FW: [netlogo-users] NetLogo 3.0 released

[Stephen Guerin]

The NetLogo development team at the Center for Connected Learning and
Computer-Based Modeling at Northwestern University is pleased to
announce NetLogo 3.0.

This is a major release that substantially expands NetLogo's
capabilities.

NetLogo 3.0 is available for free download from our site at
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/ .

We hope you enjoy it.  If you have comments or suggestions please send
them to us at feedback at ccl.northwestern.edu.

The following is a (partial) list of changes made and new features
added since NetLogo 2.1 (December 2004):

* content:
      + new network models: Giant Component, Preferential Attachment,
        Small Worlds
      + new EvoLab evolution models: Bug Hunt Camouflage, Bug Hunt
        Speeds
      + new NIELS electromagnetism models: Electrostatics, Conductor
      + new MaterialSim materials science model: MaterialSim Grain
        Growth
      + new ProbLab probability model: 9-Block Stalagmite, Central
        Limit Theorem, Dice Stalagmite, Expected Value Advanced,
        ProbLab Genetics, Random Basic Advanced
      + new system dynamics models: Exponential Growth, Logistic
        Growth, Wolf Sheep Predation (System Dynamics), Wolf Sheep
        Predation (docked)
      + new biology models: Autumn, Algae, Moths, Disease Solo, Echo
      + new physics & chemistry models: GasLab Circular Particles,
        DLA Alternate, DLA Alternate Linear, Polymer Dynamics
      + new cellular automaton model: Life Turtle-Based
      + new computer science models: Vants, Merge Sort
      + new math model: Color Fractions
      + new art models: Sound Machines, Optical Illusions
      + new games: Minesweeper, Lunar Lander
      + new code examples: Neighbors-Nowrap Example, Halo Example,
        Perspective Example, 3D Shapes Example, GoGoMonitor
      + new perspective demos section with alternate versions of
        Ants, Termites, Flocking, GasLab to demo new perspective
        features
      + improved sample models: Rugby (bugfix), GasLab Gas in a Box
        (bugfix), Vector Fields (bugfix), Virus (bugfix), Turtles
        Circling (new look and controls), Pursuit (new look),
        Rebellion (new look), Reactor X-Section (new look), Sand
        (better colors), Virus (better colors), Shuffle Board,
        Traffic Basic, and most ProbLab models
      + revamped code examples: Shape Animation Example (new look),
        Random Seed Example (now demonstrates new-seed), Image Import
        Example (now demonstrates import-pcolors and import-drawing)
* features:
      + you can now view any model in 3D (note though that the world
        remains 2D; for 3D worlds, use NetLogo 3D Preview 1)
      + new follow, ride and watch commands let you track the
        movements of a particular agent
      + new System Dynamics Modeler, found on Tools menu (includes
        sample models and section in User Manual)
      + new drawing layer on top of patches contains marks left by
        turtles, with their pens or by stamping their shapes
      + turtle pens may now vary in size; they draw in the drawing
        layer, rather than affecting patch colors as before
      + buttons take turns now (instead of interleaving their code
        with each other), so you can press SETUP during GO or press
        GO during SETUP and the right thing happens
      + find and replace in Information and Procedures tabs
      + new color palette is more muted and contains colors that
        harmonize better with each other
      + the Information tab is now displayed in a more attractive
        (but read-only) style; use the new Edit button to switch to
        the old view for editing
      + new GoGo extension allows interfacing NetLogo to physical
        devices
      + added Color Swatches, a dialog which helps you choose colors
        for your agents, to the Tools menu
      + improved user interface for reporting syntax errors (no more
        Errors tab)
      + turtle shapes now optionally wrap around the edges of the
        world
      + when you pick a turtle or patch with the mouse (by
        right-clicking or control-clicking), the selected turtle or
        patch is now highlighted
      + substantial improvements to BehaviorSpace:
        = BehaviorSpace experiments can now be run headless from
          the command line, using an experiment setup saved in the
          model or specified separately in XML
        = you can create multiple experiment setups and they are
          saved in your model for later reuse
        = there are now two output format options, spreadsheet and
          table; the latter is new, and is more suitable for use
          with statistics and database software
        = you can now use multiple reporters to measure each run;
          you can also use none, which is useful if you are
          recording the results some other way, such as with
          export-world
        = you can now vary the world size during an experiment, by
          varying screen-edge/size-x/y as if they were variables
        = you can now vary the random seed during an experiment,
          by varying random-seed as if it were a variable
        = you can now choose to measure runs only at the end, not
          every tick
        = you can now vary no variables at all during an
          experiment; this is useful for doing many runs with the
          current settings
* language changes:
      + pen and drawing related changes:
        = turtle pens draw in the drawing layer, instead of
