Add the Golly pattern collection to the main page

[muzik]

This is something I've been thinking about for a good while now. Since the main page at conwaylife.com has a usable LifeViewer embed, perhaps we could include all of the patterns bundled with a default installation of Golly (or at least those which LifeViewer is capable of running) as patterns which can be viewed and explored directly from the main page? This would probably be accessed through Advanced Options somewhere.

[confocaloid]

[...] (or at least those which LifeViewer is capable of running) [...]

I'm curious what are the current exceptions. Are those very large patterns requiring HashLife, and some patterns generated by a Python/Lua script?

[muzik]

[...] (or at least those which LifeViewer is capable of running) [...]

I'm curious what are the current exceptions. Are those very large patterns requiring HashLife, and some patterns generated by a Python/Lua script?

This alongside anything that can't fit on the grid at T=0.

[rowett]

There are three things in LifeViewer to be aware of:

1. The maximum pattern size roughly is 8000x8000 cells. This can be extended by 16000x16000 but then you're in danger of having mobile devices run out of memory.
2. LifeViewer's algorithms are all sequential. So there are a family of patterns in Golly's collection that don't make sense to run in LifeViewer.
3. LifeViewer does not support MCell (.mcl), MacroCell (.mc), or compressed (.gz) file formats. So any pattern in those formats would need to be converted to or saved as RLE.

[muzik]

Continuing discussion:

Since Golly's pattern collection is continuing to grow, I'm considering revisiting this idea again, since all but some of the bigger and more technical patterns, as well as the more exotic rulespaces such as 3D CA, could easily be presented and accessed through a web page, perhaps even the conwaylife.com home page.

LifeViewer can run the majority of Golly's built-in pattern collection.

From Golly you can easily test a pattern by running Scripts>Lua>showinviewer.lua (on my Golly instance I have this bound to hotkey Alt-V). That script will launch a browser with LifeViewer and the current pattern loaded.

You'll need to first download and install the latest build of LifeViewer which you can do by running Scripts>Lua>update-viewer.lua and following the instructions.

My idea with this is that a lot more potentially interested visitors would be able to access and view the many patterns we've considered interesting enough for inclusion without them being locked behind a program download. Having to install something just to see examples could be off-putting for many, especially if they don't end up being interested in the long run.

(Also, for some reason, showinviewer.lua opens a window in Konqueror, despite my default browser being set to Waterfox, and there's just white space where the viewer embed should be? After uninstalling it, it defaults to Firefox instead and shows an error page.)

[confocaloid]

[...] My idea with this is that a lot more potentially interested visitors would be able to access and view the many patterns we've considered interesting enough for inclusion without them being locked behind a program download. Having to install something just to see examples could be off-putting for many, especially if they don't end up being interested in the long run. [...]

Many patterns come with comments, it would be nice if the comments were preserved and displayed.

Ultimately people interested in CGoL/CA will likely need (an equivalent of) Golly, "there is no royal road to cellular automata", one would need to become interested in the long run and to spend some efforts exploring/reading/thinking, to be able to understand/appreciate the patterns.

