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==Archived discussions==
==Archived discussions==
:''Note: active discussions are never archived while still active.''
* See [[LifeWiki:Tiki bar/Archive/2016]] for Tiki bar discussions started in 2016.
* See [[LifeWiki:Tiki bar/Archive/2016]] for Tiki bar discussions started in 2016.
* See [[LifeWiki:Tiki bar/Archive/2017]] for Tiki bar discussions started in 2017.
* See [[LifeWiki:Tiki bar/Archive/2018]] for Tiki bar discussions started in 2018.


== Pattern infobox: "Identifiers" section ==
== Conduits and converters ==
 
Following private discussion with [[User:Dvgrn]], I've added a new "Identifiers" section to pattern infoboxes, intended to collect identifiers (numbers, IDs, codes etc.) for a pattern in the various pattern collections floating around. Right now, it handles three identifiers:
 
* [[apgcode]]s, as used on [[Adam P. Goucher]]'s [[Catagolue]];
* Niemiec IDs, as used on [[Mark Niemiec]]'s website (codercontest.com/mniemiec/);
* Pentadecathlon IDs, as used on [[Heinrich Koenig]]'s Game of Life Object Catalogs (pentadecathlon.com).
 
apgcodes and Pentadecathlon IDs additionally link to the respective sites. The new section currently appears last in the pattern infobox, but this could easily be changed. The section's also hidden when no identifier is specified for a pattern.
 
On the technical side, this is implemented with a new helper template, [[Template:PatternIdentifiers]], modelled after and based on [[Template:PatternDownload]]. New identifiers should be added here.
 
Existing pattern templates have been updated to use this new template. The following new parameters are available on all pattern templates:
 
* <tt>apgcode=</tt>
* <tt>niemiecid=</tt>
* <tt>pentadecathlonid=</tt>
 
What remains to be done:
 
* Add these new parameters to pattern templates where appropriate.
* Think about and add additional identifiers (e.g. for jslife or Dean Hickerson's stamp collection).
* Use the Niemiec ID (where available) to link to glider syntheses on Mark's website.
** [[User:Dvgrn]] mentions that the filenames for the synthesis RLEs don't always match the objects' IDs; but there is a limited number of exceptions that could be handled using an additional "converter" template.
* Anything else?
 
Comments etc. welcome.
 
-- [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 12:17, 11 January 2017 (UTC)
 
:Since there's been no objections, I've gone ahead and added <tt>apgcode=</tt> parameters to all still life, spaceship and oscillator pages. (I do apologize for the sheer number of edits there, BTW.)
 
:All pages thus edited also use [[Template:LinkCatagolue]] to provide links to the objects' Catagolue pages (if they didn't before, they do now), and I've been thinking that this might confuse the uninitiated -- doesn't this new infobox parameter essentially duplicate information? The answer is no. The infobox parameter exists to capture a piece of information about an object; it also links to Catagolue, but only for convenience's sake. The external link template, meanwhile, exists to link to Catagolue, and it's mere coincidence that one could also extract an object's apgcode from it.
 
:I have vague future visions of machine-parsable microformat data for patterns, automatically generated by infobox templates; the various object ID parameters will be used for that. Link templates, for obvious reasons, cannot, since the generation would happen server-side on the wiki, rather than requiring special software on the client's side.
 
:Getting back to the topic of ID parameters as such, I've been thinking that for jslife, it would perhaps be best to have a <tt>jslife20121230=</tt> parameter taking a filename (e.g. <tt>osc/o0015.lif</tt>), and perhaps an optional comment detailing where the object can be found in that file. That said, there are several objects appearing in more than one file in jslife (e.g. in the <tt>x-*.lif</tt> files). Assuming we want to ''link'' to the jslife files, rather than just ''indicating'' where an object is found, I'm not sure yet how to best handle this case. -- [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 22:07, 1 July 2017 (UTC)
 
::The <tt>pentadecathlonid=</tt> parameter seems to be bugged. - [[User:AwesoMan3000|AwesoMan3000]] ([[User talk:AwesoMan3000|talk]]) 15:25, 2 July 2017 (UTC)
 
:::Thanks for the report. This was apparently caused by the parser not interpreting <tt><nowiki>|-</nowiki></tt> as new table rows, as it should have.
 
:::The deeper reason is that unfortunately in MediaWiki syntax, the pipe character is used both for templates (and parserfunctions) and for wikitables. When generating wikitables (complete or snippets), it's thus common to replace literal pipes with a call to a special template, conventionally [[Template:!]], that contains nothing but a single pipe character. This way, e.g. table rows are given as <tt><nowiki>{{!}}-</nowiki></tt>, and this keeps the MediaWiki parser from interpreting the pipe characters while transcluding tables.
 
:::However, once all templates are transcluded, wikitables (and other wiki syntax) should still be interpreted on the result, and this wasn't happening here. I don't know why; it definitely worked in the past, as the two test pages I used for the identifier parameters ([[Boat on snake]] and [[112P51]]) looked fine then. They didn't anymore now, suggesting that something, somewhere, changed, either MediaWiki or perhaps the underlying software stack.
 
:::In any case, I replaced the wiki tables on [[Template:PatternIdentifiers]] with equivalent HTML tables, which neatly bypasses this problem entirely. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 20:22, 2 July 2017 (UTC)
 
== OEIS templates ==
 
I've added two templates mirroring OEIS data, [[Template:A019473]] and [[Template:A056613]], holding data for the number of strict/pseudo still lifes of a given population respectively.
 
I did this because I the same figures are used in different places, notably in the [[Still life]] and [[Catagolue]] articles (and several times in the latter), as well as in a few [[LifeWiki:Did you know|DYK]] items. Using these templates ensures that if numbers change (e.g. Mark Niemiec's 24-bit still life count, which Simon Ekström corrected) or if new data comes in, we'll only have to update the figures in one place.
 
Thoughts welcome! If you'd like to add more templates along these lines, just use either of these as a blueprint. They use [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Extension:ParserFunctions#.23switch MediaWiki's <tt><nowiki>{{#switch:}}</nowiki></tt>] statement, which is more readable than a larger number of nested <tt><nowiki>{{#if:}}</nowiki></tt>s. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 12:21, 14 January 2017 (UTC)
 
: I looked over the OEIS template changes to the Did-You-Knows -- seems like it works well!  I have yet to think of other applications for this trick, but no doubt something will turn up eventually. -- [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 01:45, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
 
== Direct links to syntheses ==
 
Following up on Apple Bottom's good work on [[Template:PatternIdentifiers]] a while back -- I've been wondering how much work it would be to provide direct links to Mark Niemiec's synthesis file for an object, whenever that is available in his database, along with or in place of the pname_synth.rle files that we're currently checking in one by one.  Probably the new link would end up in the Glider Synthesis section, not the pattern-ID section, though in a way it's another kind of pattern ID.
 
We might not want to tackle that for the current version of the database, as there are rumors that some of the synthesis filenames will be getting adjusted soon.  But I'd like to be ready to implement the idea when the next version of the database rolls out, if it's not too hard to do.  As it is, a copy of Mark's synthesis file is what actually ends up getting checked in anyway, half the time -- might as well have it be the up-to-date one at conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec...?  Or maybe an automatic [https://glidersynth.neocities.org/?xs4_33 synthesis builder page along the lines of chris_c's], for whatever categories of objects that that might be made to work for.
 
The other interesting trick would be to check the smallest number of gliders for each object synthesis against the value in Niemiec's database, and report discrepancies in either direction. Maybe an adjustment could be made to [https://github.com/AppleBottom/applebot applebot.pl] -- [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 01:45, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
 
:That's a great idea. I actually considered linking to Mark's files when creating said template, but didn't because you couldn't generate a link from the ID alone, you also needed to know in which directory on the web server the file resided. (Of course one could just add an extra template parameter for that.)
 
:If Mark's gonna reorganize his DB, waiting's probably not a bad idea, yes. OTOH it wouldn't take much work on our side to add these links. Having them in the Glider Synthesis section of the infobox is probably sensible.
 
:I've gone ahead and added links to chris_c's synthsis builder to the still life infobox; other pattern infoboxes can be adapted by changing the [[Template:PatternDownload]] inclusion to pass the apgcode parameter, at our leisure. Of course this will only work on pattern pages where the apgcode parameter is passed to the infobox in the first place, which right now aren't many. (Since many pages have [[Template:LinkCatagolue]] external links, though, adding them wouldn't be difficult, just tedious. Hmm, I wonder if this would be a task for [[User:Apple Bot]] as well.)
 
:Re: updating the "fewest gliders" count, yes, the bot could do that as well. In principle, anyway; it's all a matter of actually implementing it. :) (And then running the bot, of course.)
 
:BTW, I didn't know Mark's DB also lived at conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec . Is this different/separate from the one at codercontest.com/mniemiec , or are they just different URLs for the same underlying site? -- [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 11:23, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 
:: Well, currently they're identical.  In the long run I think the conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec one will get updated, and the codercontest.com one will probably go away, after a period where comparisons of the two versions might be useful, for debugging purposes maybe.  The GitHub repository for the latest and greatest versions of all the conwaylife.com/ref material is [https://github.com/rokicki/lifecontent here] -- at least according to the current plan. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 17:33, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
 
:::Ah, thanks, I see. [[Template:PatternIdentifiers]] already uses [[Template:LinkCatagolue]] and [[Template:LinkPentadecathlonObject]]; if/when we decide to go ahead and link to Mark's files we'll also want to update [[Template:LinkNiemiec]] as necessary and use that. That way, when the move happens, we'll only have a single switch to flip. (Some stray links on talk pages etc. nonwithstanding.)
 
:::Thanks also for the link to the github repo! [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 21:15, 10 May 2017 (UTC)
 
== Creating "standard" images, RLE:pname pages, and where to use LifeViewer ==
I just pointed new trusted user [[User:wwei23]] to the [[LifeWiki:Style_guide/Pattern_layout|Pattern pages]]. I then noticed with some embarrassment that the checklist below "howto in a nutshell" still says images should be created "in Conwaylife".  How long has it been since that was possible?  I guess the time can't be measured in decades quite yet...!
 
1) Apparently [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] uses a script to make LifeWiki-style pattern images quickly, whereas I usually just use screenshots from Golly (but have to change Golly's default grid color to match LifeWiki images) or sometimes just sneakily hand-edit an existing image.  What would be a good modern easy way to generate images -- maybe online via some variant of LifeViewer?
:LifeViewer has the ability to open a screenshot (by using hotkey "o") in a separate browser window (if you allow popups) which could be saved as an image. [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 03:33, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
:: That might be a good start.  But often the things that images are needed of, aren't in the LifeWiki yet.  So we'd really need a new image-maker page, where a user could paste in some RLE, adjust the zoom and dimensions to the right size (usually smaller than LifeViewer's current minima), produce the required .png file, and I guess save it to the local hard drive but only so that it can be uploaded right back to LifeWiki.  :: It would be wonderful to be able to generate the entire text of one of these image tags, for copying and pasting straight into an article --
 
<nowiki>[[Image:toadsucker.png|framed|center|One particular toad sucker -- the arrow indicates 30 generations of evolution<br />{{JavaRLE|toadsucker}}]]</nowiki>
 
