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- Stringart
-
- Stringart is a prime example of how something profoundly simple can
- also be profoundly beautiful.
-
- Each half of the two coordinate pairs of a series of lines is determined
- by a different function, chosen at random from a set of thirteen. Twelve
- of the functions are sinusoidal, and the thirteenth is linear. The
- sinusoidal functions differ in phase and/or period. Depending upon
- the particular combinations chosen, the resulting figure may be
- symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symetrical figures result when at least
- two of the coordinate halves' functions share the same period.
-
- The color used for a figure is also randomly determined, with a floor
- value used to avoid near-black-on-black figures.
-
- The program accepts the following keystrokes during execution:
-
- P or p - Pause. Holds the current figure on the screen awaiting another
- keypress.
-
- S or s - Save. Brings up a dialogue box for filename selection. The
- current screen image is saved to disk as an uncompressed DEGAS
- picture at the resolution in effect when the program was started
- (low or medium). The program has NOT been tested with a
- monochrome monitor, so I cannot predict what your results would
- be. If you have one, let me know what you find. After a save,
- the next figure is immediately drawn.
-
- Undo - Exit Stringart and return to the desktop.
-
- Any other key causes Stringart to immediately draw the next figure in
- the series. When no keypress is detected within approximately five
- seconds after completing a design, the screen is cleared and the next is
- drawn automatically.
-
- The algorithm is taken from a demonstration program written by Sun
- Microsystems. The code, written in Mark Williams C, is a complete
- re-write for the Atari. In addition to the obvious changes required for
- TOS, the program does not have the function data precomputed and loaded
- with the program; rather, it computes each function on-the-fly. This
- results in a considerably slower drawing rate than the Sun demo, but I
- feel that watching the designs being drawn provides at least half the
- fascination that this program holds. I hope you like it, too.
-
- This program is made available for your personal enjoyment, and for that
- of the people to whom you demonstrate it, but it is not to be sold or
- otherwise used for commercial purposes.
-
- Regards,
- Greg Wageman
-