Hmmm. I am going to use this post as a reference point:
http://p2p.wrox.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=56384

To date, it is the longest thread I have ever actively participated in (5 pages) and, outside of a few additional comments by other members, I assisted this individual from start to end. The difference between my thread and yours is that this person never said "can someone correct this so it will compile" or anything to that affect which is why I continued to help them. Granted I got a little bit frustrated but that was because, to me, what they were trying to do is rudimentary but to a beginner it can seem like the most complex thing in the world. Patience is a virture.

When someone posts a code segement and blatenly asks for someone to fix it, I will normally reply with something like "I am not here to do your work for you" or "Well, if you want to hire me to do work for you, ill be glad to fix your code". I just skimmed over the topic you posted but you seem to be going about it the right way: trying to make the OP think for themselves and that is as it should be.

In your case, 1 of 3 things is going to happen:
1. You are going to get overly frustrated with the person and abandon the thread.
2. You are going to try and help the person further, resulting in more frustration: GOTO 1.
3. You are going to tell the OP that, while you don't mind helping them solve a problem, you are not here to complete their work or think on their behalf. The OP will either begin to try and think more for themselves or they will repost the topic to try and get an answer.

Number 3 is more preferable, but how you handle it is entirely up to you. Personally I try to push OPs to get into the groove of reductive thinking, problem solving, researching, so on and so forth (e.g. getting them to act like a programmer).

I feel your pain though. ;]

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Read this if you want to know how to get a correct reply for your question:
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^^Took that from planoie's profile^^
^^Modified text taken from gbianchi profile^^
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