:: -- where the process of uploading patname.png and patname.rle was made as easy as possible.  Or at least patname.png and an "RLE:patname" page, I suppose, if we come up with some way for admins to convert RLE:patname pages to uploaded patname.rle files in bulk... without security issues, since that's the reason that Nathaniel limited access to the pattern and script upload functionality in the first place.  Seems like a tall order to wrestle MediaWiki into shape to do this kind of thing easily, though. (?)
:: Also of course I had to add a "[*.]conwaylife.com" exception under Privacy > Content Settings in Chrome, to avoid the "Could not open Image window!" error when I tried the 'o' hotkey.  It's so easy to get used to the LifeViewer just popping up and working, that that might slow people down quite a bit on average, without a hint about how to placate popup blockers. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 12:32, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
::: Screenshots can now be create inline in the page if it contains an <img id="screenshot"> tag (rather than in a separate pop-up window). See [http://lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/viewer.html here] for an example page where you can enter RLE in a text box, click View to see it in LifeViewer, zoom and pan and run the pattern and then press hotkey 'o' when you want to create a screenshot image that you can then save from the page (right click on the image and "Save Image As..."). [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 17:59, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
:::: Any ideas for solving the image size part of the problem?  It would be nice to be able to crop to particular dimensions rather than being stuck with a fixed-size image.  I suppose the text box could feed LifeViewers of a dozen or so standard sizes, all showing the same pattern.  Having a set of standard sizes might not be such a bad idea, really -- and if anyone wants to take the extra time they could always Save As and select a custom size in Paint or whatever.
:::: However, what would be really nice would be to somehow completely avoid the Save As and then immediate re-upload steps.  Starting from an inline LifeViewer display that has been panned and zoomed and themed and GPS-set and everything, maybe there's some automated way to produce the exact equivalent images and provide the new article text and formatting to match?  Or do we maybe not need to do that?  A LifeViewer with a setting that tells it to behave like an image might work just as well...? [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 21:12, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
::::: <nowiki>[[ VIEWONLY ]]</nowiki> ? [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 21:55, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
:::::: Yeah, maybe <nowiki>[[ VIEWONLY THUMBNAIL HEIGHT hhh WIDTH www (etc.) ]]</nowiki>, or some replacement for THUMBNAIL that just removes the toolbars without shrinking the image, and also allows for a much smaller minimum height and width.  Sometimes an illustration just doesn't need very much screen real estate.
:::::: That's a lot of configuration to have to copy in for every little illustration, though, and I didn't put in the gridline or theme stuff to match the "standard" images on LifeWiki.  Maybe something like <nowiki>[[ WIKI ]]</nowiki> could lock down most of those settings to LifeWiki standards, while loosening up the height and width requirements?
:::::: Might even want to disable zooming and panning (and expanding-from-thumbnail), unlike the <nowiki>[[ VIEWONLY ]]</nowiki> tag.  At least it doesn't have to be easy to pop LifeViewer out of image-display mode, for this use case, though there could be a sneaky shortcut... [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 02:32, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
::::::: Added <nowiki>[[ NOGUI ]]</nowiki> which disables all controls and menus and removes height and width restriction (since the restrictions were there to allow the gui to fit). See [http://lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/images.html here] for an example. [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 14:05, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
:::::::: In the next build hopefully you'll be able to click on the screenshot and it will automatically copy the RLE into the clipboard. This probably won't work on older browsers though. [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 15:47, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
::::::::: In LifeViewer build 230 when you mouse over a <nowiki>[[ NOGUI ]]</nowiki> image an "RLE" link appears which when clicked copies the pattern's RLE to the Clipboard. See [http://lazyslug.no-ip.biz/lifeview/plugin/images.html here] for an example. [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 13:09, 10 June 2017 (UTC)
2) We should probably add some detail to the howto, about how best to use the RLE:pname workaround for making pattern files available without officially uploading them -- how to handle RLE header lines, etc.  It does seem as if that has turned out to be a good idea -- right?
 
3) The question has also come up of whether to use static images or the LifeViewer for still lifes.  See [[User talk:wwei23]] for example links.  Almost all still life articles are currently supplied with static images, but there are a few exceptions, and maybe some possible future-functionality reasons to use the LifeViewer everywhere... easy copying-out of a pattern without navigating to the RLE page? Maybe an option to edit and experiment in a new browser window, someday? -- [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 16:36, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
:Since you mentioned it -- yeah, I'm using a script to generate images (though the process is only partially automated for animated GIFs, I do some manual post-processing on these). I keep meaning to release it, but it's a half-finished mess held together by little more than duct tape and prayers. Perhaps I'll get around to beating it into shape some time. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 12:16, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
:: The latest builds (229+) of LifeViewer are probably a good option for static images. The new <nowiki>[[ NOGUI ]]</nowiki> script command allows an image to be displayed of any dimension greater than or equal to 64x64 pixels. Additionally clicking on the image will automatically copy the RLE to the Clipboard (on most modern browsers). [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 21:32, 11 June 2017 (UTC)
 
== Change the pattern files back! ==
 
Remember the old pattern files in the same font as that appears in the edit box? Well, now it has changed, and now the Megacells are rendered useless! When I try to paste it in, Golly complains that the rule is invalid! I have to spend hours and hours reverting these changes. Surely, that's not what you want, right?-wwei23 3:39PM 7/2/2017 NY time
 
:I'm sorry, but could you elaborate on what you mean? The "old" pattern files, as in uploaded files (not on-wiki RLE snippets), are still here, and are still linked wherever they used to be. For instance, [[112P51]] still links to [http://www.conwaylife.com/patterns/112p51.rle this RLE file]. I've also just checked [[P1 megacell]] and [[OTCA metapixel]], the RLE files are fine for both.
 
:What, specifically, are you trying to paste into Golly that is causing problems? -- [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 20:28, 2 July 2017 (UTC)
 
== Unable to replace old synthesis files? ==
 
I recently did a wave of adding syntheses to talk pages of certain articles, which was promptly followed by Apple Bottom uploading them (thanks!). However, it seems that some of them still have the old file, such as Elkie's p5, jam, cis-fuse with two tails, caterer, smiley, fore and back, griddle and block, Coe's p8, and copperhead. What could be causing this problem?
 
[[User:gmc_nxtman|-- gmc_nxtman]] ([[User talk:gmc_nxtman|talk]]) 20:03 UTC, Jul 15 2017
 
:Hmm. I just checked, and indeed had the same problem on [[Elkie's p5]] (but not the others): when I clicked on the synthesis file link, I got the old synthesis. Reloading that, however, then showed the new one.
 
:Taking a closer look &mdash; my browser at least sends a <tt>If-Modified-Since</tt> header to the server, and the server accordingly replies with a <tt>304 Not Modified</tt> if the file hasn't been touched since then.
 
:It may be that this doesn't work properly with newly-uploaded files for some reason, perhaps (this is a ''complete'' shot in the dark, mind) if the file has been uploaded the same day that it's being requested. I can see the server (wrongly) replying with a 304 code instead of <tt>200 OK</tt> (as it does otherwise), and the browser then concluding that the file it has cached is still valid, even though it is stale.
 
:But my gut feeling is that this is unlikely, and that the browser is the culprit, somehow &mdash; presenting a cached (stale) version of the file without actually checking with the server to see if it expired. I'd have to investigate more to see what's really going on, but &ndash; TL;DR &ndash; a soft reload is enough to fix this, for me. Perhaps it will be for you, too.


:--[[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 20:30, 15 July 2017 (UTC)
I'm gradually gathering the necessary courage to tackle the new Life Lexicon items that start with "P".  Looks like one of the big things I should do is to carefully figure out how to make proper use of [[Template:Reflector]], but in this modern LifeViewer age I don't think I agree with the part about "The image in this infobox should '''NOT''' include the glider that is to be reflected...".


== Listing multiple discoverers in pattern infoboxes ==
Seems to me these template recommendations should be updated to say something like "The image in this infobox '''should''' include the glider that is to be reflected -- optionally, two input gliders separated by the mechanism's minimum [[recovery time]], and an output glider if that allows a smoother animation.  However, the bounding box and population count should be calculated with these gliders removed."


I added some extra parameters to the various pattern infoboxes to allow listing up to five discoverers for each pattern. The new parameters are named <tt>discoverer2</tt>, <tt>discoverer3</tt>, <tt>discoverer4</tt>, and <tt>discoverer5</tt>, in line with the already existing <tt>discoverer</tt>. The limit of five is arbitary, of course, but the maximum of discoverers we have listed at the moment is four (for the [[Half-baked knightship]]), so I don't foresee us needing six or more for a while.
It would actually be pretty annoying to provide RLE of a reflector and not at least show where the input is supposed to go. When copying and pasting one of these to use in a larger construction, it's usually pretty handy to have some kind of marker for where the the input goes and where the output comes from -- thus the [[ghost Herschels]] in recently added [[Herschel conduit]]s.


I've also updated articles as necessary &mdash; those that had been manually put into discoverer categories, anyway. If there are articles that did not do this even though the article text itself may list several discoverers, they've not been updated yet.
[Ideally the marks are state-4 LifeHistory so you don't have to edit them out after pasting -- but we should probably stick with simple 2-state Life patterns on the LifeWiki and not open the LifeHistory can of worms.]


There are two articles that I haven't touched: [[Heavyweight volcano]], and [[Pre-pulsar spaceship]]. Both list several discoverers, but the discoveries refer to later improvements to or variants of the base pattern, rather than true collaborations, contribution of components, or prompt optimization of a new pattern after its discovery.
... And we can probably get rid of [[Template:Reflector/Doc]] while we're at it, no?


I'm leaning towards listing multiple discoverers in the infobox on both; with the [[Heavyweight volcano]], the variants seem to be considered just that -- variants of the same basic pattern --, and with the [[Pre-pulsar spaceship]], the different versions are no more fundamentally different than (say) the different [[Schick engine]]s, but I'd like to put this up for discussion first and see what the consensus is. (FWIW, the [[Heavyweight volcano]]'s variants were also discovered in different years, so I might have to further extend the pattern templates to allow specifying multiple years of discovery, too. But that doesn't feel quite right, and leads to further questions of what exactly these templates are to inform about anyway: specific individual patterns, or families of patterns?) -- [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 11:25, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
Before I start this I'll definitely undertake to review all the existing converters and reflectors and conduits -- there are a bunch with raw RLE and/or uploaded pattern files missing.  That's relatively easy to fix, once we have an official decision about whether and how to show inputs and outputs.  I'm currently puzzled by the mysterious [[Template:ConduitInput]] and [[Template:ConverterInputOutput]]. Not that that's surprising -- I'm easily confused by all this wiki template trickery. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 15:26, 8 May 2018 (UTC)


== Niemiec IDs in pattern infoboxes ==
:I agree that reflector patterns should include the input glider.  I'm the one who originally wrote that they shouldn't, and I'm not really sure why anymore.  It can't have been very good reasoning, because I completely disagree with it now.<br/>~[[User:Sokwe|Sokwe]] 07:08, 9 May 2018 (UTC)


I've started filling in ID number for Mark Niemiec's pattern database in pattern infoboxes. Still lifes are done, with the following exceptions:
:[[Template:Reflector/Doc]] also asks users not to put animated images on pages, instead suggesting that one should "''consider using a static image of the reflector with a caption that links to the animation''". I think this does not match the general current LifeWiki practice regarding animated images, or generally animated content. Should we reconsider? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 05:25, 7 June 2018 (UTC)


* Still lifes with population eight or less do not have numbers, and are instead referred to by name in Mark's DB.
:: It does seem to me that we have a developing consensus that LifeViewer-based illustrations are a good way to go. There are quite a few Help documents and templates that were written long before the advent of LifeViewer. I'd love to have the Help actually explain to a new user how exactly to add RLE to the RLE namespace, how to get that RLE to show up in an infobox or an embedded viewer, how to adjust the LifeViewer config so that animations (if any) look good, etc. It will take a while to get all the docs updated, no doubt. My edit yesterday was just a first attempt to start chipping away at the problem. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 14:48, 7 June 2018 (UTC)
* Still lifes with population twenty-five or greater do not have numbers. This affects:
** [[Cloverleaf interchange]], [[Professor]], [[Cthulhu]], [[Omnibus with tubs]], [[Eater 4]], [[Cis-mirrored worm siamese cis-mirrored worm]], [[House on house siamese table-on-table weld hat-siamese-hat]], [[Very^9 long boat]].
* A few still lifes with population twenty-five or greater nonetheless appear in the DB, without ID numbers. These are:
** [[Omnibus]], [[Tetraloaf I]], [[Mickey Mouse]].
* A number of still lifes with population between nineteen and twenty-four are not identified by the [http://conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec/lifesrch.htm search widget]. These are:
** [[Very^8 long boat]], [[Very^7 long boat]], [[Very^6 long boat]], [[BTS]].
* A number of still lifes with population eighteen are similarly not identified by the search widget; since Mark provides complete lists of these, they could theoretically be found. These are:
** [[R-mango and house]], [[Longhook and dock]], [[Cap and dock]].


