Pattern viewer for forum threads

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 5th, 2019, 12:23 pm

muzik wrote:Since all the settings and options are split off into their own sorts of pages now, and since there's more room as a result, could the button names be expanded a bit so they're more descriptive of what they do?
Yes, done for next build.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 6th, 2019, 4:01 pm

Zooming out farther than 1.0 makes patterns with invalid rules just completely disappear

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 6th, 2019, 4:49 pm

muzik wrote:Zooming out farther than 1.0 makes patterns with invalid rules just completely disappear
True. It's low priority on the backlog.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 6th, 2019, 4:53 pm

LifeViewer is not great to use on a smartphone or tablet since it's very small and the buttons are hard to press.

Please will anyone who uses LifeViewer on a smartphone, tablet, or high DPI monitor try out this build.

Click on "View Standalone" above one of the patterns and the PopUp Viewer will appear.

LifeViewer will scale the PopUp Viewer so it is bigger on high DPI displays.

Please let me know whether a) it works on your device and b) is useful.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 7th, 2019, 4:02 am

I think the title bar at the top takes up a bit much space.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 7th, 2019, 5:23 am

muzik wrote:I think the title bar at the top takes up a bit much space.
Thanks for the feedback.

Please will you let me know which device you used and also the values for Scale and Pixel Ratio in Help->Display.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 7th, 2019, 3:58 pm

iPad Air 2, 1.00, 2.00.

I'll try the build out later on the android phone I was forced to get.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 8th, 2019, 3:36 am

Build 401 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

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

Enhancements since the last released build:
  • Settings menu buttons are now more descriptive
  • new Settings menu Display setting: Auto Grid (hotkey Ctrl+"G")
    • turns on grid lines when switching to Draw and Select modes
    • turns off grid lines when switching to Pan mode
  • new Settings menu Pattern action: New Pattern (hotkey Alt+"N")
    • creates a new empty pattern
  • new Settings menu Info setting: Relative Gen (hotkey Shift+"G")
    • when #CXRLE Gen is defined toggles the generation display between Absolute and Relative
  • State Slider now hidden for Generations patterns when states fit on display
  • selecting a drawing state with hotkeys Ctrl+"0" to Ctrl+"9" now scrolls State Selection UI to show new state
  • PopUp Viewer scales (is larger) on high DPI devices
  • improved handling when plugin included multiple times
Fixes since the last released build:
  • ignore trailing # for string substitutions
  • fixed rendering with layers
The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 8th, 2019, 6:30 am

Build 402 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

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

Fixes since the last released build:
  • fixed title bar sizing
  • handle conflicting accesskey attributes
The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 8th, 2019, 7:50 am

Is there/can there be a way to toggle on and off the debug button pressing information that was present in the recent debug builds?

Also, for greyed out buttons and sliders; it might be a good idea to display some sort of text when attempting to use them to clarify why they're inaccessible.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 8th, 2019, 1:23 pm

muzik wrote:Is there/can there be a way to toggle on and off the debug button pressing information that was present in the recent debug builds?
No it's no longer in the code.
muzik wrote:Also, for greyed out buttons and sliders; it might be a good idea to display some sort of text when attempting to use them to clarify why they're inaccessible.
Not a priority.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 8th, 2019, 3:57 pm

Despite both of these rulestrings encoding to my knowledge an identical rule in the same algorithm, only the second one actually works:

Code: Select all

x = 1, y = 1, rule = r1baazs55:T129,129
o!

Code: Select all

x = 1, y = 1, rule = R1,C2,S1,3,5,7,B0,2,4,6,8:T129,129
o!
(1111th reply!)

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 8th, 2019, 5:14 pm

muzik wrote:Despite both of these rulestrings encoding to my knowledge an identical rule in the same algorithm, only the second one actually works
You reported this before.

The first rulestring is illegal. See here for the format definition.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by praosylen » September 8th, 2019, 8:44 pm

rowett wrote:Build 393 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

...
  • rules where n0 = 15 and n15 = 0 are replaced with equivalent rules that don't strobe
...
If this is the case, it's my understanding that the following two rules would behave identically:

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M15,13,7,12,14,10,9,1,11,6,5,2,3,4,8,0
14$31bobobo2bobob2o$28b2ob2o3bobo2b2o$30b2ob3o3b2o$30b2obo3bo2b3o$28b
2o4bo3b2o$30b3o2bobo4b2o$28bob3o3bobo3bo$28b2o4b2o3bobo$28bo2bobo3bo2b
4o$28b3o5b2ob2obo$31b2o5bo2bo$28bob5obobob4o$29b2o3b2o3b2o$28bob2obo4b
2o3bo$29b3ob2o3bo3bo$28bo3b2o5b2o2bo!

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M0,2,8,3,1,5,6,14,4,9,10,13,12,11,7,15|M0,8,4,3,2,5,6,11,1,9,10,14,12,7,13,15
14$31bobobo2bobob2o$28b2ob2o3bobo2b2o$30b2ob3o3b2o$30b2obo3bo2b3o$28b
2o4bo3b2o$30b3o2bobo4b2o$28bob3o3bobo3bo$28b2o4b2o3bobo$28bo2bobo3bo2b
4o$28b3o5b2ob2obo$31b2o5bo2bo$28bob5obobob4o$29b2o3b2o3b2o$28bob2obo4b
2o3bo$29b3ob2o3bo3bo$28bo3b2o5b2o2bo!
But that doesn't seem to be the case. It's possible I'm misunderstanding the way strobing rules work in Margolus.
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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 8th, 2019, 9:13 pm

Wouldn't one of them have to be offset by a generation?

