LifeViewer/User Interface

LifeViewer has a set of mouse controls and keyboard commands.

Mouse Controls

In Pan mode click and drag with the mouse to pan the view. The mouse wheel can be used to zoom in or out of the pattern. The zoom will be centered on the mouse pointer.

In Draw mode click and drag with the mouse to draw cells.

In Select mode click and drag with the mouse to make a selection.

Top Row

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the menu functions.

Going from left to right the controls perform the following functions:

Name	Type	Function
Auto	Toggle	toggles AutoFit mode
Fit	Button	fits the pattern to the window
Draw	Option	switches to Draw mode for drawing cells
Select	Option	switches to Select mode for copy/paste
Pan	Option	switches to Pan mode for viewing patterns
Zoom	Slider	changes the camera zoom
START	Toggle	toggles AUTOSTART mode (if defined)
STOP	Toggle	toggles STOP mode (if defined)
WAYPT	Toggle	toggles Waypoint mode (if defined)
LOOP	Toggle	toggles LOOP mode (if defined)
Icon	Toggle	toggles icon display
Grid	Toggle	toggles grid line display
Help	Toggle	toggles Help display

Bottom Row

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the menu functions.

Going from left to right the controls perform the following functions:

Name	Type	Function
T 0	Toggle	toggles generation statistics display
Undo	Button	undo the last edit
Redo	Button	redo the last undone action
1x	Button	sets playback speed to 1x
1x	Slider	sets playback speed
Reverse	Button	reverse playback direction
Reset	Option	reset to T=0 and if at T=0 also reset camera
Step Back	Option	step back step size generations
Step Forward	Option	step forward step size generations
Play	Option	start playback
Settings	Toggle	toggles the settings menu

Draw Mode

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the menu functions.

Going from left to right the controls perform the following functions:

Name	Type	Function
Pick	Toggle	click on a cell to set drawing state
State Display	Toggle	toggle state display
Draw Pause	Toggle	toggle pause playback while drawing
Smart Draw	Toggle	toggle smart drawing
0-6	Slider	change the displayed states
State List	Option	select the current drawing state

Select Mode

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the menu functions.

Going from left to right the controls perform the following functions:

Name	Type	Function
All	Button	select all cells
Auto Shrink	Toggle	auto shrink selection to pattern
Shrink	Button	shrink selection to pattern
Clipboards	Toggle	toggle clipboard libary to select active clipboard
Cut	Button	cut cells in selection to current clipboard
Copy	Button	copy cells in selection to current clipboard
Paste	Button	paste cells from current clipboard
Top Left	Slider	set paste location
AND/CPY/OR/XOR	Option	set paste mode

Selection Menu

The Selection Menu appears when there is an active Selection in Select Mode.

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the menu functions.

Going from top to bottom and left to right the controls perform the following functions:

Name	Type	Function
Cancel	Button	cancel selection
Left	Button	nudge selection left 1 cell
Right	Button	nudge selection right 1 cell
Up	Button	nudge selection up 1 cell
Down	Button	nudge selection down 1 cell
50%	Slider	set random fill percentage
Random	Button	random fill selection using all states
Random 2	Button	random fill selection 2 states
Invert	Button	invert cells in selection
Clear History/Super	Button	clear [R]History/[R]Super cells
Flip X	Button	flip selection horizontally
Flip Y	Button	flip selection vertically
Rotate CW	Button	rotate selection clockwise
Rotate CCW	Button	rotate selection counter-clockwise
Clear Inside	Button	clear cells inside selection
Clear Outside	Button	clear cells outside selection

Settings Menu

The Settings Menu can be opened by clicking on the Settings button. Note the Settings button will not function if the Viewer window is less than 480 pixels high. The menu contains four sliders and a set of topic buttons. Topics can contain settings and actions.

Sliders

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the slider functions.

Name	Type	Function
Angle	Slider	set camera angle (square grid only)
Tilt	Slider	set camera tilt (square grid only)
Layers	Slider	set number of cell layers
Depth	Slider	set depth between each cell layer

The Layers setting creates a pseudo-3D effect where cells are drawn in higher layers the longer they live, and appear to fall through lower layers the longer it has been since they died.

Pattern

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the Pattern options.

Name	Type	Function
Change Rule	Button	prompts for a new Rule and then switches to it
New Pattern	Button	creates a new blank Pattern with the current Rule
Load Pattern	Button	loads the last saved Pattern
Save Pattern	Button	saves the current Pattern to the text box
Rand All	Button	creates a new random Pattern with a random Rule (based on the current rule family)
Rand Pattern	Button	creates a new random Pattern with the existing Rule
Identify	Button	identify whether the current Pattern is a still life, oscillator or spaceship
Last Identify	Button	show last Identify results
Save Image	Button	save an image of the current pattern
Save Graph	Button	save an image of the Population Graph

Clipboard

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the Clipboard options.

Name	Type	Function
Open Clipboard	Button	opens the clipboard as a pattern
Copy Original	Button	copy original pattern
Copy Rule	Button	copies the current Rule definition to the clikpboard
Copy NHood	Button	copy CoordCA neighbourhood definition
Copy All	Button	copy the current selection with comments
Paste To Seln	Button	paste clipboard to selection and tile if selection larger than clipboard
External Sync	Toggle	sync with external clipboard

Display

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the Display options.

