sh a task because there are many times when a simulation will only accept one method. In other words, even though both commands will work in the real world, they won’t necessarily work in the simulated environment.
The screen now looks like Figure 2. Notice that the prompt shows c:data as the current directory.
Figure 2. Command prompt after changing the directory.
After changing the directory with the cd command, the next challenge is to change the file’s attributes from the command prompt.
You might know how to do this from Windows Explorer, but you won’t have access to Windows Explorer. Instead, you’ll have to use the attrib command.
In this case, you’ll need to know that you use a minus (-) to remove an attribute and a plus (+) to set the attribute. You’ll also need to know that the attribute you need to change is the read-only attribute and that the command used to change the read-only attribute is r.
The format of the command to set the read-only attribute is: attrib +r filename. The file name is study.txt so the actual command is:
attrib +r study.txt
After entering the command, the screen will look similar to Figure 3.
Figure 3. Command prompt after changing the attribute.
At this point, you have successfully answered the question. You’ll be able to click the “Done” button and you can move on to the next question.
You might have noticed that the attrib command doesn’t give you any feedback when you enter it successfully. If you enter it incorrectly, you’ll see an error, but when you enter it correctly, it simply performs the command and returns the same prompt.
In real life, you can use the attrib command by itself to see the attributes for all the files in the current directory as shown in Figure 4. However, supporting the attrib command usage like this requires additional programming for the simulation, so it might work in the simulated environment and it might not. It depends on how much detail they choose to add to the simulation.
Figure 4. Command prompt showing attributes.
In the graphic, you can see that the R attribute is set indicating the file is set to read-only. The A attribute is the archive attribute indicating that the file has not been archived (backed up) or has been modified since the last back up.
Read the Question
As with any test question, it’s important that you read the wording of the question carefully. For example, the previous question indicated that you needed to perform two tasks:
- Navigate to the c:data folder
- Set the attribute to read-only
In real life, you could achieve the same result in one command like this:
attrib +r c:datastudy.txt
Using this command, you’ll achieve the correct result. However, it’s very likely the question would be graded as incorrect because you didn’t do it as two steps.
Similarly, this would also be marked as incorrect:
attrib -r study.txt
This command clears (instead of sets) the read-only attribute.
How Many Performance Based Questions Should I Expect?
These questions take a lot more effort for CompTIA to create than a typical multiple choice question. A programmer has to create the simulated environment so that it looks realistic and supports multiple actions. All of this costs time and money. With this in mind, I don’t expect to see more than about five or six questions for any exam.
Do I Get Partial Credit?
A common question people ask when taking these types of questions is if they get partial credit if they correctly perform part of the problem but not all of it. For example, if you correctly change the directory but do not change attribute, would you get any credit?
CompTIA isn’t saying, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t award partial credit for these performance based questions. In other words, the question is testing your ability to complete a task and either you can, or you can’t. Think back to the sharp shooter. Perhaps he can successfully load bullets into a gun but cannot hit a target. Should he get partial credit?
How Are These Questions Graded?
CompTIA isn’t giving any specifics about how the questions are graded but you can certai