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Packaging a problem#

This walkthrough covers the process of turning a finished problem into a package a judge system can ingest, and getting that package into the judge. We'll use BOCA as our target judge, but the overall workflow applies to any supported format.

We assume you already have a working problem -- tests build, solutions run, and expected outcomes match. If you're starting from scratch, follow the First steps walkthrough first.

Prerequisite

The BOCA packager requires a limits profile named boca -- a named set of time and memory limits, stored in .limits/boca.yml -- to exist in your problem. You create it by profiling the problem against the judge's hardware, which is what Profiling time limits walks you through. If you haven't done that yet, start there and come back once .limits/boca.yml is in place. Working on a single problem rather than a contest? Then rbx time -p boca is the whole of it -- see Profiling.

Overview#

Packaging a problem involves two main stages:

  1. Packaging -- Build the problem into a format the judge system understands.
  2. Uploading -- Get the package into the judge, either manually or automatically.

Step 1: Build the package#

With the boca limits profile in place, you can now build the BOCA package:

rbx package boca

This command performs the following steps automatically:

  1. Loads the boca limits profile from .limits/boca.yml.
  2. Builds all testcases -- generators are run, inputs are validated, outputs are generated using the main solution.
  3. Verifies all solutions -- every solution is run against the testcases and its outcome is checked.
  4. Builds statements -- the problem statement is compiled into a PDF.
  5. Produces a .zip file in the BOCA format, ready for upload.

The resulting .zip is saved in the problem's build/ directory.

Verification levels#

By default, packaging runs at verification level 4 (the maximum), which runs all solutions and checks their expected outcomes. You can lower this to speed things up during development:

rbx package boca -v0  # Only generate tests, no validation
rbx package boca -v1  # Generate tests and validate inputs
rbx package boca -v2  # Also run accepted solutions
rbx package boca -v3  # Also run non-TLE solutions
rbx package boca -v4  # Run all solutions (default)

See the Packaging overview for the full verification level table.

Packaging an entire contest#

If you're working in a contest directory, rbx each package boca packages every problem at once, and rbx on <selector> package boca packages a subset of them. Both are the subject of the next step, Packaging the whole contest.

Step 2: Upload to BOCA#

Once you have your .zip package, you need to get it into the BOCA server. There are two ways to do this: automated upload via rbx and manual upload through the BOCA web interface.

Option A: Automated upload with -u#

The easiest approach is to use the --upload (or -u) flag, which builds the package and uploads it in a single step:

rbx package boca -u

Set up BOCA credentials#

For the upload to work, rbx needs to know how to connect to your BOCA server. Set the following environment variables, either in your shell or in a .env / .env.local file at the root of your contest:

.env
BOCA_BASE_URL="https://your.boca.com/boca"
BOCA_USERNAME="admin_username"
BOCA_PASSWORD="admin_password"

If you're using a judge account instead of an admin account:

.env
BOCA_BASE_URL="https://your.boca.com/boca"
BOCA_JUDGE_USERNAME="judge_username"
BOCA_JUDGE_PASSWORD="judge_password"

Warning

The configured user must be an admin of the contest in BOCA, otherwise the upload will fail. Also make sure the correct contest is activated on the BOCA server before running the command.

Option B: Manual upload#

If you prefer not to configure credentials, or if your BOCA instance isn't reachable from your machine, you can upload the package manually:

  1. Build the package without the -u flag:

    rbx package boca

  2. Locate the .zip file in the build/ directory of your problem.

  3. Log in to the BOCA web interface as a contest admin.

  4. Navigate to the Problems tab and upload the .zip file for the corresponding problem letter.

Tip

If you run into issues with BOCA packaging or uploading, check the BOCA troubleshooting section for common problems and solutions.

Next steps#

  • Ship the whole set

    Continue the track: package and upload every problem in the contest, and re-ship the one that changed.

    Packaging the whole contest

  • Fine-tune your limits

    Learn about custom formulas, per-language modifiers, and the TUI limits editor.

    Profiling

  • Explore other formats

    Package for Polygon, or other formats supported by rbx.

    Packaging

  • Build statements

    Create PDF statements using rbxTeX, LaTeX, and Jinja.

    Statements

  • Full CLI reference

    See all available flags and commands.

    CLI reference