Hm, that's interesting. Took a real member of the old guard
posting patterns on the forums, before I noticed that LifeViewer doesn't have a default rule:
Code: Select all
x=7, y=3, h=-4, v=0
2o2b3o$b2obo$o4bo!
On the old Life List newsgroup, B3/S23 was assumed if no rule was given. So there are piles of patterns from the '90s and earlier that leave off the "rule =" part of the header.
Also, just FYI: the following is definitely not a feature request, but the "h" and "v" are mutations of RLE format specific to Heinrich Koenig, equivalent to Golly's
#CXRLE Pos=. Currently they're used on pentadecathlon.com and pretty much nowhere else.
In point of fact that annotation format was a serious previous attempt to add extra commands to RLE, and so is prior art for LifeViewer -- though it was definitely focused on annotation, not simulation. Very oddly, I didn't remember until I went back and looked up the documentation that HK called his annotation software "LifeViewer"...!
The LifeNews server still generates annotated images on demand from the annotated RLE, whenever it finds that there isn't already a cached image available -- and that's what you see in pentadecathlon.com/lifenews articles. Apparently that server is something of a walking dinosaur, and as soon as it dies there won't be any code anywhere that knows how to interpret that annotation format:
In a private email, hkoenig wrote:That server is an old PowerPC MacMini that’s been running since 2006. It’s served its purpose, and I figure as long as it still works, I’ll keep it up. I don’t think I’ve made any modifications to the various parts that generate the pages in the last 5 years, and the OS hasn’t been updated in even longer, so not surprising that it mostly still works. I was going to take it down a few years ago, but then a book on Life was published that referenced it, so I decided to not kill the links there so soon.
The problem is that the custom CGI PowerPC binaries won’t run on any recent system. And I don’t think I even have some of the tools I’d need to convert/modernize them. I definitely know I’ve forgotten all the little tricks in getting such addons to work with Apache.
Anyway, here's a fairly complete description of the format:
* * * * * * *
LifeViewer.acgi format specs (incomplete)
each layer has rle header of the form
x=nnn, y=nnn [,h=nnn, v=nnn, color=(rrr,ggg,bbb), gen=nnn, rule=Sn/Bn]
commas and whitespace are optional, but recommended. Either can be a delimiter.
h,v = the offset for a particular pattern from the first pattern, positive right, down.
Can be used in first layer to specify to Life editor programs absolute position
of pattern.
color = the color to be used with this layer. Default is 2nd layer green (0,255, 0)
and 3rd layer blue (0, 0, 255). Layers after that are undefined. Values
are decimal.
gen = Used by Life editor programs, ignored in lifeviewer.
rule = Used by Life editor programs , ignored in lifeviewer.
Following the last layer are formatting commands, one per line.
GP {NW | SW | NE | SE | N | S | E | W} X="nnn", Y="nnn", LEN="nnn", COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Glider path
Startng at specified cell, draw a 1 pixel wide line in the direction
and length in cells specified. (Not yet implemented for spaceships (NSEW).)
COLOR -- optional. Default is (255, 255, 0), yellow.
G {NW | SW | NE | SE | N | S | E | W} X="nnn", Y="nnn", COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Glider -- Draw a small (4x4 pixels) arrow in the specified direction at the
specified cell.
COLOR -- optional. Default is (255, 0, 0), red. (Actually, not implemented)
VL vvv, [{*|ttt}, {*|bbb}, COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Vertical line -- Draw cell wide vertical line.
ttt and bbb parameters specify top and bottom, with "*" meaning
image edge. if not specified, equivalent to "*".
COLOR -- optional. Default is (200, 200, 200)
HL hhh, [{*|rrr}, {*|lll}, COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Horizontal line -- See Vertical line
CB lll, ttt, rrr, bbb, KEY="xxx"
Cell Border -- expand image size by the number of cells specified. Affects any "*"
params in other format commands.
KEY -- Optional, Only display title value matches CGI "&drawkey=" parameter, for us
with "lifetable.acgi".
PB
Pixel Border (unimplemented)
A {NW | SW | NE | SE | N | S | E | W} X=nnn, Y=nnn
Arrow -- draw a gray 13x13 pixel arrow image centered on the cell specified.
(Arrow image should be transparent someday. but currently has a white
border. Also, a URL might be nice.)
L cc X=nnn, Y=nnn, TEXT="xxx", SIZE=nn, COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Label
cc -- two character code specifying how the label is to be drawn from the
specified cell center. Either order, but must be at least one of each of
the following triplets--
L Left
R Right
C Center
T Top
B Bottom
M Middle
SIZE -- Optional Font size, default = 9
COLOR -- Optional. Default is (0,0,0) Black.