One more thing I noticed: [[Super loaf]] has two ID numbers in Mark's DB, 17.3188 (the regular number) and 17#266. Does anyone know what list the second number refers to? I initially thought it might be from Pentadecathlon, but [http://pentadecathlon.com/objects/object-info.php?objid=17.266 17.266 on there] is a different object.
:::Definitely agree! Unfortunately writing documentation is one of things I'm hopelessly.. well, hopeless at. ;) [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 10:33, 9 June 2018 (UTC)


Similar ideas also exist for other still lifes in Mark's DB; for example, [[Shillelagh siamese open house siamese snake]] is listed as both 16.312 and 16#17. Any ideas?  -- [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 12:13, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
== Lexicon tags ==


== Lists of rules ==
Many of our articles (glossary, in particular) are based on, or at least synced with, Life Lexicon content. This creates a need to update these articles when the Lexicon changes.


There's been some contention about what rules should and shouldn't be added to the various lists that the LifeWiki currently has. Broadly speaking, we have two kinds of lists of rules:
Some of that has been handled in an ad-hoc manner [[User:Apple Bottom/TODO/Life Lexicon|on my userpage]], but the process is fairly involved: look at the project page, find an article to work on, make sure it needs to be worked on, make the necessary edits, make the necessary changes to the project page to reflect the fact you edited the article.


# lists of examples embedded in articles such as [[Larger than Life]], [[Generations]] etc.; and
It's also not easily found by newcomers who may want to help out. (OK, I'll admit, there likely aren't droves of eager newcomers to begin with, but that nonwithstanding, if you don't know said page exists you're not going to find it easily.)
# lists of rules living in their own article, e.g. [[List of Generations rules]].


([[List of rules investigated on Catagolue]] is a special case, insofar as that it aims to provide a service that Catagolue itself doesn't: a comprehensive list of rules investigated on there. If such a list were available on Catagolue, this article would not be necessary.)
So I was thinking, can't we improve on this? And I just had the idea of tagging articles themselves instead, indicating which version of the Lexicon they correspond to.


It's my belief that the former kind of list should not be comprehensive, but rather just list a few (important, interesting) examples to give readers an initial idea of and feeling for the kind of rules making up a given kind of CA. I further believe that this is not a matter of contention.
The Nethack wiki does something similar; for instance, take a look at their [https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/Foodless Foodless] article, and you'll find that it has an indicator at the top right saying that the page reflects Nethack 3.4.3 (rather than the current 3.6.1), generated by [https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/Template:Nethack-343 this template].


The latter kind of list can be more expansive, but I don't know if we should try to list ''every'' single last rule that anyone's ''ever'' come up with: not all rules are equally interesting, after all. And the fact that people have an (understandable) tendency to overestimate the significance of their own creations and will prominently put these into those lists might give readers a skewed impression of how notable certain rules really are (or aren't).
We could use something similar. There wouldn't necessarily have to be a visible indicator (though there could be); at the very least, though, pages could be tracked in appropriate categories, and we'd know at a glance what needs to be updated (or at least reviewed) and what's current.  


But edit wars are unpleasant, an in order to rectify this situation I'd like to propose three things.
This way, all edits would be in one place: review an article and make edits as necessary, and also update the tag to indicate it now reflects a newer Lexicon version. And placing those tracking categories into an appropriate supercategory and placing that in the existing category tree in turn would allow editors interested in helping out find articles in need of review.


# The "lists of rules" articles we have should continue to focus on notable rules.
There would be two downsides. a) most of the Lexicon doesn't change in each Lexicon release, so we'd have a lot of articles tagged as (say) reflecting v28 when in fact they're also current, by virtue of not having changed since v28. And b) we wouldn't easily be able to see which articles are missing from the wiki entirely.
# Since what is or isn't "notable" is difficult to capture, people should simply refrain from adding their OWN creations, the same way people are asked to refrain from writing articles on their own discoveries. If a rule ''is'' notable, someone else will eventually add it.
# Finally, since there clearly is a desire to have a comprehensive list of rules that everyone can freely add to, maybe we should create one.


We'd still have to figure out what form that comprehensive list should take and what namespace it should live in -- or whether it should live on the wiki at all, or whether the forums might not be a better place. If it should indeed live on the wiki, we'd also have to figure out its relationship to the lists of notable rules we currently already have.
I still feel that this would be an improvement though, and there's no reason we couldn't combine these tags with a manually-curated project page to get the best of both worlds.


All of this is just food for thought, right now. And perhaps I'm overthinking things, and a rule of "don't add your own rules" is all we really need, just like "don't write about your own patterns" has worked well for keeping the pattern articles uncluttered.
Also, re: downside a) specifically, I think this could be dealt with by also having an indicator on the wiki saying which Lexicon release is current; pages that haven't been tagged as reflecting the current version would then display a gentle, unobtrusive note, and anyone viewing such a page could quickly check that it does indeed match the current Lexicon release, and update the tag if so.


Thoughts? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 12:10, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
Thoughts? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 07:49, 18 July 2018 (UTC)
: I'd certainly go and search in a comprehensive-list-of-rules page, once it got comprehensive enough.  It would be very convenient when I inevitably forget what someone means by "salad", or "{a-z}life", or whatever.
: The wiki is a little more appropriate as a location, I think... or at least it would be if the process of getting trusted didn't take so long (still working on that detail).  It would work almost as well if someone made a dedicated forum thread and then kept the top posting up-to-date.  But that's pretty awkward when potential contributors just want to be able to sneak in and add a name/alias pair on the spur of the moment.
: Seems like the table will need a rule string, a list of aliases (hopefully a short list, but there might be more than one sometimes), any classification columns like "Character" (but probably keep those to a minimum), and a place for a link to a rule table posted on the forums.  And maybe a separate link to a forum thread or posting or external URL, if any, documenting interesting discoveries in that rule? [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 13:50, 15 August 2017 (UTC)


::OK, let's put it on the wiki then, that's probably the most sensible place to have it. The "Nathaniel-doesn't-scale" problem with trusting users appears to be fixed now, too, so everyone can and will indeed be able to add to this. :)
: This seems like a fine idea to me.  As far as downside a) goes, I think that the last year of Life Lexicon updates is highly unusual, since it involved catching up after over a decade of no maintenance at all.


::I agree that it would be best to not put too much information into this list, and instead just use it as a hub linking to other places. I'd lean towards keeping things like "Character" out of this list, but that's me. We'd definitely want to include the rulestring, name(s) and any relevant links, to forum threads or otherwise.
: The standard editing methodology for new Lexicon releases is to maintain a Changes section at the top of the raw Lexicon text file, carefully listing every "added" or "edited" entry since the last release, by name.  Nobody is supposed to edit a Lexicon definition without updating the change log.  This should make it trivial to find missing articles, and hopefully should also allow an easy update to the tags. Every Lexicon entry that's not listed in the change log can be automatically bumped to the latest lexicon release.


::I've already got a script that parses downloaded copies of the "Other rules" forum's thread overview pages, extracts rules from thread titles and associates threads with each rule; this could be used to seed this article, since the script could easily output in different formats.
: That's a lot of small changes to a lot of articles with every Lexicon release, though.  Does it make sense to have the default Lexicon tag be just {{LexiconLatest}} or some such, with a template to display on the page whatever the latest Lexicon release number actually is?


::There's the issue of keeping this list up-to-date, of course. Do we commit to trying to do so, or do we just say "we've created this list, but we're not making any claims as to completeness, and it's up to the larger community to add to it"? (I'm leaning towards that; I don't want to commit to keeping this up to date by hand, and while semi-automated updating works for [[List of rules investigated on Catagolue]] it wouldn't mesh well with an article that is hopefully going to see lots of human editing.)
: Then, for the next Lexicon release (30), we can just update the (relatively small) list of changed definitions to say "Release 29" -- and then after each definition is reviewed and patched, the tag is updated at the same time, back to {{LexiconLatest}}? [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 22:15, 18 July 2018 (UTC)


::Another issue we'd have to take into account is that different rulestrings might in fact represent the same CA: for example, B2-cek/S23 is the same as B2ain/S23. So we should (probably) try to normalize rulestrings in some way, and I can see two obvious ways of doing that:
::I suppose that would work, but it's pretty much the opposite of what I was trying to accomplish. ;) I was thinking of this as a status checkbox of sorts where editors would check off that yes, this article has been reviewed for Life Lexicon release 30 or 50 or whatever, and any articles that lacked that virtual checkmark would automatically be herded and available for review and/or updating, as necessary.


::# Don't allow negated conditions in the canonical rulestring. This is what my scripts do internally to handle non-totalistic rules.)
::Having a "LexiconLatest" tag instead would mean checkmarks that check themselves, by default, and that we'd then have to go and un-check. That's not so different from the current approach, with my TODO page.
::#: Upsides: relatively easy to determine.
::#: Downsides: with B4 and S4 in particular, negation-free rulestrings can get quite long and unwieldy.
::# Normalize the same way that [[Catagolue]] does, however that is.
::#: Upsides: shorter canonical rulestrings; no proliferation of different methods of canonicalization on different sites.
::#: Downsides: not necessarily so easy to figure out. Does not extend to classes of CAs Catagolue doesn't cover.


::In any case we'll definitely want to support multiple rulestrings in the same entry, as different people might express (and search for) the same rule in different ways. We could either do this by having a "canonical rulestring" column and then an extra "rulestring aliases" column, or eschewing the former in favor of just the latter. Having only the latter column feels cleaner to me; I'm a little concerned about duplicate entries, but perhaps that's not such a big concern in practice. (If it only happens sporadically, it can be mopped up easily enough, by us or by other editors.)
::But you raise a good point. We have a log of Life Lexicon changes, and once we're actually caught up with the Lexicon in general all we'd have to do is keep an eye on those. Hmmm.


::There's also the question of whether it would make sense to separate forum thread links from other links. (Probably not.) We'd probably want Catagolue links as well on this page. (And of course if we happen to actually have an article on a rule, we'd definitely want to link to that.)
::Here's a thought, admittedly a rather complicated one. How about we do both? That is to say, how about a tag template that has ''both'' an explicit parameter ''and'' uses a default "low watermark", displaying the higher of both?


::That's about what I can think of right now. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 21:02, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
::The explicit parameter would be used by editors to indicate that a page has been reviewed/updated to reflect a certain Lexicon release; the "low watermark" (kept in a template of its own) would be updated by us whenever we're sure that ''every'' Lexicon-related entry reflects a certain Lexicon version.


:A first stab is up at [[User:Apple Bottom/Sandbox/List of rules]]. All of this is auto-generated by a script looking for threads that appear to have rules in their title.
::For instance, assume that all our articles conform to Lexicon release 30. Suppose that release 31 comes out now. We then go through the changelog, edit all articles that need updating, and after that's done, we conclude that no further changes are necessary, and bump the "low watermark" to 31, thus causing ''all'' articles (that reference the Lexicon) to declare that they match release 31.


:What the script doesn't do, right now:
::One advantage of this would be that we'd still see when an article was last ''explicitly'' reviewed. For instance, an article might say it reflects Lexicon release 31, but the "version=" parameter might still say it was last reviewed for 28. If nothing else, this would make it easier to spot articles that haven't been reviewed for a long time and where discrepancies might've crept in.


:# Handle [[Larger than Life]] rules. Fortunately none seem to be mentioned in thread titles so far; there's a general LtL thread, but no dedicated threads for specific LtL rules.
::Another idea: we've already got [[Template:LinkLexicon]] to link to Lexicon entries. We could repurpose this to also additionally display a tag, which would save us the need to edit 831 articles just to add a tagging template.
:# Fill in rules' character. This would need another (hand-curated) datafile to draw on.
:# Recognize rules only mentioned by name (e.g. in thread 1852, "Day and Night puffer").


