Netlogo 4.0Beta5

[Stephen Guerin]

Two interesting new features in Netlogo's announcement yesterday.

 - new experimental __includes keyword allows splitting model code into multiple
files

 - Mathematica-NetLogo link provides a real-time link between Mathematica and
NetLogo, for controlling model runs and visualizing and analyzing results after
the fact or in real time

Full announcement below.

-Steve




The Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling at Northwestern
University is pleased to announce the release of NetLogo 4.0beta5. NetLogo
4.0beta5 is available for free download from
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/. <http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/.>

This is a BETA release of NetLogo. As such, there may be a few bugs.
As far as we know, this release is reliable. Nonetheless, if you want to use a
NetLogo which has proved stable, please stick with NetLogo
3.1.4 for now.

Please try 4.0beta5 out and send us bug reports at bugs at ccl.northwestern.edu
<mailto:bugs%40ccl.northwestern.edu>  and other suggestions and comments at
feedback at ccl.northwestern.edu <mailto:feedback%40ccl.northwestern.edu> .

If you are a Mathematica user, you might want to try out the NetLogo-Mathematica
link, new in this release. We have found combining the power of ABM and symbolic
scientific computing to be quite powerful.

For those of you who have been inquiring about colors: In case you missed it, in
beta3, NetLogo color variables can now take values from the full RGB color
space.

The following is a (partial) list of changes made and new features added since
the previous beta, NetLogo 4.0beta3. (For a complete list of changes since 3.1.4
see http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/whatsnew4_0.html
<http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/whatsnew4_0.html>  .)

* models:
+ new earth science model: Climate Change new chemistry model: Diprotic
+ Acid new materials science model: Solid Diffusion new mathematics
+ model: Surface Walking 2D new network model: Team Assembly new
+ unverified El Farol model replaces old El Farol which is
now named El Farol Network Congestion
+ improved models: Conic Sections 2 (now verified), Echo (now
verified), Rebellion (bugfixes; now verified), Heatbugs (improved visuals),
Small Worlds (bugfix), Planarity (simpler code), Daisyworld (now verified)
+ new Code Examples: Ask-Concurrent Example, Ask Ordering Example,
Random Network Example, Fully Connected Network Example, Mobile Aggregation
Example, Wall Following Example, Circular Path Example
+ new HubNet activities: PANDA BEAR
+ new HubNet code example: Template
+ improved models: Planarity (simpler code), Autumn
(now verified), Plant Hybridization
+ improved HubNet activities: Dice Stalagmite HubNet (now
verified), Bug Hunters Camouflage (now verified), Root Beer Game, Disease
Doctors, Minority Game
* features:
+ new experimental __includes keyword allows splitting model
code into multiple files
+ Mathematica-NetLogo link provides a real-time link
between Mathematica and NetLogo, for controlling model runs and visualizing and
analyzing results after the fact or in real time
+ output areas now have editable font size the tie command is no longer
+ experimental; new link variable
tie-mode can be set to "fixed", "free", or "none"
* language changes:
+ old rgb and hsb primitives renamed to approximate-rgb and
approximate-hsb; they now expect inputs in 0-255 range instead of 0-1.0
+ new primitive import-pcolors-rgb imports images into the
patches as RGB colors
+ the file-read primitive now skips over comments code may now set a
+ slider to values which violate the
slider's min, max, and increment
+ new reporter all? tests whether all agents in an agentset
satisfy a condition
+ the hsb and rgb reporters now report RGB lists instead of
NetLogo colors
+ added is-<link-breed>? primitive
+ added is-directed-link and is-undirected-link? primitives the table
+ extension now restricts table keys to be numbers,
strings, booleans, or nested lists of same
* fixes:
+ new monitors now default to full precision, not 3 decimal places the
+ file-read reporter now reads very long lists drastically
faster
+ fixed 4.0-only bug where some list primitives such as sum and
mean didn't work properly with the new of primitive in some cases
+ fixed 4.0-only bug where import-world didn't work with arrays
and tables
+ fixed 4.0-only bug where importing shapes caused a Java
exception
+ fixed 4.0-only bug where the speed slider didn't function
well with continuous updates (there was a sharp discontinuity in speed on the
left)
+ fixed 4.0-only bug where using the speed slider to fast-forward
a model with tick-based updates and fractional updates could cause view updates
at incorrect times
+ fixed 4.0-only bug where applets required additional jars
besides just NetLogoLite.jar
+ fixed some 4.0-only bugs in plotting

Please send bug reports to bugs at ccl.northwestern.edu
<mailto:bugs%40ccl.northwestern.edu>  and other suggestions and comments to
feedback at ccl.northwestern.edu <mailto:feedback%40ccl.northwestern.edu> .

We also have three mailing lists for NetLogo:
- netlogo-announce: occasional release announcements only
- netlogo-users: discussions about NetLogo
- netlogo-educators: discussions about teaching with NetLogo
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/ <http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/>  has
info on all three.

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 contributed
greatly. 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 Wilensky
Director, Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling
http://ccl.northwestern.edu <http://ccl.northwestern.edu>