record in a file.
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14. State two circumstance which may prompt a teacher to use computer
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simulations when teaching in a school. (2 marks)

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 Teach dangerous content.

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 Teach complex content.

15. State three ways in which operating system manages memory in a computer system.
(3 marks)

-Allocate and de-allocate memory spaces to files, programs & processes.

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 -Ensure that one’s process does not use memory allocated to another process.

-Ensure that each program has enough memory to execute processes.

SECTION B (60 marks)

Answer question 16 (compulsory) and any other three questions from this section.

16 (a) Figure 3 shows a flowchart. Use it to answer the questions that follow.

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(i) Determine the output from the flowchart if:

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I. X = 5; (2 marks)

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 x S N
5 0 0
1 1
3 2
6 3
10 4
15 5

II. X = 7. (2 marks)

7 0 0

1 1
3 2

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6 3
10 4
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15 5
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21 6
28 7
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(iii) Write a Pseudocode for the flowchart in figure 3. (5 marks)

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1 Input X √
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( 2 mark)
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2 Initialize the sum

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sum = 0 √
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(1 mark)

3 Initialize the term N,1

N = 0 √
( 2 mark)
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 4 Increment N by 11

N = N+1 √
( 2 mark)

5 Add the new value of N to sum;

Sum = Sum + N √
(1 mark)

6 IF N = X √

Go to step 7

ELSE √

Go to step 4 √

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ENDIF
(1 mark)
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7 Print sum √
( 2 mark)
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8 End.
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(iii) Modify the flowchart so that it can be used to get the sum of integers
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between 50 and 100. (4 marks)

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(c) List two programming language translators. (2 marks)

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Language translators
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- Assemblers

- Compilers
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- Interpreters

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17. A worker is unable to travel to the office but may still be able to do the office work through

telecommuting.

(a) Explain why the worker may use each of the following:

(i) Email; (1 mark)

E-mail: - used to send and receive electronic documents to/from the

office.

- receive instructions from the supervisor or co-workers.

(any e-mail related work)

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(ii) fax; (1 mark)

Fax: - Used to send documents which are in non-electronic format

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(any fax related work)

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(iii) Digital camera; (1 mark)

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Digital camera Used to capture images in picture form/video

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-
conferencing.
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(iv) Firewall. (1 mark)

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Firewall - Used to prevent intrusion to the home computer because

telecommuting involves connection to the internet.
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 (b) The worker needs to make regular backups of documents sent to the office.

State three reasons for this. (3 marks)

- Communication systems may fail/communication channel may fail.

- The document sent may get lost due to sending to wrong address.

- The documents may be re-used or updated.

- Malfunctioning of either sending/ receiving computers (failure of DTE).

(c) Explain two benefits that the employer will get by allowing this worker to do

the office work through telecommuting. (4 marks)

- Employer will only pay for work done.

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- The working time is not limited to official working hours/office available 24
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hours.
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- Employer saves on office space.

- Does not have to pay for commuter allowance.

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- Employer may not require permanent employees.

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- Employer may outsource expert skills that are not available locally.
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(d) Data communication is known to have greatly changed the way people
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exchange and access information around the world.

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(i) Define the term topology as used in data communication (1 mark)

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Topology refers to how the computers are connected together. This can
also be referred to as the network configuration.
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 (ii) Distinguish between the terms listed below

Data switching and packet switching (3 marks)

Packet switching

This is a data transmission technique which involves transmitting

and routing of data as packet segments sent rapidly and sequentially
over a communication channel.

Circuit switching

A method of communicating in which a dedicated communications

path referred to as a circuit or channel is established between two
devices through one or more intermediate switching nodes before
communication between the devices takes place.

18. (a) Differentiate between one’s complement and two’s complement in data

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representation. (2 marks)
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(i) In one’s complement, a negative number is represented by
taking all its bits in the positive number and inverting them.
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In two’s complement, you start with one’s complement but

add 1 to the results.
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OR
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In two's complement, there are no two ways of presenting a

zero. In one's complement, overflow bit is added back to the
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answer but ignored in two's complement.

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(ii) Explain the preference of binary number systems over decimal

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number systems in computers. (2 marks)

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Binary number system over decimal

- it is easy to program.

- uses bi-state devices which can either be ON or OFF.

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 - Binary can be used to represent all types of data.