:The script DOES detect certain edge-cases where it isn't sure whether something is a rule or not. (There is, unfortunately, some inherent and unresolvable ambiguity in rule notation. Does e.g. "6c/123" refer to a spaceship speed, or the cellular automaton B123/S6c? It's not possible to say for sure without context.)
::[[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 07:50, 19 July 2018 (UTC)


:I'm also not particularly happy with the formatting yet; tweaks welcome. The generating script (quite dirty, especially the parts I tweaked just now to generate a wikitable) is [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AppleBottom/catagolue/master/parse_othercas_forum.pl here].
::: This all seems reasonable to me -- especially sneaking a displayed tag into [[Template:LinkLexicon]].  Now that Golly 3.2 and Release 29 are safely out the door, I'm sorta kinda planning to get back to work on the LifeWiki ToDo list for Lexicon updates, with the intention of getting everything up to date eventually -- hopefully well before Release 30 comes along to confuse things any more. We already have some kind of a tracking system set up for Release 28 and 29, so maybe it makes sense to keep using that, and design the new template/tag system to really come into use once everything has been updated to Release 29.


:One final note: I should reiterate that there's no plans on my part to keep this list updated when/it it goes live. In particular, I'd not try and splice links to new forum threads into the list after it's been edited manually.
::: So in early 2019, if we end up with a list of say fifty articles that have changes for Lexicon Release 30, my thought would be to update just those fifty articles to specifically say "Release 29" (however we decide to do that exactly -- maybe with a template saying "this article is out of date, please help out by updating it"?).  Then bump up the "low watermark" to 30 right away. As articles get updated, the "please help" template can get removed again with the same edit. Does that work? [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 18:49, 19 July 2018 (UTC)


:I'd also like to suggest that the final version, if created, should live in the LifeWiki: namespace. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 20:53, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
::::OK, cool. :) Good to hear you'll have some time to devote to the Lexicon-to-LifeWiki TODO list. I'm not able to put in much effort there myself --- too much studying, too many exams. Ah well.


== LifeViewer image display and pattern copy functionality ==
::::Re: marking e.g. fifty articles as needing updates and everything as conforming to e.g. release 30 by default --- that would be a lot easier if we had Lua scripting available! MediaWiki's templates only go so far and aren't really meant for pushing lots of structured data around.


Build 233 of [[LifeViewer]] is now live here on the Wiki and includes a couple of helpful new features:
::::Our options there would include at least the following:


1. LifeViewer can now be used to display static images with the <nowiki>[[ NOGUI ]]</nowiki> script command. You can right click on the image to save it (Save Image As...).  
::::# Manually edit each of those 50 articles (e.g. by setting an extra template parameter) to override the "low watermark". Not ideal --- we might as well just edit those 50 articles to update them if we're already editing them anyway.
{{LV:Viewer|b2o2b2o$3b2o$3b2o$obo2bobo$o6bo2$o6bo$b2o2b2o$2b4o2$3b2o$3b2o! [[ NOGUI THEME 6 GRID HEIGHT 128 WIDTH 128 ]]}}
::::# Provide a global "kill switch" for the low watermark that, when set, causes the low watermark to be ignored. Pages explicitely listing a conforming Lexicon release would then display that instead, so those 50 "release 29" articles would show up in the right category, etc. Also not ideal --- there might be many other articles that would also have the explicit "reviewed for release 29" tag, or older tags at that, which would NOT need to be updated.
::::# Keep a list of those 50 articles, and rig the template to display a notice if the title of the transcluding page happens to be on that list. '''Also''' not ideal --- we'd have to curate that list, and as I said, MediaWiki templates aren't really meant for this sort of thing.


Images can be as small as 64x64 pixels:
::::Maybe there's another solution I'm not seeing, though.
{{LV:Viewer|b2o2b2o$3b2o$3b2o$obo2bobo$o6bo2$o6bo$b2o2b2o$2b4o2$3b2o$3b2o! [[ NOGUI THEME 6 GRID HEIGHT 64 WIDTH 64 ]]}}


::::That said I also have a feeling we're trying to overengineer the solution, though, or perhaps attacking the problem from the wrong angle. After all, what do we want to do? Keep the LifeWiki current as far as Lexicon content goes. How do we achieve that? By importing Lexicon as necessary, and (once done) keeping an eye on changes made to the Lexicon and mirroring them on the wiki (again, as necessary). And how do we do ''that''? By rolling up our sleeves and working on it. Fancy templates and tagging nonwithstanding we won't get anywhere if we don't just jump in and do it.


2. LifeViewer can now copy the pattern source RLE to the clipboard. For a <nowiki>[[ NOGUI ]]</nowiki> LifeViewer, simply mouse over the image and click on it when "Copy" appears. For a standard LifeViewer click on it to interact and then use Control-C.
::::<small>(And by "we", I mean whoever's willing to do that job.)</small>
{{LV:Viewer|b2o2b2o$3b2o$3b2o$obo2bobo$o6bo2$o6bo$b2o2b2o$2b4o2$3b2o$3b2o! [[ THEME 6 GRID HEIGHT 240 WIDTH 480 ]]}}


You can disable the Copy functionality with the <nowiki>[[ NOCOPY ]]</nowiki> script command:
::::[[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 18:16, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
{{LV:Viewer|b2o2b2o$3b2o$3b2o$obo2bobo$o6bo2$o6bo$b2o2b2o$2b4o2$3b2o$3b2o! [[ NOGUI NOCOPY THEME 6 GRID HEIGHT 128 WIDTH 128 ]]}}


[[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 19:11, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
:::::Re: overengineering... yeah, offhand I don't see a better solution than the first one:  manually edit 50 articles, copying and pasting the same "stub"-like template marker in as a header.  This is a bit tedious, but that's what multiple browser tabs are for, and it can be done pretty easily in half an hour or so.  The idea is that we can make a little bit of effort to spread the update work around.  (Here "we" means the small group of people who have done the work so far -- a small group because it's kind of tricky to do everything right, so not many people have figured out all the fiddly details.)


:Fantastic news! This might be the (beginning of) the end of manually-created and -uploaded images for pattern infoboxes. :D So the way forward would be, I think:
:::::I can add "needs Lexicon update" headers to 50 articles in half an hour, but I sure can't do a careful comparison and repair on 50 articles, especially if it will require adding new illustrations or modifying existing ones.  But it seems to me that there's a larger (and growing) population of LifeWiki users who can perfectly well review a particular Lexicon definition when they trip over a "needs Lexicon update" template header begging for help. Often it isn't too hard to find what needs changing, make the required edits, and remove the "needs Lexicon update" tag at the same time.


:# Decide on the "standard" size images in pattern infoboxes. Something like 256x256? That should be neither too big nor too small. (Whatever we decide on here should be kept in some configuration <tt>Template:</tt> so that if we decide to adjust it later, we'll only have to do so in one place.)
:::::Every one of these articles that someone picks up and fixes, is one that I don't have to do myself... and in the meantime, a half hour of work has already brought the LifeWiki more up to date, by specifically flagging the fact that there's newer information somewhere else that needs to be integrated into the article.  Seems like this might be a good habit to get into, for as long as the Life Lexicon is kept more or less in synch with current reality.
:# Rig [[Template:Pattern]] etc. to check for an RLE snippet by default, and use that to display an image if it exists; otherwise, fall back to the old way of displaying uploaded files.
:# Perhaps introduce a new template parameter to override this and force the display of a manually-uploaded image; I'm thinking of articles like [[26-cell quadratic growth]] there. Granted, that one doesn't have an RLE snippet anyway, but there might be situations where we want a "special" image.


:While we're at it we may also want to change the "View static image" and "View animated image" links in the infoboxes to also additionally link to the files' description pages; but that's not directly related.
:::::Sound reasonable?  And could you have a look at [[Template:NeedsLexiconUpdate]] and see if it has everything in it that this plan might need? [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 21:02, 20 July 2018 (UTC)


:Am I right, BTW, in assuming that NOGUI viewers will always auto-adjust to fit the pattern? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 21:12, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
::::::Redirect pages don't need any markers saying they're from a Lexicon entry -- do they?  I've been trying to rebuild some momentum by getting the remaining redirects done...  [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 21:57, 26 July 2018 (UTC)
::Yes, they use exactly the same rules as standard viewers. By default they will auto-adjust to fit the pattern but you can overrule this with script commands:
::{{LV:Viewer|b2o2b2o$3b2o$3b2o$obo2bobo$o6bo2$o6bo$b2o2b2o$2b4o2$3b2o$3b2o! [[ NOGUI NOCOPY THEME 6 GRID HEIGHT 128 WIDTH 128 ZOOM 4 X 10 ]]}} [[User:Rowett|Chris Rowett]] ([[User talk:Rowett|talk]]) 04:47, 16 August 2017 (UTC)


== 5s Project Transfer Possibility ==
:::::::Cool, good to see this is already progressing. Good job! :) I'm a little less swamped now, so I'll take a look at the Template'n all over the weekend.


I have been asked if it was possible for me to put the spaceships (in some format) from the 5s project on the forums here, so that everyone with a "trusted account" could edit and add new speeds or improve previous size records. Is this a feasible thing to do? If so how could this be implemented? I figured I'd ask here before doing anything.
:::::::No, I don't think redirect pages need markers. I don't consider these "content" in the strictest sense, in either the Lexicon or the LifeWiki --- they're just tools that help people ''find'' content.


:Should be quite doable &mdash; Collaborative editing is what wikis are all about, after all! I see you've already created [[User:AforAmpere/5sp1-10|a subpage in your userspace]] for this; I think that's indeed the best way to go about it. (The main article namespace, being mostly focussed on [[Conway Life]] and general CA-related glossary, would be a poor fit.)
:::::::[[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 08:31, 28 July 2018 (UTC)


:Have you seen [[LifeWiki:Game of Life Status page]], [[LifeWiki:Spaceship Search Status Page]] and [[User:Sokwe/Spaceship searches]]? These might provide some ideas as how to structure the 5s status page. (Personally, BTW, I'd just keep all periods on one page, and not create separate pages for p1-10, etc.)
== Object frequency classes ==


:If anyone wants to contribute but doesn't have the Trusted flag, just have them post in the [http://www.conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2300 "Massive spam attack" thread] (after creating an account on the wiki if necessary). All wiki admins can hand out the flag nowadays, so there shouldn't be too many delays.
I do apologize for my somewhat extended absence. That said, I had an idea (long ago actually) about adding information on the commonness of objects to pattern infoboxes, using data from Catagolue (specifically, B3/S23/C1).  


:(Also, for the benefit of anyone else reading this, the 5s project thread is [http://www.conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2892 here].)
I don't think saying "this still life is the 1,691th most common object on Catagolue" is useful, of course. What I'm proposing instead is the frequency class, defined as follows: a pattern is in frequency class X if the most commonly-occurring object (the [[block]], in this case) is 2<sup>X</sup> times more common. X need not be an integer; to strike a balance I'd suggest using one decimal digit.


:[[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 11:06, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
Let me give an example. The [[twin hat]] has appeared 240,372,408 times on Catagolue (as of this morning), whereas the block has appeared 71,146,901,659,666 times. So the block is approximately 295,986 &asymp; 2<sup>18.17517</sup> times more common, and the twin hat's frequency class is 18.2, rounded to one decimal digit.


::[[LifeWiki:Smallest Spaceships Supporting Specific Periods]] seems like the logical idea, since the other project pages are hosted in said namespace.
I think this is a fairly intuitive way of capturing commonness. An additional nice property is that if an object has occurred sufficiently often, its frequency class is unlikely to change much, if at all; this is true even for objects whose commonness is very similar and who might switch ranks regularly, with one or the other having occurred more often at any given moment. So once this information's added, we wouldn't need to edit it much, if at all ever.