          changing patch colors as before
        = a turtle's pen, if it is down, now draws regardless of
          how the turtle moves (even if it's with setxy or jump)
        = a pen may also erase, using the new pen-erase (pe)
          command
        = the stamp command now stamps the turtle's shape on the
          drawing, rather than setting the patch color (use set
          pcolor to set the patch color)
        = added new commands clear-drawing (cd), import-drawing
        = added new turtle variables pen-mode and pen-size;
          removed old variable pen-down?
      + new follow, watch, ride (and follow-me, watch-me, ride-me)
        commands (and subject reporter) for focusing on individual
        agents
      + new reset-perspective command returns the observer to the
        default position and perspective.
      + the clear-graphics command no longer exists (in old models,
        it is automatically replaced with cp ct)
      + all other commands with "graphics" in the name now use "view"
        instead (e.g. export-view)
      + new netlogo-version reporter
      + new import-pcolors and import-drawing commands read image
        files (in a variety of formats) into the patch colors or
        drawing layer
      + new in-cone reporter lets you give a turtle a cone of vision
      + new new-seed reporter is useful for generating numbers to use
        as random seeds
      + new mouse-inside? reporter tells you whether the mouse
        pointer is in the view
      + renamed get-and-date-time to date-and-time
      + the constant white is now defined as 9.9, not 9.9999
* engine fixes:
      + fixed bug in random-n-of that favored earlier items in the
        list or agentset
      + fixed bug where filter/map/foreach didn't always work
        properly inside run/runresult
      + fixed bug in importing worlds where an agentset stored in a
        global variable could be imported incorrectly if the import
        caused the world size to change
      + the export-view and export-output commands now work even when
        running headless from the command line
      + when running headless from the command line, paths are now
        interpreted as relative to the location of the model, just as
        in the application
      + the rgb and hsb reporters are now better at choosing colors
      + fixed histogramming bug where sometimes a value was assigned
        to the bar one to the left of the correct bar
      + fixed bug that could cause a runtime error to be reported as
        happening in the wrong place in the code or to the wrong
        agent
      + fixed bug where is-turtle? and is-agent? sometimes returned
        true even if the input was nobody (if a turtle died)
      + fixed Windows-only problem where the sound extension didn't
        always work on some Java VM's newer than 1.4.2_05
      + import and export world now include the observer perspective
        and contents of the output area
      + the sizing and positioning of turtle shapes in 2D, especially
        very small ones, is now more accurate, and more consistent
        cross-platform
* interface fixes:
      + right/control-clicking to pick a turtle in the 2D view is now
        much easier because it takes the size and position of the
        turtle into account
      + removed now useless checkbox for turning off "Exact turtle
        positions & sizes"
      + smaller changes in turtle heading are now visible onscreen,
        particularly when the patch size is large
      + turtle sizes 1.5 and 2.0 are now accelerated graphically in
        the 2D view (before, only size 1.0 was accelerated)
      + improved some error messages, and improved the pinpointing of
        runtime error locations
      + you can now use the keyboard shortcuts for undo and redo when
        editing the code in a button or monitor
      + fixed bug where if a chooser had lots of choices, some would
        disappear off the edges of the screen
      + fixed bug where deleting a button or monitor with a syntax
        error halted the model
      + in saved applets, you can now copy from an output area on all
        web browsers (as far as we know)
      + fixed bug where a generated movie file could disappear when
        you quit NetLogo
      + editing a slider, switch, or choice no longer halts the model
        (unless you change the variable name)
      + general miscellaneous improvements to look and feel
* HubNet changes:
      + new activity: Dice Stalagmite
      + improved activity: Beer Game Alternate 2
      + in computer HubNet, the "Graphics Window" tag for receiving
        mouse events from clients has changed to "View"; existing
        activities that use this feature must be updated in order to
        work
      + hubnet-message-waiting? sleeps, so HubNet activities don't
        hog the CPU
* Java API changes:
      + controlling API can now run BehaviorSpace experiments
      + controlling API now includes new resizeWorld(), getDrawing(),
        getGraphics(), halt() methods
      + fixed bug in extensions API where the unload() method was not
        being called
      + the LogoList and LogoException classes have been relocated to
        the org.nlogo.api package
      + in the extensions API, the runOnce() method in the
        ClassManager now takes an ExtensionManager which allows the
        extension to specify that it uses HubNet and also to store an
        Object that is kept even across multiple loads of the
        extension
* system:
      + on Windows, bundled Java version is now 1.4.2_08 (was
        1.4.2_05)


