Question about RLE format

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josdenhartog
Posts: 2
Joined: January 31st, 2022, 2:02 pm

Question about RLE format

Post by josdenhartog » January 31st, 2022, 2:18 pm

I have read the information about the RLE format on https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Run_Length_Encoded
As I understand the format, there are <run_count><tag> combinations.
The <run_count> is a number, the <tag> is "b" or "o" or "$".
The <run_count> can be omitted if the count is "1".

In the file p49bumperloopnew.rle, I found this part $21b2o12bob2obobob2o$36bobobob2obo2$
The 1st line in this example ends with run_count="2" and tag="o". Which is clear to me: 2 occurrences of an alive cell.
But the 2nd line in this example ends with run_count="2" and tag="S". I don't understand how I should read this.

Is this an error in the .rle file? Or am i missing something in the explanation on page https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Run_Length_Encoded ?
Your help is appreciated.
Best Regards,

Jos den Hartog

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Macbi
Posts: 903
Joined: March 29th, 2009, 4:58 am

Re: Question about RLE format

Post by Macbi » January 31st, 2022, 2:31 pm

The $ represents starting a new line. So 2$ means to start a new line twice. In other words, finish the current line and then leave one entirety blank line.

josdenhartog
Posts: 2
Joined: January 31st, 2022, 2:02 pm

Re: Question about RLE format

Post by josdenhartog » January 31st, 2022, 2:54 pm

Thank you for your explanation.

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