::Personally I would prefer it if the project was laid out with different pages for each period, with each period being linked to from the page linked above; this way, periods could be "completed" (i.e. every single speed, direction, etc. combo of that period is known, and all examples have exactly 3 cells), and this could be clearly marked on the main page with the list of periods. I also had a much more complex idea, involving sorting the ships by direction and then perfectness of speed (c/n, 2c/n, 3c/n...), but I don't think a lot of people would like said idea. Also, I feel as though keeping every single spaceship on the one page (or three pages, assuming the direction categories will be separate) would get cluttered very easily, and not as easy to navigate as a list of periods.
Like I said, only sufficiently common objects should have this information added; there's too much uncertainty about the frequency class of an object that has only appeared once, say. I unfortunately lack the statistical background to suggest a good cut-off value ("objects should only have this information in their infoboxes if they have occurred at least ''n'' times"), but unless there are objections I'll add this, or at least do the necessary template work.


::- [[User:AwesoMan3000|AwesoMan3000]] ([[User talk:AwesoMan3000|talk]]) 12:36, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
...heck, I'll just go ahead and do it, it's been a while since I've edited anything here. If anyone thinks that this is a load of bull, please just speak up and say so. :) [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 17:56, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


::: Maybe it could combine those, as I said in the 5s thread, that it could be split into multiple pages, but with multiple periods on each page. Can the page be under the LifeWiki tag? I think [[LifeWiki:Smallest Spaceships Supporting Specific Speeds p1-10]] could work, making pages for each set of 10 or so periods, adjusting based on number of spaceships per period. I don't think putting a page for each period would be a good idea, as it would be way too many pages.
(P.S. --- although the block is the most common in B3/S23/C1, it isn't necessarily for other B3/S23 censuses; in some symmetries, the [[blinker]] is more common.)


:::- [[User:AforAmpere|AforAmpere]] ([[User talk:AforAmpere|talk]]) 15:49, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
:Replying to myself, I've started doing this; there is a new template parameter, <tt>fc=</tt>, currently only for [[Template:Stilllife]], [[Template:Oscillator]], [[Template:Spaceship]] and [[Template:Puffer]] (no other types of object have appeared on Catagolue anyway). I've also added a short glossary entry at [[Frequency class]], and added frequency calss data to a couple of object infoboxes, including all with FC &le; 10.0. The script used to generate the necessary data from Catagolue's [https://catagolue.appspot.com/textcensus/b3s23/C1/ textcensus] is this:


::::[[LifeWiki:Smallest Spaceships Supporting Specific Periods]] sounds good to me. If you want to break this up by individual period (or group of periods), I'd suggest using subpages of that page, e.g. [[LifeWiki:Smallest Spaceships Supporting Specific Periods/Period 1]] or [[LifeWiki:Smallest Spaceships Supporting Specific Periods/Period 1-10]] etc.
<pre>
#!/usr/bin/perl


::::Transclusion is not limited to templates, BTW, all pages can be transcluded, so the "main" page for this project could have both an overview, and then transclude its subpages so that viewing the "main" page would still give readers all information at one glance. The syntax for transclusion is e.g. <tt><nowiki>{{LifeWiki:Smallest Spaceships Supporting Specific Periods/Period 1}}</nowiki></tt> &mdash; same as for templates, except you have to explicitely give the namespace. It's also possible to use the usual template tags, such as <tt><nowiki>noinclude</nowiki></tt>, <tt><nowiki>includeonly</nowiki></tt> and <tt><nowiki>onlyinclude</nowiki></tt>, to control what does/doesn't get transcluded.
# usage eg.:
# perl ../frequencyclasses.pl b3s23.C1.txt >frequencyclasses.txt


::::My personal feeling is that unless you expect the page to grow very large (say, &gt;100 KB) this would be overkill, but I don't have a horse in this rodeo. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 10:52, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
use Modern::Perl '2016';


:::::This could potentially happen (even and especially to the smaller periods) if we include Larger than Life rules in the list. Are you sure you want to keep multiple periods grouped on the same page? - [[User:AwesoMan3000|AwesoMan3000]] ([[User talk:AwesoMan3000|talk]]) 20:36, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
# only patterns with more than $cutoff occurrences should be considered.
# mark all other patterns with an asterisk.
our $cutoff = 10;


== Newer DYK items ==
# throw away header line
<>;


There's been an influx of [[LifeWiki:Did you know archive|DYK items]] recently. I've not updated the count on the Main Page in a while, primarily because I'm not convinced they all belong on the list; I'd planned to simply postpone this for another while, but the question was raised [http://www.conwaylife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3040&start=0&p=49733&view=show#p49733 on the forums] earlier today, so here's my thoughts on the items not currently being shown (#92-100):
my %objects = ();
my $mostcommon = -1;
my $mostcommoncode = "";
while(<>) {
    chomp;
    next unless m/^"([^"]*)","(\d+)"$/;


:<nowiki>#92</nowiki> needs rewording; unless you already know what it's talking about, it really isn't very clear.
    my ($apgcode, $count) = ($1, $2);
:<nowiki>#93</nowiki> is fine.
    $objects{$apgcode} = $count;
:<nowiki>#94</nowiki> is fine.
:<nowiki>#95</nowiki> ... I don't even know. Certainly not worth a DYK item on the Main Page, IMO.
:<nowiki>#96</nowiki> needs an article describing the open question it's talking about.
:<nowiki>#97</nowiki> is fine.
:<nowiki>#98</nowiki> is fine.
:<nowiki>#99</nowiki> is fine. (But let us stop here and not fill half the list of DYK items with still life counts.)
:<nowiki>#100</nowiki> is definitely NOT fine with the [[Bugs]] article being in the state it's currently in. ([[User:AwesoMan3000]]: you started it, you finish it.)  


Also, re: #92 and #100, the LifeWiki (and by extension the DYK section) is primarily about Conway Life. General information relating to other classes of CAs is fine (such as #93), but I'm on the fence about adding DYK items on specific patterns/pattern families in other CAs. Where would we stop?
    if($count > $mostcommon) {
        $mostcommon = $count;
        $mostcommoncode = $apgcode;
    }
}


That's just MY two bits, of course. Thoughts? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 20:34, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
my %frequencies = ();
foreach my $apgcode (keys %objects) {
    my $frequencyclass = sprintf("%.1f", (log($mostcommon / $objects{$apgcode})) / log(2));
    $frequencies{$frequencyclass}->{$apgcode} = $objects{$apgcode};
}


: This matches my sense of the intended purpose of the LifeWiki.  It makes a lot of sense to -- for example -- list Life-like and isotropic rule strings and aliases on a user page somewhere, because that's a good place for people from the forums to do collaborative editing.  And for some specific rules like HighLife, which have old and deep connections to the Lifenthusiast community, it certainly doesn't hurt to have a page up on LifeWiki -- especially since you could say that it's doing a kind of compare-and-contrast, referring back to B3/S23 Life.
foreach my $frequency (sort { $a <=> $b } keys %frequencies) {
    foreach my $apgcode (sort { $frequencies{$frequency}->{$a} <=> $frequencies{$frequency}->{$b} } keys %{ $frequencies{$frequency} }) {
        print "*" if($frequencies{$frequency}->{$apgcode} <= $cutoff);
        say "$frequency\t $apgcode\t $frequencies{$frequency}->{$apgcode}";
    }
}
</pre>


: However, this is definitely the LifeWiki, not the CAWiki.  If someone wants to host a CAWiki somewhere else, that's certainly fine, but I'd rather not see just rare occasional miscellaneous non-B3/S23 CA items scattered randomly through all of the existing detailed B3/S23 content.  It seems like this is a problem not just for the Did You Knows, but for regular articles as well. Suppose you read under "Spaceship" that the maximum possible orthogonal speed is c/2, but then you go to the spaceships list and find a link to a lightspeed photon, and maybe another link to a 50c Larger Than Life spaceship.
:(I'm sure there's better ways of doing this, but this worked for me.) [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 18:52, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


: -- That seems like it's just plain going to be too confusing... and it will get more confusing as more non-B3/S23 articles and definitions are added.  Can we please just not go there?  User namespaces seem like a fine place to keep general CA content.  [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 00:19, 24 August 2017 (UTC)
::Another reply to myself --- [[User:Goldtiger997|Goldtiger997]] [http://conwaylife.com/w/index.php?title=Tumbler&curid=703&diff=46374&oldid=41650 suggested] a cut-off value of 10 (non-inclusive). This strikes me as sensible. So unless there's objections, how about we run with this, and only add frequency class information to objects having appeared more than 10 times?
:: Also I personally think we should mercilessly kill off most of the still-life-count Did You Knows, just as soon as we have more interesting trivia items to replace them with. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 00:22, 24 August 2017 (UTC)


:::That's probably sensible. They were interesting right after being computed, but they have not aged well, as it were.
::Also --- right now the information is [[Catagolue]]-specific, which is sensible but still somewhat arbitrary; if we want to include more information later (e.g. from Achim's, Andrzej's and Nathaniel's censuses, or from whatever future censuses people may come up with), we can easily adjust the infoboxes to include a new "Commonness" section, and re-interpret <tt>fc=</tt> as "'''f'''requency in '''[c]'''atagolue". [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 09:08, 2 September 2018 (UTC)


:::I've gone ahead and edited, deleted, and rearranged items as necessary, so right now the list (down to 92 items) looks OK to me. I've updated the DYK count on the Main Page, too.
:::Sounds good. However, I already broke my "suggestion" of the 10 occurence cut-off twice; for the [[Coe ship]] and [[Achim's p8]]. Is it worth removing the <tt>fc</tt> parameter for those two articles, or should they just be left as they are? [[User:Goldtiger997|Goldtiger997]] ([[User talk:Goldtiger997|talk]]) 09:26, 2 September 2018 (UTC)


:::More DYK items would be cool to have of course, so long as they're a) related to Conway Life and b) sufficiently interesting. Perhaps in the future, instead of just adding them right away, we should instead post them here on the Tiki bar for discussion first, to see what others think? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 10:21, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
::::I think we can grandfather those in --- would be good if you could keep an eye on them in case the information changes, of course, but it's just two articles, so that should be fine. I've also added the cutoff of &gt;10 to the script above; patterns not reaching that cutoff are marked with an asterisk. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 09:35, 2 September 2018 (UTC)


== Changing protection levels ==
==Infobox vs. EmbedViewer==
All this interminable Life Lexicon import work has been leading me to believe that there are two classes of articles that can use LifeViewer animations.  There are the named patterns, where if you say "Pattern X" there's really only one likely Pattern X that you could be referring to.  These get put into an infobox category, with appropriate statistics collected and so forth.  The most recent example of this kind of imported Lexicon article is [[line crosser]].


I've just changed the protection level on a number of pages, usually down from semi-protected (or, sometimes, fully protected) to unprotected. I should've perhaps discussed this here ''beforehand'' instead of afterward, but I tend to shoot from the hip. ;) However, I'd like to provide some reasons for this. The biggest and most important one is:
The other class of article is for a term that might refer to a variety of different patterns, so that there are various examples but no specific example should really be considered to be the one canonical one. In these cases I've been using an embedded viewer but haven't been bothering with an infobox.  The most recent examples along these lines are [[line-cutting reaction]] and [[line-mending reaction]].  I like the way these are turning out, but am curious to hear if anyone thinks that these should also be infoboxed somehow, or if anything else should be added as standard practice. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 09:45, 12 September 2018 (UTC)


# '''Lack of necessity'''. LifeWiki editing, these days, is already limited to trusted users who have to be approved by hand. Semi-protection, in particular, is pretty much entirely irrelevant as a result, and full protection isn't necessary either, at least where it's intended to protect against vandalism and other bad-faith edits.
:I think this is eminently sensible. Off the top of my head, aren't there a few articles that have infoboxes despite being about a family of patterns rather than a specific individual one? (Or patterns with variants, anyway --- the bee shuttles come to mind there.) I've never been quite sure how to handle those, though that's not limited to LifeViewer and embedded patterns: the same goes for other infobox'ed information, such as bounding box, population etc. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 07:54, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
#* Protection can also protect against innocent mistakes made by inexperienced editors, but I don't think we currently have anyone who's both a) very inexperienced (in particular, so inexperienced they do not know how to revert their own edits), and b) prone to editing complex templates etc.


