CLD Sample Exam - Sprinkler Controller Feedback

[Brindlaj0113]

Greetings,

I have been preparing for the CLD exam.  I have done all of the sample exams, I actually found this one the most simple but it was also the only one I did without peeking at the solution first.  It took me about 2.5 hours to complete most of the functionality, but after reading through I just kept tweaking and documenting so it should be quite complete - even though that probably won't be reality during the exam.  I am looking for some general feedback...is there enough documentation?  Am I doing anything silly? 

I had some specific hangups that I needed some help with as well.  For the requirement "If zone Timing is set to zero, the zone should be skipped and the next sone in order should be serviced."  My code basically reads all of them, if the time is set to 0, the timer goes off at 0, but it still runs through that state for one interation of the for loop, it also lights the LED briefly.  I could add a look that just ignores the LED change if the time is 0 or skip that index competely, but this seemed like a lot of needless work.  The zone is essentially skipped, is this something they would want handled better? 

Also, I attempted to use a combo box for the Controller Status field.  The idea was that I wouldn't be retyping the status in a constant each time I wanted to use it.  The issue I came across was that I attempted to make the Combo Box a Type Def.  I used the same instance of the Type Def everytime I used it in the code.  But as you'll notice by the red coersion dot connected to the Controller Status, these are not all the same.  I had originally forgotten to add the "Stopped" status, I went into the Type Def and added it, but the instances of the type def in my code did not update to include the Stopped string, causing the coersion.  In order to eliminate the coersion, I'd have to go back and replace all the nonupdated instance with updated ones, which negates the use of a type def in the first place.  Am I doing something wrong?  Can combo boxes not be used in this manner?  I chose the Combo Box because it stays a string and I wouldn't have to mess with converting an enum.  Before I found the combo box, I was creating a cluster of strings with the default string input set to the status.  This worked, but seemed clunky.  Any advice here is appreciated. 

Thanks in Advance!

Amanda

[SteveChandler]

[Edit: There is actually a new board for certification. http://forums.ni.com/t5/Certification/bd-p/Certification]

But it looks really good and I am sure you will pass.

I'm not too sure about the combo box. I think it will update the item entries for all instances only if it is a strict typedef. I would just go with an enum. You only really have to convert it to a string in one place.