Pattern viewer for forum threads

[rowett]

My suggestion: LifeViewer supports second-order cellular automata (e.g. ReversibleLife)

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll investigate.

[bprentice]

Displaying a path traveled by a moving object, a ship or oscillator, is useful. How can a user control such a path? How can it be turned on or off? How can the path's color be specified? How can the rate of fading be adjusted?

Brian Prentice

[muzik]

Ha, yes! In either Safari or Chrome, my iPad with iPadOS 13.1.2 now shows a mysterious blue box, dismissible by a touch outside LifeViewer just as muzik says, and even just a glider runs at a visibly lower speed while the Slo Mo Blue Box is present.

It looks like iOS 13 (in its infinite wisdom) is throttling update events (by a factor of 4) when the Canvas has focus. Please try this build (both the embedded and PopUp Viewers) and let me know if it helps.

Performance seems normal there now.

[rowett]

Displaying a path traveled by a moving object, a ship or oscillator, is useful. How can a user control such a path? How can it be turned on or off? How can the path's color be specified? How can the rate of fading be adjusted?

The path is controlled by LifeViewer script commands. These are surrounded by [[ and ]] and must appear either in pattern comments or at the end of the RLE after the !.

The relevant commands are:

• HISTORYSTATES <0..63> - sets the number of generations to fade (63 is the default, 0 means no history)
• COLOR DEAD R G B|name - sets the start color for the fade (for PCA the default is 64 64 64)
• COLOR DEADRAMP R G B|name - sets the end colour for the fade (for PCA the default is 24 24 24)
• COLOR BACKGROUND R G B|name - sets the background colour for unoccupied cells (for PCA the default is Black)
  • if you set DEAD and not BACKGROUND then BACKGROUND defaults to the DEAD colour

A list of valid colour names for the COLOR command is available in Help->Colours.

Examples:
1. No history

Code: Select all

#C [[ HISTORYSTATES 0 ]]
x = 2, y = 2, rule = PCA_2
F$
.F!

2. Single history state so you can see where cells were ever alive

Code: Select all

#C [[ HISTORYSTATES 1 ]]
x = 2, y = 2, rule = PCA_2
F$
.F!

3. History fading from Gray to Blue with DarkBlue background

Code: Select all

#C [[ COLOR DEAD Gray COLOR DEADRAMP Blue COLOR BACKGROUND DarkBlue ]]
x = 2, y = 2, rule = PCA_2
F$
.F!

[rowett]

Build 433 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

Please note: you will need to refresh your browser to use the new build (Ctrl-F5 on Chrome)

Fixes since the last released build:

• workround for performance issue on iOS 13

The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

[muzik]

Suggestion: clicking on the rule names in the list of aliases sets it to that rule.

[dvgrn]

Performance seems normal there now.

Yes, LifeViewer no longer has the focus when it pops up, so the strange throttling behavior doesn't occur.

I did notice another oddity that has appeared since Nathaniel's upgrade to the forum software: "Code:" and "Select all" text now looks different in a viewer code box vs. a normal code box, and there's a gap between code box and viewer that I think wasn't there before:

Code: Select all

x = 3, y = 3, rule = B3/S23
3o$o$bo!

Code: Select all

x = 3, y = 3, rule = B3/S23
3o$o$bo!
#C [[ THUMBNAIL THUMBSIZE 3 ]]

Code: Select all

x = 3, y = 3, rule = B3/S23
3o$o$bo!

[rowett]

I did notice another oddity that has appeared since Nathaniel's upgrade to the forum software: "Code:" and "Select all" text now looks different in a viewer code box vs. a normal code box, and there's a gap between code box and viewer that I think wasn't there before.

Yes the elements have changed in the new forum software. I will let Nathaniel know.

[rowett]

Suggestion: clicking on the rule names in the list of aliases sets it to that rule.

At some stage I'll implement a Change Rule UI which will have similar functionality.

[bprentice]

How can a potential user of LifeViewer experiment with all the features described in 'help' without using this forum?

Brian Prentice

[rowett]

How can a potential user of LifeViewer experiment with all the features described in 'help' without using this forum?

Brian Prentice

I use this page. Type in your patterns in the textbox and then click "View" to update the viewer below.
Settings->Pattern->Save Pattern or hotkey Ctrl+"S" will copy the RLE back to the textbox.

If you prefer you can download and run LifeViewer locally on your computer. See here for instructions on how to do so.

There are also many test pages here demonstrating most of the different functions.

[PHPBB12345]

new paste mode: DIFF (alias of [[ PASTEMODE 4 ]])

Code: Select all

x = 8, y = 3, rule = B3/S23
5b3o$5b3o$5b3o!
[[ GRID ]]
[[ RLE glider o$obo$oo! ]]
#C Paste in each mode on dead cells
[[ PASTEMODE DIFF ]]
[[ LABEL 1 0 16 "DIFF" ]]
[[ PASTE glider 0 0 ]]
#C Paste in each mode on alive cells
[[ PASTEMODE DIFF ]]
[[ LABEL 6 0 16 "DIFF" ]]
[[ PASTE glider 5 0 ]]

Expected result:

Code: Select all

#C [[ NOSOURCE ]]
x = 8, y = 3, rule = B3/S23
6b2o$6bo$7bo!
[[ GRID ]]
[[ LABEL 1 0 16 "DIFF" ]]
[[ LABEL 6 0 16 "DIFF" ]]

[muzik]

Alternating 1D rules throws up a seemingly unrelated error:

Code: Select all

 x = 1, y = 1, rule = W90|W150
o!

