9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021

PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) One mark per bullet point. 5

• INPUT
• Example input statement in language stated

• PROCESS
• Example process statement in language stated

• Example OUTPUT statement in language stated

1(b)(i) One mark per bullet point. 2

• conditional loop
• the number of iterations is not known

1(b)(ii) One mark per bullet point. 2

• the value is found

• the end of the array is reached (and value not found)

1(c) 3
Statement Error

Cannot multiply a
Code ← RIGHT("Cap" * 3, 2)
string (by 3)

Parameter should
Valid ← IS_NUM(3.14159)
be a string

Closing bracket in
NextChar ← MID(ThisString, Index), 1
wrong place

One mark for each row

Question Answer Marks

2(a) • (A program fault is) when the program does not do what it is supposed 2
to do / expected to do
• … under certain circumstances

One mark per point or equivalent

2(b)(i) Makes it easier to understand the purpose of each identifier / what the 1
identifier is used for / the purpose of the program

© UCLES 2021 Page 3 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

2(b)(ii) One mark per point: 3

1 The use of modular programming (to avoid repeated code)

2 The use of library / tried and tested subroutines
3 Good formatting to make the code easier to read (indentation, white
space)
4 Use of local variables
5 Use of constants
6 Use of comments to explain functionality of code

Max 3 marks

2(c) One mark per point: 1

• white box
• dry-run testing / use of trace table / walk through

Max 1 mark

Question Answer Marks

3(a) • To break the problem down into sub-tasks 2

• where each sub-task can be implemented by a program module / is
easier to solve.

One mark for each phrase (or equivalent)

© UCLES 2021 Page 4 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

3(b) 4
START

Set Index to 1

Is Index = NO
101 ?

YES OUTPUT Result[Index]

Set Index to Index + 1

END

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Initialise Index
2 Test index for 100 elements
3 End when 100 elements output
4 Output, increment and repeat

© UCLES 2021 Page 5 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

3(c) OnLine ← FALSE 6

WHILE Online = FALSE

IF Active = TRUE
THEN
Call Sync()
ELSE
Call Reset()
IF Active = FALSE
THEN
Call Error("No Signal")
ELSE
Online ← TRUE
ENDIF
ENDIF
Call ReCheck()
ENDWHILE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Initialise Online
2 WHILE .. ENDWHILE loop, terminated when Online = TRUE
3 IF Active = TRUE THEN .. ELSE .. ENDIF
4 Nested IF Active = FALSE THEN .. ELSE .. ENDIF
5 Call Sync() and Call Reset()and Call Error() and assignment to
Online in appropriate place in pseudocode
6 Final call to ReCheck()in appropriate place

© UCLES 2021 Page 6 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

4(a)(i) 5
Result Count Index NextChar

0 1

1 1 ‘7’

2 2 ‘4’

3 3 ‘.’

4 4 ‘0’

5 ‘,’

5 6 ‘4’

6 7 ‘.’

7 8 ‘6’

9 ‘,’

8 10 ‘3’

-1 11 ‘x’

0 12 ‘2’

Note:
One mark per region indicated
If no marks by zone then mark by column (max 3)
Values in column 4 must be in quotes

4(a)(ii) 0 (zero) 1

Allow FT from final value in ‘Result’ column

© UCLES 2021 Page 7 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

4(b)(i) Final IN ... ENDIF errors: 2

• Test needs to check Count AND Result
• Returns Result instead of Count
OR
FOR loop error:
• The loop continues after the illegal character is detected
• So the error condition (Result = -1) can be lost

4(b)(ii) • Change RETURN Result to RETURN Count 1

• Change final if to IF Count < 3 and Result <> -1
• Terminate the loop as soon as an illegal character is encountered

Max 1 mark

4(c) • Syntax error 2

• Rules of the language are not followed
OR
• Run-time error
• Program performs an illegal operation or enters an infinite loop

© UCLES 2021 Page 8 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

5(a) FUNCTION GroupNum(TelNum, Template : STRING) RETURNS 8

STRING
DECLARE FString : STRING
DECLARE Index, ThisDigit, ThisGroup : INTEGER
CONSTANT SPACE = ‘ ‘
FString ← ""
ThisDigit ← 1