FR [F] LIST=(xxx,yyy),(xxx,yyy)... , COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Frame -- Draw a one pixel wide frame from the given list of cells. List must closed
manually.
F -- Fill with the given color
COLOR -- Optional. Default is (0,96,192).
T {T|B} TEXT="xxx" SIZE=nn COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb) KEY="xxx"
Title -- draw a centered title
T | B -- Position title at top or bottom, required
SIZE -- Optional Font size, default = 9
COLOR -- Optional. Default is (0,0,0) Black.
KEY -- Optional. Only display title value matches CGI "&drawkey=" parameter.
R {*|lll}, {*|ttt}, {*|rrr}, {*|bbb}, COLOR=(rrr,ggg,bbb)
Rectangle -- Fill the selected set of cells with the color selected.
* -- use value that would extend rectangle to edge.
COLOR -- optional. Default is (200, 200, 200)
Here's a sample use, from
this LifeNews page. Notice the multiple layers! All but the first layer are silently ignored by Golly and every other CA viewer/editor in existence, as far as I know.
Code: Select all
#C 11 gliders -> 17P2.198
#C D.Hickerson
x=62, y=84, color=(64,0,0)
59bobo$59b2o$60bo20$24bo$23bo$23b3o32$bo$2bo$3o2$7bo$8bo3bo6bobo$6b3ob2o7b
2o$11b2o7bo2$20b2o$20bobo$4bo15bo$2bobo$3b2o2$4bo$4b2o$3bobo7$4b2o$5b2ob3o$4b
o3bo$9bo!
x=8, y=6, h=4, v=74, gen=328 ,color=(0,224,0), alpha=196
2b2o$3bo2bo$2obobobo$3bobobo$bobo2bo$2b2o!
x=73, y=84, h=-11, v=0, color=(0,0,0), alpha=48
71bo$69bo2bo$68b3o$67b4o$66b4o$65b4o$64b4o$63b4o$62b4o$61b4o$60b4o$59b4o$58b
4o$57b4o$56b4o$55b4o$54b4o$53b4o$52b4o$51b4o$50b4o$49b4o$48b4o$35b2o10b4o$33b
o12b4o$32b4o9b4o$31b4o9b4o$30b4o9b4o$29b4o9b4o$28b4o9b4o$27b4o9b4o$26b4o9b
4o$25b4o9b4o$24b4o9b4o$23b4o9b4o$22b4o9b4o$21b4o9b4o$20b4o9b4o$19b4o9b4o$18b
4o9b4o$17b4o9b4o$16b4o9b4o$15b4o9b4o$14b4o9b4o$13b4o9b4o$12b4o9b4o$11b4o9b
4o$10b4o9b4o$9b4o9b4o$8b4o9b4o$7b4o9b4o$5b5o4b9o$4b8o2b8o$3b20o$3b21o$4b22ob
o$2b10ob19o$b12ob18o$2b9o3b19o$4b29o$4b14ob14o$5b14ob3ob6obo$4b13o3bo2b7o2b
2o$3b19o2b7ob2o$3b31o$b30o2bo$31obo$b14ob14o2bo$b12obob14o$3b11o2b14o$3b26o$5b
10ob12o$8b7o2b11o$9b5obob11o$10b7o2b9o$11b7ob2ob6o$11b4o2bobobob4o$12b6ob
obob3o$12b4obob2o$12b5o$13b2o2b2obo$13b3o2bo$14bobobo2bo$14b2o!
GP F SW x=70,y=-9,len=11,color=(255,0,0)
GP F SW x=54,y=-6,len=31,color=(255,0,0)
GP F SE x=-19,y=37,len=21,color=(255,0,0)
GP F SE x=-23,y=31,len=31,color=(255,0,0)
GP F SE x=-26,y=38,len=31,color=(255,0,0)
GP F NW x=50,y=96,len=31,color=(255,0,0)
GP F NW x=19,y=92,len=11,color=(255,0,0)
GP F SW x=70,y=12,len=51,color=(255,0,0)
GP F SW x=72,y=2,len=61,color=(255,0,0)
GP F NE x=-16,y=92,len=21,color=(255,0,0)
GP F NE x=-6,y=91,len=11,color=(255,0,0)
CB 2,2,2,2
L CM x=22 y=-1 text="11gliders->17P2.198" color=(0,0,255)