There are other reasons:
::Yup, those are the ones where I find the infoboxes to be not-helpful.  Would suggest in those cases maybe just using an embedded viewer to show one of the family, or maybe a small stamp collection would be better.  The most recent example I dealt with was [[HFx58B]] from the Life Lexicon.  Rather than pick a variant, and/or leave out perfectly good information that the Lexicon had, I just threw caution to the winds and put both patterns in the same infobox, but picked the older variant to do the infobox stats about.  Probably this will puzzle somebody sometime, but sometimes Life can be confusing... [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 11:20, 13 September 2018 (UTC)


# '''Consistency'''. In a lot of cases, protection was not applied consistently, e.g. to pattern templates, pattern categories and so on; these would sometimes be semi-protected, sometimes fully protected, and sometimes not protected at all. It would have  been possible to apply semi- or full protection to all of them instead of unprotecting them, but the other reasons listed here made me prefer unprotection them.
== Semi-automated collection of raw RLE ==
# '''Ineffectiveness'''. This is a fairly big one, I think. The LifeWiki uses a lot of templates, e.g. for pattern categories. Without either protection on these templates, or cascading protection enabled on the transcluding categories, these categories could still be changed by editing these templates.
#* It would of course have been possible to instead protect all templates and categories, but see the next point.
# '''Maintainability''' (content). Although many categories etc. (e.g. [[:Category:Oscillators with volatility 0.55]]) may not have to change, we may well want to change e.g. the navbox used on that category in the future (say, to add new subcategories or related articles), and this shouldn't require an admin bit to do.
# '''Maintainability''' (infrastructure). As noted above, there wasn't a whole lot of consistency with regard to which templates/categories/articles were or weren't protected, and to which extent. Settling on semi-protection or full protection now would've fixed the lack of consistency for the moment, but would've required ongoing admin work to keep everything consistent.


(There may be other reasons that aren't on my mind right now.) All things considered I thought it was best to unprotect most of the (semi-)protected pages. Note that that's ''MOST'' &mdash; the [[Main Page]] is still protected of course, as are any pages it transcludes, a few guidelines, the ToS, some deep infrastructure templates that should never, ever change ([[Template:!]] and friends), and a few others I didn't feel 100% comfortable unprotecting right now. See [[Special:ProtectedPages]] for an overview of what's currently still protected. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 13:12, 27 August 2017 (UTC)
I now have a completed Python script -- working on my system, at least! -- that goes through all articles in the main namespace looking for pname definitions in infoboxes and embedded viewers. If it finds any defined pnames, it checks '''www.conwaylife.com/patterns/{pname}.rle'''; if a Not Found error comes back, it creates an appropriate file using RLE from '''conwaylife.com/w/index.php?title=RLE:{pname}&action=edit''', in a reasonably standard format including pname, discoverer and discovery year if available, and links to the relevant article and the RLE file itself.


== Strict volatility ==
On the last pass the script found 190 missing RLE files in the main namespace.  These have now been uploaded to the server and added to all.zip.  You can sort the contents of all.zip by date to see the new additions.  Since this was a mostly automated process, the script may have picked up a few patterns that shouldn't really be part of the collection.  If anyone wants to do a quick independent review, I'd appreciate it!


[[Template:Oscillator]] now supports an <tt>sv=</tt> parameter for an oscillator's [[strict volatility]] (i.e. the share of cells oscillating at the full period).
I think this will make the process of getting RLE uploaded to the server a lot easier for non-admins.  If raw RLE is created in the RLE: namespace, and is used in a pattern infobox or an embedded viewer, then it will make it to the all.zip collection eventually. To give time for new raw-RLE additions to be peer-reviewed, I would think this script would only be run quarterly or so, with the resulting new RLE files sent as a ZIP file to Nathaniel to do a bulk upload to the server.  There shouldn't be any problem with good files getting overwritten with bad ones, since the script only generates an RLE file if no existing file is found.


This is set automatically for all oscillators of prime period. (Prime periods are checked using [[Template:isPrime]], which currently only goes up to 1000, but we don't have articles on oscillators with higher periods than that anyway.) For other oscillators it should be specified manually, and I've done this for every oscillator entry we currenlty have. When creating a new article, editors can use e.g. [[Oscillizer]]:
It occurs to me that another semi-automated survey might be looking for articles with nofile=true, that do in fact now have raw RLE and/or uploaded RLE files. I'll try adjusting the script to include any such files it finds in its final report. It's a little trickier to automatically update all such "nofile = true" to say "rle = true" instead -- it's doable, but it needs a different kind of automation.


:[[File:Oscillizer pseudobarberpoleonrattlesnake.png]]
Thoughts, suggestions, worries, bug reports?  I'll add a link here to the RLE-scraper Python script when I've made it available on GitHub.  [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 14:21, 23 October 2018 (UTC)
: [https://github.com/dvgrn/b3s23life/tree/master/lifewiki-rlescraper Link!] [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 00:58, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
:: The next item on the RLE-scraper script TODO list will be to check for raw-RLE {pname}_synth files, and upload them if they aren't already there. Longer term, the script can make a report of any differences it finds between files already on the server and the current contents of the RLE: namespace.  Probably best not to upload changed files automatically -- it seems worth having a human review any changes, and take the time to revert any changes that aren't approved for upload to the pattern collection. [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 10:46, 25 October 2018 (UTC)


Just like regular volatility, this should be given as a regular fraction rather than a percentage, and rounded to two decimal digits, so "strict: 1.10%" would become <tt>|v=0.01</tt>. New categories should be created as needed, using [[Template:OscillatorStrictVolatility]] to fill in category pages as follows: <tt><nowiki>{{OscillatorStrictVolatility|sv=0.55}}</nowiki></tt>. The tracking category for oscillators with unknown (unspecified) strict volatility is [[:Category:Oscillators with unknown strict volatility]].
== Oscillator mods ==


One note: some oscillators have very small strict volatilities that would round to 0.00, but I thought it was important to only display strict volatility as zero if it really is ''exactly'' zero. I've therefore used three decimal digits (rounded, again) instead of two on those pages where using two would round to 0.00. If we want to stick to exactly two decimal digits we could instead round to 0.01 in those cases.
I noticed that all the recently created oscillator pages from the latest Lexicon update (example: [[p29 pentadecathlon hassler]]) have their mods listed along with their periods even if they're equal. Is it agreed upon that this should be the case? Because if so I can go through the [[:Category:Oscillators with unknown mod|unknown mod]] list later and add in all the mods if no one objects to it. [[User:Ian07|Ian07]] ([[User talk:Ian07|talk]]) 14:53, 28 October 2018 (UTC)


(FWIW, although we have no entries on oscillators with a non-strict volatility below [[:Category:Oscillators with volatility 0.08|0.08]], how are we handling this for volatilities approaching one? Do we always round down for oscillators with non-empty stators, or do we not care about distinguishing true statorless oscillators from nearly statorless ones?) [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 16:53, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
: I can't claim to have made a really deliberate decision to include the mod when it's the same as the period -- I was just blindly filling in values in the oscillator template I was using. I don't have any objection to listing both period and mod, but let's see if anyone else has a different opinion. Many thanks for all the cleanup work you've been doing recently, by the way! [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 17:04, 1 November 2018 (UTC)


== Pentadecathlon IDs for strict still lifes ==
:: Just to chime in --- I think listing both the period and the mod is valuable even if they match. Otherwise, if an infobox doesn't have mod information, a user won't know if that's because we haven't filled in the info or because it's the same as the period.


All our [[:Category:Strict still lifes|strict still lifes]] now list Pentadecathlon IDs in their infoboxes, assuming of course they ''are'' in the pentadecathlon.com database. The relevant parameter, <tt>pentadecathlonid=</tt>, was introduced a while ago already, but not widely used until now.
:: And I agree, thanks are due to Ian07 for all the clean-ups and other work. MediaWiki has barn (heh) stars; do we have something similar? Maybe we should. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 21:01, 3 November 2018 (UTC)


Strict still lifes lacking this field are tracked in [[:Category:Still lifes with no Pentadecathlon ID]]. Right now, it contains the following nine entries, all of which are not present in the PD database:
== Conduit orientations ==


* [[Cis-mirrored worm siamese cis-mirrored worm]]
Quick question, y'all: is "T" a standard designation for a "turned" conduit output orientation? I'm asking because of [http://conwaylife.com/w/index.php?title=Template:Conduit&curid=11630&diff=48592&oldid=45674 this edit] to [[Template:Conduit]] --- I lack the expertise whether this is standard terminology or not.
* [[Cloverleaf interchange]]
* [[Cthulhu]]
* [[Eater 3]]
* [[Eater 4]]
* [[House on house siamese table-on-table weld hat-siamese-hat]]
* [[Omnibus with tubs]]
* [[Professor]]
* [[Very^9 long boat]]


Other objects also can and should receive Pentadecathlon IDs. (Anyone up for the task?)
If it is, it should be documented in the template. [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 21:27, 3 November 2018 (UTC)


There is an implicit assumption in all this that the IDs given on PD are stable. They should be for still lifes up to 24 bits, which are completely enumerated on the site, but Heinrich's [http://www.pentadecathlon.com/objects/definitions/definitions.php Definitions] page, which talks about creating sorted lists of objects, has me wondering if larger objects might end up getting renumbered when -- if -- the site's DB ever gets updated with the exhaustive lists of still lifes up to 32 bits computed by Simon Ekström, Nathaniel Johnston and me. The LifeWiki doesn't have too many articles on larger still lifes however (...yet!), so in the event that this should happen these could easily be updated.
: Similarly, [http://conwaylife.com/w/index.php?title=Template%3AConduit%2FDoc&diff=50590&oldid=44902 this edit] to [[Template:Conduit/Doc]] doesn't seen to be adding anything useful to the page. As I've just started here I'm a bit hesitant to go around rolling back changes to Template pages though. [[User:Wildmyron|Wildmyron]] ([[User talk:Wildmyron|talk]]) 03:31, 12 December 2018 (UTC)


The <tt>pentadecathlonid=</tt> parameter is also used to link to PD's object synthesis pages, so as a side effect a lot more information re: using objects as sources for/results of reactions is now readily accessible from the LifeWiki. Linking to Mark Niemiec's DB remains an open question; the [http://conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec/lifesrch.htm Life Search] page works locally using Javascript. (Any ideas on how we could tackle this?) [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 14:53, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
== Categories and User Pages ==
Entity Valkyrie has been using pattern templates on user pages, causing those user pages to show up in [[:category:patterns]] and other categories.  It is my opinion that patterns on user pages should not be included in the categories. One way to fix this would be to detect the namespace of the page that the pattern template is being used on. Something like the following:


== "Forum Username" on "Person" Template? ==
<code><nowiki>{{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACE}}|User||[[category:patterns]]}}</nowiki></code>


What about a "forum username" section on the person template? Maybe there could be a "Identifiers" dropdown? So [[Dave Greene]];s would be "dvgrn" and so on. {{Unsigned|Saka}}
This would categorize a non-user page as a pattern, but would do nothing on a user page.


:This would be possible, sure, but: why? [[User:Apple Bottom|Apple Bottom]] ([[User talk:Apple Bottom|talk]]) 21:45, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
Are there any objections to this proposal?  Comments?<br/>~[[User:Sokwe|Sokwe]] 08:11, 2 December 2018 (UTC)
: I like that plan, especially if someone else implements it who is less likely than me to break templates.  I've been trying to keep user namespace stuff out of the main namespace in general, with fairly good success so far I think -- but I don't usually go in and edit things like categories when a page moves from the main namespace to the User namespace.  [[User:Dvgrn|Dvgrn]] ([[User talk:Dvgrn|talk]]) 11:53, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

Revision as of 03:31, 12 December 2018

Taka Tiki Break

Welcome, one and all, to the Tiki bar! This page is used to discuss the technical issues, policies, and operations of the LifeWiki. Or just sit down, relax, and enjoy a cocktail.

