I've checked in a new utility script for Golly 3.3,
toChangeState.lua. For years I've kept a script around called "toChangeColors.py", which allowed me to select an existing cell and change all cells of that color in the current selection to a new state.
"toChangeColors.py" was similar to Andrew's change-state.py in the online Golly Scripts Database. Any of these scripts are basically the piece that Golly has been missing, that would let people do pattern editing in the LifeHistory rule without getting horribly annoyed by the way blue state-2 cells would gradually get littered around the pattern in all the wrong places.
When state-2 cells are handled correctly, they can be hugely useful in lining up different mechanisms in large complex patterns -- but you have to be able to get rid of them when you need to, preferably without having to change cell states 3 through 6. (The Alt+J shortcut removes state-2 cells, but only by switching the whole pattern to plain-vanilla Life. You can switch it back again with Alt+H, but then you've lost any marked cells and labels and so on, and those are also often very useful for editing purposes.)
Improvements over previous scripts:
1) This new script is in Lua, so it will Just Work without a Python install;
2) Like change-state.py, this script allows changing state-0 cells to another state. But the new script is also as fast as toChangeColors.py for non-zero cell states, because it just iterates through a cell list instead of checking every cell in the bounding box.
Bug reports welcome! Suggested improvements also somewhat welcome, especially if they come with Lua code to implement the suggestions.
Code: Select all
-- toChangeState.lua, version 1.0
-- adapted in August 2019 from change-state.py by Andrew Trevorrow,
-- and toChangeColors.py by Dave Greene
-- Switch all cells of a clicked-on color in the selected pattern to the current brush color
local g = golly()
local gp = require "gplus"
local split = gp.split
local oldsecs
local newsecs
local oldeditbar = g.setoption("showeditbar",1)
local function savestate(filename, state)
local f = io.open(filename, "w")
if f then
f:write(state)
f:close()
else
g.warn("Can't save target state in filename:\n"..filename)
end
end
local ChangeStateINIFileName = g.getdir("data").."changestate.ini"
local targetstate = "0"
local f = io.open(ChangeStateINIFileName, "r")
if f then
targetstate = f:read("*l") or ""
f:close()
end
if targetstate==nil then
targetstate = "0"
savestate(ChangeStateINIFileName, targetstate)
end
limits = "selection"
seltype = " selected"
r = g.getselrect()
if #r==0 then
limits = "pattern's bounding box"
seltype = ""
r = g.getrect()
if #r==0 then
g.exit("No pattern to change.")
end
end
-- set fill limits to the chosen rectangle
minx, miny, sizex, sizey = table.unpack(r)
maxx = minx + sizex - 1
maxy = miny + sizey - 1
area = g.getcells(r)
if g.numstates() == 2 then
g.exit("Rule must be multistate. Use 'Clear' editing tools and invert.lua for cell changes in two-state patterns.")
end
saveoldstate = g.setoption("drawingstate",targetstate)
newstate = targetstate
oldstate = newstate
-- wait for user to click a cell
g.show("Click a cell to change all" .. seltype .. " cells of that type to target state "..newstate..
". Change drawing state on Edit toolbar to adjust target state. Esc to cancel.")
while true do
event = g.getevent()
-- user may change drawing state at any time
newstate = g.getoption("drawingstate")
if newstate ~= oldstate then
g.show("Click a cell to change all" .. seltype .. " cells of that type to target state "..newstate..
". Change drawing state on Edit toolbar to adjust target state. Esc to cancel.")
oldstate = newstate
savestate(ChangeStateINIFileName, newstate)
end
if event:sub(1,5)==("click") then
-- event is a string like "click 10 20 left none"
evt, xstr, ystr, button, mods = split(event)
x = tonumber(xstr)
y = tonumber(ystr)
if x < minx or x > maxx or y < miny or y > maxy then
g.warn("Click inside the "..limits..". To change the region affected by the script, hit Esc to cancel, then adjust the selection.")
else
oldstate = g.getcell(x, y)
if oldstate == newstate then
g.warn("The clicked cell must have a different state\n"
.."from the current drawing state, "..newstate..".")
else
break
end
end
else
g.doevent(event)
end
end
-- tell Golly to handle all further keyboard/mouse events
g.getevent(false)
if oldstate == 0 then
-- special handling for state-0 cells, which don't show up in cell lists
-- so they must be tested individually by scanning the entire bounding box
changed = 0
total = sizex * sizey
oldsecs = os.clock()
for row = miny, maxy do
-- might be large pattern so show percentage done each second
newsecs = os.clock()
if newsecs - oldsecs >= 1.0 then
oldsecs = newsecs
g.show("Changing cell states: "..string.format("%.1f", 100 * (row - miny) * sizex / total).."%")
g.update()
end
-- allow keyboard interaction
g.doevent( g.getevent() )
for col = minx, maxx do
if g.getcell(col, row) == oldstate then
g.setcell(col, row, newstate)
end
changed = changed + 1
end
end
g.show("Changed "..changed.." state "..oldstate.." cells to state "..newstate..".")
else
-- faster handling for changing nonzero states to another state (including zero)
oldsecs = os.clock()
numcellsx3 = #area
count = 0
for i=1, numcellsx3-2, 3 do
-- might be large pattern so show percentage done each second
newsecs = os.clock()
if newsecs - oldsecs >= 1.0 then
oldsecs = newsecs
g.show("Changing cell states: "..string.format("%.1f",100 * i / numcellsx3).."%")
g.update()
end
-- allow keyboard interaction
g.doevent( g.getevent() )
if area[i+2]==oldstate then
g.setcell(area[i],area[i+1],newstate)
count = count + 1
end
end
g.show("Changed "..count.." state "..oldstate.." cells to state "..newstate..".")
end
-- return to previous Edit Bar setting
g.setoption("showeditbar", oldeditbar)
The script will default to a target state of 0 on its first use. With that setting, it can be used to quickly remove the blue state-2 history envelope cells from LifeHistory patterns. Select an entire pattern (or remove the selection entirely), run the script, and click on any blue cell. It can remove all cells of any other chosen state in the same way, or remove cells from just a small selected area instead of the entire pattern.
For other color-changing tasks -- e.g., changing state-1 cells in the current selection that are intended as text labels to state 5, so that the evolution of the labels won't affect the pattern -- change the current drawing state on either the Editing toolbar or the All States toolbar. This will change the script's target state, and the change will be permanent until the next such change is made. The idea is to allow a series of quick selections and color changes to be made, with the same target state every time, without having to keep re-choosing the target state.