[rowett]

Build 434 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

Please note: you will need to refresh your browser to use the new build (Ctrl-F5 on Chrome)

Enhancements since the last released build:

• [[ PASTEMODE <0..15>|mode]] script command now supports 16 paste modes:
  • ZERO, AND, 0010, X, 0100, Y, XOR, OR, NOR, XNOR, NOTY, 1011, NOTX, 1101, NAND, ONE
  • COPY can be used instead of X
  Two-state example:

  Code: Select all

  x = 38, y = 13, rule = B3/S23
  4$
  3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3o$
  3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3o$
  3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3o$
  8$
  3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3o$
  3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3o$
  3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3obb3o!
  [[ GRID ]]
  [[ RLE glider o$obo$oo! ]]
  [[ RLE block 3o$3o$3o! ]]
  
  # draw key
  [[ PASTEMODE COPY ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 0 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 11 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 15 ]]
  [[ PASTE block -5 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE block -5 15 ]]
  [[ POLYSIZE 1 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 -0.5 -2.5 -0.5 -2.5 2.5 -5.5 2.5 -5.5 -0.5 8 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 3.5 -2.5 3.5 -2.5 6.5 -5.5 6.5 -5.5 3.5 8 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 10.5 -2.5 10.5 -2.5 13.5 -5.5 13.5 -5.5 10.5 8 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 14.5 -2.5 14.5 -2.5 17.5 -5.5 17.5 -5.5 14.5 8 ]]
  
  #C draw labels
  [[ LABELSIZE 11 ]]
  [[ LABEL -10 -3 8 "X" ]]
  [[ LABEL -4 -3 8 "Y" ]]
  [[ LABEL 1 -3 8 "0\nZERO" ]]
  [[ LABEL 6 -3 8 "1\nAND" ]]
  [[ LABEL 11 -3 8 "2\n0010" ]]
  [[ LABEL 16 -3 8 "3\nX" ]]
  [[ LABEL 21 -3 8 "4\n0100" ]]
  [[ LABEL 26 -3 8 "5\nY" ]]
  [[ LABEL 31 -3 8 "6\nXOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 36 -3 8 "7\nOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 1 8 8 "8\nNOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 6 8 8 "9\nXNOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 11 8 8 "10\nNOTY" ]]
  [[ LABEL 16 8 8 "11\n1011" ]]
  [[ LABEL 21 8 8 "12\nNOTX" ]]
  [[ LABEL 26 8 8 "13\n1101" ]]
  [[ LABEL 31 8 8 "14\nNAND" ]]
  [[ LABEL 36 8 8 "15\nONE" ]]
  
  #C Paste in each mode on dead cells
  [[ PASTEMODE 0 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 1 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 2 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 3 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 5 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 6 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 7 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 8 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 9 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 10 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 11 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 12 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 13 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 14 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 15 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 11 ]]
  
  #C Paste in each mode on alive cells
  [[ PASTEMODE 0 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 1 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 2 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 3 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 5 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 6 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 7 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 8 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 9 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 10 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 11 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 12 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 13 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 14 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 15 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 15 ]]
  

  PCA example:

  Code: Select all

  x = 38, y = 13, rule = PCA_1
  4$
  3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3O$
  3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3O$
  3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3O$
  8$
  3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3O$
  3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3O$
  3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3Obb3O!
  [[ GRID ]]
  [[ RLE glider o$obo$oo! ]]
  [[ RLE block 3O$3O$3O! ]]
  
  # draw key
  [[ PASTEMODE COPY ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 0 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 11 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider -10 15 ]]
  [[ PASTE block -5 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE block -5 15 ]]
  [[ POLYSIZE 1 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 -0.5 -2.5 -0.5 -2.5 2.5 -5.5 2.5 -5.5 -0.5 8 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 3.5 -2.5 3.5 -2.5 6.5 -5.5 6.5 -5.5 3.5 8 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 10.5 -2.5 10.5 -2.5 13.5 -5.5 13.5 -5.5 10.5 8 ]]
  [[ POLYLINE -5.5 14.5 -2.5 14.5 -2.5 17.5 -5.5 17.5 -5.5 14.5 8 ]]
  