Reporting Bugs:

We would appreciate your comments and bug reports.  If you find a bug,
please send us a bug report (as detailed as you can -- including OS,
method of running NetLogo, commands used, attach your model if
possible, etc.) so that we can correct the bug as speedily as
possible. Please send bug reports to bugs at ccl.northwestern.edu.

Feedback:

To provide feedback to the NetLogo development team, please send email
to feedback at ccl.northwestern.edu or visit our contact page at
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/contact.shtml .

Getting Started:

To get started using NetLogo, visit our web page:
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/ .

Receiving Release Announcements:

To receive announcements of NetLogo releases and new features,
subscribe to the netlogo-announce mailing list. To subscribe to
netlogo-announce, send a message to:
listserv at listserv.it.northwestern.edu

The body of the message should say:
subscribe netlogo-announce your-first-name your-last-name

To be removed from the announcements list, send a message to:
listserv at listserv.it.northwestern.edu

The body of the message should say:
unsubscribe netlogo-announce

Joining the netlogo-users group:

We also have a Yahoo! group where users can discuss NetLogo
with each other and with the CCL team.  To join the group, or
just to browse the group's message archives, visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/netlogo-users/

There is also a Yahoo! group specially designed for educators
using NetLogo. To join the group, or just to browse the group's
message archives, visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/netlogo-educators/


NetLogo 3.0 files

The release package for NetLogo 3.0 includes:

* "NetLogo" application
* "HubNet Client" application
* "NetLogo.jar", "NetLogoLite.jar", "lib" internal support
    files and folder
* "Docs" folder containing a "NetLogo User Manual" -- complete
    documentation in HTML and printable PDF formats
* "Models" folder with several hundred NetLogo models and HubNet
    activities
* "Extensions" folder containing support for music & sound
    and physical devices
* "readme.txt" file


Credits

NetLogo was designed and authored by Uri Wilensky, project leader and
director of the CCL.  The lead developer is Seth Tisue.  Many others
have greatly contributed.  HubNet was jointly designed by Uri Wilensky
and Walter Stroup.

The design of NetLogo was supported through funding from the National
Science Foundation (grants REC 9632612, REC 9814682, REC 0126227, CCR
0326542).  Additional support for the design of HubNet (calculator
version) was provided by Texas Instruments.

Enjoy,

--
                                 -Uri
                 ------------------------------------------------
      Uri Wilensky
      Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science
      Director, Center for Connected Learning and Computer-based Modeling
      Executive Committee, Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems
      Annenberg Hall 311
      Northwestern University
      2120 Campus Drive
      Evanston, IL 60208
      fax: [phone]
      email: uri at northwestern.edu
      WWW: http://ccl.northwestern.edu/uri/

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