Name	Type	Function
Use Rectangles	Toggle	toggle use of rectangular cells for Hexagonal and Triangular grids
Cell Borders	Toggle	toggles drawing of cell borders
Major GridLines	Toggle	toggle drawing major GridLines
Starfield	Toggle	toggle drawing starfield in background
Annotations	Toggle	toggle annotation display (if specified)
Rainbow	Toggle	toggle using Rainbow cell colours (for 2-state patterns)
Auto GridLines	Toggle	toggle automatically switching GridLines on for Draw and Select modes, and off for Pan mode
Alt GridLines	Toggle	toggle alternating GridLines (for Margolus patterns)
Integer Zoom	Button	set Zoom to nearest integer
Render Quality	Toggle	toggles anti-aliased cell display

Playback

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the Playback options.

Name	Type	Function
Go To Gen	Button	prompts for a generation and then moves to that generation
AutoFit History	Toggle	toggle using history states for AutoFit bounding box
Throttle	Toggle	toggle playback throttling
Perf. Warning	Toggle	toggle performance warning display
Kill Gliders	Toggle	toggle killing escaping gliders
AutoHide UI	Toggle	toggle hiding UI during playback

General

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the General options.

Name	Type	Function
Fit Selection	Button	fit selection to display
Center Pattern	Button	center pattern on display
Clear Drawing	Button	clear drawing state cells in pattern
Snap Angle	Button	snap camera angle to nearest 45 degrees
Save View	Button	save camera view
Restore View	Button	restore saved camera view

Advanced

Click on "Expand" to the right to see the Advanced options.

Name	Type	Function
Frame Times	Toggle	toggles display of the frames per second and CPU load %
Timing Details	Toggle	toggles extended timing information display
Relative Gen	Toggle	toggles absolute or relative generation display (when #CXRLE Gen specified)
Reset All	Button	reset all Viewers
Stop All	Button	stop all Viewers
Stop Others	Button	stop other Viewers
Info Bar	Toggle	toggles the Info Bar display which shows camera location, angle, and bounding box velocity

Theme

Allows selection from a list of available colour Themes.

Graph

Toggles the Population Graph.

Population Graph

LifeViewer can show a real time auto-scaling population graph. It is toggled on or off with Settings→Graph. At each generation it shows total population, births and deaths. Note that the graph will only capture data for the first 2¹⁹ (524288) generations.

o3b3o$3o2bo$bo! [[ ZOOM 4 GRAPH LOOP 1000 HEIGHT 400 AUTOSTART ]]

Graph controls:

Name	Type	Function
Opacity	Slider	set the graph opacity %
Pop	Toggle	toggle drawing population
Bth	Toggle	toggle drawing births
Dth	Toggle	toggle drawing deaths
Lines	Toggle	toggle between drawing lines or points
X	Button	close the graph

Keyboard commands

A visual map of keyboard shortcuts is shown below:

Below is a list of keyboard commands by category:

Playback controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Playback controls.

Key	Description
Enter	toggle play / pause
Space	pause / next generation
B	pause / previous generation
Backspace	pause / previous generation
Backslash	pause / next step
Shift Backslash	pause / previous step
Esc	pause if playing
R	reset to generation 0
Shift N	go to generation
-	decrease playback speed
+	increase playback speed
Shift -	minimum playback speed
Shift +	maximum playback speed speed
0	reset playback speed
Ctrl P	toggle pause playback while drawing
Shift F7	toggle fast lookup
Alt T	toggle throttling
W	toggle waypoint playback and loop
Shift P	toggle just loop
Alt O	toggle autostart
Alt P	toggle stop

Multi-Viewer controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Multi-viewer controls.

Key	Description
Shift R	reset all LifeViewers to generation 0
Z	stop playback in all other LifeViewers
Shift Z	stop playback in all LifeViewers

Camera controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Camera controls.

Key	Description
V	restore saved camera position
Shift V	save current camera position
F	fit pattern to display
Shift F	toggle autofit
Shift H	toggle autofit history mode
Ctrl F	fit selection to display
Ctrl M	center pattern on display
[	zoom out
]	zoom in
Shift [	halve zoom
Shift ]	double zoom
1	1x zoom
2	2x zoom
4	4x zoom
8	8x zoom
6	16x zoom
3	32x zoom
Shift 3	64x zoom
Shift 1	integer zoom
Shift 2	-2x zoom
Shift 4	-4x zoom
Shift 8	-8x zoom
Shift 6	-16x zoom
Left	pan left
Right	pan right
Up	pan up
Down	pan down
Shift Left	pan north west
Shift Right	pan south east
Shift Up	pan north east
Shift Down	pan south west
<	rotate left
>	rotate right
Shift <	rotate left 90 degrees
Shift >	rotate right 90 degrees
Alt <	rotate left 45 degrees
Alt >	rotate right 45 degrees
5	reset angle
Alt /	snap angle to nearest 45 degrees
'	tilt down
/	tilt up
@	reset tilt

View controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view View controls.