FOR Index ← 1 TO LENGTH(Template)

ThisGroup ← STRING_TO_NUM(MID(Template, Index, 1))
FString ← FString & MID(TelNum, ThisDigit,
ThisGroup)
FString ← FString & SPACE
ThisDigit ← ThisDigit + ThisGroup
ENDFOR

FString ← FString & RIGHT(TelNum, LENGTH(TelNum) –

ThisDigit)

RETURN FString

ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Function header and end including parameters and RETURN type

2 Local variable declaration and initialisation of FString (return string)
3 Loop to go through each char of Template (each group)
4 Extract character from template in a loop
5 Use of STRING_TO_NUM()on extracted character in a loop
6 Substring statement to pick up current group from TelNum and
concatenate with
FString in a loop
7 Concatenate SPACE separator in a loop
8 Concatenate final characters from TelNum after the loop (+ or – 1
characters)
9 Return the formatted string after reasonable attempt
Max 8
Max 7 for not fully working solutions

© UCLES 2021 Page 9 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

5(b) One mark for check plus one for corresponding test data example. 4
Test data must be invalid to prove that the check is working.

Telephone number:

• Length check // Check that the telephone number string is at least six
characters
e.g. number of "127"

OR

• Check it is a number // Check that the telephone number string only

contains characters from ‘0’ to ‘9’
e.g. number of "12A"

Template:

• Check it is a number in range 1 to 5 //Check that the template string

only contains characters from ‘1’ to ‘5’
e.g. template of "127"

OR

• Check that there are enough characters in the TelNum string so that
the template can be applied
e.g. Telnum = "123456", Template = "66"

© UCLES 2021 Page 10 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

6(a) FUNCTION CheckBackupFile() RETURNS STRING 8

DECLARE Filename, FileLine, Response : STRING

Filename ← ""

WHILE Filename = ""

Filename ← GetValidFilename()
OPENFILE Filename FOR READ
READFILE Filename, FileLine
CLOSEFILE Filename

IF FileLine <> "" //check if data in file

THEN
OUTPUT "File already exists – do you want to
overwrite? "
INPUT Response
IF Response <> "Yes"
THEN
Filename ← ""
OUTPUT "Please input a different
filename "
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

RETURN Filename
ENDFUNCTION

One mark for each of the following:

1 Conditional loop
2 Use of GetValidFilename()in a loop
3 OPEN file in READ mode and CLOSE in a loop
4 Test if file not empty (using EOF() or READ empty string)
5 If not empty, prompt and input (in case of a non-empty file) in a loop
6 …. and process response
7 Set loop termination condition by checking for new file or overwrite
confirmed
in a loop
8 Return Filename

© UCLES 2021 Page 11 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

6(b) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of 6

mark scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix

PROCEDURE GroupReport(Group : STRING)

DECLARE Total : REAL

DECLARE Count, Index : INTEGER

Total ← 0
Count ← 0

FOR Index ← 1 TO 10000

IF LEFT(StockID[Index], 4) = Group
THEN
Count ← Count + 1
Total ← Total + (Quantity[Index] *
Cost[Index])
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF Count = 0
THEN
OUTPUT "There are no items in Group: ", Group
ELSE
OUTPUT "Group: ", Group
OUTPUT "Number of items in Group: ", Count
OUTPUT "Total value of items in Group: ", Total
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading and ending including input parameter

2 Declare and initialise local variables for Total and Count
3 Loop through all 10 000 elements (allow LEN(StockID)
4 Check for required group using substring function in a loop
5 ...Increment Count and sum Total using correct array notation
6 Generate both sets of output as appropriate after loop

© UCLES 2021 Page 12 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

6(c) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of 7

mark scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix

FUNCTION GroupSummary() RETURNS INTEGER

DECLARE Index, GroupIndex Total : INTEGER

DECLARE ThisGroup : STRING

Total ← 0

FOR Index ← 1 TO 10000

IF StockID[Index] <> ""
THEN
ThisGroup ← LEFT(StockID[Index], 4)
GroupIndex ← Lookup(ThisGroup)
IF GroupIndex = -1 //ThisGroup not found
THEN
//add new group
Summary[Total + 1] ← ThisGroup
Total ← Total + 1
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDFOR

RETURN Total

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending and final return of Total

2 Declare and initialise Total
3 Loop through all 10 000 elements
4 Skip empty StockID in a loop
5 Extract ThisGroup from StockID and pass to Lookup()
6 … if Lookup() returns −1 (following reasonable attempt at MP5)
7 …….Store ThisGroup to Summary[Total] and increment Total

© UCLES 2021 Page 13 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Program Code Example Solutions

Question 6(b): Visual Basic

Sub GroupReport(Group As String)

Dim Total As Double

Dim Count, Index As Integer

Total = 0
Count = 0

For Index = 0 To 3 ‘1 to 10000

If Left(StockID(Index), 4) = Group Then
Count = Count + 1
Total = Total + (Quantity(Index) * Cost(Index))
End If
Next Index

If Count = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("There are no items in Group: " & Group)
Else
Console.WriteLine("Group: " & Group)
Console.WriteLine("Number of items in Group: " & Count)
Console.WriteLine("Total value of items in Group: " & Total)
End If

End Sub

Question 6(b): Pascal

procedure GroupReport(Group : string);

var
Total : real;
Count, Index : integer;

begin
Total := 0;
Count := 0;

for Index := 1 TO 10000 do

begin
if LeftStr(StockID[Index], 4) = Group then
begin
Count := Count + 1;
Total := Total + (Quantity[Index] * Cost[Index]);
end;
end;

if Count = 0 then
writeLn(‘There are no items in Group: ‘, Group)
else
begin
writeLn(‘Group: ‘, Group);
writeLn(‘Number of items in Group: ‘, Count);
writeLn(‘Total value of items in Group: ‘, Total);
end;

end;

© UCLES 2021 Page 14 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question 6(b): Python

def GroupReport(Group):

## Total As Real
## Count, Index As Integer
## ThisID As String

Total = 0
Count = 0

for Index in range(1, 10001):

ThisID = StockID[Index]
if ThisID[:4] == Group:
Count = Count + 1
Total = Total + (Quantity[Index] * Cost[Index])

if Count == 0:
print("There are no items in Group: ", Group)
else:
print("Group: ", Group)
print("Number of items in Group: ", Count)
print("Total value of items in Group: ", Total)

Question 6(c): Visual Basic

Function GroupSummary() As Integer

Dim Index, GroupIndex, Total As Integer

Dim ThisGroup As String

Total = 0

For Index = 1 TO 10000

If StockID(Index) <> "" Then
ThisGroup = Left(StockID(Index), 4)
GroupIndex = Lookup(ThisGroup)
If GroupIndex = -1 Then // ThisGroup not found
Summary(Total + 1) = ThisGroup // Add new Group
Total = Total + 1
End If
End If
Next Index

Return Total

End Function

© UCLES 2021 Page 15 of 16

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question 6(c): Pascal

function GroupSummary() : Integer;

var
Index, GroupIndex, Total : Integer;
ThisGroup : String;

begin
Total := 0;

for Index := 1 TO 10000 do

begin
if StockID[Index] <> "" then
begin
ThisGroup := LeftStr(StockID[Index], 4);
GroupIndex := Lookup(ThisGroup);
If GroupIndex = -1 then //ThisGroup not found
begin
Summary[Total + 1] := ThisGroup; //Add new Group
Total := Total + 1;
end;
end;
end;

GroupSummary := Total; // result := Total;

end;

Question 6(c): Python

def GroupSummary():

## Index, GroupIndex, Total As Integer

## ThisGroup, ThisID As String

Total = 0

for Index in range(1, 10001):

ThisID = StockID[Index]
if ThisID != "":
ThisGroup = ThisId[:4]
GroupIndex = Lookup(ThisGroup)
if GroupIndex == -1: #ThisGroup not found
Summary[Total + 1] = ThisGroup #Add new Group
Total = Total + 1

return Total

© UCLES 2021 Page 16 of 16