Code: Select all

#C This is a period 400 rocket gun which demonstrates the symmetry of the
#C Day/Night rules, and how a signal can be sent across the border between
#C day and night regions.  Here a period 400 anti-gun destroys every other
#C rocket from a normal period 200 rocket gun.  Based on a reaction by
#C Dean Hickerson.
#C David Bell, April 2009
x = 107, y = 80, rule = B3678/S34678
87booboboo$76boo9b7o9boo$76boo10b5o10boo$75b4o8b7o8b4o$75b3obo7b7o7bob
3o$74b4obo7b7o7bob4o$74b4obo8b5o8bob4o$74b4obo8b5o8bob4o$75b3obo7b7o7b
ob3o$75b3obo8b5o8bob3o$74b4obo7b7o7bob4o$74b4obo8b5o8bob4o$74b4obo7b7o
7bob4o$75b3obo7b7o7bob3o$75b4o11bo11b4o$76boo25boo$76boo25boo$89bobo$
88bobobo$88b5o$89b3o$89b3o$88b5o$89b3o$87bob3obo$87b7o$88b5o$88b5o$89b
3o$89b3o$90bo$88bobobo$86boob3oboo$86b9o$87b7o$3bobbobbobbobbobbobbobb
obbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbo7b9o$b80o3b13o$
b80o3bob9obo$82o3b11o$b8o3boo3b65o3bob7obo$b6o12b62o7b5o$5o16b60o6b7o$
b4o16b61o6b5o$b6ob10ob62o8b3o$8o10b31obboobb26o9bo$b46o4boo4b25o$b46o
3bobbo3b24o$49obboobb26o$b81o$b80o$81o$b36ob8obb34o$b3obbo3boobobobb
11ob6obb8o4b22obb7o$4o14b4obboobooboob3o3bobb3obo3bob4o3b13obb7o$b4o
13b3obo8booboo8boo5bob4o3b22o$4o15b3o39b21o$b4o13b3obo8booboo8boo14b
21o$4o14b4obboobooboob3o3bobb3obo9boob22o$b3obbo3boobobobb11ob6obb8o8b
obob22o$b36ob8obbobb4ob24o$50ob28o$b78o$b77o$78o$b76o$b76o$8o10b52obb
4o$b6ob10ob46obbo4b4o$b4o16b44o6b4o$5o16b43o7b4o$b6o12b45o3boob4o$b8o
3boo3b45o5boob4o$62o9boo$b59o5b4ob3o$b59o5booboo3boo$3bobbobbobbobbobb
obbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbobbo12boobb3o$70boob4o$71boboo$70b
oo$70boo!

[rowett]

My idea with this is that a lot more potentially interested visitors would be able to access and view the many patterns we've considered interesting enough for inclusion without them being locked behind a program download. Having to install something just to see examples could be off-putting for many, especially if they don't end up being interested in the long run.

That's not what I meant. I was saying if you want to test if a particular pattern in Golly is suitable as a LifeViewer pattern you can use the Golly showinviewer.lua script to find out.

(Also, for some reason, showinviewer.lua opens a window in Konqueror, despite my default browser being set to Waterfox, and there's just white space where the viewer embed should be? After uninstalling it, it defaults to Firefox instead and shows an error page.)

On Linux showinviewer.lua creates an HTML file (with the pattern, LifeViewer script, etc.) and then uses xdg-open launch it. The manual page for xdg-open says:

Code: Select all

NAME
    xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application
    
DESCRIPTION
    xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a URL is provided the URL will be opened
    in the user's preferred web browser. If a file is provided the file will be opened in the preferred
    application for files of that type. xdg-open supports file, ftp, http and https URLs.

You can set your preferred browser with the xdg-settings set default-web-browser command.

You'll need to have used update-viewer.lua to install lv-plugin.js before the web page will display properly.

[rowett]

Many patterns come with comments, it would be nice if the comments were preserved and displayed.

LifeViewer build 1272 adds Help>Comments (hotkeys H and then C) to display any pattern comments.

[confocaloid]

Many patterns come with comments, it would be nice if the comments were preserved and displayed.

LifeViewer build 1272 adds Help>Comments (hotkeys H and then C) to display any pattern comments.

Can the way of breaking comments into lines be preserved? In the following example, the intent is to have a two-dimensional grid of decimal weights available in pattern comments:

Code: Select all

#C Press <H> <C> (Help => Comments) in LifeViewer to view comments
#C [[ GRID THEME MCell ]]
#C
#C The neighbourhood is weighted, a subset of range-3 Moore:
#C 17 -- -- -- -- -- 17
#C -- 01 01 01 01 01 --
#C -- 01 85 85 85 01 --
#C -- 01 85 -- 85 01 --
#C -- 01 85 85 85 01 --
#C -- 01 01 01 01 01 --
#C 17 -- -- -- -- -- 17
#C
x = 126, y = 80, rule = R3,C0,S170-294,365,698,B255-300,NW11000000000011000101010101000001555555010000015500550100000155555501000001010101010011000000000011
38b3o$38b3o$38b3o$35b3o9bo$26b2o7b3o7b3o$13b2o11b2o7b3o6bo$14bo29b2o$
14bobo$15b2o52b4o$68b6o$67b3o2b3o$67b2o4b2o$10b3o59b3o$10b3o58b3o$10b
3o57b3o$13b3o54b2o$13b3o31b2o21b2o$13b3o31b2o21b2o2$70b2o$70b2o4$32b3o
64b3o$14b2o18bo12b3o51bo$14b2o16b3o12b3o49b3o$47b3o$50b3o$50b3o$50b3o
4$46b2o$46bobo$17b2o29bo$18bo6b3o7b2o11b2o$15b3o7b3o7b2o$15bo9b3o$22b
3o$22b3o$22b3o20$124bo$86bo2bo33bobo$90bo32bobo$86bo3bo33bo$bo62b2o21b
4o$bo21b3o23b3o11bo2bo$obo20b3o25bo12bobo2bo32b2o$bo21b3o23b3o11b2obob
obo31b2o$bo24b3o35bobo2bo17b4o$bo24b3o34bo2bo19bo3bo$bo24b3o35b2o24bo$
obo83bo2bo$bo$bo$104b2o$105bo$102b3o$102bo!

[rowett]

Can the way of breaking comments into lines be preserved?

Yes it's already done in build 1273. You can test it on lazyslug.com to see.

Note: Since the bot protections were added to the forums it can take up to 4 hours for a new build to appear. The CDN is caching Javascript files. Hard refresh in the browser makes no difference as it just gets the latest from the CDN, and the CDN only refreshes from the source when the cache expires.

[muzik]

Are there any other notable pattern collections that could be worth being made accessible?

It seems that Mirek's site and mirrors have been down for a small handful of years at this point. At least some of these still appear to be downloadable, however, and so could be reposted for preservation's sake and made easier to view than before with no need for an outright download: https://web.archive.org/web/20100103042 ... users.html

[confocaloid]

Are there any other notable pattern collections that could be worth being made accessible?

It seems that Mirek's site and mirrors have been down for a small handful of years at this point. At least some of these still appear to be downloadable, however, and so could be reposted for preservation's sake and made easier to view than before with no need for an outright download: https://web.archive.org/web/20100103042 ... users.html

An outright download (followed by exploring things locally/offline and thinkering with components) may be objectively better in a number of ways, compared to a lot of mouse-clicking and switching between web pages.

Having said that, certainly it would be nice to make the old pattern collections downloadable again, and to keep the ones that are currently downloadable, as long as possible.

[muzik]

Been thinking again about this whole idea a lot. I wonder if we should get into the habit of notating patterns in Golly's collection, specifically those that present collections of things. Here's a version of smallest-low-period.rle pimped with some spaceship data labels:

Code: Select all

x = 284, y = 272, rule = B3/S23
22b3o15b3o46bob2o95b3o10b3o47b3o$21bo3bo13bo3bo41b3ob2obob2o44bo42b3ob
o7b2o7bob3o19bo22bo2bo4b3o$20b2o4bo11bo4b2o39bo6b2o2b4o40b3o45bo3bo2bo
2bo2bo3bo22bobo21bo6bo2bo$19bobob2ob2o3b3o3b2ob2obobo39b2o3bo3bo4bo16b
3o19bo3bo44bo5bo4bo5bo21bo2bo21bo3bo5bo$18b2obo4bob2ob3ob2obo4bob2o50b
2o17bo21b2ob2o50b2o2b2o28b2o23bo4bo3bo$17bo4bo3bo4bobo4bo3bo4bo69bo28b
o43bo3bo2bo3bo50bo3bo4bo$29bo5bo101b4obo2bobo42bobo6bobo21bo5bo21bobob
2o3bo$17b2o7b2o9b2o7b2o90bo2bo2bo3bo42b10o21bobo3bo22bo6bo$144b2obo45b
o4bo22bo2bo3b2o$145b2o44bo8bo20bo2b2o3bo23b2obo$145b2o43bo10bo53bo$
146bo44bo8bo12$72b3o3b3o$68bob2o3bobo3b2obo16b2o$67b3o3bobobobo3b3o14b
o2bo$66bo3bo4bobo4bo3bo13bo2bo$67bo7bobo7bo13bo4bo$74bobobo20bo4bo$74b
obobo21b4o$99b2o2b2o$76bo22bo4bo$75bobo21bo4bo$73b2o3b2o$73bobobobo$
73b2o3b2o20b4o$101b2o150b3o$253bo2bo2b3o$247b3o3bo5bo2bo$246bo2bo3bo5b
o$249bo3bo5bo3bo$245bo2bo4bo2bo2bo3bo$246b2o6b2o3bo$260bobo2$30b3o15b
3o$29bo3bo13bo3bo$28b2o4bo11bo4b2o$27bobob2ob2o3b3o3b2ob2obobo$26b2obo
4bob2ob3ob2obo4bob2o$25bo4bo3bo4bobo4bo3bo4bo$37bo5bo$25b2o7b2o9b2o7b
2o$5b3o16bo$4bo3bo15bobo$3b2o4bo17b2o$2bobob2ob2o3b3o3bo2bobobo$b2obo
4bob2ob3ob2ob3o3bob2o$o4bo3bo4bobo5bobobo2b2o$12bo5bo2bo7b2o$2o7b2o8bo
5b2obo2b2o117b2o17b2o$25b2obo2bo118b2ob2o4b3o4b2ob2o$20b3o3bobobobo
116bo3b2o4b3o4b2o3bo$22b3o3bo124bobo3bobo3bobo$21bob2o3b2o121bob2o2b2o
bob2o2b2obo$23bobobobo119b3o2bobo7bobo2b3o80bo4b3o$25bobo120b2obo2bobo
7bobo2bob2o78b3o2bo2bo$23bobo2bo118bo3bobo13bobo3bo77bob2o4bo$24b3o
126bobob7obobo84b4o3bo$153bo13bo84b2o5bo$256bo2bo$153b2o11b2o89b2o$
173bo84bo$171b3ob3o79bo$25b2o143b2o6bo78bo$24b2o139bo3bo2bo3b2o$160b2o
2b4o$159bo7bo$159bo4bobo2bo$168bo$25b2o$24b2o$24b2o15$153b3o10b3o100bo
$265b2ob3o$153bobo10bobo94b2obo3b2o$154bo12bo95bo4bo2b2o$262b2obo5bo$
155b2ob6ob2o93b2obo7b2o$261bo7bobob2o$54bo7bo93bo2bo2bo2bo92b2obob2o3b
2obobo$50b2obobo5bobob2o47b3o11b3o127b2obo5bo3bobob2o$50b2o4bo3bo4b2o
46bo2bo10bo2bo26b8o93bo2bobo7bo3b2o$50b2o4bo3bo4b2o49bo4b3o6bo29b2o95b
2obo6b2o3bob3o$52b2o9b2o51bo4bo2bo5bo26b2o4b2o94b2obo13b2o$41b2ob3ob2o
3bob3ob3obo3b2ob3o7b3o30bobo5bob2o2bobo127b2o4bo$41b2o4bo4bo11bo4bo3bo