Welcome to the Tiki bar

Wikipedia has the Village pump, Wiktionary has the Beer parlour, but the LifeWiki's lacked a central page for discussion so far other than User talk:Nathaniel. So I took the liberty to create the Tiki bar to facilitate discussion in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Welcome! Apple Bottom (talk) 11:09, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Archived discussions

Note: active discussions are never archived while still active.

Conduits and converters

I'm gradually gathering the necessary courage to tackle the new Life Lexicon items that start with "P". Looks like one of the big things I should do is to carefully figure out how to make proper use of Template:Reflector, but in this modern LifeViewer age I don't think I agree with the part about "The image in this infobox should NOT include the glider that is to be reflected...".

Seems to me these template recommendations should be updated to say something like "The image in this infobox should include the glider that is to be reflected -- optionally, two input gliders separated by the mechanism's minimum recovery time, and an output glider if that allows a smoother animation. However, the bounding box and population count should be calculated with these gliders removed."

It would actually be pretty annoying to provide RLE of a reflector and not at least show where the input is supposed to go. When copying and pasting one of these to use in a larger construction, it's usually pretty handy to have some kind of marker for where the the input goes and where the output comes from -- thus the ghost Herschels in recently added Herschel conduits.

[Ideally the marks are state-4 LifeHistory so you don't have to edit them out after pasting -- but we should probably stick with simple 2-state Life patterns on the LifeWiki and not open the LifeHistory can of worms.]

... And we can probably get rid of Template:Reflector/Doc while we're at it, no?

Before I start this I'll definitely undertake to review all the existing converters and reflectors and conduits -- there are a bunch with raw RLE and/or uploaded pattern files missing. That's relatively easy to fix, once we have an official decision about whether and how to show inputs and outputs. I'm currently puzzled by the mysterious Template:ConduitInput and Template:ConverterInputOutput. Not that that's surprising -- I'm easily confused by all this wiki template trickery. Dvgrn (talk) 15:26, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

I agree that reflector patterns should include the input glider. I'm the one who originally wrote that they shouldn't, and I'm not really sure why anymore. It can't have been very good reasoning, because I completely disagree with it now.
~Sokwe 07:08, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
Template:Reflector/Doc also asks users not to put animated images on pages, instead suggesting that one should "consider using a static image of the reflector with a caption that links to the animation". I think this does not match the general current LifeWiki practice regarding animated images, or generally animated content. Should we reconsider? Apple Bottom (talk) 05:25, 7 June 2018 (UTC)
It does seem to me that we have a developing consensus that LifeViewer-based illustrations are a good way to go. There are quite a few Help documents and templates that were written long before the advent of LifeViewer. I'd love to have the Help actually explain to a new user how exactly to add RLE to the RLE namespace, how to get that RLE to show up in an infobox or an embedded viewer, how to adjust the LifeViewer config so that animations (if any) look good, etc. It will take a while to get all the docs updated, no doubt. My edit yesterday was just a first attempt to start chipping away at the problem. Dvgrn (talk) 14:48, 7 June 2018 (UTC)
Definitely agree! Unfortunately writing documentation is one of things I'm hopelessly.. well, hopeless at. ;) Apple Bottom (talk) 10:33, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Lexicon tags

Many of our articles (glossary, in particular) are based on, or at least synced with, Life Lexicon content. This creates a need to update these articles when the Lexicon changes.

Some of that has been handled in an ad-hoc manner on my userpage, but the process is fairly involved: look at the project page, find an article to work on, make sure it needs to be worked on, make the necessary edits, make the necessary changes to the project page to reflect the fact you edited the article.

It's also not easily found by newcomers who may want to help out. (OK, I'll admit, there likely aren't droves of eager newcomers to begin with, but that nonwithstanding, if you don't know said page exists you're not going to find it easily.)

So I was thinking, can't we improve on this? And I just had the idea of tagging articles themselves instead, indicating which version of the Lexicon they correspond to.

The Nethack wiki does something similar; for instance, take a look at their Foodless article, and you'll find that it has an indicator at the top right saying that the page reflects Nethack 3.4.3 (rather than the current 3.6.1), generated by this template.

We could use something similar. There wouldn't necessarily have to be a visible indicator (though there could be); at the very least, though, pages could be tracked in appropriate categories, and we'd know at a glance what needs to be updated (or at least reviewed) and what's current.

This way, all edits would be in one place: review an article and make edits as necessary, and also update the tag to indicate it now reflects a newer Lexicon version. And placing those tracking categories into an appropriate supercategory and placing that in the existing category tree in turn would allow editors interested in helping out find articles in need of review.

There would be two downsides. a) most of the Lexicon doesn't change in each Lexicon release, so we'd have a lot of articles tagged as (say) reflecting v28 when in fact they're also current, by virtue of not having changed since v28. And b) we wouldn't easily be able to see which articles are missing from the wiki entirely.

I still feel that this would be an improvement though, and there's no reason we couldn't combine these tags with a manually-curated project page to get the best of both worlds.

Also, re: downside a) specifically, I think this could be dealt with by also having an indicator on the wiki saying which Lexicon release is current; pages that haven't been tagged as reflecting the current version would then display a gentle, unobtrusive note, and anyone viewing such a page could quickly check that it does indeed match the current Lexicon release, and update the tag if so.

Thoughts? Apple Bottom (talk) 07:49, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

This seems like a fine idea to me. As far as downside a) goes, I think that the last year of Life Lexicon updates is highly unusual, since it involved catching up after over a decade of no maintenance at all.
The standard editing methodology for new Lexicon releases is to maintain a Changes section at the top of the raw Lexicon text file, carefully listing every "added" or "edited" entry since the last release, by name. Nobody is supposed to edit a Lexicon definition without updating the change log. This should make it trivial to find missing articles, and hopefully should also allow an easy update to the tags. Every Lexicon entry that's not listed in the change log can be automatically bumped to the latest lexicon release.
That's a lot of small changes to a lot of articles with every Lexicon release, though. Does it make sense to have the default Lexicon tag be just Template:LexiconLatest or some such, with a template to display on the page whatever the latest Lexicon release number actually is?
Then, for the next Lexicon release (30), we can just update the (relatively small) list of changed definitions to say "Release 29" -- and then after each definition is reviewed and patched, the tag is updated at the same time, back to Template:LexiconLatest? Dvgrn (talk) 22:15, 18 July 2018 (UTC)
I suppose that would work, but it's pretty much the opposite of what I was trying to accomplish. ;) I was thinking of this as a status checkbox of sorts where editors would check off that yes, this article has been reviewed for Life Lexicon release 30 or 50 or whatever, and any articles that lacked that virtual checkmark would automatically be herded and available for review and/or updating, as necessary.
Having a "LexiconLatest" tag instead would mean checkmarks that check themselves, by default, and that we'd then have to go and un-check. That's not so different from the current approach, with my TODO page.
But you raise a good point. We have a log of Life Lexicon changes, and once we're actually caught up with the Lexicon in general all we'd have to do is keep an eye on those. Hmmm.
Here's a thought, admittedly a rather complicated one. How about we do both? That is to say, how about a tag template that has both an explicit parameter and uses a default "low watermark", displaying the higher of both?
The explicit parameter would be used by editors to indicate that a page has been reviewed/updated to reflect a certain Lexicon release; the "low watermark" (kept in a template of its own) would be updated by us whenever we're sure that every Lexicon-related entry reflects a certain Lexicon version.
For instance, assume that all our articles conform to Lexicon release 30. Suppose that release 31 comes out now. We then go through the changelog, edit all articles that need updating, and after that's done, we conclude that no further changes are necessary, and bump the "low watermark" to 31, thus causing all articles (that reference the Lexicon) to declare that they match release 31.
One advantage of this would be that we'd still see when an article was last explicitly reviewed. For instance, an article might say it reflects Lexicon release 31, but the "version=" parameter might still say it was last reviewed for 28. If nothing else, this would make it easier to spot articles that haven't been reviewed for a long time and where discrepancies might've crept in.
Another idea: we've already got Template:LinkLexicon to link to Lexicon entries. We could repurpose this to also additionally display a tag, which would save us the need to edit 831 articles just to add a tagging template.
Apple Bottom (talk) 07:50, 19 July 2018 (UTC)
This all seems reasonable to me -- especially sneaking a displayed tag into Template:LinkLexicon. Now that Golly 3.2 and Release 29 are safely out the door, I'm sorta kinda planning to get back to work on the LifeWiki ToDo list for Lexicon updates, with the intention of getting everything up to date eventually -- hopefully well before Release 30 comes along to confuse things any more. We already have some kind of a tracking system set up for Release 28 and 29, so maybe it makes sense to keep using that, and design the new template/tag system to really come into use once everything has been updated to Release 29.
So in early 2019, if we end up with a list of say fifty articles that have changes for Lexicon Release 30, my thought would be to update just those fifty articles to specifically say "Release 29" (however we decide to do that exactly -- maybe with a template saying "this article is out of date, please help out by updating it"?). Then bump up the "low watermark" to 30 right away. As articles get updated, the "please help" template can get removed again with the same edit. Does that work? Dvgrn (talk) 18:49, 19 July 2018 (UTC)
OK, cool. :) Good to hear you'll have some time to devote to the Lexicon-to-LifeWiki TODO list. I'm not able to put in much effort there myself --- too much studying, too many exams. Ah well.
Re: marking e.g. fifty articles as needing updates and everything as conforming to e.g. release 30 by default --- that would be a lot easier if we had Lua scripting available! MediaWiki's templates only go so far and aren't really meant for pushing lots of structured data around.
Our options there would include at least the following:
  1. Manually edit each of those 50 articles (e.g. by setting an extra template parameter) to override the "low watermark". Not ideal --- we might as well just edit those 50 articles to update them if we're already editing them anyway.
  2. Provide a global "kill switch" for the low watermark that, when set, causes the low watermark to be ignored. Pages explicitely listing a conforming Lexicon release would then display that instead, so those 50 "release 29" articles would show up in the right category, etc. Also not ideal --- there might be many other articles that would also have the explicit "reviewed for release 29" tag, or older tags at that, which would NOT need to be updated.
  3. Keep a list of those 50 articles, and rig the template to display a notice if the title of the transcluding page happens to be on that list. Also not ideal --- we'd have to curate that list, and as I said, MediaWiki templates aren't really meant for this sort of thing.
Maybe there's another solution I'm not seeing, though.
That said I also have a feeling we're trying to overengineer the solution, though, or perhaps attacking the problem from the wrong angle. After all, what do we want to do? Keep the LifeWiki current as far as Lexicon content goes. How do we achieve that? By importing Lexicon as necessary, and (once done) keeping an eye on changes made to the Lexicon and mirroring them on the wiki (again, as necessary). And how do we do that? By rolling up our sleeves and working on it. Fancy templates and tagging nonwithstanding we won't get anywhere if we don't just jump in and do it.
(And by "we", I mean whoever's willing to do that job.)
Apple Bottom (talk) 18:16, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
Re: overengineering... yeah, offhand I don't see a better solution than the first one: manually edit 50 articles, copying and pasting the same "stub"-like template marker in as a header. This is a bit tedious, but that's what multiple browser tabs are for, and it can be done pretty easily in half an hour or so. The idea is that we can make a little bit of effort to spread the update work around. (Here "we" means the small group of people who have done the work so far -- a small group because it's kind of tricky to do everything right, so not many people have figured out all the fiddly details.)
I can add "needs Lexicon update" headers to 50 articles in half an hour, but I sure can't do a careful comparison and repair on 50 articles, especially if it will require adding new illustrations or modifying existing ones. But it seems to me that there's a larger (and growing) population of LifeWiki users who can perfectly well review a particular Lexicon definition when they trip over a "needs Lexicon update" template header begging for help. Often it isn't too hard to find what needs changing, make the required edits, and remove the "needs Lexicon update" tag at the same time.
Every one of these articles that someone picks up and fixes, is one that I don't have to do myself... and in the meantime, a half hour of work has already brought the LifeWiki more up to date, by specifically flagging the fact that there's newer information somewhere else that needs to be integrated into the article. Seems like this might be a good habit to get into, for as long as the Life Lexicon is kept more or less in synch with current reality.
Sound reasonable? And could you have a look at Template:NeedsLexiconUpdate and see if it has everything in it that this plan might need? Dvgrn (talk) 21:02, 20 July 2018 (UTC)
Redirect pages don't need any markers saying they're from a Lexicon entry -- do they? I've been trying to rebuild some momentum by getting the remaining redirects done... Dvgrn (talk) 21:57, 26 July 2018 (UTC)
Cool, good to see this is already progressing. Good job! :) I'm a little less swamped now, so I'll take a look at the Template'n all over the weekend.
No, I don't think redirect pages need markers. I don't consider these "content" in the strictest sense, in either the Lexicon or the LifeWiki --- they're just tools that help people find content.
Apple Bottom (talk) 08:31, 28 July 2018 (UTC)

Object frequency classes

I do apologize for my somewhat extended absence. That said, I had an idea (long ago actually) about adding information on the commonness of objects to pattern infoboxes, using data from Catagolue (specifically, B3/S23/C1).

