Write a program that will prompt for, receive and total a collection of payroll amounts entered at the terminal, until a sentinel amount of 999 is entered. After the sentinel has been entered, display the total payroll amount to the screen.

sum=0

loop {
print "Enter amount: "
read amount
if amount == 999 then exit loop
sum += amount
}
print "Total: ", sum

Sure! Here's a step-by-step guide on how to write a program in Python that meets your requirements.

Step 1: Initialize the total payroll amount to zero.
Step 2: Start an infinite loop to continuously prompt for payroll amounts.
Step 3: Inside the loop, prompt the user to enter a payroll amount.
Step 4: Convert the input to a float and check if it is equal to the sentinel value of 999.
Step 5: If the input is equal to the sentinel, break the loop.
Step 6: Otherwise, add the input to the total payroll amount.
Step 7: After the loop ends, display the total payroll amount to the screen.

Here's the complete Python code for the program:

```python
total_payroll = 0

while True:
payroll = float(input("Enter a payroll amount (999 to quit): "))

if payroll == 999:
break

total_payroll += payroll

print("Total payroll amount:", total_payroll)
```

When you run this program, it will continuously prompt for payroll amounts until you enter 999. After that, it will display the total payroll amount.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.

To write a program that will prompt for, receive, and total a collection of payroll amounts until a sentinel amount of 999 is entered, you can use a loop to continuously prompt for input and update the total. Here's an example program in Python:

```python
total_payroll = 0

while True:
payroll = float(input("Enter a payroll amount (or 999 to exit): "))

if payroll == 999:
break

total_payroll += payroll

print("Total payroll amount:", total_payroll)
```

Let's go through the steps to understand how this program works:

1. Initialize the `total_payroll` variable to 0, which will keep track of the running total of payrolls entered.

2. Enter a while loop with the condition `True`, meaning it will always run until the program is explicitly terminated.

3. Prompt the user to enter a payroll amount. Use the `float()` function to convert the input into a floating-point number.

4. Check if the entered payroll amount is equal to the sentinel value of 999. If it is, break out of the loop and continue to the next step.

5. If the sentinel condition is not met, add the entered payroll amount to the `total_payroll` variable.

6. Go back to step 3 and repeat the process until the user enters 999.

7. Once the loop is exited, print the total payroll amount on the screen.

By following these steps, the program will keep track of the total payroll amount by continuously adding the entered values until the sentinel value of 999 is encountered.