5bo3b2obo171b2o2bo$40bo2bob2o24bobo5bobo3b3o171bo$55b3ob3o11b2o3b2o4bo
3bo67b2o6b2o92bo3b2o$55b7o10bob2ob2obo6bo35bo31bobo6bobo78bo15bo2bo$
53b2o7b2o7bo3bobo3bo40bo32bo2bo4bo2bo77b3ob3o7b4o$71bo2bo3bo2bo39bo2bo
31b2o6b2o77b2o3bob2o5bo3bob2o$53bo2bobobo2bo58bobo32bo6bo77b2o2bobobob
2o21bo$73b2o3b2o163bo4bo3bo4b2ob2obo7b2ob3o$73bobobobo162b2o4bobobob2o
13b2obo3b2o$74b2ob2o73b3o12b3o70b2obobo8bob10o3bo4bo2b2o$75bobo163bobo
b2o7bobo7bob2obobo5bo$72b2obobob2o73bo12bo70b2obobo3bo8bo10bobo7b2o$
72bobo3bobo73b2o10b2o70b2o3bo21bobo7bobob2o$154b2o10b2o70b3obo3b2o11b
3o5bo6b2obobo$237b2o34bo3bobob2o$277bo3b2o$273b2o3bob3o$282b2o23$116bo
19bo$115b3o17b3o$114bo3bo15bo3bo$114b2ob2o15b2ob2o$110bo31bo$109bobo2b
ob4o13b4obo2bobo$10b3o3b3o89bo3bo2bo2bo15bo2bo2bo3bo$10bo2bobo2bo90bob
2o27b2obo$10bo7bo91b2o8bo11bo8b2o$10bo7bo91b2o9b2o7b2o9b2o$11bobobobo
92bo12bo5bo12bo108bo17bo$120bo2b2o3b2o2bo117b3o15b3o$14bo106b2o2bobo2b
2o117b2o4b3o5b3o4b2o$13b3o231b2obo2b3o2bo3bo2b3o2bob2o$13b3o105b2o2bob
o2b2o116bobo2bobo3bobo3bobo2bobo$20b3o97bo3bo3bo3bo112b2obobobobo4bobo
4bobobobob2o$19bo2bo97bo11bo112b2o3bobo4bo5bo4bobo3b2o$22bo97bobo7bobo
112b3obo3bo4bobobo4bo3bob3o$22bo98bo9bo112b2o9b2obobobob2o9b2o$19bobo
100bo7bo125bo7bo$121bobo5bobo121b2obo7bob2o$121bo2bo3bo2bo122bo11bo$
11bobo107bobo5bobo119b2obo11bob2o$11bobo106b2ob2o3b2ob2o118b2o15b2o$
12bo107bobobo3bobobo118bobobob3ob3obobobo$125bobo122b2o3bo3bobo3bo3b2o
$124b2ob2o121bo2bo3bobobobo3bo2bo$125bobo125b2o4bobo4b2o$126bo122b2o4b
o3bobo3bo4b2o$253bob2obo3bob2obo$254bobobobobobobo$256bobo3bobo$256bob
o3bobo$258b2ob2o$254bo11bo$119bo133bo13bo$118b3o133bobo7bobo$117b2ob2o
2$113bo2bobobobo$112b3o3bo3b2o$111bo6bo3b2o$111bobo$113bobo$111bo2bo$
111bo14$57b3o17b3o$52b2ob2obo19bob2ob2o$52b2o4bob2o13b2obo4b2o$51bo2bo
3bobobo11bobobo3bo2bo$58bobobob2o5b2obobobo$56bo3bobob2o5b2obobo3bo
176bo5bo$57bobobob3o5b3obobobo176b3o3b3o$247b3o6bob2ob2obo6b3o$61b3o9b
3o170bo2bo21bo2bo$61b3obobobobob3o173bo21bo$62b5obob5o174bo3b3o9b3o3bo
$67bobo176bobo5b2o9b2o5bobo$67b3o$64bobo3bobo183bobo3bobo2$62b2ob3ob3o
b2o$62bo11bo178bo13bo$61bo2bo7bo2bo176b2o13b2o$61bo4bo3bo4bo175b2ob2o