I don't think saying "this still life is the 1,691th most common object on Catagolue" is useful, of course. What I'm proposing instead is the frequency class, defined as follows: a pattern is in frequency class X if the most commonly-occurring object (the block, in this case) is 2X times more common. X need not be an integer; to strike a balance I'd suggest using one decimal digit.

Let me give an example. The twin hat has appeared 240,372,408 times on Catagolue (as of this morning), whereas the block has appeared 71,146,901,659,666 times. So the block is approximately 295,986 ≈ 218.17517 times more common, and the twin hat's frequency class is 18.2, rounded to one decimal digit.

I think this is a fairly intuitive way of capturing commonness. An additional nice property is that if an object has occurred sufficiently often, its frequency class is unlikely to change much, if at all; this is true even for objects whose commonness is very similar and who might switch ranks regularly, with one or the other having occurred more often at any given moment. So once this information's added, we wouldn't need to edit it much, if at all ever.

Like I said, only sufficiently common objects should have this information added; there's too much uncertainty about the frequency class of an object that has only appeared once, say. I unfortunately lack the statistical background to suggest a good cut-off value ("objects should only have this information in their infoboxes if they have occurred at least n times"), but unless there are objections I'll add this, or at least do the necessary template work.

...heck, I'll just go ahead and do it, it's been a while since I've edited anything here. If anyone thinks that this is a load of bull, please just speak up and say so. :) Apple Bottom (talk) 17:56, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

(P.S. --- although the block is the most common in B3/S23/C1, it isn't necessarily for other B3/S23 censuses; in some symmetries, the blinker is more common.)

Replying to myself, I've started doing this; there is a new template parameter, fc=, currently only for Template:Stilllife, Template:Oscillator, Template:Spaceship and Template:Puffer (no other types of object have appeared on Catagolue anyway). I've also added a short glossary entry at Frequency class, and added frequency calss data to a couple of object infoboxes, including all with FC ≤ 10.0. The script used to generate the necessary data from Catagolue's textcensus is this:
#!/usr/bin/perl

# usage eg.:
# perl ../frequencyclasses.pl b3s23.C1.txt >frequencyclasses.txt

use Modern::Perl '2016';

# only patterns with more than $cutoff occurrences should be considered.
# mark all other patterns with an asterisk.
our $cutoff = 10;

# throw away header line
<>;

my %objects = ();
my $mostcommon = -1;
my $mostcommoncode = "";
while(<>) {
    chomp;
    next unless m/^"([^"]*)","(\d+)"$/;

    my ($apgcode, $count) = ($1, $2);
    $objects{$apgcode} = $count;

    if($count > $mostcommon) {
        $mostcommon = $count;
        $mostcommoncode = $apgcode;
    }
}

my %frequencies = ();
foreach my $apgcode (keys %objects) {
    my $frequencyclass = sprintf("%.1f", (log($mostcommon / $objects{$apgcode})) / log(2));
    $frequencies{$frequencyclass}->{$apgcode} = $objects{$apgcode};
}

foreach my $frequency (sort { $a <=> $b } keys %frequencies) {
    foreach my $apgcode (sort { $frequencies{$frequency}->{$a} <=> $frequencies{$frequency}->{$b} } keys %{ $frequencies{$frequency} }) {
        print "*" if($frequencies{$frequency}->{$apgcode} <= $cutoff);
        say "$frequency\t $apgcode\t $frequencies{$frequency}->{$apgcode}";
    }
}
(I'm sure there's better ways of doing this, but this worked for me.) Apple Bottom (talk) 18:52, 1 September 2018 (UTC)
Another reply to myself --- Goldtiger997 suggested a cut-off value of 10 (non-inclusive). This strikes me as sensible. So unless there's objections, how about we run with this, and only add frequency class information to objects having appeared more than 10 times?
Also --- right now the information is Catagolue-specific, which is sensible but still somewhat arbitrary; if we want to include more information later (e.g. from Achim's, Andrzej's and Nathaniel's censuses, or from whatever future censuses people may come up with), we can easily adjust the infoboxes to include a new "Commonness" section, and re-interpret fc= as "frequency in [c]atagolue". Apple Bottom (talk) 09:08, 2 September 2018 (UTC)
Sounds good. However, I already broke my "suggestion" of the 10 occurence cut-off twice; for the Coe ship and Achim's p8. Is it worth removing the fc parameter for those two articles, or should they just be left as they are? Goldtiger997 (talk) 09:26, 2 September 2018 (UTC)
I think we can grandfather those in --- would be good if you could keep an eye on them in case the information changes, of course, but it's just two articles, so that should be fine. I've also added the cutoff of >10 to the script above; patterns not reaching that cutoff are marked with an asterisk. Apple Bottom (talk) 09:35, 2 September 2018 (UTC)

Infobox vs. EmbedViewer

All this interminable Life Lexicon import work has been leading me to believe that there are two classes of articles that can use LifeViewer animations. There are the named patterns, where if you say "Pattern X" there's really only one likely Pattern X that you could be referring to. These get put into an infobox category, with appropriate statistics collected and so forth. The most recent example of this kind of imported Lexicon article is line crosser.

The other class of article is for a term that might refer to a variety of different patterns, so that there are various examples but no specific example should really be considered to be the one canonical one. In these cases I've been using an embedded viewer but haven't been bothering with an infobox. The most recent examples along these lines are line-cutting reaction and line-mending reaction. I like the way these are turning out, but am curious to hear if anyone thinks that these should also be infoboxed somehow, or if anything else should be added as standard practice. Dvgrn (talk) 09:45, 12 September 2018 (UTC)

I think this is eminently sensible. Off the top of my head, aren't there a few articles that have infoboxes despite being about a family of patterns rather than a specific individual one? (Or patterns with variants, anyway --- the bee shuttles come to mind there.) I've never been quite sure how to handle those, though that's not limited to LifeViewer and embedded patterns: the same goes for other infobox'ed information, such as bounding box, population etc. Apple Bottom (talk) 07:54, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
Yup, those are the ones where I find the infoboxes to be not-helpful. Would suggest in those cases maybe just using an embedded viewer to show one of the family, or maybe a small stamp collection would be better. The most recent example I dealt with was HFx58B from the Life Lexicon. Rather than pick a variant, and/or leave out perfectly good information that the Lexicon had, I just threw caution to the winds and put both patterns in the same infobox, but picked the older variant to do the infobox stats about. Probably this will puzzle somebody sometime, but sometimes Life can be confusing... Dvgrn (talk) 11:20, 13 September 2018 (UTC)

Semi-automated collection of raw RLE

I now have a completed Python script -- working on my system, at least! -- that goes through all articles in the main namespace looking for pname definitions in infoboxes and embedded viewers. If it finds any defined pnames, it checks www.conwaylife.com/patterns/{pname}.rle; if a Not Found error comes back, it creates an appropriate file using RLE from conwaylife.com/w/index.php?title=RLE:{pname}&action=edit, in a reasonably standard format including pname, discoverer and discovery year if available, and links to the relevant article and the RLE file itself.

On the last pass the script found 190 missing RLE files in the main namespace. These have now been uploaded to the server and added to all.zip. You can sort the contents of all.zip by date to see the new additions. Since this was a mostly automated process, the script may have picked up a few patterns that shouldn't really be part of the collection. If anyone wants to do a quick independent review, I'd appreciate it!

I think this will make the process of getting RLE uploaded to the server a lot easier for non-admins. If raw RLE is created in the RLE: namespace, and is used in a pattern infobox or an embedded viewer, then it will make it to the all.zip collection eventually. To give time for new raw-RLE additions to be peer-reviewed, I would think this script would only be run quarterly or so, with the resulting new RLE files sent as a ZIP file to Nathaniel to do a bulk upload to the server. There shouldn't be any problem with good files getting overwritten with bad ones, since the script only generates an RLE file if no existing file is found.

It occurs to me that another semi-automated survey might be looking for articles with nofile=true, that do in fact now have raw RLE and/or uploaded RLE files. I'll try adjusting the script to include any such files it finds in its final report. It's a little trickier to automatically update all such "nofile = true" to say "rle = true" instead -- it's doable, but it needs a different kind of automation.

Thoughts, suggestions, worries, bug reports? I'll add a link here to the RLE-scraper Python script when I've made it available on GitHub. Dvgrn (talk) 14:21, 23 October 2018 (UTC)

Link! Dvgrn (talk) 00:58, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
The next item on the RLE-scraper script TODO list will be to check for raw-RLE {pname}_synth files, and upload them if they aren't already there. Longer term, the script can make a report of any differences it finds between files already on the server and the current contents of the RLE: namespace. Probably best not to upload changed files automatically -- it seems worth having a human review any changes, and take the time to revert any changes that aren't approved for upload to the pattern collection. Dvgrn (talk) 10:46, 25 October 2018 (UTC)

Oscillator mods

I noticed that all the recently created oscillator pages from the latest Lexicon update (example: p29 pentadecathlon hassler) have their mods listed along with their periods even if they're equal. Is it agreed upon that this should be the case? Because if so I can go through the unknown mod list later and add in all the mods if no one objects to it. Ian07 (talk) 14:53, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

I can't claim to have made a really deliberate decision to include the mod when it's the same as the period -- I was just blindly filling in values in the oscillator template I was using. I don't have any objection to listing both period and mod, but let's see if anyone else has a different opinion. Many thanks for all the cleanup work you've been doing recently, by the way! Dvgrn (talk) 17:04, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
Just to chime in --- I think listing both the period and the mod is valuable even if they match. Otherwise, if an infobox doesn't have mod information, a user won't know if that's because we haven't filled in the info or because it's the same as the period.
And I agree, thanks are due to Ian07 for all the clean-ups and other work. MediaWiki has barn (heh) stars; do we have something similar? Maybe we should. Apple Bottom (talk) 21:01, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Conduit orientations

Quick question, y'all: is "T" a standard designation for a "turned" conduit output orientation? I'm asking because of this edit to Template:Conduit --- I lack the expertise whether this is standard terminology or not.

If it is, it should be documented in the template. Apple Bottom (talk) 21:27, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Similarly, this edit to Template:Conduit/Doc doesn't seen to be adding anything useful to the page. As I've just started here I'm a bit hesitant to go around rolling back changes to Template pages though. Wildmyron (talk) 03:31, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

Categories and User Pages

Entity Valkyrie has been using pattern templates on user pages, causing those user pages to show up in category:patterns and other categories. It is my opinion that patterns on user pages should not be included in the categories. One way to fix this would be to detect the namespace of the page that the pattern template is being used on. Something like the following:

{{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACE}}|User||[[category:patterns]]}}

This would categorize a non-user page as a pattern, but would do nothing on a user page.

Are there any objections to this proposal? Comments?
~Sokwe 08:11, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

I like that plan, especially if someone else implements it who is less likely than me to break templates. I've been trying to keep user namespace stuff out of the main namespace in general, with fairly good success so far I think -- but I don't usually go in and edit things like categories when a page moves from the main namespace to the User namespace. Dvgrn (talk) 11:53, 2 December 2018 (UTC)