Key	Description
Q	increase number of layers
A	decrease number of layers
P	increase layer depth
L	decrease layer depth
C	next colour theme
Shift C	previous colour theme
Alt C	default theme

Display controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Display controls.

Key	Description
G	toggle generation statistics
Shift G	toggle generation display mode
Y	toggle population graph
Shift Y	toggle graph lines
7	decrease graph opacity
9	increase graph opacity
Shift F3	toggle population plot
Shift F4	toggle births plot
Shift F5	toggle deaths plot
Shift W	toggle performance warning
?	toggle cell type for hexagonal and triangular grids
T	toggle timing information
Shift T	toggle extended timing information
I	toggle pattern and engine information
Shift I	toggle information bar
Ctrl Q	toggle cell anti-aliasing
Alt B	toggle cell borders
Alt I	toggle icons
X	toggle gridlines
Shift X	toggle major gridlines
Ctrl G	toggle auto gridlines
Alt G	convert pattern to [Rule]Super
Alt H	convert pattern to [Rule]History
Alt J	convert pattern to [Rule] (from either [Rule]History or [Rule]Super)
Ctrl L	toggle kill escaping gliders
S	toggle stars
O	save screenshot
Shift O	save population graph screenshot
;	save black and white screenshot
Shift U	toggle UI
Alt U	toggle autohide UI during playback
Alt W	cycle cell shader
D	download cell map
E	cycle identify results display
E	toggle cell period table
F8	toggle cell state display
Shift F8	toggle y coordinate direction
F9	toggle popup window maximize

Pattern controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Pattern controls.

Key	Description
Alt N	new pattern
Alt R	change rule
Ctrl O	open original or last saved pattern
Ctrl+Shift O	open clipboard as pattern
Ctrl S	save pattern
Alt Z	randomize pattern and rule
Ctrl+Alt Z	randomize pattern only
F6	toggle oscillator and spaceship identification
Shift+F6	display last identification result
Shift+F9	toggle safe mode

External clipboard controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view External clipboard controls.

Key	Description
Alt S	toggle sync cut and copy with external clipboard
Ctrl+Shift C	copy original pattern
Ctrl C	copy current selection
Ctrl+Alt C	copy current selection with comments
F7	copy selection headerless including blanks
Ctrl F7	copy selection headerless including blanks (1 line)
Ctrl+Shift X	cut original pattern
Ctrl X	cut current selection
Ctrl+Alt X	cut current selection with comments
Ctrl J	copy rule definition
K	copy camera position
Shift K	copy camera position and view

Edit controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Edit controls.

Key	Description
F1	toggle draw/pan mode
F2	draw mode
Shift F2	toggle smart drawing
F3	pick mode
F4	select mode
F5	pan mode
Ctrl A	select all
Shift A	shrink selection
Alt A	toggle auto-shrink selection
Ctrl C	copy
Ctrl D	toggle states display
Ctrl I	invert selection
Ctrl K	remove selection
Ctrl V	paste
Ctrl+Shift V	paste to selection
Ctrl X	cut
Ctrl Y	redo edit
Ctrl Z	undo edit
Ctrl+Shift Z	redo edit
Ctrl Space	advance selection
Shift Space	advance outside
Shift L	cycle paste location
Shift M	cycle paste mode
Shift 5	random fill
Alt K	pick cell state to replace with drawing state
Ctrl+Alt K	clear current drawing state cells
Del	clear cells in selection
Shift Del	clear outside selection
>	rotate selection clockwise
<	rotate selection counter-clockwise
Alt X	flip selection horizontally
Alt Y	flip selection vertically
Alt Left	nudge selection 1 cell left
Alt Right	nudge selection 1 cell right
Alt Up	nudge selection 1 cell up
Alt Down	nudge selection 1 cell down
Esc	hide paste
Enter	perform paste
Ctrl 0	select state 0 for drawing
Ctrl 1	select state 1 for drawing
Shift B	toggles clipboard library
Alt 0	make clipboard 0 active
Alt 1	make clipboard 1 active
Alt 2	make clipboard 2 active
Alt 3	make clipboard 3 active
Alt 4	make clipboard 4 active
Alt 5	make clipboard 5 active
Alt 6	make clipboard 6 active
Alt 7	make clipboard 7 active
Alt 8	make clipboard 8 active
Alt 9	make clipboard 9 active

Help controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view Help controls.

Key	Description
Up	scroll up one line
Down	scroll down one line
Page Up	scroll up one page
Page Down	scroll down one page
Shift Page Up	scroll up one section
Shift Page Down	scroll down one section
Home	go to first help page
End	go to last help page

Controls without keyboard shortcuts

Click on "Expand" to the right to view functions that do not currently have keyboard shortcuts.

Command	Button location
Random Fill Density	Select; a selection is present
individual Themes	Settings --> Theme
Draw/2-state Fill with states 10-255	Draw

Keyboard shortcuts without controls

Click on "Expand" to the right to view functions with keyboard shortcuts but no UI controls.

Command	Shortcut
[R]Super	Alt + G
[R]History	Alt + H
[R]Standard	Alt + J