2bo3bo2b2ob2o$66bo3bo181b2o3b2o3b2o3b2o$60b6o5b6o176b2o11b2o$59b2o7bo
7b2o177bo9bo$67bobo$67b3o$82bo174b2o3b2o$80b3ob3o170b2o3b2o$79b2o6bo$
74bo3bo2bo3b2o164b3o13b3o$73b4o174bo2bo11bo2bo$72bo3bo174bo17bo$73bobo
2bo172bo3bo9bo3bo$67b3o7bo173bo17bo$65b2o185bobo11bobo$65bo4bo$65bo4bo
$66bo3bo$68bo14$141bo5bo$140b3o3b3o4$112b2o5b2o5b2o5b2o19b2o5b2o5b2o5b
2o$110bo3bo3bo2bo3bo2bo3bo3bo15bo3bo3bo2bo3bo2bo3bo3bo$110bo3bobob3o5b
3obobo3bo15bo3bobob3o5b3obobo3bo$110bo5b2o2b3ob3o2b2o5bo15bo5b2o2b3ob
3o2b2o5bo$110b2ob3o15b3ob2o15b2ob3o15b3ob2o$110bo25bo15bo25bo$111bo3bo
15bo3bo17bo3bo15bo3bo$112bo2bo15bo2bo19bo2bo15bo2bo!
[[
LABELTRACK 0 -1/2 LABEL 32 -7 8 "64P2H1V0\nDean R. Hickerson\n1989"
LABELTRACK 0 -1/3 LABEL 91.5 -7 8 "flying saucer\nDean R. Hickerson\n1989"
LABELTRACK -1/4 -1/4 LABEL 117 -4 8 "glider\nRichard K. Guy\n1969"
LABELTRACK 0 -2/5 LABEL 142.5 -6 8 "caravan\nPaul Tooke\n2000"
LABELTRACK 0 -1/6 LABEL 195.5 -7 8 "blobfish\nHartmut Holzwart\n2009"
LABELTRACK 0 -1/7 LABEL 225 -6 8 "loafer\nJosh Ball\n2013"
LABELTRACK 0 -2/4 LABEL 256 -7 8 "31P8H4V0\nStephen Silver\n2002"
LABELTRACK 0 -3/9 LABEL 76 16 8 "55P9H3V0\nPaul Tooke\n2001"
LABELTRACK 0 -1/10 LABEL 101.5 17 8 "copperhead\n"zdr"\n2016"
LABELTRACK 0 -6/12 LABEL 254 29 8 "35P12H6V0\n"mystical"\n2022"
LABELTRACK 0 -8/16 LABEL 255 58 8 "Coe ship\nTim Coe\n1995"
LABELTRACK 0 -10/20 LABEL 122 98 8 "sidewinder\nJason Summers\n2006"
LABELTRACK 0 -6/21 LABEL 160.5 90 8 "doo-dah\nJohn W. Garth\n2020"
LABELTRACK 0 -6/30 LABEL 144 252 8 "symmetric pre-pulsar spaceship\nDavid I. Bell\n1995"
LABELTRACK 0 -7/14 LABEL 27.5 38 8 "no name\nPaul Tooke\n2002"
LABELTRACK 0 -5/15 LABEL 160 53 8 "no name\nMatthias Merzenich\n2015"
LABELTRACK 0 -6/18 LABEL 64 97 8 "no name\nJason Summers\n2000"
LABELTRACK 0 -11/22 LABEL 260 90 8 "no name\nPaul Tooke\n2003"
LABELTRACK 0 -12/24 LABEL 14 149 8 "no name\nunknown\n≥1973"
LABELTRACK 0 -10/25 LABEL 126 143 8 "no name\nPaul Tooke\n2002"
LABELTRACK 0 -13/26 LABEL 260 153 8 "no name\nDavid I. Bell\n2001"
LABELTRACK 0 -9/27 LABEL 68 202 8 "no name\nDavid I. Bell\n2003"
LABELTRACK 0 -14/28 LABEL 260 207 8 "no name\nCharity Engine\n2022"
]]

