Version3 beta release is up

This is much more stable than the version 3 alpha and has the remaining version 3 features. Get it at the Download page.

Version3 beta2 is up. Issues fixed are:

• Movie length/frame-rate cannot be changed from 10sec/15fps on Windows
• Forgot to issue warnings when variables have the same name
• Menu bar can be too dark in some themes in Windows
• Get's confused by path that are really big and may decide to not draw them
• Colors are inverted for 24-bit color animation under Windows
• Mac binary is 32-bit only

On page http://www.contextfreeart.org/mediawiki ... troduction the second paragraph is:

Version 2 of Context Free
This page describes the current version of Context Free. But you will encounter cfdg files that look different, but still execute in Context Free. These files are from Context Free 2.2 and earlier and have a different syntax. The Version 2 Syntax page describes how to understand these older files and provides translation tools.

Is this correct, i.e. "Version 2", or does the page have information about Version 3?

[quote="deking101"]On page http://www.contextfreeart.org/mediawiki ... troduction the second paragraph is:

Version 2 of Context Free
This page describes the current version of Context Free. But you will encounter cfdg files that look different, but still execute in Context Free. These files are from Context Free 2.2 and earlier and have a different syntax. The Version 2 Syntax page describes how to understand these older files and provides translation tools.

Is this correct, i.e. "Version 2", or does the page have information about Version 3?[/quote]

Right after posting this I realized that I may have misinterpreted the paragraph. The heading of the paragraph is referring to the paragraph only, not the whole page. The problem for me was that Version 3 wasn't mentioned anyplace before. So still confusing.

Version 3 beta3 is up. Issues fixed are:

• Path drawing operations sometimes incorrect (bug noted by Ryk)
• CF::Time configuration variable is broken (bug noted by kipling)
• If a tiling grid is skewed beyond some threshold then nothing is drawn.
• Command line version prints gibberish if there are syntax errors (bug noted by pakin)
• Missing feature: it doesn't make sense to have frieze group but not wallpaper group (requested by kipling)
• Missing feature: it doesn't make sense to have recursive functions but not mutually recursive functions (requested by pakin)
• Missing feature: ability for user functions to return multiple values (requested by pakin)
• Missing feature: bit manipulation functions (requested by pakin)
• M,W: look in Edit menu for insert menus. You don't have to memorize all of the CF:: names

The bit manipulation functions are bitnot(n), bitor(n1, n2), bitand(n1, n2), bitxor(n1, n2), bitleft(n, i), bitright(n, i). Numbers are stored in double precision floats, so there are only 52 bits available for manipulation.

I will document how to use the wallpaper group soon.

Oops. Wrong operator in src-unix/posixSystem.cpp at line 69. Please change

  Code:

            err.where.begin.filename.c_str(), err.where.begin.line, err.what);
                                    ^

to

  Code:

            err.where.begin.filename->c_str(), err.where.begin.line, err.what);
                                    ^^

This is only important for people compiling the unix version.

ETA - the source archives on the download page have been updated and there is a new mercurial tag for v3beta3 (Version3beta3again).

Thanks for the symmetry groups. I'll update my sampler. I've also started a section of documentation in the talk page attached to the Symmetry page.

I think I have discovered a bug in one of the groups. I'll test and document that and others as I find them on that page.

... I've got started, but on a subpage:
http://www.contextfreeart.org/mediawiki/index.php/Symmetry_operations/Wallpaper
the only bugs I found (or think I found) were specifying where the axis should be on a wallpaper group with a single axis.

The symmetry ops that require an axis specification are: pm, pg, cm, and pmg. Don't all four of these have vertical or horizontal forms?

Bugs that I see so far:

• pm group should have an axis offset parameter like pg
• pg axis offset parameter is ignored

ETA - I'm changing the wiki page and Context Free to refer to an "axis position" instead of an "axis offset"

Re my comments on the documentation page:
Yes, I got a bit confused, as I was trying to reverse-engineer the acceptable parameters, and draft us up some documentation in approximately the same format as the parent page. I was also using the documentation on the Frieze groups as hints on the semantics for the wallpaper group parameters. I left my "Bug" comment up there even after I realised I was wrong, as I wanted to think about it and return to it - thus the "D'Oh" comment. I think there is still a slight bug in that all other axes (e.g. in p4 etc) can have their axes offset, whereas pm can't. Also it would be nice if absence of all params defaults to all params=0 as it does in other cases.
I was too tired to think straight last night, and don't have time to think about it now.
Overall I think it is a nice implementation - pretty straightforward and flexible. I still haven't updated my sample code to use it, but will in time.

Version 3 beta 4 is up. Changes are:

• Let expressions: let(var1 = expr1; var2 = expr2; var3 = expr3; ... ; expression) evaluates expr1, expr2, etc, binds them to var1, var2, etc and then evaluates expression
• Vector access: v[2] extracts the 3rd number from vector v, v[2,3] extracts a vector of length 3 from vector v starting at the 3rd number, v[2,3,3] extracts a vector of length 3 from vector v starting at the 3rd number, accessing with a stride of 3
• Functions can return vectors, adjustments, or shapes and take vectors, adjustments, or shapes as arguments. You myst specify the return type and the argument type if it isn't numeric.
• Rectangular tiled output feature is to obscure, replacing with more generalized output multiplier feature. Available in Linux too.
• Fixed: Wallpaper groups not actually checking if tiling is enabled
• Fixed: Stroke caps and joins are getting dropped
• Fixed: No warning on Z changes for path STROKEs and FILLs
• Fixed: Wrong operator in posixSystem.cpp
• Fixed: pgg symmetry doesn't respect the axis center position arguments
• Missing feature: transform blocks are kind of lame, adding ability to have multiple transforms
• Missing feature: impure shape cloning was discussed but never implemented
• Missing feature: loop index scope should include the loop transform
• Missing feature: vector parameters for shapes and functions
• Missing feature: vector return type for functions