I submitted my solution to a similar problem in spoj. In that problem we only have to count the length and got AC. I’ve been trying this one for quite sometime. I’m not asking for anything regarding the approach to solve the problem. I just wanna confirm if others are facing a similar problem. I think if I got the length right,the rest of the solution is correct. So I just wanna know if the test cases of spoj are not exhaustive. I know we’re not allowed to ask questions like this here,but I asked the author in the comment section if there are any specific ways in which I should give the output and the comment hasn’t even been published yet…
2 Likes
I still don’t understand why the solutions were rejudged??
Can anyone please clarify??
Because test cases were not strict enought, so they added test case (or more) and rejudged and 160 ACed solutions failed (more than 40%) that test case…
2 Likes
Hi @darkrayshiro,
I am the author of this problem and I can address your points:
The comments are not published because they annoy me and they are specifically against the Codechef code of conduct:
“Can you give more test cases?..”
“at most 250.000 characters or 25000?”
These are ridiculous comments and they will never, ever, under any circumstance be published.
Also, moderation to manage comments and see solutions is given to separate accounts to specifically address such comment publication issues.
Now, regarding I/O:
You must do what the problem says exactly and you can use: C++ std::string, C strings, char*, char arrays, etc, etc, you choose it! They all get AC if you understand the problem.
Also, the rejudge was done because a given solution method was “detecting” a special corner case, that my original method was not, as my method simply gave correct answer for that case as well! (there are many methods to attack this problem, and, as such, me and testers were more concerned about defining TL and as such only 1 very simple case passed by unnoticed, and I apologize for this in advance.)
However, many solutions which follow the right logic and I/O format still get AC, so you should rethink your logic maybe 
Also, in case you’re interested, the TL was only set to 2sec after me and testers decided that it would be more interesting for contestants to allow several different approaches to pass, instead of making it too tight. (I initially had a TL of 0.8 secs which was still more than 2x the time of my solution, so, as you see, we were super generous 
)
Had the TL been set to 0.8 or 1sec and maybe this problem was HARD instead of only MEDIUM
All I can promise is a very, very detailed editorial for this problem (I’ve sent a 4-page document with drawings and figures to the editorialist )
Until then, keep trying
Best,
Bruno
PS: This is now closed. I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding
3 Likes
@kuruma: Thank you for answering. I was just confused if the error was due to the way I was taking input or providing the output since I was continuously getting WA and not TLE . I’m still trying the question. I might be missing some corner cases.
I’m here to help right? And well all I can wish you is good luck… re-read problem and pay close attention to both input and output format and read statement well Good luck!!