Chapter 20 Systems Operations and Support
True/False Questions
1.Systems support is the on-going technical support for users, as well as the maintenance required to fix any errors, omissions or new requirements that may arise.
Answer: True
2.Systems operation is the on-going technical support for users, as well as the maintenance required to fix any errors, omissions or new requirements that may arise.
Answer: False
Rationale: This is systems support
3.Program libraries store the actual application programs that have been placed into production.
Answer: True
4.The central repository stores all system models and detailed specifications.
Answer: True
5.The four types of systems support activities are building and testing networks and databases, preparing the conversion plan, installing databases, and training users.
Answer: False
Rationale: The four types of systems support activities are program maintenance, system recovery, technical support, and system enhancement.
6.The first task of the systems analyst or programmer when working with a program bug is to validate the problem.
Answer: True
7.System testing ensures that the stand-alone program not only fixes the bug, but does so without side effects.
Answer: False
Rationale: That is unit testing.
8.Unit testing ensures that the entire application, of which the modified program was a part, still works.
Answer: False
Rationale: That is system testing.
9.Regression testing extrapolates the impact of the changes on program and application throughput and response time from the before and after results using the test data.
Answer: True
10.Version control is the process whereby a librarian (usually software-based) keeps track of changes made to programs thus allowing recovery of prior versions of the programs in the event that new versions cause unexpected problems.
Answer: True
11. The central repository stores the actual application programs that have been placed into production.
Answer: False
Rationale: Program libraries store the actual application programs that have been placed into production.
12.In most installations a software-based librarian will track changes to stored programs and maintain several previous versions of the programs.
Answer: True
13.The high cost of system maintenance is largely due to failure to update system knowledge (in the repository) and program source code documentation (in the program library).
Answer: True
14.If a system crash occurs in the middle of a transaction, then any transactional updates to the database the occurred before the crash must be undone. This is called a roll back.
Answer: True
15.Cycle complexity is an example of software metrics.
Answer: True
16.Code slicing cuts out a piece of a program to create a separate program or subprogram.
Answer: True
17.Code slicing is relatively easy to do.
Answer: False
Rationale: The code you want to slice out may be located in many paragraphs of code and have dependent logic in many other paragraphs.
18.Poor maintenance can cause program understanding can take considerable time.
Answer: True
19.Usually the original programmer of the software is the person making the changes.
Answer: False
Rationale: Usually the original programmer of the software is not the person making the changes.
20.Systems operation and support occur in parallel.
Answer: True
21.With proper system maintenance a system will always remain cost-effective to support and maintain.
Answer: True
Rationale: All systems degrade over time. At some point, it will not be cost-effective to support and maintain and information system
22.Some system enhancements can be accomplished quickly by writing new simple programs or making very simple changes to existing programs.
Answer: True
23.The systems analyst is generally on call to assist users with the day-to-day use of specific applications. In mission-critical applications, the analyst must be on call day and night.
Answer: True
24.Two types of adaptive maintenance are system enhancement and systems reengineering.
Answer: True
25.Some system enhancements can be accomplished quickly b y writing new simple programs or making very simple changes to existing programs.
Answer: True
Multiple Choice Questions
26.Which of the following extrapolates the impact of the changes on program and application throughput and response time from the before and after results using the test data?
A)unit testing
B)system testing
C)regression testing
D)alpha testing
E)beta testing
Answer: C Page: 743
27.Which of the following terms means to modify or expand the application system in response to constantly changing requirements?
A)system requirements
B)system modifications
C)system changes
D)system maintenance
E)system enhancement
Answer: E
28.The on-going maintenance of a system(s) after it has been placed into operation, including program maintenance and system improvements is called:
A)systems planning
B)systems analysis
C)systems support
D)systems design
E)systems implementation
Answer: C
29.System maintenance typically involves the following tasks:
A)study and debug the program, test the program, make the quick fix, retrain users
B)validate the problem, benchmark the program, analyze enhancement request, make the quick fix
C)benchmark the program, study and debug the program, test the program, make the quick fix
D)validate the problem, benchmark the program, study and debug the program, test the program
E)none of these
Answer: D
30.System enhancement typically involves the following tasks:
A)study and debug the program, test the program, make the quick fix
B)analyze enhancement request, make the quick fix, recover existing physical system
C)benchmark the program, test the program, make the quick fix
D)validate the problem, make the quick fix, recover existing physical system
E)none of these
Answer: B Page: 712-713
31.Which of the following is NOT a support activity?
A)technical support
B)user training
C)program maintenance
D)system recovery
E)system enhancement
Answer: B
32.Which of the following is NOT a cause of program bugs?