  #C draw labels
  [[ LABELSIZE 11 ]]
  [[ LABEL -10 -3 8 "X" ]]
  [[ LABEL -4 -3 8 "Y" ]]
  [[ LABEL 1 -3 8 "0\nZERO" ]]
  [[ LABEL 6 -3 8 "1\nAND" ]]
  [[ LABEL 11 -3 8 "2\n0010" ]]
  [[ LABEL 16 -3 8 "3\nX" ]]
  [[ LABEL 21 -3 8 "4\n0100" ]]
  [[ LABEL 26 -3 8 "5\nY" ]]
  [[ LABEL 31 -3 8 "6\nXOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 36 -3 8 "7\nOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 1 8 8 "8\nNOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 6 8 8 "9\nXNOR" ]]
  [[ LABEL 11 8 8 "10\nNOTY" ]]
  [[ LABEL 16 8 8 "11\n1011" ]]
  [[ LABEL 21 8 8 "12\nNOTX" ]]
  [[ LABEL 26 8 8 "13\n1101" ]]
  [[ LABEL 31 8 8 "14\nNAND" ]]
  [[ LABEL 36 8 8 "15\nONE" ]]
  
  #C Paste in each mode on dead cells
  [[ PASTEMODE 0 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 1 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 2 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 3 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 5 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 6 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 7 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 0 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 8 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 9 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 10 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 11 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 12 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 13 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 14 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 11 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 15 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 11 ]]
  
  #C Paste in each mode on alive cells
  [[ PASTEMODE 0 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 1 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 2 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 3 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 4 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 5 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 6 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 7 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 4 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 8 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 0 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 9 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 5 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 10 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 10 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 11 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 15 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 12 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 20 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 13 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 25 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 14 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 30 15 ]]
  [[ PASTEMODE 15 ]]
  [[ PASTE glider 35 15 ]]
  

• alternate rules where the alternates are duplicates now remove duplicate from rule and alias name

Fixes since the last released build:

• fixed Wolfram alternate rules

The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

[PHPBB12345]

When to implement second-order cellular automata?

[rowett]

When to implement second-order cellular automata?

Not sure yet. I'm still investigating.

[rowett]

Build 435 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

Please note: you will need to refresh your browser to use the new build (Ctrl-F5 on Chrome)

Enhancements since the last released build:

• [[ PASTEMODE ]] now accepts binary truth table output (e.g. 0001 for AND and 0111 for OR)
• [[ PASTEMODE ]] now allows DIFF as an alias for mode 4 (0100)

The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

[muzik]

If, for a W rule, the input pattern is one-dimensional to begin with, could it be treated as a proper 1D rule, so that the lines above it don't evolve anymore (including not ageing due to history, since the vertical axis is time to begin with)? This would allow for better alternation of 1D rules as well as allow for odd ones.

[rowett]

If, for a W rule, the input pattern is one-dimensional to begin with, could it be treated as a proper 1D rule, so that the lines above it don't evolve anymore (including not ageing due to history, since the vertical axis is time to begin with)? This would allow for better alternation of 1D rules as well as allow for odd ones.

This will likely happen when I get round to implementing 1D Totalistic rules.

[bprentice]

by rowett » October 12th, 2019, 8:50 am

bprentice wrote: ↑
October 12th, 2019, 8:39 am
How can a potential user of LifeViewer experiment with all the features described in 'help' without using this forum?

Brian Prentice

I use this page. Type in your patterns in the textbox and then click "View" to update the viewer below.

Clicking on 'this page' using Firefox 69.0.3 (64-bit) displays this error message:

ErrorMessage.png (206.61 KiB) Viewed 7114 times

Chrome and Yandex do not display an error message.

Brian Prentice

[rowett]

Clicking on 'this page' using Firefox 69.0.3 (64-bit) displays this error message

Thanks for the report I'll take a look.

[wildmyron]

Clicking on 'this page' using Firefox 69.0.3 (64-bit) displays this error message

Thanks for the report I'll take a look.

The error appears to be because the link provided goes to https://lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html, whereas the certificate is only valid for lazyslug.com

https://lazyslug.com/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html works corrrectly, but whilst http://lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html loads without errors it doesn't seem to have a working viewer (though I thought it did earlier today?).

[rowett]

The error appears to be because the link provided goes to https://lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html, whereas the certificate is only valid for lazyslug.com

I don't see that. The link in the original post was https://lazyslug.com/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html and I can reproduce Brian's finding in FireFox.
The issue appears to be that FireFox is not recognizing the certificate issuer (whereas other browsers do).

You can get round the problem by using an http (rather than https) endpoint: http://lazyslug.com/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html

lazyslug.no-ip.biz is an alias for lazyslug.com so it will work as long as you're using an HTTP request.

[wildmyron]

Sorry, you are right. I'm not sure how I got that confused. Also, Firefox on this desktop is out of date which is why I see different behaviour.

[dvgrn]

I've run into trouble sometimes, though not right now for some reason, getting to any lazyslug.no-ip.biz URL without triggering some kind of "this site may be a source of malware" warning from some "Advanced Protection" virus scanner or other. I'll edit in details here if I see that problem again.

How can a potential user of LifeViewer experiment with all the features described in 'help' without using this forum?

The way I usually do offline testing is to right-click on that lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html page and click Save as..., save the complete web page, and then (since Chrome is rather rude and renames the file for me) change the lv-plugin.js.download file, and its reference in the HTML, back to plain lv-plugin.js.

That produces a workable local copy of the latest build, e.g.,

LifeViewer Plugin Tests.zip

(151.19 KiB) Downloaded 124 times