TA-Bot is a software tool used to grade homework in various CS courses at Marquette University.
Students turn in their work, and TA-Bot is configured by the professor to grade the assginment. TA-Bot runs the student's work on a backend machine and tests it against test cases (input and expected output) that the professor creates.

TA-Bot will traditionally run once each night -- very late at night as it will likely take control of various machines for a long period of time.
Once finished running a student's code, TA-Bot generates an email to the student (containing their grade and passed/failed test cases) and sends it based on the email in the TA-BOT:MAILTO hook (in a comment block) at the top of their file submission. If an email is not received by the student, there is likely an issue with their mail hook.

How do I turn in my work using the turnin command?

If you are new to the command line, this UNIX tutorial will help.

First, if you are working remotely (not on a local Systems Lab machine), then you must transfer your work to a Systems lab machine. Turnin boxes and the turnin command reside in Systems Lab machines.

If it is your first time logging in, you need to access a physical Systems Lab machine; follow the instructions posted throughout the lab. If you do not know your Marquette Computer Science login information or are having another issue, visit this helpful page (MU VPN or local access required) containing all links you may need to ensure entry to your account. There are a few common ways of transferring files to a remote machine. If you are on a Windows Machine, many students prefer to use WinSCP. If you are on any other OS, you should use the scp command (Secure Copy, which uses SSH for data transfer):

1. Navigate to the directory (folder) that contains your submission file/folder.
2. Open a command prompt in this directory.
3. scp <src> <dst>. To copy a submission file: copy it to a known location (such as a homework directory) on the remote machine as such:
   scp my_submission_file username@morbius.mscsnet.mu.edu:/homework_dir
4. To copy a submission folder: do the same, but include the -r flag:
   scp -r my_submission_folder username@morbius.mscsnet.mu.edu:/homework_dir

Now that your work is on a Systems Lab machine (in fact -- it is technically in all Systems Lab machines since they share a file server), you can turnin your work:

First, get on a lab machine and open a command prompt (or use SSH if remote). to list the current turnin box(es) open for a course, you can run turnin -l. This is optional, but it is often useful to check where your work is going before you submit.

Navigate to the directory in which your work is located. To submit your work, the command must specify -c <course-name> <submission-file-or-dir>.
For example:

turnin -c cosc3410 hw1.scm

And you will see a "submitted for grading" message. You can always overwrite your submission before the submission deadline.

Run turnin -h to display a help prompt.