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 9th, 2019, 1:51 am

Build 403 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

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

Fixes since the last released build:
  • do not dim display if settings menu open and UI is hidden because of Auto Hide UI
  • Margolus alternate rules were the wrong way round
  • fix colour box alignment in Help when window scaled
The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 9th, 2019, 1:55 am

A for awesome wrote:If this is the case, it's my understanding that the following two rules would behave identically:

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M15,13,7,12,14,10,9,1,11,6,5,2,3,4,8,0

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M0,2,8,3,1,5,6,14,4,9,10,13,12,11,7,15|M0,8,4,3,2,5,6,11,1,9,10,14,12,7,13,15
But that doesn't seem to be the case. It's possible I'm misunderstanding the way strobing rules work in Margolus.
Thanks for the report.

There were two issues here:
  1. There was a bug in LifeViewer (now fixed) which was handling the alternate rule definition in the wrong order.
  2. The second part of the alternate rule definition specified is incorrect. Correct version is below.

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M0,2,8,3,1,5,6,14,4,9,10,13,12,11,7,15|M0,4,1,5,8,3,9,7,2,6,12,11,10,13,14,15
14$31bobobo2bobob2o$28b2ob2o3bobo2b2o$30b2ob3o3b2o$30b2obo3bo2b3o$28b
2o4bo3b2o$30b3o2bobo4b2o$28bob3o3bobo3bo$28b2o4b2o3bobo$28bo2bobo3bo2b
4o$28b3o5b2ob2obo$31b2o5bo2bo$28bob5obobob4o$29b2o3b2o3b2o$28bob2obo4b
2o3bo$29b3ob2o3bo3bo$28bo3b2o5b2o2bo!
EDIT: The second issue was also a LifeViewer bug and the second part of the rule definition was correct.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by wildmyron » September 10th, 2019, 10:21 pm

RE: LifeViewer on mobile devices / high res displays.

Thanks for making these changes - it does make using Lifeviewer on mobile nicer (specifically on my Moto G5 device). Sorry I didn't get feedback in during testing but now that you've rolled out the change I'd just like to say that I'm really happy with the way it works, in particular that the LV window only expands to fit the width, and not also the height. This allows me to continue reading the description of a pattern while I have it open in the viewer (which I do fairly often). I'm also glad that the change doesn't affect desktop browsers on devices with high dpi monitors (as it did originally) - that didn't really suit how I use the forums at all.

Also, thanks for your persistence with the buggy touch behaviour on mobile devices - combined with the above, Lifeviewer is now much nicer to use on mobile.
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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 10th, 2019, 11:44 pm

wildmyron wrote:Lifeviewer is now much nicer to use on mobile.
Great, many thanks for the feedback!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 10th, 2019, 11:45 pm

Build 404 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

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

Enhancements since the last released build:
  • reverse playback for Margolus rules (hotkey "U" to toggle direction)
  • toggle UI is now on hotkey Shift+"U"
  • tooltips will now split at | to improve alternating rule display
Fixes since the last released build:
  • tooltips now scale with window
  • graph axes now scale with window
  • close Help and Errors when UI switched off
The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by praosylen » September 10th, 2019, 11:47 pm

rowett wrote:
A for awesome wrote:If this is the case, it's my understanding that the following two rules would behave identically:

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M15,13,7,12,14,10,9,1,11,6,5,2,3,4,8,0

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M0,2,8,3,1,5,6,14,4,9,10,13,12,11,7,15|M0,8,4,3,2,5,6,11,1,9,10,14,12,7,13,15
But that doesn't seem to be the case. It's possible I'm misunderstanding the way strobing rules work in Margolus.
Thanks for the report.

There were two issues here:
  1. There was a bug in LifeViewer (now fixed) which was handling the alternate rule definition in the wrong order.
  2. The second part of the alternate rule definition specified is incorrect. Correct version is below.

Code: Select all

x = 16, y = 16, rule = M0,2,8,3,1,5,6,14,4,9,10,13,12,11,7,15|M0,4,1,5,8,3,9,7,2,6,12,11,10,13,14,15
Unfortunately, I still think I'm not getting it. Where does the second of the two rules that alternate come from? Given that you're mapping from a normal version of the universe to a bitwise-inverted version from gen 0 to gen 1 and then back again for gen 2, wouldn't the two rules just be 1) the inverses of each transition from the original rule (i.e. just subtract each one from 15, which matches both of our versions of the first alternating rule) and then 2) the transitions from the original rule ordered by the inverses of their position in the original rulestring (i.e. simply reversed -- matching the alternating rule I provided but not the one you did)? What relation produces your version of the rulestring? In particular, how are anisotropy-enforcing pairs of transitions (3 <--> 5; 10 <--> 12) produced from an isotropic (albeit chiral) rulestring?
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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by muzik » September 11th, 2019, 1:10 am

Is there an in-viewer button for reverse playback?

No other problems found with build 404.

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 11th, 2019, 1:47 am

Build 405 is now live on the Forums and LifeWiki

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

Fixes since the last released build:
  • fixed alternate Margolus rules
  • fixed a few Margolus aliases
The updated hotkey map detailing the LifeViewer keyboard controls is here.

Comments, feedback, suggestions and bug reports welcome!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 11th, 2019, 1:49 am

A for awesome wrote:Unfortunately, I still think I'm not getting it.
You were correct and it was a second bug - sorry for the confusion!

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Re: Pattern viewer for forum threads

Post by rowett » September 11th, 2019, 1:50 am

muzik wrote:Is there an in-viewer button for reverse playback?
Not yet because I haven't decided how it should work or where it should go.

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