A)misinterpreted requirements
B)poorly communicated requirements
C)poorly validated requirements
D)incorrectly implemented requirements
E)all of these can cause bugs
Answer: E
33.System enhancement can be done in response to all of the following events EXCEPT:
A)new business requirements
B)new business problems
C)new design requirements
D)new technology requirements
E)new recovery requirements
Answer: E Page: 710-711
34.Which kind of program restructuring is done to eliminate control flow knots and reduce cycle complexity?
A)code slicing
B)code conversion
C)code reorganization
D)both B and C
E)all of these
Answer: C
35.Which of the following is NOT a task of systems maintenance?
A)validate problems
B)benchmark the program
C)study and debug the program
D)recover the system
E)test the program
Answer: D
36.When after a system crash, partially completed transactions must be undone, it is called a:
A)roll back
B)roll forward
C)ABEND
D)version control
E)none of these
Answer: A
37.Which of the following is NOT a possible system recovery activity?
A)rebooting the user's computer
B)calling network administration to fix a networking problem
C)calling vendor service representatives to fix hardware problems
D)isolate and trap a software bug
E)all of these are possible system recovery activities
Answer: E Page: 709-710
38.Which of the following is NOT a reason why understanding applications can be slow?
A)poor modular structure
B)inadequate testing
C)prior maintenance (quick fixes and poorly designed extensions)
D)dead code
E)poor or inadequate documentation
Answer: B
39.Which of the following ensures that the stand-alone program not only fixes the bug, but does so without side effects?
A)unit testing
B)system testing
C)regression testing
D)alpha testing
E)beta testing
Answer: A
40.Where are system models and specifications stored?
A)repository
B)program library
C)business data
D)model store
E)system library
Answer: A
41.When after a system crash, transactions must be recovered that occurred between the last backup and the database's recovery, it is called a:
A)roll back
B)roll forward
C)ABEND
D)version control
E)none of these
Answer: B
42.Which of the following ensures that the entire application, of which the modified program was a part, still works?
A)unit testing
B)system testing
C)regression testing
D)alpha testing
E)beta testing
Answer: B
Fill in the Blank Questions
43.The ______is a data store(s) of accumulated system knowledge - system models, detailed specifications, and any other documentation that has been accumulated during the systems development.
Answer: repository
44.The ______is a data store of all application programs. The source code for these programs must be maintained for the life of the system.
Answer: program library
45.The ______includes all the actual data created and maintained by production application programs. This includes conventional files, relational databases, data warehouses and any object databases.
Answer: business data Page: 704
46.______is where software defects or bugs that were not detected during systems testing are corrected.
Answer: systems maintenance Page: 704
47.______is performed when a system failure that may result in a program "crash" and/or loss of data occurs. Human error or a hardware or software failure may have caused the error condition. The systems analyst or technical support specialists may be called upon to restore a system's files and databases and to restart the system.
Answer: System Recovery
48.______is performed when new requirements (business or technology) must be added to the system.
Answer: System enhancement or upgrade
49.Test data can be automatically captured using a software-testing tool. As users enter test data. That data is recorded in a special type of repository as a ______.
Answer: test script
50.______ensures that the stand-alone program fixes the bug without undesirable side effects to the program. The test data and current performance you recovered, created, edited or generated when the programs were benchmarked are used here.
Answer: Unit Testing
51.______ensures that the entire application, of which the modified program was a part, still works. Again, test data and current performance are used here.
Answer: System Testing
52.______extrapolates the impact of the changes on program and application throughput and response time from the before and after results using the test data and current performance.
Answer: Regression Testing
53.______is a process whereby a librarian (usually software based) keeps track of changes made to programs. This allows recovery of prior versions of the programs if new versions cause unexpected problems. It allows users to return to a previously accepted version of the system.
Answer: Version control
54.______are mathematically proven measurements of software quality and productivity.
Answer: software metrics
55.______is the number of times logic paths cross one another. Ideally, a program should have zero.
Answer: Control Flow Knots
56.______is the number of unique paths through a program. Ideally, the fewer, the better.
Answer: cycle complexity
57.______restructures the modular organization and/or logic of the program. Logic may be restructured to eliminate control flow knots and reduce cycle complexity.
Answer: code reorganization
58.______translates the code from one language to another. Typically this translation is from one language version to another.
Answer: code conversion
59.______factors out existing, redundant code into subprograms that are easier to maintain.
Answer: code slicing
60.As an adaptive process, ______can be in response to the following events: new business problems, new business requirements, new technology requirements.
Answer: system enhancement
61.Before making changes in a program to fix a bug, the analyst should ______the program to establish a baseline against which the modified programs and applications can later be measured.
Answer: benchmark
62.______is the ongoing technical support for users, as well as the maintenance to fix any errors, omissions, or new requirements that may arise.
Answer: Systems support
63.______is the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year execution of an information system's business processes and application programs.
Answer: Systems operation