When loading this pattern from Golly you'd still get the raw comment data at the top as is currently the case, but those seeing it from some theoretical future conwaylife.com pattern collection browser would be able to zoom into a spaceship, see basic data, and then check the pattern comments or the wiki for further information since they now have an object name to go off of.

Since LifeViewer's current primary use is for immediately getting a visual grasp on what are often basic patterns listed in forum threads, often not needing much explanation of contents since they're posted by and for people who generally know what they're looking for (explanations tend to be in the text body of posts rather than as pattern annotations), labelling features I find are tragically underutilised, and this to me is a clear case in which they could see heavy and menaingful use.

Side note: didn't that Book guy have an online browsable pattern collection viewer that used LV? I wonder if we could take inspiration from that. Said user doesn't appear to have been active for a considerable amount of time (certainly before this thread was created), which is saddening, since I would find their input here of interest.

[dvgrn]

Been thinking again about this whole idea a lot. I wonder if we should get into the habit of notating patterns in Golly's collection, specifically those that present collections of things.

I'd certainly vote for that! But it's quite a bit of work, and requires some review with each new release of LifeViewer and/or Golly -- it's easy for updates to LifeViewer to break old annotations, especially the ambitious ones.

When showinviewer.lua first came out, I went through the Rakes folder and added a variety of types of annotations and animations to all of the patterns there, just to give a sample of the kinds of cool things that LifeViewer was capable of. Those samples are still there in the current Golly beta.

People have been trying to solve the problem of Life pattern annotations for a long time, at least back as far as the Game of Life News blog -- HK had an annotation notation to be added to RLE pattern comments, that his server automatically rendered when serving up web pages. Probably no need to resuscitate that format now that we have LifeViewer annotations.

Side note: didn't that Book guy have an online browsable pattern collection viewer that used LV? I wonder if we could take inspiration from that. Said user doesn't appear to have been active for a considerable amount of time (certainly before this thread was created), which is saddening, since I would find their input here of interest.

Online pattern collections also have a long history. Paul Callahan's "illustrated pattern catalog" was converted from using Java applets to using LifeViewer, some years ago, for example.

[muzik]

Side note: didn't that Book guy have an online browsable pattern collection viewer that used LV? I wonder if we could take inspiration from that. Said user doesn't appear to have been active for a considerable amount of time (certainly before this thread was created), which is saddening, since I would find their input here of interest.

Online pattern collections also have a long history. Paul Callahan's "illustrated pattern catalog" was converted from using Java applets to using LifeViewer, some years ago, for example.

Book's site appears to be down currently, but the software appears to still be downloadable: https://web.archive.org/web/20230923105 ... readme.htm

Indeed, otismo appears to have made use of it at some point for personal collections, though the site in question doesn't appear to exist anymore on the live web either: https://web.archive.org/web/20230326134 ... .cgol.art/

Could it be as easy as just installing a Pattern Manager instance on conwaylife.com, loading it with Golly's pattern collection and maybe also the wiki's collection (or at least the patterns LifeViewer can handle), and having an instant, easily-navigable bunch of patterns from the web? Or are there further things that would need to be done? Given Book's sudden absence for close to three years (I don't want to make any assumptions), I don't know if it would make more sense to create and use our own implementation of the same thing, as I don't know what the license for PatMan is or if the source code is available in case things need updating.

[dvgrn]

Could it be as easy as just installing a Pattern Manager instance on conwaylife.com, loading it with Golly's pattern collection and maybe also the wiki's collection (or at least the patterns LifeViewer can handle), and having an instant, easily-navigable bunch of patterns from the web? Or are there further things that would need to be done?

I think that that particular scenario is not that simple.

Nathaniel's hosting arrangements for conwaylife.com allow for cheap hosting of static web pages in the various subdirectories of conwaylife.com/ref. But supporting server-side scripts (like the various .php scripts in PatMan) takes a lot more fiddling, creates security issues and probably additional charges from Nathaniel's ISP, and ... generally may not be something that Nathaniel will want to spend time on.

I won't try to speak for Nathaniel on this, though -- I could have gotten the wrong impression, based on old discussions about options for installing custom MediaWiki extensions.

As I mentioned, it's very easy to build a set of static pages using LifeViewer, along the lines of Paul Callahan's "illustrated pattern catalog" or the pattern files for the Life textbook, that don't require any server-side scripts to run.