Subtract 1 000112 from 0100102 using one’s complement

method.

010010

+011100 √ 2 marks

(Complement of 1 0 0 0 1 1)

101110 √ 2 marks

(iii) Convert the number 21.0312510 to its binary equivalent.

(5 marks)

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(b) Explain the preference of binary number systems over decimal number systems
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in computers. (2 marks)
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Binary number system over decimal

- it is easy to program.

- uses bi-state devices which can either be ON or OFF.

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 - Binary can be used to represent all types of data.

(c) Differentiate between one’s complement and two’s complement in data

representation. (4 marks)

In one’s complement, a negative number is represented by taking all its bits in

the positive number and inverting them. In two’s complement, you start with
one’s complement but add 1 to the results.

OR

In two's complement, there are no two ways of presenting a zero. In one's

complement, overflow bit is added back to the answer but ignored in two's
complement.

19. (a) (i) Distinguish between real time and online data processing. (2 marks)

A Real-time system is capable of processing data so quickly such

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that the results (output) produced are able to influence, control, or
affect the outcome of the activity or process currently taking place.
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In a Real-time data processing system, the computer receives &
processes the incoming data as soon as it occurs, updates the
transaction file, and gives an immediate response that would affect
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the events as they happen.

In online processing, data or the input transactions are processed

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immediately they are received to produce the information

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required. Online processing occurs when the transactions are

processed to update (or make any change in) a computer file
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immediately after the transactions occur. In online processing, all

the Input/output facilities, and communication equipment are
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under direct influence of the central Processor.

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(ii). Explain the significance of the following types of files to a business

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(3 marks)

(i) Backup
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– for security purposes

(ii) Master
– permanent storage of records
(iii) Archive
– keeping historical records for future reference

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 (b) Explain two benefits of displaying information in a computer system using
a monitor.
- Display information almost instantaneous.
- Reduce cost
- Screen can be adjusted (Zoom)
- User verify work before producing hard copy

(c) Explain the purpose of each of the following in system implementation stage.

(i) File conversion (2 marks)

Changing data from its current format to the one that can be
operated with the new system. Data is copied from the old system
to the new system.

(ii) Staff training (2 marks)

Teaching the staff how to operate the system in order to familiarize

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themselves on how to operate the new system.
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(d) State how data in a computer system is secured using;
(i) Antivirus (1 mark)
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Clean, delete quarantine and block malicious programs in a computer

system.
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(ii) Password (1 mark)

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Restrict access into a computer system

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(a) Bob was advised to format a hard disk for a computer. Explain two
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20.
circumstances which may prompt a technician to format a hard disk in the
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computer room. (2 marks)

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-when it contains unwanted files

-when files are corrupted by viruses

To enable the operating system recognize and access the disk

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 When the disk is full and a user would want to store new data

(b) Explain a situation when each of the following Word Processing program may
be used when creating a document.

(i) Wrap text (2

marks)Used when surrounding a graphic with text and pacing a graphic behind
of in front of text.

(ii) Watermark (2 marks)

User to insert a text behind a document on a page and use to

indicate that a document is to be treated in a certain way.

(c) Describe any three human computer interfaces (6 marks)

-GUI – Graphical user interface

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This is an interaction between the user & computer that involves issuing of
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commands to the computer by activating certain small graphic images
displayed on the screen called Icons. To issue a command, the icons can be
selected using a pointing device like a Mouse. GUI is mostly found on
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Workstations or PCs fitted with graphic adapters able to support high-

resolution graphics.
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-MDI – Menu Driven Interface

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-This type of interface provides the user with a list of program commands
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displayed on the screen to choose from & a simple means of selecting between
them. To activate a choice in the menu, one can use the Enter key, or move the
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cursor until it is positioned at the desired choice & then press the activation
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key so that the system can start acting upon the information given.
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-CLI/CDI – Command Line Interface/ Command Driven Interface

This is an interaction between the user & the computer that requires the use of
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commands. The user types a command at the prompt found on a command

line. The computer then reads instructions from the command line and
executes them.

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 (e) Explain three uses of computers in land survey. (3 marks)
- Keeping a database of land maps
- Computer assisted graphical drawings of land maps
- Expert systems to determine land topology
- Online Identification of land numbers, ownership and titles

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This is the last printed page.

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